Arundel Castle with the XZ-1

I was showing an overseas guest around our local castle so I didn't want be waving an obtrusive camera around - the little XZ-1 is the ideal pocketable camera for these occasions.

Stairway with tapestry

Vaulted roof

The Duke's formal dining room

The formal gardens

Another tourist who found it was all too much.

Brian,

Thanks for sharing your visit to the Castle. I like your compositions very much.

Your 'ideal' comment made me check your gear list, to see if you had a 1" sensor camera. I see no Sony rx100's but a prior Nikon 1" ICL which did not collapse to compact when turned off.

With your skills, I think you should try a Sony rx100m6 or m7, with 30 day return privilege, and probably keep it. Sadly Oly skipped the 1" world.

At first I was quite concerned about the rx100m6 darker f2.8 to f4.0 lens, however it shoots 'brighter' than it is for two reasons

1. it has superior IS, allows using slower handheld speeds than prior models.

2. in-camera NR (jpeg only) is more aggressive than prior models.

that one two punch adds up to a knock out: keeping ISO low, and sharper results when ISO is higher than I am used to. no help if motion is involved.

Low light, dim restaurants, some motion of kids, close, without a doubt your XZ-1 is best as is my short reach brighter rx100m3's f1.8 lens in front of a 1" sensor, collapsed in your pocket, a true midget marvel.

elliottnewcomb wrote:

Brian,

Thanks for sharing your visit to the Castle. I like your compositions very much.

Your 'ideal' comment made me check your gear list, to see if you had a 1" sensor camera. I see no Sony rx100's but a prior Nikon 1" ICL which did not collapse to compact when turned off.

With your skills, I think you should try a Sony rx100m6 or m7, with 30 day return privilege, and probably keep it. Sadly Oly skipped the 1" world.

At first I was quite concerned about the rx100m6 darker f2.8 to f4.0 lens, however it shoots 'brighter' than it is for two reasons

1. it has superior IS, allows using slower handheld speeds than prior models.

2. in-camera NR (jpeg only) is more aggressive than prior models.

that one two punch adds up to a knock out: keeping ISO low, and sharper results when ISO is higher than I am used to. no help if motion is involved.

Low light, dim restaurants, some motion of kids, close, without a doubt your XZ-1 is best as is my short reach brighter rx100m3's f1.8 lens in front of a 1" sensor, collapsed in your pocket, a true midget marvel.

The other option, as one local to Arundel (not sure of the relevance of this, except it's a great area for walking!), would be a RX100VA. I opted for it due to the faster lens even though the VII was on the shelf (in the LCE Chichester).

As an aside, I wish Sony would develop two parallel RX100 lines, one with a faster 24-70 lens and one with a longer telephoto lens. That would be best of both worlds.

Interesting that you're giving me another pointer towards the RX100 line. As Elliott noticed , I have the Nikon 1 J5, which has the same 20.1MP sensor as the RX100s, though it's obviously not the same camera because it has Nikon processing and autofocus algorithms. However, with my two-lens kit I have a range of 27-300mm equivalent (though they don't collapse into the body!) and it all cost considerably less than either of the two Sonys.

So I'm happy with the Nikon 1inch sensor option and I'm not tempted by the Sonys. And the XZ-1 still has its place because of its compact size and that amazing Zuiko lens.