First effort with new Rx1R II - my town's trainstation - C&C please

Birddogman · Dec 21, 2015

This is the train station in the nearest town to where we live. As a small child in the early 1950's I would wait here for the train to take me into Philadelphia. Imagine a kid doing that sort of trip alone today. But I digress...

The train station is the subject of my first effort to make a decent image with the new RX1r II, which has a steep learning curve for me because it is my first Sony camera. I didn't have a lot of time to work on the capture - just grabbed a quick shot on the way back from the feed store. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the IQ (image shrunken to 1600px on the long side for posting).

C&C requested (but please be gentle because I'm a Sony newbie).

The dogs love our bi-weekly visits to the feed store and are well known there. They chase off the ubiquitous pigeons and the men working there pump Chase and Joy full of treats. This was quick snap of the feed store with the brand new camera. I'm not happy with the composition on this one, but love the IQ provided by the little camera. I can do better when I have more time:

Thanks for lookin'

Greg

Bobo Hodls · Dec 21, 2015

There's bit of out of place halo/glow about the roof of the station. But otherwise I think these are out-standing (that's what the "dang!" was for). Timeless scenes, made so with your hand to the treatment.

Yea, I'm sure there's other compositions for the 2nd shot too, but I'm not feeling that at all. It just engages and appeals. The personal touches in the telling also contribute, but not that these need any such support.

--
...Bob, NYC
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"Well, sometimes the magic works. . . Sometimes, it doesn't." - Chief Dan George, Little Big Man
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66GTO · Dec 21, 2015

Your train station shot is just like stepping back in time. Looks like you are off to a great start with your new camera!

Brian Mosley · Dec 21, 2015

Hi Greg,

congratulations on your new camera, and it looks like you've had no problem creating your own style of images here - very striking and effective.

I like them both, and think your treatment really compliments the subjects.

Thanks for sharing here.

Brian
--
Keep up with me here : http://twitter.com/alert_bri

MSpencer · Dec 23, 2015

Hi Greg-

Beautiful first photos with your new Sony.

I'm also interested in this camera as I've been looking for sometime now for an easily portable camera with great IQ and autofocus. I looked into the original RX1 but did not end up getting one as the slower autofocus would ultimately not work for me. When this new Sony was first announced, I thought that it would be perfect for my needs but it is still out of stock locally so have not had a chance to handle it yet

I have enjoyed your photo essays on the Fuji forum recounting your adventures with Joy and Chase and look forward to seeing some photos of Joy and Chase with your new toy

I'm especially curious to know how you find the autofocus.

Margaret

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

Brian Mosley said:
Hi Greg,

congratulations on your new camera, and it looks like you've had no problem creating your own style of images here - very striking and effective.

I like them both, and think your treatment really compliments the subjects.

Thanks for sharing here.

Brian
--
Keep up with me here : http://twitter.com/alert_bri

Thank you, kind sir!!

mreynolds767 · Dec 23, 2015

Also like them, and that you have developed your own style look.

Being critical I find the subject in the first one much better than the 2nd which while interesting is not very photogenic a facility compared to the old train station.

I find your cropping too tight in both cases. Might have been in post or you are used to shooting wider than 35mm.

Love the building itself and your post treatments to make it stand out and have a vintage look, but think you pushed the blur and washing out of the background elements, sky and buildings too far and think it would be better to have more realism overall by toning that down.

Sounds like you are enjoying the new camera and I look forward to seeing more of our shots with it!

--
online gallery at:
www.MattReynoldsPhotography.com

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

MSpencer said:
Hi Greg-

Beautiful first photos with your new Sony.

I'm also interested in this camera as I've been looking for sometime now for an easily portable camera with great IQ and autofocus. I looked into the original RX1 but did not end up getting one as the slower autofocus would ultimately not work for me. When this new Sony was first announced, I thought that it would be perfect for my needs but it is still out of stock locally so have not had a chance to handle it yet

I have enjoyed your photo essays on the Fuji forum recounting your adventures with Joy and Chase and look forward to seeing some photos of Joy and Chase with your new toy I'm especially curious to know how you find the autofocus.

