Sony New to RX1(R) would love some guidance please

RobertA

Rookie
Dear friends,

while I'm waiting for my new RX1R to ship I'm trying to read the manual (which I don't find suited to my brain) and learn as much as I can before it arrives so that I'll start shooting as early as possible.

I'd like to ask all of you having had the camera for a while to help me out accelerating this learning process. Thanks in advance for taking time to read through this long post !!!

I'll start by describing where I come from Mostly landscape and candid/street photography, always shoot in RAW and postprocess in Lightroom and the occasional use of Autopano, Photomatix and Helicon for stacking of panoramas, exposures and focus stacks.

Own two Canon bodies (5Dmk2 and 7D) mostly use them in Aperture or Shutter priority modes with occasional use of Manual and the only customizations I always have on them are:

  1. the AF brought under my right thumb decoupled from the shutter button
  2. less commonly used I set a 3 shot bracket 1 stop apart and use it modifying the center exposure with the wheel in front of the shutter so that I take 6 or 9 intervalled shots.
  3. Changes to AF mode from normal to continuos following the subject
  4. Changes to drive from single to multiple to 2 or 10 sec delay to shoot long exposures lessening vibrations (and never remember how to activate mirror lockup but this should not affect the RX1 )
Now some specific questions on the RX1R:

  1. In-camera lens compensations. Should better I turn them off and deal with stuff in Lightroom ?
  2. What are your Auto-ISO ranges and why ?
  3. How does DRO differ from HDR ?
  4. I try to understand the DxO lens test but confess my understanding is limited. I THINK I understand the lens gives it's best between 2.8 and 8, is that correct ?
  5. Does the MultiFrame NR need the 6 shots to be perfectly aligned hence the use of a tripod ?
And to finish request for experience:

  1. This might be understandable only by those of you owning mainstream DSLR bodies: I see a lot of "end user oriented functions" that are usually missing in those larger bodies (such as my Canon). Which ones do you feel are really useful and not just a gimmick ?
  2. Which functions did you assign to the programmable buttons (and if you care to say why) ? Initially I think I should aim to have a setup as close to what I'm used to on my Canons
  3. On my Canons I am used to always be able to modify the AF decision by focusing manually without needing to disengage the AF. Is this the default way the RX1R works in AF mode ?
Thank you so much.
 
My answers to your first set of questions:

1. My understanding is that the in-camera lens corrections (shading, chromatic aberration, and distortion) apply only to in-camera jpegs EXCEPT shading, which is also applied to raw. I've read that enabling shading with the RX1 exaggerates cyan-magenta color shifts across the frame. I've also read the opposite. The ACR/Lightroom auto lens corrections cannot be applied to jpegs. I shoot raw plus jpeg, so I have shading turned off, but chromatic aberration and distortion turned on. Since I mostly work with raw files, I apply shading and other lens corrections in ACR as I see fit.

2. My auto ISO range is 100-25,600. I've been impressed with the RX1's high-ISO capability, especially with B&W.

3. DRO boosts shadows (and perhaps pulls back highlights) in a single jpeg. HDR combines three jpegs of different exposures into a single image. Neither works with raw, I believe.

4. Could be. The lens is sharp throughout its aperture range. In my experience, it seems sharpest around 5.6, but I haven't studied my results that closely.

5. Don't know (I've never used it), but I suspect the image will auto-align itself.

Next set of questions:

1. Though I own and use a mainstream DSLR, I'm not sure what you mean by your question. If, however, you are looking for recommendations for accessories, I strongly recommend the EVF and a leather case, such as the Leicatime or Ulysses. I also recommend a soft release for the shutter button (I have an Abrahamsson mini-soft) and a good lens hood (I use a collapsible rubber Heliopan hood).

2. My Leicatime case covers the rear of my RX1, so the only programmable button I regularly use is the "C" button. I have it programmed to AF/MF control hold. With the camera set to manual focus on the front dial, this allows me to lock autofocus with the C button, and manually tweak the focus if needed. My other buttons are set as follows: AEL button to spot AEL toggle; left button to ISO; right button to autofocus area; and down button to AF/MF control toggle. I can actually activate these other buttons through the leather case, but I don't often need to.

3. The RX1 can focus as you wish if set up like my camera, or if you set the front dial to DMF.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new camera.
 
