Ray Sachs
Legend
- Location
- Not too far from Philly
- Name
- you should be able to figure it out...
I recently came to the conclusion that as much as I love my Nikon DF, and I love it a LOT, I have a handful of pretty damn nice lenses that I don't use. Particularly some of my nice longer AF primes, 58mm and up. I started thinking that if I sell these and a few lesser used MF lenses, I could probably scrape together enough $$ to more or less pay for a used RX1Rm2 or maybe even Leica Q. As much as I'd love some of the controls on the Q, though, the sensor still isn't up to the standards I'd want in such an expensive camera, and it's not a particularly small camera either, so not that much of an easier carry than the DF with a small prime.
So I got a bit more serious about looking into the RX1Rm2. I don't like the 35mm focal length as much as 28mm from the "Q", but the Zeiss in the RX1 is actually closer to 32mm and that makes a notable difference and is probably why I bonded so well with the original RX1. I loved the original RX1 quite a lot, partly because it was so damn good and partly because it was my first full frame camera. The new model is better in a number of ways that matter to me a lot (great auto ISO setup) and a little (built in EVF and flip screen and faster AF). My biggest concern was dealing with files from a 42mp sensor - I'd have really preferred they just stay with the awesome 24mp sensor from the original, but the new one is technically better by basically every metric. And you can shoot uncompressed raw files with it now too, which you couldn't with the original.
But the files are HUGE. An uncompressed raw file from this camera is north of 80 mb - compressed raw are about half that size. The TIF files the Nik plug-ins create to work with are over 250 mb each! And when you save all of that down to a jpeg, they're still about 25mb. Disk space is getting really cheap, so that didn't concern me, but I don't have any desire to upgrade my Mac anytime soon, so I had to check out how it would do with these big-ass files. So I downloaded a bunch of raw files from Imaging Resources and started playing with them and, to my surprise, they didn't choke my computer. A little slower to import the raw files, but not as much as I'd have thought, and really not much different during processing except when saving one of the TIF files from Nik.
So, I decided to rent one with the thought that if I liked it enough, I'd buy the rental, which after deducting the sunk cost of renting (which they take out of the price if you buy it), I'd be down to about the price of the original RX1 when it was new, well below the current high price of a new copy of the new model. And so far so good. I've shot with it for a couple of days and my Mac locked up once coming out of a bunch of Nik edits, but for the most part is handling the files without a problem.
I like the feel and the customizability of this little camera just as much as I did the first one. And that brilliant little Zeiss Sonnar 35 f2.0 seems up to the task of handling all the resolution that sensor needs. I'm gonna head into the city and try it on the streets soon, but I know it'll do well in that context because the first one did OK and the auto ISO setup on the new one is MUCH MUCH MUCH better for my street shooting technique.
To manage the file sizes, I'll probably shoot my street stuff in compressed raw and any landscapes and extreme low light stuff in uncompressed, just to get the max flexibility in processing. And, BTW, these files are just ridiculous to work with. The files from the original were a revelation to me and these are that much better, which so much elasticity and DR for processing it's just not funny. And it's a really different look from the DF. On balance I prefer the look of the DF files, but not by a lot and it's nice to have the variety available.
Anyway, a few first shots of no particular note:
Stroud RX1-10-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Stroud RX1-12-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Stroud RX1-8-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Stroud RX1-32-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
I always seem to like shooting our kitchen faucet for demonstrating bokeh. It's a willing subject I guess, even when you get right up close to it...
RX1R II-9-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
-Ray
So I got a bit more serious about looking into the RX1Rm2. I don't like the 35mm focal length as much as 28mm from the "Q", but the Zeiss in the RX1 is actually closer to 32mm and that makes a notable difference and is probably why I bonded so well with the original RX1. I loved the original RX1 quite a lot, partly because it was so damn good and partly because it was my first full frame camera. The new model is better in a number of ways that matter to me a lot (great auto ISO setup) and a little (built in EVF and flip screen and faster AF). My biggest concern was dealing with files from a 42mp sensor - I'd have really preferred they just stay with the awesome 24mp sensor from the original, but the new one is technically better by basically every metric. And you can shoot uncompressed raw files with it now too, which you couldn't with the original.
But the files are HUGE. An uncompressed raw file from this camera is north of 80 mb - compressed raw are about half that size. The TIF files the Nik plug-ins create to work with are over 250 mb each! And when you save all of that down to a jpeg, they're still about 25mb. Disk space is getting really cheap, so that didn't concern me, but I don't have any desire to upgrade my Mac anytime soon, so I had to check out how it would do with these big-ass files. So I downloaded a bunch of raw files from Imaging Resources and started playing with them and, to my surprise, they didn't choke my computer. A little slower to import the raw files, but not as much as I'd have thought, and really not much different during processing except when saving one of the TIF files from Nik.
So, I decided to rent one with the thought that if I liked it enough, I'd buy the rental, which after deducting the sunk cost of renting (which they take out of the price if you buy it), I'd be down to about the price of the original RX1 when it was new, well below the current high price of a new copy of the new model. And so far so good. I've shot with it for a couple of days and my Mac locked up once coming out of a bunch of Nik edits, but for the most part is handling the files without a problem.
I like the feel and the customizability of this little camera just as much as I did the first one. And that brilliant little Zeiss Sonnar 35 f2.0 seems up to the task of handling all the resolution that sensor needs. I'm gonna head into the city and try it on the streets soon, but I know it'll do well in that context because the first one did OK and the auto ISO setup on the new one is MUCH MUCH MUCH better for my street shooting technique.
To manage the file sizes, I'll probably shoot my street stuff in compressed raw and any landscapes and extreme low light stuff in uncompressed, just to get the max flexibility in processing. And, BTW, these files are just ridiculous to work with. The files from the original were a revelation to me and these are that much better, which so much elasticity and DR for processing it's just not funny. And it's a really different look from the DF. On balance I prefer the look of the DF files, but not by a lot and it's nice to have the variety available.
Anyway, a few first shots of no particular note:
I always seem to like shooting our kitchen faucet for demonstrating bokeh. It's a willing subject I guess, even when you get right up close to it...
-Ray