Margaret

Thanks, Margaret. I hope this find you and yours (your pup, too, of course!) well!!

I've had the much same quest - for a small, portable FF camera with awesome IQ. I wasn't looking for a replacement for my Fuji equipment because I need its versatility in the field, especially the ability to use different focal lengths. The intention was to use the camera as an adjunct to the Fuji system - mostly for careful landscape-type photography. I had ZERO interest in going the large, heavy FF DSLR route again, only to find (again) that the thing spends far more time at home than in the field.

I felt exactly like you about the original RX1 - came close to buying one a few times, but each time, the downsides put me off, including the reputed slow focus. When the Leica Q came along, I thought my quest was over, but after reading a good bit about it, I realized that I didn't want to be stuck with a 28mm lens - too wide for most of what I do - and that it wasn't all that compact anyway. Also, the price put me off - not that I have a problem paying for quality things (if you think cameras are costly try "fine" double guns), but, to me, cameras are just tools, not jewelry and paying for the red dot rubbed me wrong. Happily, I didn't buy one.

Didn't pre-order the RX1R II and nearly missed being able to get one, but Amazon showed a couple in stock for a very short time and I jumped on that - was able to get one. Now, it sounds like they may be hard to get for some time. Seems like a poor business practice and I'm sure this must be very frustrating to folks like you who want to buy one.

I haven't had much time to play with the new camera yet, plus it's been raining pretty much without stop, so the dogs and I haven't been afield. Also, there is a learning curve on this camera (for me at least). The autofocus (given my limited use so far) seems to work just as claimed - very quick, even in low light. Better than the Fuji for sure.

Recognizing that I have not yet come close to conquering the learning curve; and that shrinking the images to 1600px on the long side for posting here takes away a lot of the effect of the amazing resolution of the camera, here are a few recent snapshots. Yesterday, I stuffed the new camera in my pocket (yes, you read that right - VERY nice to be able to do that!) and took The Chaser and Joy for a quick run between rain storms to the little mountain lake by my place:

Stopped by the old farm very briefly in the pouring rain this morning to sue the camera a bit (when you get a new toy, you GOTTA use it - rain be damned):

The soggy sheep were stunned that anyone was dumb enough to be outside walking around in that muck.

Regards,

Greg

camera_nut · Dec 23, 2015

These are some very nice shots and nice processing too. I love my RX100 to death.

You'll want to experiment with the auto HDR (and DRO) which work very well in the RX100. Also think about dialing back the default contrast - since you obvioiusly post process.

Sony's menus are pretty good once you get to know them. All the better sonys have a very similar interface which is nice. My A6000 is much the same except has more custom buttons and dials which are really handy.

You'll love this camera. If you don't have an ever-ready case you should consider one. They are really nice to have.

Harvey Rawn · Dec 23, 2015

Birddogman said:
Stopped by the old farm very briefly in the pouring rain this morning to sue the camera a bit (when you get a new toy, you GOTTA use it - rain be damned):

Love this shot. Is that beautiful dog on the left a Brittany? I might crop the shot to show just him/her.

Birddogman said:
The soggy sheep were stunned that anyone was dumb enough to be outside walking around in that muck.

I like these two images best and love how the Rx1R II handles colors. Reminds me of my R1.

Birddogman said:
Regards,

Greg

--
Harvey
Write with light

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

mreynolds767 said:
Also like them, and that you have developed your own style look.

Being critical I find the subject in the first one much better than the 2nd which while interesting is not very photogenic a facility compared to the old train station.

I find your cropping too tight in both cases. Might have been in post or you are used to shooting wider than 35mm.

Love the building itself and your post treatments to make it stand out and have a vintage look, but think you pushed the blur and washing out of the background elements, sky and buildings too far and think it would be better to have more realism overall by toning that down.

Sounds like you are enjoying the new camera and I look forward to seeing more of our shots with it!

