Sony RX100 arrived today -- first thoughts

demiro

Serious Compacts For Life
Just received a used-but-like-new RX100 today. I was concerned because my IQ and performance expectations were pretty high. That usually gets me into trouble.

Not the case so far. Nothing but dull around the house shots, but I am surely impressed by this little black bar of soap. It seems the hype about what it can deliver is mostly just honest reporting of the facts. Shoots pretty fast; colors are good; focus is spot on. Video looks very good.

Home run, right? Not so fast...

Handling/ergonomics are punching me right in the gut at the moment. This camera is small. which I of course knew, and not so easy to handle, which I had also heard something about. But damn, it's pretty bad with my semi-bear paw hands. I have a flip-bac grip on the way, but I have my doubts as to how much that will do. There's just precious little for me to grab hold of, and to top it off I have trouble finding the almost flush shutter. It looks nice and sleek, but that's a helluva price to pay for being stylish imo.

I'll give it some time. The output certainly seems to justify that. Perhaps I'll develop a proficient tweezer grip with my thumb and index finger or something.

I hate it that my next thought is about a new camera that doesn't even exist. I'd be all over an RX100 that is the size of a G1X or an X100 or an X10. I'm also guessing that would allow Sony to make the lens a bit faster as it zooms, and maybe allow for a flip up LCD, which would be killer. That camera has to be coming, right? I can't be the only one who wants it...
 
I'd be all over an RX100 that is the size of a G1X or an X100 or an X10.

Apart from the zoom (and the price!), that would be an RX1.:D

I found the same problem that you're having, when I first had the RX100, but I've taken to using the wrist strap. In order to reduce opportunity for slips to the minimum, I've adopted the habit of putting the strap around my wrist from the instant that it gets picked up, until the moment it gets put down... and I'm now completely comfortable with that way of using it. I'd say that it's a modest price to pay for having such a small, yet very capable, camera.

You don't say whether you got the case with yours, but if so, you could use it as a half-case on the neck strap, if that suits.
 
I've accepted the slippery handling in exchange for convenience probably because I've had years of practice with the equally slippery DLux4
It is a problem though and I wouldn't feel safe using the camera without a small wrist strap.

Richard Franiec's stick on grips always get a good write up but I'm not sure about sticky things. In the meantime I'm using the camera inside the official Sony case ( too expensive IMO EBay alternatives are probably as good) so that gives something to hang on to.

I don't have trouble finding the shutter button but I can never find the on/off switch without looking and I wish it had spot focus.Perhaps I'm missing something but I can't find a way to make the camera focus on a specific area as the minimum focus area seems too wide.

It's a great little camera but the handling/size are both it's strength and weakness .
 
Well, I'm happy to report that with an additional expenditure of $20.03 for two simple accessories I've greatly improved my ergonomic experience with the RX100.

First we have the Flipbac G3 stick-on grip. Not perfect, but pretty close. The Franiec grip, and also the JB Camera Designs grip seem like better options, as they are contoured to fit around the rounded edge of the RX100, but for $9.99 I'm happy with the Flipbac for now.

rx100-3.jpg


I also bought what Lensmate calls the Fuji X100 Menu Button Solution. A little self adhesive ring that I attached to the shutter button to make it easier to press. This issues seems to be mine alone, but it was bugging me, and this little ring is a great solution.

rx100-1.jpg
rx100-2.jpg


One other thing I'll comment on is the LCD screen in sunlight. I took the camera out this afternoon in bright sun. With my polarized prescription sunglasses it is a nightmare, which is true for every LCD I've ever viewed, but without them the screen was very usable. Probably the best I have seen.

Here are a couple of photos. I think all were in iAuto+ mode. The kid and I were fooling around too much to be messing with settings. Tendency toward blow outs, which is not surprising I suppose, but all in all I am happy with the RX100.

bball1.jpg
bball2.jpg


Trying to get some cool shadow shots. Not too successful, but fun...
rocks1.jpg
rocks2.jpg
 
Jpg or raw? There is a shocking amt of recoverable data in those raw files for such a small sensor.

And don't you love the shutter speed and shot to shot speed. Another very surprising thing on such a small camera. They really invested in the camera, and the initial release price really was justified, IMO.
 
Jpg or raw? There is a shocking amt of recoverable data in those raw files for such a small sensor.

And don't you love the shutter speed and shot to shot speed. Another very surprising thing on such a small camera. They really invested in the camera, and the initial release price really was justified, IMO.

JPEGs. Yeah, most everything about the camera screams "I am not a typical point and shoot!". I don't mind paying a premium for noticeable quality, as opposed to the bells & whistles that generally up the price on new releases.
 
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