Sony More steam? (or at least a bit of heat)

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
Spending a few more days at the shore before the school year begins and reality intrudes again. I brought the RX100 and X-Pro, but have yet to pick up the X-Pro. The RX100 is just so damn capable. First a few typical shore shots:

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And then to my surprise and utter delight, I saw that Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes were playing last night at a little theatre just a few blocks from where we're staying. He's an old compadre of Bruce Springsteen from his Jersey Shore days and rode Bruce's coattails to a brief bit of fame in the late '70s. Bruce went off and conquered the world and plays stadiums and Southside went back to Jersey and perfected his particular brand of R&B, which never seems to grow old to my ears. I've seen him before but never in such a cozy little theatre or on his home turf. It was sold out but we scored a couple of second row seats and had a stone blast. Haven't danced like that in waaaay too long. And the little camera did its job too - all of these are shot at ISO 3200, all at the long end of the zoom:

Early in the show, before the sweat started flying:
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After it heated up a bit:
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Horns!
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Chilling out with a ballad near the end:
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Seeing how open they were to people taking photographs, I kind of wish I'd brought my OMD with the 45mm lens. But the little guy RX100 did so well, the OMD just would have been more camera to carry and harder to stash in a pocket when it was time to break out the dancin' shoes!

These are all quick and dirty processing with snapseed - I'll probably redo some of them when I get home - tough to see the flaws on the iPad.

-Ray
 
If I liked the tiny camera form factor, you would have just sold me on that camera.

FWIW Luke, I don't like the tiny camera form factor either. I liked the LX 5 and X10 because they were just big enough and really well laid out. I doubt I'll bond with the RX100 like I did with those cameras - it feels a lot like the S90 I had for a while and never loved either. But I had the S90 before there was an LX5 or X10 and I found the zoom range of the LX3 too limiting at the time. And I got some valued photographs with that camera that I wouldn't have without it. A few hikes and bike rides and a couple of days on a European trip when I just didn't want to carry gear but ended up EXCEEDINGLY glad I had a camera available for some wonderful opportunities. And that's pretty much how I'm looking at the RX100. If there was an LX8 or X20 available with similar image quality, I'd have bought one of those instead. If I thought there'd be one in another couple of months, id have waited for it. But it looks like it'll be close to another year, based on the various announcements and rumors.

At that point I'll probably sell the Sony and buy something with a form factor I really like. But in the meantime, I'm really glad to have the Sony and I'd guess when I sell it I'll have a number of photos I wouldn't have had otherwise, like those concert shots from last night. Until a couple weeks ago, I never had a camera I could have gotten those shots with that I'd have actually had with me. So I'm very glad to have this camera, despite the things I don't like about it. And, yeah, a big part of convincing me to try it was the shots various folks were posting from it here and elsewhere. So I understand your hesitation, but if your self-control lapses, I'll fully understand...:cool:

-Ray
 
really nice shots you got there, they really show how much the pocketable camera game has been moved forward by the RX100. I must say I'm a bit on the fence regarding the form factor. My EX1 is great in terms of manual control (beats the vast majority of DSLR's in terms of how quickly you can access the exposure settings), but it's just a bit too large to wear in jeans, particularly if I have it in its leather soft case (without the case, it just about fits in the side pocket of my walking pants, but it creates a big bulge). Normally I just carry it in my coat, but in the summer months I don't want to wear a coat and I don't like carrying it on my belt or around my neck either, especially if I'm just going about my daily business.

A smaller camera would probably be easier to bring along. In fact I think just having a self-opening lens cap like the RX100 / Canon S-series would already reduce the bulk by a few important millimetres. But I definitely see the appeal of a really compact camera... I think Ricoh have done brilliantly in terms of combining UI with small size; in fact, I think it should be possible to have a really good UI even on a camera of the RX100's size, if they would include a top-mounted vertical dial and a rocker switch alongside the exposure mode dial?
 
Ray, I love this little form factor, and this camera is exactly what I have been looking for since about 2004!

I am sure I'll get back to my interchangeable lenses at some point, but this thing is a workhorse, and takes any scene I've thrown at it. I'm even astounded by it's AF which, while not perfect, locks on in situations I was sure it wouldn't.
 
Ray, I love this little form factor, and this camera is exactly what I have been looking for since about 2004!

