GRicoh
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So, as some of you may know (probably very few, this is a big board after all), a while ago I started a few threads about what to upgrade to, seeing how I had just sold my RX10 and my G1X II and was looking for a camera/lens combination that would give me that little bit "more".
Well, I have happened to get my paws on another RX10, the 5th one I have owned, and this time it seems to want to stay for good.
Two reasons for that.
1. It's a bit beaten up, the display has a big scratch / crack on it, so it wouldn't fetch much of a price anymore.
2. The lens on this one is just stunningly good. I am talking almost prime-level sharpness here, hell, it's as good at 28mm wide open, as my Leica Elmarit-r 28mm 2.8 on my A7R ( first version, anyone suggesting I should get the second version is welcome to pay for it, I am sure that this combination would then beat the RX10) is.
So, I have decided to write a little review here and now, for you fine folks to enjoy, may it help a poor undecicive soul to figure out if this is the right camera for them.
1. Handling. This is a heavy beast, for a 1-inch sensor camera that is. It wheighs as much as my A7R + 28mm lens, and is about as big, fat, wide and deep as well. So not a pocket camera, not at all. I like the rubberized finish and the body design, which fits nicely into my hands and the control scheme is well thought out, though I have a few niggles.
The noise characteristics are very good indeed, being useable up to 3200 and 6400 if you like grainy black and white images, think Daido Moryiama style post processing here.
You'll be hard pressed to go that high, even in low light, though, because the combination of a lens that is very sharp wide open, a sensor that delivers great depth of field, (sensor size, full frame equivalence, blabla,) and a very effectice optical stabilisation system mean that you can stay well below iso 1600 most of the time, more so, when you use the tiny in-built flash (or a more expensive, muscular, manly, external one with enough light to put hair even on the most timid models face).
In my experience, the RX10 actually outdid the K5II w 18-135 WR lens, simply because the wider aperture coupled with a slightly more effective IS system meant that I could keep the iso lower, thus negating the K5IIs sensor advantage.
I also found myself enjoying the close focusing abilites immensly. At the wide end you can basically touch the thing you're focussing on, at the tele end you need a bit more distance, but you'll be rewarded with some nice blurred backgrounds, because at 200mm and f 2.8, even a 1inch sensor can kill a background. Or at least severely wound it.
Weaknesses: Dynamic range wise it is not quite as good as my Ricoh GR II(let alone A7R), though with post processing and HDR techniques, it's very close, and of course you have less possibilities of modulating the depth of field you get. It starts out at the FF equivalent of f8-ish, so yeah, killing a background for a portrait is not this camera's forte, though I find that portraits taken at f2.8 with the equivalence of 75mm+ still deliver a nice background rendition, and I found myself liking the bokeh as well, though there is not a great deal of it.
Conclusion
If you don't intend to print XXL, don't need 1:1 Macro or specialise in portrait photography, this camera could be all you ever need.
And now, for some sample images:
Hand held at full tele and 1/40
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Critique is always welcome.
Well, I have happened to get my paws on another RX10, the 5th one I have owned, and this time it seems to want to stay for good.
Two reasons for that.
1. It's a bit beaten up, the display has a big scratch / crack on it, so it wouldn't fetch much of a price anymore.
2. The lens on this one is just stunningly good. I am talking almost prime-level sharpness here, hell, it's as good at 28mm wide open, as my Leica Elmarit-r 28mm 2.8 on my A7R ( first version, anyone suggesting I should get the second version is welcome to pay for it, I am sure that this combination would then beat the RX10) is.
So, I have decided to write a little review here and now, for you fine folks to enjoy, may it help a poor undecicive soul to figure out if this is the right camera for them.
1. Handling. This is a heavy beast, for a 1-inch sensor camera that is. It wheighs as much as my A7R + 28mm lens, and is about as big, fat, wide and deep as well. So not a pocket camera, not at all. I like the rubberized finish and the body design, which fits nicely into my hands and the control scheme is well thought out, though I have a few niggles.
- I'd very much like a control dial on the front. This camera wants to appeal to the premium crowd, and this seems like a weird thing to leave out. It would make handling easier, faster and more efficient, and even my Ricoh GR has one.
- The shutter is very soft and I sometimes end up fully pressing it by accident, whilst in the middle of recomposing.
- The fold out LCD-screen is a bit fiddly to fold out
- The EVF obstructs some of the screen when using the display to frame and shoot
- Slow-ish Powerzoom
- I really dislike the exp. compensation-dial. would love to be able to freely assign that a function, or just make it so that after powering off and on it automativally resets. Then again, I am a bit off an idiot and forget about having adjusted it every now and then.
- EVF sensor is too sensitive, yeah I can turn it off completely, but I'd have liked to be able to set a button to switch between monitor and EVF, there are enough buttons on the body.
- AF is not the speediest, we all knew that going in, but sometimes it's a tad too slow, especially when trying to take pictures of someone moving. (I am talking "walking briskly" levels of movement here)
The noise characteristics are very good indeed, being useable up to 3200 and 6400 if you like grainy black and white images, think Daido Moryiama style post processing here.
You'll be hard pressed to go that high, even in low light, though, because the combination of a lens that is very sharp wide open, a sensor that delivers great depth of field, (sensor size, full frame equivalence, blabla,) and a very effectice optical stabilisation system mean that you can stay well below iso 1600 most of the time, more so, when you use the tiny in-built flash (or a more expensive, muscular, manly, external one with enough light to put hair even on the most timid models face).
In my experience, the RX10 actually outdid the K5II w 18-135 WR lens, simply because the wider aperture coupled with a slightly more effective IS system meant that I could keep the iso lower, thus negating the K5IIs sensor advantage.
I also found myself enjoying the close focusing abilites immensly. At the wide end you can basically touch the thing you're focussing on, at the tele end you need a bit more distance, but you'll be rewarded with some nice blurred backgrounds, because at 200mm and f 2.8, even a 1inch sensor can kill a background. Or at least severely wound it.
Weaknesses: Dynamic range wise it is not quite as good as my Ricoh GR II(let alone A7R), though with post processing and HDR techniques, it's very close, and of course you have less possibilities of modulating the depth of field you get. It starts out at the FF equivalent of f8-ish, so yeah, killing a background for a portrait is not this camera's forte, though I find that portraits taken at f2.8 with the equivalence of 75mm+ still deliver a nice background rendition, and I found myself liking the bokeh as well, though there is not a great deal of it.
Conclusion
If you don't intend to print XXL, don't need 1:1 Macro or specialise in portrait photography, this camera could be all you ever need.
And now, for some sample images:
Hand held at full tele and 1/40
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