Sony DCS-RX100 field test


ortega

Moderator
Nov 2, 2004
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Singapore, Singapore, Singapor
With all the internet noise on this little pocket sized P&S camera, i have been given an opportunity to put this camera through an on the field test.
Lets see what this P&S camera can out in real shooting situations.

Firstly lets look at the camera, it is really small, around the size of the canon S100 or fujifilm x10

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this is a small camera with a fixed zoom lens and a large 1" sensor, the same size as the Nikon 1 cameras

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there is also a nice leather case
 

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The flash only pops up when you activate it via the flash settings, it does not have a physical button to release it.

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one plus point that it uses a universal USB cable to charge the battery, this means that you can use an external battery to charge your camera as well.
 

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Minimal buttons on the top plate

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and on the bottom you have the battery and memory card door and tripod mount.
It accepts SD cards and memory sticks.
Note that the tripod mount's position is not at the axis of the lens.
there is a HDMI port at the bottom for connecting to your TV to view your videos and or images.

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the battery/memory card door cannot be opened while the camera is mounted on a tripod
 

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a detailed look at the buttons and dials on the rear
note the dedicated video recording button and the thumb rest

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a detailed view of the mode dial on the top

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the door to the USB port

stay tuned as i go shooting over the week
 

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now some full images resized to 700 pixels wide

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from the above you can see that ISO 3200 is really pushing it but still not too bad
the technology has changed, i remember i did not shoot higher than ISO400 on my D70
 

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Yeah, that's pretty much what I also found in the RX100 hands-on I posted. 3200 is the border for "not bad" to "now it gets mushy" but it's actually not bad at ISO6400 - still usable for web size and small prints.
 

Rashkae said:
Yeah, that's pretty much what I also found in the RX100 hands-on I posted. 3200 is the border for "not bad" to "now it gets mushy" but it's actually not bad at ISO6400 - still usable for web size and small prints.

Yes I agree with you, it is still ok for properly exposed areas, the shadow areas will start to become muddy
 

tweakmax said:
Iso1600 and above seem mushy.

Yes it starts to get mushy in the shadow areas
So with this information I will know that if it is really dark and full of shadow areas, I will not go beyond ISO800, but if it a scene with little shadow areas I can go up 1 stop. If I am just going to post the image on the web then can go up to ISO3200.
 

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tweakmax said:
Iso1600 and above seem mushy.

Yup, but compared to other point and shoots it's in a different league