I am sure I'll get back to my interchangeable lenses at some point, but this thing is a workhorse, and takes any scene I've thrown at it. I'm even astounded by it's AF which, while not perfect, locks on in situations I was sure it wouldn't.
Don't get me wrong - I like the form factor a lot when it comes to carrying the camera around and having it available. But when I'm actually shooting with it, I'd like it to be the size and with controls closer to the LX5 or X10. But I'm getting around on it well enough and yeah, it seems to handle anything I've thrown at it so far. And the AF is at least as good and probably better than any other small camera I've used.

I'm also amazed at the shadow recovery I've been able to get out of the jpegs. My wife took a shot of me with it yesterday, with the sun and some really dramatic clouds behind me, but my face was buried deep in shadows. And I was able to recover it using snapseed (far from the most subtle processor) and it came up basically clean - no noise to speak of. I was surprised as hell by that. Very impressive little camera - no doubt about it.

-Ray
 
Fantastic stuff Ray! Really impressed with the concert pictures.. If somebody would have told me they were taken with a big DSLR (and associated lens) I would have easily believed them..:). Looks like the ultimate carry anywhere camera (until it is replaced by a new contender of course)... Thanks for posting these!
 
A few more - one "street" shot I found rather amusing, a shot of me that was buried in shadows but actually responded pretty well to being pulled out, and some shots from a stormy afternoon with some dramatic clouds that I did my typical crazy processing on.

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My face was just about black in the OOC jpeg of this, but even using a relatively crude tool like snapseed it came up with very little noise - I've only seen X-Pro jpegs respond like this previously.
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I'm also amazed at the shadow recovery I've been able to get out of the jpegs. My wife took a shot of me with it yesterday, with the sun and some really dramatic clouds behind me, but my face was buried deep in shadows. And I was able to recover it using snapseed (far from the most subtle processor) and it came up basically clean - no noise to speak of. I was surprised as hell by that. Very impressive little camera - no doubt about it.

-Ray

Ray, I'm also astounded by the shadow and highlight (less on the second one) in the jpgs. I swear I can get as much recovery as I can from my old 12MP Olympus m43 RAW files, lol.

I added one, tiny rubber furniture foot to the bottom left hand corner (when facing the lens) of the camera, and it has made all the difference in the world.

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One quick note -- be careful with speed priority continuous shooting. The shutter is so quiet. I was traveling to upstate NY yesterday, and took along my camera. Didn't hear the shutter, but left it on speed priority. Each (what I thought was a single click) of the shutter gave me like 4 frames. Quick way to fill up your card, and lots of pics to wade through!
 
Just saw your second set of photos. This camera really loves you, Ray. Does it purr when you pick it up? :D You guys are making wonderful music together!
 
Ray, I'm also astounded by the shadow and highlight (less on the second one) in the jpgs. I swear I can get as much recovery as I can from my old 12MP Olympus m43 RAW files, lol.

I added one, tiny rubber furniture foot to the bottom left hand corner (when facing the lens) of the camera, and it has made all the difference in the world.

One quick note -- be careful with speed priority continuous shooting. The shutter is so quiet. I was traveling to upstate NY yesterday, and took along my camera. Didn't hear the shutter, but left it on speed priority. Each (what I thought was a single click) of the shutter gave me like 4 frames. Quick way to fill up your card, and lots of pics to wade through!

I don't quite understand how the jpegs can do that. The OMD jpegs can't come close, but of course the raw files are wonderful and can be pushed and pulled to a crazy degree. And yeah, theyre way better than the raws I used to get with the EP2 or GF1. But the X-Pro and now RX100 jpegs seem to behave more like raw files, with tons of latitude. Will be interesting to see how much better the raws might be when the raw support shows up.

I actually have the Franiac grip on mine and it makes a big difference. But my issues aren't related to holding the camera so much as manipulating settings while I'm shooting. I loved the LX5 and I'm drooling over the LX7, which has a couple of additional control points that I'd use extensively. But no way I'm giving up the sensor in this RX100 unless the LX7 raws turn out to be a lot more capable than I'd expect and they'd actually have to come really close to the RX100's, which nothing suggests they will.

I'm not much of a burst mode shooter, but thanks for the heads up!

-Ray
 
Yes, I agree, not a lot of easy control adjusting on the RX100, but as I have been shooting the EPM1 for the last year, it's not much of a difference for me. I do like the controls of the LX7. I wish it had a 1" sensor.
 
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