Sony RX1

[macfly]

Well I'm starting this off since the more I read about this camera the more I think it is pretty much my dream camera. I love the 35mm lens, it is the best single prime there is, and 24mp should be perfect for every application I could ever imagine. It's also really handy in size, just a fraction bigger that the Canon G series.

[Z8Mania]

I can't wait to learn more about this new camera. I love it.

Whats interesting is I am looking for my first prime. I've always had some kind of zoom lens. But I've come around to wanting a prime because my new SLR body (the D4) is showing me the relative lack of resolution from my trusty 17-35mm lens. I was looking for a good prime and I concluded that the 35mm would be a great one because I like to shoot lots of different things. Another camera buddy wanted me to go with 50 or 85 but I felt they were too strong and I have that really nice 24-70 which I think is excellent but I'm taking another step and it seems like the right time to go with a prime (sorry for the unintentional rhyming).

[raka]

beautiful camera - would have been great if they could've done more sony magic & managed a built-in viewfinder as well!

[macfly]

Oddly enough I've been a live view rear screen lover for a long time, so the lack of viewfinder doesn't bother me at all.

[Z8Mania]

Thats interesting. I still like the old fashioned view finder but I think in my case its a function of what I know/ am comfortable with. I think the EVF or just going with the rear screen could offer different advantages.

[ZMates]

It's smaller than a NEX 7!!!!!! I'm blown away.

[thegunguy]

I can't wait to see this one in the wild. Like you Andrew, 35mm is my all-around favorite.

[macfly]

It's getting close!

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/son...hot-dsc-rx1/12

[Z8Mania]

Andrew,
OMG- me want!!!

http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/1...ct-powerhouse/

[macfly]

This camera really does seem to be getting absolute rave reviews everywhere, seems like if you have the spare cash it really is a must have.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...1_review.shtml

[raka]

This camera really does seem to be getting absolute rave reviews everywhere, seems like if you have the spare cash it really is a must have.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...1_review.shtml

thanks for the link, Andrew

it is a testament to the quality of the camera that his biggest criticism was of the box it comes in!

so, is it on your list for Santa?

[macfly]

Honestly it doesn't make sense, I'd be buying it as a toy, not a working unit, and with the economy the way it is there just isn't any room for toys in the budget.

[raka]

Honestly it doesn't make sense, I'd be buying it as a toy, not a working unit, and with the economy the way it is there just isn't any room for toys in the budget.

i hear you!

i am also holding off on toys, content with my tiny S100 plus DSLRs combo for my needs for now.

or I was, but then a week or so ago B&H started a fire sale on the Nikon V1 for $299 (includes lens!) - and i couldn't resist. i added the 30-110 lens, also on deep discount, for a total of $399 delivered. at these impulse-level prices, it was easy to scratch my itch for toys, without breaking the bank.

as a bonus, the V1 uses the same battery ($60 value) as my D600, and you can also use (via FT1 adapter) all your existing Nikon lenses (preserving AF with AF-S lenses). not tried this yet, as it sort of defeats the purpose - but (due to 2.7 POV factor) gives you crazy combos like 230mm f/1.4 (with 85/1.4 lens)

on paper, this camera with its tiny 1" sensor (RX100 size) makes no sense, and folks seem to either love it or hate it. what sold me was its operational speed (DSLR-like AF speeds due to both phase & contrast detection, like the new NEX-6), and tiny lenses (compared to 4/3 and APC formats).

if folks are interested, i can provide more info on usage & experiences with it, perhaps in a separate thread, but Rob Galbraith summed up my feelings quite well over here:

Galbraith Nikon V1 Review

[macfly]

Always love hearing about new things, so absolutely share your experiences!! Things maybe looking brighter for the RX1, talked to CPA today, and it seems we need to carry some more expenses forward, so fingers crossed!

[Z8Mania]

Please share experiences! Congratulations on the Nikon V1. Looks awesome. And yes the RX1 looks awesome too. Unlike just about all automakers, I've always felt safe buying a gen 1 product from Sony- in many cases, their Gen 1 products are the best of the series and gen 2 was usually where they cut corners!

