ZS100 - is it worth considering as a viable alternative IQ wise to an RX100

As a long term user of the TZ100, TZ200 & RX100Mk6 I'm reasonably well qualified to answer your original post.

The TZ100 has excellent IQ if you adjust the settings to Sharpness+2, Contrast+2 & Noise reduction -5. Without those changes or close to them the IQ can be lousy & there is considerable variance betweeen different TZ100's too. The handling and EVF are both pretty lousy. The bang for the £/$ is outstanding. The jpeg output isn't as good as the Sony RX100mk6

The TZ200 has much greater zoom, a decent grip, a decent evf & the IQ is close, if not identical to the TZ200.

The Sony RX100 Mk6 has slightly better IQ than the TZ100 or 200 but IMHO it's not spectacularly better. It performs as a camera much more quickly ( focussing & operating speed). The handling is garbage as it has no grip at all & if anything is too small and cramped. The menu is garbage. The pop up evf is a disaster; it needs an eyecup so that sidelight doesn't stray in and spoil the image you see but that isn't feasible with a pop up so the workaround is where a hat!. The price is utterly ludicrous too.

Dave

Morning,

I found a friend who's daughter had an ZS100 and went over and reset the camera to the suggested settings, took about 50 photos in jpeg, and I thought the images looked. acceptable, but the viewfinder was close to worthless, IMHO.

So I think I'll just look for a used RX100iv or v, much brighter lens, much better viewfinder, faster focusing and more to my liking. I have an FZ300 for more range, and the RX100's 24-70 range at 1.8 - 2.8 will suit my shooting style better.

Again, thanks for all the assistance.

Best,

TFP

travelfoodphoto wrote:

Morning,

I found a friend who's daughter had an ZS100 and went over and reset the camera to the suggested settings, took about 50 photos in jpeg, and I thought the images looked. acceptable, but the viewfinder was close to worthless, IMHO.

So I think I'll just look for a used RX100iv or v, much brighter lens, much better viewfinder, faster focusing and more to my liking. I have an FZ300 for more range, and the RX100's 24-70 range at 1.8 - 2.8 will suit my shooting style better.

Again, thanks for all the assistance.

Best,

TFP

Yeah , understandable.  There`s almost always something better and almost always costing more.

For some time  now I`ve come to the conclusion my gear was always better than my skill level and my needs .  Consequently after 20 yrs I switched to MFT and found it  is still more than I need and probably still more capable than I am. YMMV.

Bob A L wrote:

It may sound crazy and would to me until playing around one day with settings on my ZS100 I stumbled on +5 for sharpening, -3 on noise reduction and default on everything else. It has remained there ever since a couple of go backs to verify. My theory, it does not cost anything but time to try any manner of control changes with digital. And if I don't like something, simple to go back to where I was.

Bob, I couldn'r agree more. . My first copy of the TZ100 was a "refurbished" from the Panny ebay shop and it was shocking. The settings I suggested, that I found on an Australian review worked well on my final copy of the TZ100 so I left them there. The TZ100 at default settings was the worst IQ I've ever known from an enthusiast compact and I'm baffled why Panasonic released it like that.. I did try sharpening +5 but found it a bit OTT. I think the Panny compacts definitely have QA issues and the variance between examples can be significant.

Dave