--
online gallery at:
www.MattReynoldsPhotography.com

Thanks for the input, Matt - much appreciated. I don't disagree with your comments. FWIW, the train station is in a very run-down part of my run-down little town, surrounded with lots of junk, old cars, shabby row houses (some not occupied) and biker bars. It's hard to photograph without all that distraction, so I cropped tightly and used the Orton effect to dull the effect of the background. Probably the better approach would be to just make a good image of the old place (the sides of the building are equally interesting) and then transpose that on to a more pleasant setting. Given I was just playing with my brand new camera I didn't care to spend the time.

The feed store is actually a pretty good photographic subject, done properly. I love the oddly placed windows, different building materials used over the years, endless pipes, stairs and handrails, etc. Pretty much ideal material for a FF 42MP sensor. That day, I had only a minute, was driving by, jumped out of the car and shot a couple of random frames with the unfamiliar new camera to try it out.

This is a shot of the same place with the Fuji.

The dogs and I hit the feed store every few weeks when we go into town, so one of these days, when I get time and the weather co-operates, I want to try shooting the feed store again with the Sony. Much to learn....

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

Harvey Rawn said:
Love this shot. Is that beautiful dog on the left a Brittany? I might crop the shot to show just him/her.

I like these two images best and love how the Rx1R II handles colors. Reminds me of my R1.

--
Harvey
Write with light

Thanks for your insight, Harvey.

Yes, both dogs are Brittanys and working bird dogs (as well and friends and family). Joy, my one year old puppy is on the left (orange and white) and the one on the right is Chase, my liver and white 13 year old master. Here they are in the back seat of my old Jeep the other day. "Hey Boss, may we PLEASE hunt NOW?? Lemme at them birds!!"

Joy pointing a bird last week in fluffy timothy and Chase honoring her point:

Chase making the retrieve in the timothy:

Photographing my dogs in action is my primary photographic interest. I'm not sure how good the new RX1R II will be for that kind of work. However, by virtue of the fact that we are out nearly every day in beautiful natural places, I get opportunities to do some landscape-type photography and II think the new camera will be well suited to that once I get past the learning curve - Sony cameras are very different than what I am used to.

I'm still deciding about the Sony colors. I like the Fuji JEPG colors better than any I've seen in nearly 50 years of photography. So far, they look a bit subtle to me, but I can deal with that much better than garish colors. Again, I think this is all part of learning the new equipment.

Bill Borne · Dec 23, 2015

Birddogman said:
This is the train station in the nearest town to where we live. As a small child in the early 1950's I would wait here for the train to take me into Philadelphia. Imagine a kid doing that sort of trip alone today. But I digress...

The train station is the subject of my first effort to make a decent image with the new RX1r II, which has a steep learning curve for me because it is my first Sony camera. I didn't have a lot of time to work on the capture - just grabbed a quick shot on the way back from the feed store. Nonetheless, I'm happy with the IQ (image shrunken to 1600px on the long side for posting).

C&C requested (but please be gentle because I'm a Sony newbie).

Pretty nice for starting out with that cam. I think I would have tried incam hdr if it has it? To pull detail in the clouds better?

I played very quickly with the 1st shot.

All I did was resize slightly smaller and then brought down the entire image in levels (Darker) and then adjusted the Darks in levels till I liked it. You may or may not like it???

Birddogman said:
The dogs love our bi-weekly visits to the feed store and are well known there. They chase off the ubiquitous pigeons and the men working there pump Chase and Joy full of treats. This was quick snap of the feed store with the brand new camera. I'm not happy with the composition on this one, but love the IQ provided by the little camera. I can do better when I have more time:

Thanks for lookin'

Greg

--
"Life's Too Short to Worry about the BS!"
Click for Wild Man's Photos

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

camera_nut said:
These are some very nice shots and nice processing too. I love my RX100 to death.

You'll want to experiment with the auto HDR (and DRO) which work very well in the RX100. Also think about dialing back the default contrast - since you obvioiusly post process.

Sony's menus are pretty good once you get to know them. All the better sonys have a very similar interface which is nice. My A6000 is much the same except has more custom buttons and dials which are really handy.

You'll love this camera. If you don't have an ever-ready case you should consider one. They are really nice to have.

