Two months ago, George bought the Sony RX100 as a replacement camera after selling off his Panasonic GX1. In this relationship, I carry the heavy gears while he’s on the lighter route but I recently passed him my Sony NEX 7 and in return I got to play around with his RX100 which I never really used. This isn’t a complete review but my experience with the camera after a few days of use so don’t expect anything detailed haha. I’m writing this from an ordinary consumer’s point of view which is what I really am outside of work. Basically when I’m not working, I take pictures simply for documentary purposes. Nothing fancy, no creative angles, nothing.
To be honest it’s been since I’ve used a compact camera and it took me sometime to get used to the simplicity of it. How do I change the ISO, dammit do I have to get into the menu? Where’s the dedicated button for this… and that! Well lucky for me, the RX1 maintains an interface that is very similar to that used in the NEX and Alpha cameras. I like orange and black colors used in the interface. Or cinnabar according to the official Sony people.
ISO 125, f 1.8
No proper picture of the camera and I can’t be bothered to find one online right now so here it is in all its blurry goodness along with half my face. For the price and sensor size, I expected the camera to be larger, like Canon’s G12 I suppose but it’s teeny! It’s only a centimetre bigger than your average name card in fact. There’s no real grip to the camera and one risks it falling to the floor if not handled properly.
ISO 125, f 1.8
I was elated to discover that the colors produced by the RX100 are very very similar to their other Alpha/NEX models (not Cybershot’s thank goodness which I find lacklustre). Yesterday I met a guy who said he didn’t like Sony’s colors and in my head I was screaming, “Whyyy! But I love it…” I guess it’s a personal preference. Ever since I left college, I avoid coloring or layering my images because one I like things simple/natural and two, I’m lazy so Sony’s colors are exactly to my liking which means no editing required on my part other than adjusting the levels or sharpness if necessary.
By the way, all pictures in this post are straight out of camera plus I’ve also included the ISO and Aperture used for each picture for your reference. Pro or not haha.
ISO 125, f 4.9
I guess it’s unfair to compare the RX100 to other compacts I’ve used in the past because they definitely do not come anywhere close to it! Even when zoomed details are still pretty awesome and I love the dynamic range. However if you’re an Auto/Program mode shooter, you must know that you can’t use the camera at its wides f 1.8 aperture in broad daylight because of the camera’s maximum shutter speed.
ISO 125, f 4.9
The RX100 is also no stranger to Sony’s Picture Styles but after meddling around with Toy Camera and Pop Color modes in the past, I’ve moved past that stage and decided my pictures were better off without them for consistency’s sake. But just for testing purposes here’s two pictures I shot during a traffic light stop this afternoon. This one was using the Illustration mode. You can adjust from Low, Medium or High depending on how Picasso-ish you’re feeling that day. This one is on high, now I can go around telling people I painted this.
And this is using HDR Painting, erm too fake. I know of certain groups of people in Malaysia who use HDR modes during wedding shoots which really is bizarre if you ask me. I’d really like to find out what the newlyweds think about the whole thing. Anyway here are two more in Illustration mode in low light which works just as well.
Illustration: Low
Illustration: High
Watercolor mode. To be honest, I’m not sure why anyone would want to use these artsy modes…
ISO 800, f 1.8, 1/25
Toy Camera Magenta mode. There are also other Toy Camera options such as Normal, Cool, Warm, Green and Blue.
In terms of details, I think it’s pretty impressive! This is a 100% crop of Donnie, zoomed in at maximum focal length. The aperture does not remain constant, and drops from f/1.8 at the wide end to f/4.9 at the tele end.
This was shot at f4.9 at maximum zoom from across the room. Steadyshot works well and not to mention my steady hands as well hur hur.
ISO 1600, f 1.8, 1/40
However I really do think the camera truly shines when used in low light situations. The f 1.8 aperture combined with the large aperture delivers decent, usable images without the need to use the dreaded flash.
ISO 1600, f 2.2, 1/13
ISO 1600, f 2.2, 1/15
ISO 1600, f 1.8, 1/20
Whenever I shoot using compact cameras, I dread going beyond ISO 800 because the noise is just insane and worse if cropping is required but with the RX100 I’ve no qualms about hitting ISO 1600! I have yet to go up to ISO 3200 but when I do, I’ll post an update here alright? This picture of Donnie was shot in our dimly lit airwell. I’m just happy that there’s no need to run around the house with a DSLR anymore. However to use the camera at f 1.8, it means that I have to use it at its widest focal length and go closer to the subject risking distortion and distracting them but it’s a small price to pay I reckon.
ISO 800, f 1.8, 1/15
ISO 400, f 1.8, 1/40
I know this isn’t a fantastic shot but aren’t the colors pretty in this picture? I attended a wedding today as a guest for the first time this year so I used the camera to go snappy snap around. It was suhweet!
This is a 100% crop of the image above this image. Not bad right! FYI this was shot at 10 megapixels. To be honest I rarely shoot snapshots using RAW or at using the maximum megapixels.
ISO 800, f 1.8, 1/40
I’ve tried shooting a few things up close or as they say macro shots but this was the sharpest I could get. Even so because of the shallow aperture, you can evidently see that the depth of field is too shallow that you risk ‘too much blur’ if there’s such as thing. Well the solution would be to bump up the aperture of course. It took the camera time to hunt for focus when it came to close ups and even then the images turned out blur when uploaded to my desktop. I won’t even upload them here because it’s sigh, too disappointing. The good thing is that I’m no macro shooter plus there’s always the issue of up close distortion so no biggie.
VERDICT
Overall I really really do like the Sony RX100 as a fun casual camera for high quality images in both bright and low light conditions. It’s a must have compact camera for anyone who has the budget for it and can’t see themselves lugging around even slightly larger a mirrorless. I can see why TIME magazine would include it into the list of Top 50 Inventions of the Year because it truly is a revolutionary product in the compact market. In fact, I find myself carrying this around in my pockets (I wear trousers or tapered pants whenever I’m out) instead of my bag because it’s simply convenient. The weight compared to say an iPhone’s is such a tiny price to pay considering the remarkable image quality you’re going to get.
My only gripe would be that the LCD is a tad bit too saturated and contrasty which doesn’t really translate the same when you upload it to a computer thank goodness. I would’ve loved for it to have a tilting screen and a dedicated ISO button on the camera but it’s okay, you can customize the lens/ring dial to any setting you want and I use it to adjust ISO but it’s not that intuitive if you ask me. I don’t think I’ll be giving the camera back to George anytime soon.
The Sony RX100 retails at RM2,499 in Malaysia.
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