Picture from RX1

[ageha]

Joined the RX1 family yesterday (thanks to you know who ), really a very lovely camera.

This is my very first FF digital camera, initial impression was very good. The white balance is pretty accurate, focusing is a bit slow but coming from Pentax I'm used to slow focusing anyway, and the lens is sssooooo sharp even wide open! As someone said above, the lens alone worth $2k already.

The camera produces very accurate colors in JPG (haven't tested RAW yet), although not as pleasing as Fuji's colors, but probably more accurate. It's good to be able to shoot freely at ISO6400.

Now my X100 black limited edition has to go (and really sorry to see that happens).

You can buy the upcoming X100S black limited edition in January 2014.

 

[fengwei]

You can buy the upcoming X100S black limited edition in January 2014.

With the RX1 around, no point getting an X100s And I'm guessing the black X100s would cost as much if not more than the RX1 (second hand) I paid for. But thanks anyway for pointing this out.

 

[Thoth]

With the RX1 around, no point getting an X100s And I'm guessing the black X100s would cost as much if not more than the RX1 (second hand) I paid for. But thanks anyway for pointing this out.

Glad U benefitted from the tumbling prices of RX1 and got yourself a good gear... Happy shooting...

 

[ageha]

With the RX1 around, no point getting an X100s And I'm guessing the black X100s would cost as much if not more than the RX1 (second hand) I paid for. But thanks anyway for pointing this out.

Then get the limited edition RX1R in January.

 

[blackreplica]

Fengwei, try shooting in Vivid colour mode, it comes out really nice that way, especially since you're shooting in jpg. By default the colours are a little muted, I think this is intentional to maintain initial accuracy for PP. In fact if you like your colours strong, you can even go into the Vivid setting and increase saturation a little more, by default Vivid is still just a little conservative with colours (which makes it usable in almost every situation so you can shoot with it on every time and not have things look unnatural), if you like your colours to pop when shooting jpg

If you want to take your sharpness to the next level, try turning NR completely off. The level of detail will shock you. The noise is still very controlled with NR off up to ISO 3200. In RAW, with a good editor + noise reduction in post you can shoot up to ISO8000 and do NR in PP to get very clean images with almost no loss of detail. Personally I use DXO Optics pro using their Prime noise reduction which has the best results I have ever seen (though it takes about 7 minutes to de-noise each image on my computer)

When you decide to shoot RAW, you will be astounded again at the amount of information that the sensor picks up. I've had horrendously underexposed shots (almost everything was black) brought back to life with some slider pulls in post production. Steve Huff's review has an example, there was a completely underexposed picture of a black waiter in a blue shirt which shows what I'm talking about. Amazing dynamic range.

 

[blackreplica]

I wanted either the A7r or the RX1R and pair that with the RX1 or the A7. The louder shutter and challenge with wider focal length M lenses on the A7r meant that I chose the A7 and in doing so I swapped the RX1 for the RX1R. The additional cost of either combination came up to be almost the same so it wasn't as painful as it seems selling the RX1 at such a low price.

I think you made the right choice. I have the RX1R too and it just picks up so much micro detail I'm smiling ear to ear every time I process my images. Well, I guess it remains to be seen if it really matters if you don't print too large but boy is it a great camera. The good news with the A7 is that it won't demand perfection in your photography technique to get sharp images and you do get the phase detect AF which should speed things up a bit. One of the few gripes I have with the RX1 is that focus can be a little slow in low light (my AF assist light is turned off for stealth)

 

[agawads]

Joined the RX1 family yesterday (thanks to you know who ), really a very lovely camera.

This is my very first FF digital camera, initial impression was very good. The white balance is pretty accurate, focusing is a bit slow but coming from Pentax I'm used to slow focusing anyway, and the lens is sssooooo sharp even wide open! As someone said above, the lens alone worth $2k already.

The camera produces very accurate colors in JPG (haven't tested RAW yet), although not as pleasing as Fuji's colors, but probably more accurate. It's good to be able to shoot freely at ISO6400.

Now my X100 black limited edition has to go (and really sorry to see that happens).

