RX100 - all you need?

burancap

burancap

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Rather than a: What should I take >here<?

This is a: What I did take >here<!

Disney World for 5 days.

OM2N with 28, 50, 75-150 & (4) rolls of 400 color
Nex5N with the 16 and an OM adapter for the above lenses
RX100

The only camera that left the bag was the RX!

What a wonderful little jewel this thing is! Shot everything from day to night, long and far ... performed flawlessly and held battery charge admirably! I really am struggling to come up with anything that I don't like about this camera!
 
how did you cope with the lack of a real viewfinder? i think that woukd kill the whole experience for me, no matter how good files are...

and how about that handling? i tried it in a shop and it seemed rather slippery.
 
domagojs said:
how did you cope with the lack of a real viewfinder? i think that woukd kill the whole experience for me, no matter how good files are...
Click to expand...

I too am generally in preference of an optical VF, but in this case -it works without it. The point of this camera, its very raison d'etre if you will ... is to deliver high quality in as small a package as is reasonable. The addition of WhiteMagic in the screen makes it not only a very effective "finder", but it may eventually warrant the lack of an OVF in even larger cameras. With my decreasing vision and the advent of technologies like this and OLED EVF's with peaking, I believe I can focus better than with my old warhorses and their requisite mechanical diopters.

domagojs said:
and how about that handling? i tried it in a shop and it seemed rather slippery.
Click to expand...

My first "extra" purchase was a Franiec grip. I highly recommend them.
 
I got back from a trip with the sole intention of using the RX100 as my only walkabout camera. I did bring a 5N with 18-200mm for when I needed the extra reach for some video I needed to capture. The RX100 was a great walkabout camera. Doesn't draw any attention, has a nice zoom range too. I didn't notice any problems with using the LCD to compose even in full sun.

As far as handholding, it is a bit small, but it is also fairly light - so the combo is nice. In a moment of foggy-brainedness, I attached the strap to the left side of the camera. Not what I would usually do, but found that worked well. I could grip the strap and the left part of the camera and have a nice grip while using the right hand for menu settings and shutter release rather freely. You can always attach a neck strap if you want. I didn't find it necessary.

For what I was using the camera for - street snaps in a foreign city - it performed well.
 
No

No

Just came back from vacation where I shot 50/50 with the RX100 and the Contax G. The Contax G images have a richness the Sony can't touch and the camera is light/small enough to make it a perfect travel companion.

However, the Sony, with it's built-in flash and good high-ISO was very handy. And as you point out the sheer advantage of the tiny body made it perfect for outings where I did not want to have a 35mm-sized camera (albeit as small one) around my neck.

Still, the handling of the RX100 is slow and quirky enough that I feel using it is just a something I have to put up with for the sake of the end result, whereas with my Leica and Contax, the shooting experience is a pleasure in itself and when on vacation, I try to shoot for pleasure as well as for the end game of capturing moments.

Still, a pretty capable camera despite everything... I was glad for the high ISO setting for indoor close-ups. And flash was quite useful too
 
domagojs said:
how did you cope with the lack of a real viewfinder? i think that woukd kill the whole experience for me, no matter how good files are...

and how about that handling? i tried it in a shop and it seemed rather slippery.
Click to expand...

The camera is not slippery! Heard this so many times - it's rubbish. Can I say it again - in 38 degree celsius with sweaty palms - it is fine. No fancy grip needed. I find you get great shots using the screen/discrete snap. Having a viewfinder is a disadvantage in a lot of circumstances - people see you and are creeped out by it!! I thought I would hate not having a 'proper' viewfinder, but I don't miss it at all. Just my take ...
 
I used to take only a Panasonic Lumix LX-5 for my vacations. And then I upgraded to a Fuji X100 while my wife purchased a Sony RX-100. The combination of these two cameras really kicks ass, but I think the RX-100 really the best because of moderate zoom and very good low-light processing.
 
I love my RX100, however after getting a NEX-7 I've found that I favor it more. However, it performs better than the NEX-7 in low light, has good optics, and a nice zoom range.

What I find strange though is that I've been trying to sell in it the classifieds at a steep discount for over a week now with zero interest.

I think I'll keep it unless I hear something soon.
 
MikeAUS said:
Sells for $559 new in Australia, you are asking $530 used ...
Click to expand...

I paid $649 for it on Amazon just 3 months ago. I didn't know the value has fallen so quickly.

Nevertheless, it has a franiec grip and a lensmate filter mount kit that cost me $40 each, and I'm still asking $30 less than your new price. The camera has less than 500 clicks too, although I didn't share that in the ad.
 
I'll add another "what I did take" story...on a 14 day Hawaiian cruise.

Fuji X-E1 + Fuji 18-55, Fuji 60, CV 12/5.6
Fuji X100
Sony RX100

Like Jeff, the only camera that came out of the bag was the RX100. Even though I've been using the RX100 since it was released, I was still amazed by how versatile and capable the camera was for the situations I encountered, and how good the resulting images are.

I think one of the main points to understand about why the RX100 worked so well for me was how the tours I went on were structured. I went on several helicopter tours where you can't take a bag with you onto the aircraft. You're strapped in with a 4-point harness and wearing a flotation device (these flights spend a significant amount of time over open water), so even if I'd have had extra lenses for the X-E1 in the pockets of my cargo shorts, it would have been impractical to swap while in flight. It would also have been difficult to manage multiple cameras for the same reasons. The 28-100 range of the RX100 was just about perfect.

In addition, being in completely foreign environs with little to no time to work, having a camera that's for the most part competent on it's own worked great. I only had to intervene a few times in extreme contrast situations, and I noticed a slight tendency toward overexposure. I lost some highlights, but was surprised how some limited recovery was possible with the OOC jpg files. Since my goal was producing vacation snapshots and not pristine commercial work, I was very happy with the results. Overall, image quality was by-and-large fine. It's a small-sensor compact, after all, so I wasn't expecting the same quality I've gotten from full-frame DSLRs or the X-Trans Fujis. But it's no slouch...far and away the best quality compact I've ever shot.

Handling of the camera was fine, although I have added the Franiec grip and strategically-placed bits of gaffer tape. Slippery is not a word that comes to mind when you pick my camera up. The shutter button is a little indistinct for my taste, and on several occasions took photos when I intended to half-press. I alternated between the Sony-supplied wrist strap, and a neck strap from a Ricoh GRD I had a few years back. I ended up turning on the electronic level as I was getting alot of unlevel shots without it...probably mostly due to the quick grab nature of alot of the shots, but the level helped.

On several occasions, I handed the camera to complete strangers who were obviously not camera experts to get shots of my family and myself. On purpose, I didn't coach them at all when I gave them the camera. They were able to zoom, compose and shoot rather intuitively. I think that speaks to a successful interface, or at least to the ubiquity of enough common interface elements in modern digital cameras to get the job done.

Overall, the RX100 did a great job. I could have left the Fuji cams at home and not missed them at all...which is not something that I could have been convinced of prior to this trip.

Here's a link to a slideshow if you'd like to see the photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmcclain/sets/72157632435053855/show/
 
Really enjoyed that slideshow, Kerry, excellent set. I agree about the RX100, it's really very good, especially in capable hands.
 
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