My answers to your first set of questions:

1. My understanding is that the in-camera lens corrections (shading, chromatic aberration, and distortion) apply only to in-camera jpegs EXCEPT shading, which is also applied to raw. I've read that enabling shading with the RX1 exaggerates cyan-magenta color shifts across the frame. I've also read the opposite. The ACR/Lightroom auto lens corrections cannot be applied to jpegs. I shoot raw plus jpeg, so I have shading turned off, but chromatic aberration and distortion turned on. Since I mostly work with raw files, I apply shading and other lens corrections in ACR as I see fit.

That would be the same for me. I always shoot only RAW even for casual shooting given that my use of Adobe LR is now almost subconscious and there are times RAW saves the day ! :) Is there an ACR lens profiles for our camera ?

2. My auto ISO range is 100-25,600. I've been impressed with the RX1's high-ISO capability, especially with B&W.

WOW ! I can't wait to see. I though I would have been stretching the envelope with 6400 !!! :)

3. DRO boosts shadows (and perhaps pulls back highlights) in a single jpeg. HDR combines three jpegs of different exposures into a single image. Neither works with raw, I believe.

Thanks. Very clear.

4. Could be. The lens is sharp throughout its aperture range. In my experience, it seems sharpest around 5.6, but I haven't studied my results that closely.

5. Don't know (I've never used it), but I suspect the image will auto-align itself.

Will try just for fun. Thanks.

Next set of questions:

1. Though I own and use a mainstream DSLR, I'm not sure what you mean by your question. If, however, you are looking for recommendations for accessories, I strongly recommend the EVF and a leather case, such as the Leicatime or Ulysses. I also recommend a soft release for the shutter button (I have an Abrahamsson mini-soft) and a good lens hood (I use a collapsible rubber Heliopan hood).

What I tried to express is that I read about a lot of end user functions such as "Intelligent Auto-mode" or face recognition which are not found on my DSLR bodies and was asking if you found any of these "gimmicks" to be actually useful.

2. My Leicatime case covers the rear of my RX1, so the only programmable button I regularly use is the "C" button. I have it programmed to AF/MF control hold. With the camera set to manual focus on the front dial, this allows me to lock autofocus with the C button, and manually tweak the focus if needed. My other buttons are set as follows: AEL button to spot AEL toggle; left button to ISO; right button to autofocus area; and down button to AF/MF control toggle. I can actually activate these other buttons through the leather case, but I don't often need to.

Not sure I understand the first part. Will try it out when I get the camera. So if I understand you use it mostly with MF. What I'm trying to achieve if possible is the following action: press C and get an AF educated guess, release and either shoot or recompose or manually adjust with the lens ring. Would that be feasible with your setup and DMF on the front dial ?

3. The RX1 can focus as you wish if set up like my camera, or if you set the front dial to DMF.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your new camera.

Thank you SO much. My replies and further questions in BOLD within your reply. (sorry for probably mis-using this forum editing capabilities)
 
ISO 16000.jpg


Re high ISO, I've attached a photo taken at ISO 16,000 that I had handy. It might give you an idea of the RX1's capability.

There is an ACR/Lightroom profile for the RX1 lens. It very closely duplicates the in-camera corrections when enabled. Most of the time, though, I don't use the ACR lens corrections except with architectural-type shots.

I don't use the gimmicks that come with the RX1. Rather, I shoot exclusively in aperture-preferred or manual-exposure mode. Manual exposure is actually quite nice, because you can use both auto ISO and exposure compensation in manual mode. So, for instance, you can choose your shutter speed, aperture, and exposure compensation, and auto-ISO will take care of setting the correct exposure within those parameters.

That said, one gimmick that actually works pretty well is face detection. However, it requires multi AF, whereas I use manual focus with center point AF triggered by the C button. My AF setup works the way I think you want yours to work. My front dial is set to MF, but when I press the C button, center point AF is activated. Once focus is achieved, I release the C button, and focus stays locked unless I manually tweak it with the focus ring on the lens, or I press the C button again. The difference between this and DMF is that DMF will activate AF every time you press the shutter release, whereas the shutter release has no effect on focus with my setup. In other words, with DMF, you can only lock AF if you maintain a half-press on the shutter release. Plus, with DMF, manual focus assist (magnification and peaking) only work when the shutter is half-pressed, whereas with my setup, focus assist works without half-pressing the shutter release. So, for example, I can achieve AF by pressing then releasing the C button, then confirm focus (magnification and peaking) by tweaking the focus ring on the lens. After that, focus stays put unless I either press the C button again or further tweak the focus ring.
 
Wow that picture looks so natural ! Can't wait to get my hands on this little camera !
Thank you Sir ! You have nailed exactly the way I'd like the focus to work, so hopefully with your help I'll be quickly shooting away !
Ciao from Rome, Italy
 
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