Two aspherical lens elements are incorporated into the lens design, minimizing chromatic aberrations and ensuring clear images. Zeiss' premium multi-layered T* coating also reduces ghosts and flare caused by light reflecting.

The camera also has a Photo Capture function, which allows shooters to quickly save an 8.29MP still from their UHD 4K movies. Additionally, the camera is NTSC/PAL switchable, making it usable around the world.

• Pop-up 0.39" XGA OLED electronic viewfinder offers a resolution of 2.36m dots for crisp, clear imagery. The EVF also uses a Zeiss T* coating to ensure clarity from corner to corner.
• The rear 3.0" Xtra Fine LCD screen can tilt upwards 180° and downwards 45° for shooting at different angles or for composing the perfect selfie. The screen sports a resolution of about 1.23m dots and WhiteMagic technology has been applied to the LCD's design to increase effective brightness for easier viewing in bright lighting.
• A manual control ring surrounds the lens and features a smooth, click-less design for quick and quiet changing of settings. The ring can be assigned to control a variety of features, at different values, such as zoom, aperture, and Picture Effects.
• Custom button and other programmable buttons can be set to one of over 40 functions for quick access to commonly used settings.
• A built-in 3-stop neutral density (ND) filter is available to enable working in bright light with wider aperture settings.
• Pop-up flash will help illuminate subjects in dimly-lit scenes.
• A redesigned menu makes flipping through settings easier.
• Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity enables instant transferring of imagery to mobile devices for direct sharing online to social networking, via email, and to cloud storage sites. NFC (Near Field Communication) is also supported, which allows for one-touch connection between the camera and compatible mobile devices, with no complex set-up required. Once connected, the linked mobile device can also display a live view image on its screen and, using Smart Remote Control, remotely control the camera's shutter release. Additionally, the RX100 VA can now connect to a smartphone using a QR code for faster access.

• Anti-Distortion electronic shutter can enable completely silent shooting as well as the ability to work at shutter speeds as fast as 1/32000 second. This shutter also keeps rolling shutter effects to an absolute minimum and enables photographers to work in bright light with wider apertures.
• Step Zoom lets you quickly change between five common focal lengths (24, 28, 35, 50, or 70mm) by rotating the control ring.
• Clear Image Zoom allows users to enlarge the center of the still or movie frame being shot by up to 5.8x equivalent when using optical zoom as well.
• Eye AF in AF-C mode will lock on and tack a subject's eye, even as the face moves.
• Users can set a minimum shutter speed when using ISO AUTO to help minimize shutter blur.
• Creative Style settings: Standard, Vivid, Neutral, Clear, Deep, Light, Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night Scene, Autumn Leaves, Black & White, and Sepia (all with +/- 3 step contrast, saturation, and sharpness adjustment).
• Picture Effect modes: Posterization (Color, B&W), Pop Color, Retro Photo, Partial Color (R/G/B/Y), High Contrast Monochrome, Toy Camera, Soft High-Key, Soft Focus, HDR Painting, Rich-Tone Monochrome, Miniature, Watercolor, and Illustration.
• Adjustable Picture Profile parameters: Black level, Gamma (Movie, Still, Cine1-2, ITU709, ITU709 [800%], S-Log2), Black Gamma, Knee, Color Mode (Movie, Still, Cinema, Pro, ITU709 Matrix, White & Black, S-Gamut), Saturation, Color Phase, Color Depth, Detail, Copy, and Reset.