Welcome to the RX family bro... i attempted to sell it twice... glad i still have it!

 

[agawads]

I think you made the right choice. I have the RX1R too and it just picks up so much micro detail I'm smiling ear to ear every time I process my images. Well, I guess it remains to be seen if it really matters if you don't print too large but boy is it a great camera. The good news with the A7 is that it won't demand perfection in your photography technique to get sharp images and you do get the phase detect AF which should speed things up a bit. One of the few gripes I have with the RX1 is that focus can be a little slow in low light

i second this suggestion to tune up the vividness if in jpg mode.

 

[ageha]

i second this suggestion to tune up the vividness if in jpg mode.

I don't recommend that. I suggest choosing the standard tone curve and dialling down contrast and sharpness and increasing the saturation.

 

[fengwei]

Fengwei, try shooting in Vivid colour mode, it comes out really nice that way, especially since you're shooting in jpg. By default the colours are a little muted, I think this is intentional to maintain initial accuracy for PP

If you want to take your sharpness to the next level, try turning NR completely off. The level of detail will shock you. The noise is still very controlled with NR off up to ISO 3200. In RAW, with a good editor + noise reduction in post you can shoot up to ISO8000 and do NR in PP to get very clean images with almost no loss of detail. Personally I use DXO Optics pro using their Prime noise reduction which has the best results I have ever seen (though it takes about 7 minutes to de-noise each image on my computer)

When you decide to shoot RAW, you will be astounded again at the amount of information that the sensor picks up. I've had horrendously underexposed shots (almost everything was black) brought back to life with some slider pulls in post production. Steve Huff's review has an example, there was a completely underexposed picture of a black waiter in a blue shirt which shows what I'm talking about. Amazing dynamic range.

Thanks for the suggestion. Normally I'd do a bit PP w/ JPGs so I'd rather stay w/ standard mode. Vivid mode is just too much for my like and there isn't much room for me to play (in PP).

I'd definitely shoot in RAW mostly, that's the whole idea behind it (to get the best IQ possible, that's why I'm changing from X100 to an RX1). I tried JPG last night (well, I only got the camera yesterday afternoon) to check all the settings including white balance and focusing accuracy. I haven't even looked at the photos on my computer yet. I've had the RX100 twice before, so I'm more or less there already, even w/o looking at the manual.

Right now I'm using CS6, but my friend also suggested me to try the DXO Optics Pro. I think I'd give it a try if it got trial version. Another option will be Lightroom.

Thanks again, and I think this camera will stay with me for a long time (love the form factor, love the 35mm lens, and don't think the sensor will become outdated anytime soon).

 

[keithwee]

I think there's a little too much BBB mania going on which makes people buy and dump cams quickly. The A7 being out doesn't in any way change the fact that the RX1 takes absolutely stunning photos And it's simply impossible (for now at least), even with the A7, to get the same high quality lens + sensor combo in the same form factor. Sure you could mate the A7R to the upcoming FE 35 f1.4 but that thing is guaranteed gonna be big. I travel a lot on my own for work and use it as a personal travel cam. Put in in a small pouch, and it's good to go everywhere. The pictures I get from this thing blow me away every time. As long as the 35mm focal length is good enough for you, and size/stealth matters, nobody would turn down an RX1!

What u said made a lot of sense

However for lowballers , trust me - any idea that can be used will be used.

Imagine having someone offering me 650 for a EP5+VF4 still with 10mth warranty and proclaiming that this is really a very good price.

Can imagine how the pple selling the RX1 felt. Just learn to take it in stride and ignore the ignorant and opportunistic ones.

 

[silgt]

These lowballers are the ones who will priced "his" RX1 at a ridiculous price and say you are getting a good bargain. Shameless really....and you guys knew who you are!

Now can someone offer me a RX1R at a good price?!?!? ;p

 

[ayuready]

Joined the RX1 family yesterday (thanks to you know who ), really a very lovely camera.

