Riding on this previous post about my 22 year old Lumix LC1, which reminded me the practicality and fun shooting with a good, manual zoom lens.

I’d decided to bring out another vintage digital just for fun: my 21 year old Sony DSC-R1.

(I wrote about this groundbreaking camera here in case you are interested).

The R1 had many impressive features, but worth highlighting were its 10MP, APS size CMOS sensor; and a magnificent 24-120 Zeiss lens.

Image quality still good for 2026?

Yes indeed. Under good lighting, of course. This camera comes from 2005, so forget high ISO.

Below some shots.

There’s some motion blur resulting from slow shutter speeds, as I preferred to shoot with ISO160 to avoid noise.

Under bright sunlight it performed brilliantly:

Nice, warm colours, nice bokeh. I like the details visible in the hair.

Give this Zeiss lens a better sensor, one with current 2026 technology.

And this R1 would be king.