[macfly]

And so it happened, Santa the Taxman said I was a very good boy and I could write off one more toy!!

I'm really looking forward to making it my daily companion, just as all the rave reviews have said, it really has redefined what you can do with a point and shoot. Without further ado here is a quick look at what this little beastie can do. First two pix are with my trusty iPhone just to give a sense of it's size, design and quality.

[thegunguy]

Sneaky! I was wondering who was going to be the first.

Such an amazing bit of TINY kit! What a lens!

Can't wait to see it sometime. I'm curious to check out the UI.

[macfly]

UI is totally straight forward, photographer friendly and simple. I was able to set it up within a couple of minutes to shoot these test without even looking at a manual. I think with a little of practice it'll really be a go anywhere do anything camera.

[Norcal]

That might be next for me. Looks more similar in ui to the old film cameras?

[Z8Mania]

Andrew, wow! Congratulations

The images look amazing. I have a similar reaction to the other recent Sony images: very clean, very clear and natural colors, and well just very clean. Whats your sharpening process? I used to use USM but now Ive been playing with smart sharpen. Any thoughts pro or con? I think this camera could be an iconic camera into the future.

[macfly]

I don't know what USM is, I always use Photoshop for everything, and in PS the Unsharp Mask is all I use for sharpening - it's the little icon thingy in the previous screengrabs.

So today I put threw the RX1 into the deep end, asking it to handle a real world hang out and play day catching the moment with everything on auto. It didn't once make me work to get the shots, it just did exactly what I wanted it to in every situation! This is the first snap camera I've ever used that's come anything close to doing this, it just works - really, really well!!

[biffom]

I too splurged on one - it should arrive tomorrow!

The low light shots are amazing. Especially on automatic. Was the last one hand held or placed on the ground and then shot with the timer?

Btw: Brings back fond memories for me - I have SO many shots of my old dog running on the beach in Malibu. Such a happy face.

[macfly]

For the low light pix I just held the camera on some handy thrash cans, which is why there's a little motion blur.

I notice that these pics aren't showing up on my mobile devices, but they appear perfectly on the computer. I'm not sure why, anyone else unable to see them on their mobiles?

[Norcal]

I haven't been able to view any of the recent shots on my ipad2, but they look great on my desktop iMac.

[Z8Mania]

I rarely look on mobile devices but Ill give it a try later.

Andrew, really amazing shots. Gorgeous. I love the ones of the dogs- are those yours? What are their names? The camera clearly acquits itself very well. As does the photog!

USM= unsharp mask (my own shorthand). I may go back to that.

[macfly]

Hah, yes that's what I use!! :-)

The little dogs are mine, Coco (Jack Russell mix) and Starr (pound hound). Here we are in the usual position at mission control in an snap with the old G10, which was the last good camera I had from Canon.

[Z8Mania]

AWWWW they are so cute. I love dogs. (all animals really). Theres nothing like having a dog.

[thegunguy]

Not seeing photos on the iPad either.

I'm loving your new toy.

[macfly]

Damn, sadly we no longer have any tech back up, so there's nothing I can do about it any more!!

Hah, I take that back, by halving the strips I can get them to load on the iDevices, which is odd because the Napa story loads right up with no issues?

[thegunguy]

Yep. Works.

[macfly]

Mystery solved, jpgs can't be saved on Progressive which I guess the latest batch were, they have to be Optimized, as shown below - I just saved the Sunday 9th drive over and its coming up on the iPad too now.

[macfly]

By some very strange dint of fate I was just given another of these incredible cameras as a gift, so if you are considering one I have one in it's sealed and unopened box to sell at the regular B&H discount price.

[Norcal]

Please text me the details!

[Z8Mania]

OMG Andrew!!!!!!!!!

[thegunguy]

Whoa, you must have been really good this year! Let's see...replace the NEX 7?

[macfly]

I know, I nearly fell off my chair when it arrived!! :-)

[thegunguy]

I haven't taken my 24mm off of the NEX more than two times. I think I could live with a fixed setup.

[thegunguy]

Isn't the f-stop conversion from APSC to FF 1.5x, just like focal length? My 24mm APS-C is a 1.8, and with semi-hi ISO, I can get very workable stuff on the NEX. I love it for interiors in natural light.

[macfly]

The f-stop doesn't change with format, it's just the measurement of light hitting the film/sensor, but what does change is the depth of field.

Your 24 at f2 will have a greater depth of field, or less visible fall off than the 35mm lens at f2 - even though they will have the same angel of view because the sensor is larger. On a Hasselblad the equivalent would be a 55mm lens, on a 4x5 plate camera it would be around a 100mm and on an 8x10 plate camera a around 200mm. At that focal length your depth of field at f2 would be as thin as a cigarette paper, and your fall off would be massive, but if you could get a f2 lens that size, the amount of light transmitted, and thus your exposure would be the same.

Your fall off on a 200mm lens on a 35mm camera would however be just the same, but instead of being a wide lens as it would be for an 8x10 plate camera, it's a telephoto.

[thegunguy]

Gotcha. I'd lose a little low light performance, but not much. Regardless, 36mm or equivalent at 35mm is THE length.

[macfly]

Absolutely, it's the prime, the Cartier-Bresson lens, the only lens you really need, as you're discovering. All the others are fun, but it's the one. Between 1.8 & 2 is around 1/3 stop, not really enough to change things, but the the RX1 has the sensor of life, so you'll be picking up an extra stop or more over the NEX there.

[macfly]

Ian passed as he wanted a zoom lens, so the sealed and unopened unit is still available.

[Z8Mania]

Thats mighty high praise!

[raka]

congratulations to all the new RX1 owners - and thanks for the great sample images!

in case you haven't seen this yet, i spotted a recommendation for an external charger for RX1/100 batteries by Steve Huff that you may be interested in

RX1/100 external charger

[macfly]

Very cool, I actually bought two spare batteries and an external too after reading the reports, and so far no complaints at all.

We were blessed with some spectacular skies here today, so I took the RX1 out on hike. I suspect this thread might get rather image heavy as I really love this camera!!

[Z8Mania]

Wow Andrew! Very nice!

[EDEZ8]

Great shots, especially the last one!

[macfly]

The heavens opened about ten minutes after that one was taken, happily I took my waterproof jacket with me!

[EDEZ8]

You can feel the pending rain in the picture. Glad to read you took a jacket!

[KenZ8]

These B&W photos should be merged onto the "where to hide from a financial asteroid" thread- to me it looks like the rebirth of society after the great financial storm that we are living through. Wonderful emotion captured in each one!

[thegunguy]

As much as I'm interested in this little guy (maybe for the simplicity alone), I'm going to pass. The NEX 7 is still doing great things for me, and as my main body, I like the "option" to put on my 50mm, if needed (used it only twice though).

The RX1 may very well be lighting in a bottle, but all the rumors around the NEX 7 replacement, NEX FF, etc. have me curious for what the next 12 to 18 months have in store...not to mention some of the E lenses in the pipe.

I'm really fighting the siren call on this one...maybe in the summer they'll have a sale.

[macfly]

You can only use one at a time!

Honestly I don't think you need it, if I had a NEX I wouldn't have bought it either, but I'm super happy with now I have it. I also love the discipline of a fixed lens, it makes your eye so much keener. If I need more glass I have the working kit, but for a take everywhere high quality snap camera its off the charts. Seriously it's better in every way than my old EOS 1Ds Mklll !!

[macfly]

For the geeks amongst us!

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-...-than-the-a99/

[raka]

For the geeks amongst us!

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/sony-...-than-the-a99/

i see it basically gets the same great rating as the D600 - only the D800 is rated (marginally) better amongst all sensors they've tested!

fun to geek out at these numbers. they have their place, but you still need a top rating BEHIND the camera as well to make use of this potential, as Andrew demonstrates in this thread

ps: wonder why the lower rating for the a99? i thought it used the same sensor as the RX1 and D600?

[macfly]

I suspect the shoot through mirror is messing with the light a little, can't see how it wouldn't, honestly I always thought that was a whack idea.

[Z8Mania]

Very nice. Sure you can only use one at a time, but we here are a target group to have more than one.

[macfly]

No tripod, but the camera could do most of what I asked, though it let me know that my attempt to capture my moon shadow was beyond the bounds of reason, even for such a remarkable machine!

[Z8Mania]

Gorgeous shots. Just amazing.

[raka]

excellent!

[thegunguy]

Amazing photos. Amazinger when you consider how tiny that thing is.

[biffom]

Mine arrived and had to be sent back due to the focus failing. Interestingly it wouldn't manually focus either. The replacement arrived and I really really like it. The form factor is one that conveniently fits into most of my better half's hand bags - No chance of trying that with the bulk of a Nikon SLR.

I have found that since reading glasses have become necessary that I am missing a view finder. I consistently manage to mess up the focusing when squinting due to not using glasses. I also manged to spend the morning taking motorcycle shots at the Las Vegas auctions only to get back and realise that I'd knocked the exposure compensation dial and underexposed all my shots... So I've got an evf on order.

I also picked up an eye-fi card and it flawlessly (and surprisingly quickly) transfers the photos to my iPhone/ipad. I'm really impressed by the amount of tech packed into that little card.

[thegunguy]

If you haven't already, check out the focus peaking feature. It highlights the edges of everything in the plane of focus in red. I've found it to be super helpful.

[Z8Mania]

WOW! That image is very crisp and seems to have a terrific dynamic range.

[macfly]

This lens test just came my way via Sony Rumors site, The Spanish reviewers from DSLRmagazine focused their efforts on analyzing the Zeiss 35mm f/2.0 performance. And as you can see from the graphs the delivered image quality is excellent. DSLRmagazine writes: ?We can see that the combination of lens and sensor paired brings dramatic results, the highest level achieved to date in our tests of digital cameras.?

Pretty impressive!

Raw files on top, Jpgs below - you do loose something not shooting raw.

I still have one for sale here, sealed and unopened.

[Z8Mania]

Wow! Very impressive stuff- do you have a link to the review?

[macfly]

While utterly seduced and in love with the RX1 as a hiking companion, on todays Sunday Drive I ran headlong into the limits of what it can do as an in car action camera. It can't focus fast enough to get most of the shots I wanted, I had a 1 in 3 hit ratio, so many shots where missed, and it is also too small, light and easy to hit the wrong buttons, messing up its settings using it in car. What it did capture was perfect, but in truth it missed far too many shots to take along as anything other than a snap camera for lunches and dinners.

[macfly]

I just can't get enough of this crazy little camera, it really is a photographers dream, and such a treat for days like these....

[thegunguy]

You're really starting to annoy me. I DO NOT WANT AN RX1, I DO NOT WANT AN RX1!

Lovely string, Andrew.

[Z8Mania]

WOW Andrew, just WOW!!! The last one almost looks HDR. WOW.

[macfly]

It's real, I don't like HDR, and never use it, it has a fingernails on blackboard effect on my sensibilities!

[thegunguy]

It's real, I don't like HDR, and never use it, it has a fingernails on blackboard effect on my sensibilities!

Amen! When used well, it can be effective, but it's usually handled very poorly.

[Z8Mania]

I agree with you fellas but when done in a careful way it can produce some stunning results and really it can do what its name says which is get more dynamic range.

[macfly]

This camera is magic, and the funny thing is it's really like a Z8, retro, simple, totally stripped bare and essential. :-)

On the morning hike....

[Z8Mania]

Wow Andrew- really lovely. The thing that strikes me most about the images is how fluid and natural they are. It reminds me of my reaction to the RX100; but of course this is a level better.

However, is the Z8 really that bare-bones? I think in both cases you have things that are intentionally more simplistic in their interface than the inherent technology under the skin.

[macfly]

Exactly, they both give a simple, classic(al) user experience that echoes the machines of golden bygone eras with all the advantages of modern technology hidden beneath the hood.