The Sony RX1R II is a high-end compact camera with an integral lens that features a full-frame sensor with a very high resolution of 42MP, comparable in some ways to a classic rangefinder camera or the Leica Q system.

The Sony Cyber-shot RX1R II is the latest in the company's line of compact, fixed-lens full-frame digital cameras. It inherits the same basic body shape and ZEISS 35mm F2 lens as its predecessors, the RX1 and RX1R, but almost everything beneath the surface has been changed or revamped.

Three years are a long time for any camera model to be refreshed but Sony believes the Mark 2 version of its RX1R compact is well worth the wait as it turns up this year. Is it?

On Wednesday, at a small press gathering in New York City, Sony unveiled the impressive new RX1R II, the much-anticipated followup to the compact, full-frame RX1R released in 2013.

When it first launched at the end of 2012, the Sony Cyber-shot RX1 was a camera like no other. Its full-frame sensor and fixed 35mm lens made it a distinctive shooter for the high-end market.

Huge scale images; that Carl Zeiss lens is great and produces superb bokeh at f/2.0; great aperture and focus controls; built-in electronic viewfinder that is retractable if you want to hide it

Poor battery life; auto white balance sometimes off; not the fastest of autofocus; close-up focus limitations; high ISO limitations (uneven gradients beyond ISO 1600); some barrel distortion

Did the RX1 really need more resolution? Maybe not, but we're not going to sniff at any camera that's rocking a 42MP full-frame sensor, let alone one you can squeeze into a pocket. Just about. Sony's other tweaks are excellent, though.

Simply sublime image quality; Genuinely useful upgrades over the original RX1; Outstanding build quality

Seriously expensive; Battery life could be better; Autofocus feels slow against cheaper competition

Sony's latest fixed lens full-frame compact camera, the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R II, was announced towards the end of 2015. It features a 42.4 million pixel sensor - the same as the one in the Sony A7R II compact system camera.

Sony likes to prove a point with its cameras; namely that Sony can do things that other manufacturers can't. Although this may not necessarily translate into extraordinary sales figures, it paints the picture that Sony is at the forefront of technological innovation.

After a flurry of camera announcements from Sony towards the end of 2015 we were not expecting any big launches. However, as the year drew to a close Sony surprised us with the Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R II – a replacement for the RX1R.

Released in mid-November 2015, Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-RX1R Mark II is a fixed-lens compact camera with capabilities that match many of Sony's more sophisticated mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras.