rx100 startup charactaristics

[Bruce Dempsey]

My used RX100 arrived yesterday and right away I noticed that when the camera powers up and the lens extends, there is vibration and it seems a little rough as though there might be some grit in there.
Never having started up a brand new one I would like to know if anyone can confirm this is the way it goes or not
Thanks

[Dave Blackhurst]

On mine, there is a little "growl" as the lens extends, and it does vibrate - it also makes a little noise when zooming, that's "normal" as the internal motors move the lens. I don't know if the later China made ones are exactly the same or just "similar". I know the build quality on mine is super solid, and the mechanical operation is more reassuring than anything - its like revving a big block <wink>, sort of a nice little "vrooom" as it starts up!

[Bruce Dempsey]

thanks Dave
that's exactly what I was hoping to hear
tried it at a school play along side an HX300, a cx550v and a cx130. I now know what you meant
Both the rx100 and hx300 gave very unpredictable results and will require plenty fiddling to get the video just so. I framed up identical scenes with all 4 cameras from the same spot intending to post a quad comparison but the 2 new cams were so far out of whack that it would have been pointless for comparison's sake.
I figure outside will be a different story altogether where the light is plentiful and of the right color etc.

[Ken Estes]

Bruce,
When you say 'out of whack' what specifically are you referring to?

Ken

[Dave Blackhurst]

I found the HX300 to be pretty good matching PJ7xx series cams - it's got a "Sony look" baked in... I would have thought it would be close to a couple of CX series cams.

The big thing I found was I should have set a WB rather than letting the cameras "adjust" - bad lighting is SOOO much fun...And I suspect backing off the EV a notch or two might have looked better.


I still don't see the RX100 as a camera I'm ready to toss into a multicam mix - it's sorta like the sports car you take out on the weekend for FUN! Try hitting the "fn" (I'm guessing my "used" sample is on the factory presets, but you may have to add it from the menus?) button and fiddling with the DRO a bit - the auto tends to be a tad contrasty. Not "bad" but not a good match to other cams in most cases.

Multicam with different models is always a bit tricky...and even more fun when it's the first time out with them!

[Bruce Dempsey]

Originally Posted by Ken Estes

Bruce,
When you say 'out of whack' what specifically are you referring to?

Ken

Bad choice of expression on my part.
I was out of whack, not the cameras
I'm so used to the cx video camcorders doing a fine job with just a bit of tweaking that I didn't get any settings right on either the rx100 or the hx300 as the location of routine things like white balance were not immediately available to me because I didn't study the menue systems adequately
with the vid cams, you pretty well get what you see but the still cams in video mode are not as forgiving.

[Ken Estes]

Hah!
Thanks for the clarification, Bruce.