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New RX100, some pictures, program mode question

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Benjamin LeClair

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Got my RX100, and I'm liking it so far although my D-Lux 5 is still in the lead. I don't post-process at all. I've tweaked a few settings on the RX100 after these pictures were taken (added a little saturation and sharpening) so I'll do some more testing later today or maybe next weekend.

It is a beautiful camera though! Here are a few pictures.





























All were taken with the Sony except for the last polar bear picture. This was taken with my D-Lux 5. Now that is a picture I find very pleasing to my eye. The RX100 polar bear picture looks okay, but not great. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe you guys have an idea.

As for the program mode question, if I increase sharpening does that then affect pictures taken in automatic? Or do those settings only apply in program mode? Thanks for any advice!
 
While the D-Lux is a little warmer, the main thing I see is that the polar bear was in direct sunlight for the RX100 and in flattering shade for the D-Lux.

Good light trumps everything.

... That and you may want to warm up the photo in post (white balance) or set the white balance on the camera to "cloudy".
 
Thank you! That's what I had said to my wife, that I thought it was much brighter that day but I wasn't sure if that's what it was.

Now I just have to work on figuring out more consistent accurate focusing and maybe this guy will be a keeper...

EDIT:

Here's what I mean. Two are taken with my Leica on automatic, two with the RX100. I think the Leica pictures look a lot better. I tried going to program mode on the RX100 and changing the autofocus area, but still get the same kind of results.















 
It has a big enough sensor and fast enough lens that you actually have to pay attention to focus points ... much like a DSLR.

For animals, I think I would use the tracking focus on an eye and then recompose.

(Always get the eyes in focus ... everything else is optional.)

I am having nose-focus challenges with the pets as well.



Note: the camera did really well in the black cat test. (Black cats are really, really hard to photograph well.)
 
Assuming your walls are white, I think the RX100 did a better job with WB. There is more of the bird in focus with Leica, with an f2 aperture vs. rx100 f1.8. I don't know if apertures are directly comparable between cameras, but I think if you used a smaller aperture on the rx100 and got more of the bird in focus, you might like the pictures better.
--

Karen
 
As mentioned above, the white balance of the RX100 is more accurate than that of the D-Lux ... and you do appear to be struggling with focus.

Suggestions:
  • Try the Toy Camera: Warm mode or the Retro Photo mode
  • Or Play with maual white balance
  • On focus, Use the tracking focus feature to pick a focus point (the bird's eyes) and then recompose. If you want more depth of field, back up and zoom in or stop down (using A mode).
 
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them out!

Guess I have to get out of the habit of just clicking as I've been doing with my Leica if I want to get the most out of the RX100.

Part of me is tempted to just go back to the Leica, then the RX100 gives me a picture like the duck above, and this one: (just cropped)



 
The tracking focus works great, thanks for the tip! I think that might cause me to miss some photos, but I'm happy with the improved results. Still trying to increase the depth of field and trying different settings.



 
Focus will get easier with experience. It has big benefits in terms of subject background d isolation.

By default, the lens ring will help you stop down, but you may need to turn up ISo as well.

If you're working with a back-lit subject like this, you might want to try an in cam HDR as well.
 
Benjamin LeClair said:
All were taken with the Sony except for the last polar bear picture. This was taken with my D-Lux 5. Now that is a picture I find very pleasing to my eye. The RX100 polar bear picture looks okay, but not great. I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe you guys have an idea.
Click to expand...
I can see why you do not like the first bear picture. The bear is your main subject in that picture but it occupies only a small part of the frame as opposed to the second pic. Secondly, the first bear pic is over exposed and that why the tonality is not has good as in the second bear pic.

So, if your shoot jpeg only and do no PP, your need to watch your exposure more carefully. Use Exp. Comp. to nail it correctly. There are times when any in camera light meters are fooled and I've found that with the RX100 its easy to spot just watching the lcd. The histogram is also a good tool for watching the exposure.
Benjamin LeClair said:
As for the program mode question, if I increase sharpening does that then affect pictures taken in automatic? Or do those settings only apply in program mode? Thanks for any advice!
Click to expand...
Increasing in-camera sharpening affects all jpeg, but not raw. Go easy on the sharpening, too much is like not enough.

--
Villebon
 
One more thing ... HDR mode will help you deal with harsh shadows like on the first polar bear picture ... Has anyone seen a histogram on this cam? ... Because we would need it to expose to the right in raw.?
 
I don't know anything about Leica's but one thing that might be different on the RX100 is there is no "focus priority shutter release", so depending on your shooting habit, subject could have moved out of the focus zone. Center focus, recompose and shoot will have to be done very quickly, hence focus tracking might be better for moving subjects.
 
FramerDave said:
I don't know anything about Leica's
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, the Leica D-Lux 5 is a Panasonic LX5 that has been rebadged (and with slightly different firmware).
 
Really appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions! I am enjoying the camera very much. I took some pictures at the dog park yesterday with my wife and with Saturation +1 and Sharpening +2 we both found them very pleasing to our eyes.

I have been reading a lot about depth of field and I had to laugh because almost everything I Google is about ACHIEVING the blurred effect, not REDUCING it. :-)

Great, great little camera. And I don't understand the knocks on the video; the little I've used it looks and sounds amazing.
 
Benjamin LeClair said:
I have been reading a lot about depth of field and I had to laugh because almost everything I Google is about ACHIEVING the blurred effect, not REDUCING it. :-)
Click to expand...
Aperture 1.8: biggest blur effect
Aperture 11: no blur effect

But you don't need to use Aperture 11. Mostly 8 or even 5.6 is enough to have everything in focus and a generally sharper image.

Also the polar bear RX100 photo:

The bear is very white and the background has a lot of shadow areas. The camera could not show the whole range of light and decided to balace the photo so you can still see details in the cave behind the bear. Thats why all the fine whites are overblown and all the important bear details are missing.

Try zooming more to the bear (so the white fur is more important for the camera metering) or reframe and make the dark areas of the picture less prominent. This is actually what you did on your leica picture and thats why it is better!
 
Thanks! I told my wife I want to go back to the zoo so I can try again. Watch out, polar bear! :-)

(We have a great one here in Albuquerque, NM.)

My wife has been laughing at me because I have been practicing photography in the house with the dog and bird so much... She said I am their paparazzi! ;-)
 
Ah and about your bird pictures:

Focus is generaly wrong in these shots and shutterspeed is to slow for a bird (1/30) :-) The leica used 1/60 which is better!

Try this:
Move/zoom a litte bit away so you are not too near (easier to focus).

Choose Iauto or Iauto+ and not P because the auto modes recognize movement and (in ok light) will rise the shutter speed to freeze the movement.

If you want to feel pro, choose S mode and dial the shutterspeed to 60 or more to definately reduce movement blur.
 
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