This is my very first FF digital camera, initial impression was very good. The white balance is pretty accurate, focusing is a bit slow but coming from Pentax I'm used to slow focusing anyway, and the lens is sssooooo sharp even wide open! As someone said above, the lens alone worth $2k already.

The camera produces very accurate colors in JPG (haven't tested RAW yet), although not as pleasing as Fuji's colors, but probably more accurate. It's good to be able to shoot freely at ISO6400.

Now my X100 black limited edition has to go (and really sorry to see that happens).

Bro welcome to Sony. Seems like u have tried all the underdogs brands already !

 

[fengwei]

Bro welcome to Sony. Seems like u have tried all the underdogs brands already !

Thanks Bro. Think about it, I did play all but Canon/Nikon already

 

[snoopyzai]

Thanks Bro. Think about it, I did play all but Canon/Nikon already

Since I left Nikon D700 with all trinity lens including manual Len like Nikon 50mm f1.2, 35mm f1.4 and CV lens. I never look back after got myself into Lecia lens onto Ricoh GXR M mount and Lecia M9. However very disappointed that it seemed GXR M mount is discontinued and believed that no more full frame M mount from Ricoh from them and of course I do hope they comes.

Sony RX1 and Sony RX1r definitely one of the extremely all rounder compact you can have. Which I sold both to my friend. If I am given a chance to have the compacts again I only choose RX1r and Lecia X2.

IMO

 

[Errz]

 

[obfuscate]

If I am given a chance to have the compacts again I only choose RX1r and Lecia X2.

I am using both now. The RX1R now gets used for the important occasions while the X2 is carried around on normal days.

 

[blackreplica]

Took my bike out for a photo shoot one sunrise.

It was really during this casual shoot that I realised that the Sony is really very very conservative when it comes to exposure, specifically it really underexposes images to preserve highlight detail.So much so that if you were shooting jpg and not careful with your exposure you could get a serious % of throwaways. Here's an example of what I mean, this shot was jpg out of camera.

EV on my RX1R was set of 0.0 with metering at evaluative. There is a reasonable amount of sky in the picture, but a vast majority of the image consists of darker regions which call for an overall lower shutter speed. In spite of this the Sony intentionally underexposed the image by a large amount to try and preserve some sky, IMO excessively so. In the days when I used to shoot with my 500D in RAW, if I saw an image like this, this was an immediate throwaway, there is no way I could manipulate the image to get a satisfactory level of detail from the shadows with this kind of exposure. I would need at LEAST another half stop of EV on my old camera to even have a chance of salvaging the image.

Nonethless, since I had the RAW I thought I'd try anyway and I'm glad I did. I got almost HDR levels of detail out of this image and got the shot I wanted (which I ordinarily would have thrown away)

Moral of the story is that jpg shooters really need to be proactive with using spot metering (or exposure comp) if they shoot with tricky lighting extremes in the same image with the RX1. It doesn't help that the picture as seen on the EVF/Screen is not representative of the final exposure.

But this camera is definitely a godsend for RAW shooters, the amount of information the sensor picks up is nothing short of mind blowing (for example, look in the deepest recesses of the engine under the bodywork, the reflections on the carbon fibre portions of the bike, or the detail on the worn tyres which are already black to begin with!...and compare it to the original image)

 

[Oly5050]

Black replica - im not sure abt canon jpegs, but with oly and sony, you can easily kmprove that shot in jpeg just be changing exposure post - up to +1 EV.

 

[blackreplica]

Just for fun and based on your advice I tried to mess around with the jpg, even with +2EV there was too little detail in the shadows and the sky was completely blown. Next I copied in my RAW adjustment settings to the JPG and it looked pretty terrible, there were artefacts everywhere and it just looked forced, I toned some of the settings down and in the end I got about 60% of the way between original and the raw image I posted with some artefacts in the bokeh (though on the bike it was ok). Overall there was more latitude than I expected even with the jpgs (wayyy better than my old Canon) but for serious processing it (of course) falls short.

Although I do understand why Sony made the decision to go this way, for straight out of camera exposure I still think the Sony has a little too strong a tendency to underexpose certain scenes and this will require some form of compensation from the user