Have I gone completely mad? (Sony DSC-RX10)

Howi

New Member
Location
Sheffield UK
Name
Howard Winwood
Just bought a (new) Sony DSC-RX10 (yes! the original, not the mk2 or mk3) bridge camera.
£629 with 2 year guarantee.
I have and had, many 43 and m43 cameras starting with the E500 and have been more than happy with the format. So! why the change?
Every time I go on holiday or even a day out for that matter, I get an ear bashing about how much kit I lug along. we all know that there is less to carry with m43 compared to DSLR but even so, the, 'I might need this' syndrome always kicks in. Come on admit it your the same too!
Soo! what to do? Started surfing and came across the 1 inch sensor (by Sony) and what a revelation. Currently there is not a lot of choice, primarily down to the Panasonic FZ1000 and the Sony RX10 (and its newer and much more expensive versions), the Panasonic seemingly coming out on top with most reviewers.
So! having studied the specs of each and the review comments, went to have a look at both cameras and see how they handle and felt.
No contest for me, Sony RX10 wins hands down. Now! that is not to say the FZ1000 is no good, it is a super camera at a good price, but the Sony RX10 had the killer features that appealed to me more than the FZ1000.

Build quality and general handling/feel. the FZ1000 just did not feel the same.

Weather resistance - at least I can stop panicking when it starts to rain (lightly)

Constant aperture zoom - the FZ1000 may have double the range, but constant aperture - no way

Carl Zeiss lens - FZ1000 has PanaLeica lens, good but ........!

ND filter built in

Aperture ring on lens

Good menu system

everything where it should be

THE BAD POINTS

No 4k video (the FZ1000 has) - not interested, full HD is plenty good enough for me, especially the way the RX10 reads the whole sensor, no line skipping, and now has XAVC S codec recording (firmware upgrade 2.0)

24 to 200mm zoom compared with 25 to 400mm on the LZ1000 - yes! would like more, but not at the sacrifice of constant aperture.

So there you have it, does it live up to the reviews?

Yup! sure does and more so. I shoot raw and process using LR6. I can process my Pany/Oly raw files quite quickly to get them how I like. I was surprised just how little the Sony raw files needed processing to get a good looking image with true to life colours - bit of a revelation really.

I will not be abandoning 43 m43 just yet (if at all) but there may be some kit appearing in the 'For Sale' forum quite soon.
Time will tell if the Sony RX10 will replace all my other kit.
 
Yes, you have gone mad...

... reads post after making the above instinctual comment...

... No, makes perfect sense to me. Havihg something small and easy to carry, that stops you from thinking about gear choices, is a good way to increase the time you spend actually enjoying the moment, or using your photographer's eye.
 
It's hard to argue against your decision. The mkII version of that camera would cost more than twice what you paid, and I doubt that it's twice as good.

One thing I'd be careful of is the possibility of dust getting into the camera body. I haven't heard that's a particularly risk with the RX10 (unlike some other cameras I could mention) but looking at the pictures of the product it strikes me that a lot of lens barrel slides in and out on the RX10, suggesting a large volume of air being sucked in when it extends. And of course, unlike m4/3 you can't remove the lens to clean the sensor if some dust gets drawn in.

Hope it works out well for you.

-R
 
Definitely not mad, Howard!

I went with the FZ1000 and the only regret I have is that it is not weather resistant. However, I rarely go out in wet weather as I get older so ultimately it makes no difference. I love having a bridge camera with decent IQ, and I am no longer using my ILC gear, either DSLR or mirrorless.

Looking forward to seeing your RX10 shots!
 
I had an RX10 for awhile and really liked it. I think it's a great camera in it's own right and/or a perfect complement to a system camera for when you don't feel like lugging stuff.

Now, let's see some photos!
 
Thanks for your positive messages guys, much appreciated. Blown away with image quality, far better than I could had imagined or hoped for. I have among my other kit an Olympus omd- m10 and just love it, but had to add a third party grip to make it more comfortable to use. Reading a lot of reviews they seem to put the rx10 up against high end cameras especially omd- m1 and apps-c cameras, against which it performs really well, far better than one would expect. The only aspect where the rx10 loses ground is high iso/ low light, not surprising as you can't alter physics, bigger is always better (or should be). Sony have pulled all the stops out on this one, reflected in the price of course.
Nothing wrong with the fz1000 kyteflyer I pondered and deliberated long and hard between the two. I have and have had a number of Panasonic 43 and m43 cameras and lenses and they have never let me down. In fact my favourite lens is the panaleica 14 - 50 from the very underrated L10 (4/3). I bought the camera just to get the lens and subsequently sold the body, I really wanted the lens that came with the L1 but the advantage of the one from the L10 is that it will focus using cdaf as well as pdaf, so works well on m43 with an adaptor of course. I just need to get out more now and take some photos.
 
It's not that heavy. and the grip is such that it feels good....like it belongs in your hand. At least that was my experience, but in general, I like bigger cameras.

I do too Luke. I have a Canon 5D MK II and I really like how it feels.

I concur having recently upgraded from the I to the III. Main reason is the extra zoom but the I is still better value :coco: so enjoy it. It has pretty much extinguished my GAS so that's a plus.

Thank you Bill. This is the 1st camera I've bought in 4 or 5 years and it is a refurb. But I have to say I feel a bit of excitement awaiting its arrival. I've been reading the manual and it looks like a good bit to learn, especially in regards to video. I haven't shot that much video in the past. I am a day hiker and encounter some beautiful streams and waterfalls when I travel. So I'd like to give it a go, sort of the new tricks for an old dog thing. We'll see how it goes.
 
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