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

Bill Borne said:
Pretty nice for starting out with that cam. I think I would have tried incam hdr if it has it? To pull detail in the clouds better?

I played very quickly with the 1st shot.

All I did was resize slightly smaller and then brought down the entire image in levels (Darker) and then adjusted the Darks in levels till I liked it. You may or may not like it???

I do like your version better. Thanks, Bill. I'm not familiar with the in camera HDR - have always done that in post-processing. I think the RX1r II does have that feature and a single image HDR (that seems kinda odd). Once I get past learning the basics, I will play around with such things. I've only had the camera for a couple of days and have literally only a few minutes to shoot with it in mostly bad weather. The resolution is amazing (which is hard to see on these images that were shrunken for posting).

The clouds were imported from another image because the sky was a flat rainy light gray - no shape to it at all. I did a rather quick and dirty job on them - could be MUCH better. The flaws are my fault, not the camera's.

As with the feed store, I think I will go back with the Sony and shoot the train station again when I have time and weather allows because the way the camera's amazing IQ brings out the old weathered wood is amazing. Unfortunately the train station is in a bad, totally non-photogenic place, so probably the best way to PP this image is to simply remove the train station to a better stetting - which will take more time than I have just now.

Regards,

Greg

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

Bob Tullis said:
There's bit of out of place halo/glow about the roof of the station. But otherwise I think these are out-standing (that's what the "dang!" was for). Timeless scenes, made so with your hand to the treatment.

Yea, I'm sure there's other compositions for the 2nd shot too, but I'm not feeling that at all. It just engages and appeals. The personal touches in the telling also contribute, but not that these need any such support.

Birddogman · Dec 23, 2015

66GTO said:
Your train station shot is just like stepping back in time. Looks like you are off to a great start with your new camera!

Bill Borne · Dec 23, 2015

Birddogman said:
66GTO said:

Your train station shot is just like stepping back in time. Looks like you are off to a great start with your new camera!

Click to expand...

Bobo Hodls · Dec 23, 2015

Birddogman said:
Bob Tullis said:

There's bit of out of place halo/glow about the roof of the station. But otherwise I think these are out-standing (that's what the "dang!" was for). Timeless scenes, made so with your hand to the treatment.

Yea, I'm sure there's other compositions for the 2nd shot too, but I'm not feeling that at all. It just engages and appeals. The personal touches in the telling also contribute, but not that these need any such support.

Click to expand...

Harvey Rawn · Dec 23, 2015

Birddogman said:
Harvey Rawn said:

Love this shot. Is that beautiful dog on the left a Brittany? I might crop the shot to show just him/her.

I like these two images best and love how the Rx1R II handles colors. Reminds me of my R1.

--
Harvey
Write with light

Click to expand...

Thanks for your insight, Harvey.

Yes, both dogs are Brittanys and working bird dogs (as well and friends and family). Joy, my one year old puppy is on the left (orange and white) and the one on the right is Chase, my liver and white 13 year old master. Here they are in the back seat of my old Jeep the other day. "Hey Boss, may we PLEASE hunt NOW?? Lemme at them birds!!"

Joy pointing a bird last week in fluffy timothy and Chase honoring her point:

Chase making the retrieve in the timothy:

Photographing my dogs in action is my primary photographic interest. I'm not sure how good the new RX1R II will be for that kind of work. However, by virtue of the fact that we are out nearly every day in beautiful natural places, I get opportunities to do some landscape-type photography and II think the new camera will be well suited to that once I get past the learning curve - Sony cameras are very different than what I am used to.

I'm still deciding about the Sony colors. I like the Fuji JEPG colors better than any I've seen in nearly 50 years of photography. So far, they look a bit subtle to me, but I can deal with that much better than garish colors. Again, I think this is all part of learning the new equipment.

Great dogs! I had several generations of German Witehaired Pointers that we ran in field competitions with other bird dogs. Loved how the Brittany's exploded off the line.
--
Harvey
Write with light

First effort with new Rx1R II - my town's trainstation - C&C please

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