Sony RX10 user experience thread

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 02:00 PM

Well, I cant get over the quality of the video image I'm getting from the RX10, its unbelievable.
I have never used a DSLR before and am trying to get used to the different settings it provides.

I've read all of the posts (again) in this thread and find it all very informative, thanks to Noa for starting it off.
I'm trying to get used to using full manual but its not easy :) I only have it a few days so a bit of practice needed yet.
I will use it at my weddings but won't do until I get more familiar with settings and buttons.

I got myself extra batteries, led screen protector, two SanDisk 64GB SDXC UHS-I/U3 Cards BTW, so good to go.

Thanks for the help and if you can advice me in some of the setting or presets, please do :)

Noa Put · May 12th, 2015, 02:03 PM

The only thing I dislike is how easily highlights can clip on this camera, it's dynamic range is not that impressive and you need to have your exposure spot on.

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 02:29 PM

Thanks Noa, i"ll watch out for that.

John McCully · May 12th, 2015, 02:33 PM

I continue to be amazed and delighted how good the video quality is I get with the RX10, so much so that I really see little point in 'upgrading' to 4k (for viewing on my 24 inch Dell monitor).

I generally find the vivid mode excellent in situations where the scene is a bit flat with little to no blacks and the landscape mode about right when I want to preserve blacks. I generally employ plus 2 sharpening.

I have no problem with highlight clipping in fact I find I get remarkably good detail in puffy white clouds with ease. I should add that I have no problem with blown highlights here and there, and for that matter I see that happening in commercial films too. Perhaps the dynamic range is also limited by the viewing equipment. Actually I have never had anyone notice and comment on blown highlights when viewing my output and I believe we fuss over this dynamic range thing overly much. I would go so far as to say that some footage I have viewed where the editor has gone out of his/her way to preserve dynamic range looks unnatural, a bit flat and lifeless.

In my experience the RX10 is a great video camera and it delivers excellent photographs too. A little more reach would be nice.

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 02:49 PM

Thanks John.

Simon Denny · May 12th, 2015, 03:52 PM

The highlights do blow out pretty quick, what I do is set my exposure comp to -0.3. I find this helps.

John McCully · May 12th, 2015, 04:53 PM

I do that too Simon, almost invariably. I also do that with my other Sony consumer cams.

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 05:04 PM

Thanks Simon and John.

Simon Denny · May 12th, 2015, 05:13 PM

I'm having so much fun with this camera, love it. My main camera is a PMW500, it produces beautiful images but… the RX10 for its size and what it does is great.
The thing I dig is, fixed lens, one inch sensor (I don't need full frame) variable frame rates and it take a great still image, for me using this camera in the style as a video journalist it's just about perfect. If Sony upgraded this camera? and put 4:2:2: plus the better dynamic range it's a winner. Sony really made a great camera here and one that I feel could be used in many productions.

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Denny

I'm having so much fun with this camera, love it. My main camera is a PMW500, it produces beautiful images but… the RX10 for its size and what it does is great.

Same here Simon, I have the pmw320 and am more than happy with the pictures I get from it, with the help from a PP but this RX10. Is something else. Unbelievable, for a fraction of the cost.
Looking forward to getting to know it better.

Anthony McErlean · May 12th, 2015, 06:06 PM

Happy with the images I'm getting at the mo, considering I never used a dslr before but would like to know please, what's the max ISO setting you should use for indoors or outside? Is there a rule of thumb ?

Thanks.

Simon Denny · May 12th, 2015, 06:15 PM

ISO 3200 is about the limit and even this there is noise. I guess it's about the shoot, if I need the shot then I'll crank the iso. I would say ISO 1600 is about the max for a clean image, I could be wrong.

Anthony McErlean · May 13th, 2015, 12:34 AM

Thank you Simon, I will keep that in mind.

The weather is beautiful today, so, a good excuse to give it another outing.

Anthony McErlean · May 20th, 2015, 03:03 AM

What benefit will I get from a SanDisk Extreme PRO card in my RX10 compared to SanDisk Extreme version?

SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SDXC UHS-I/U3 Memory Card up to 95MB/s Read FFP (SDSDXPA-064G-FFP): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

SanDisk SDSDXN-064G-FFP Extreme SDXC UHS-I Class 10 U3 Memory Card up to 60 MB/s read - 64 GB: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Dave Blackhurst · May 20th, 2015, 03:29 PM

As long as they are both U3, they should work fine. That's the key for XAVCS high bitrate (for the moment at least, next year if we see 4K/60p and higher bitrates, they may or may not be "fast enough").

The difference will come in read/write/transfer speeds - which may come into play if you're doing burst stills with RAW or RAW+JPEG. The faster card can write quicker, and clear the cameras buffer faster when doing this sort of data intensive shooting. If you want to get 10 shot bursts and reasonable recycle times (camera is ready to shoot another burst/shot), it takes FAST cards.

I did some tests when dealing with a bozo buyer of an RX100 - complained the camera was "broken" when it wouldn't write RAW+JPEG bursts to the rated 10 shots and would "freeze" for up to a minute while writing from the buffer... on a CLASS 4 CARD!!!! What I found was a fast card (at that time) would shoot the full 10 burst, and recycle in around 10 seconds, a "slow" card would max at a burst of 8, and take up to a minute to recycle... I now am a little more conscious of the "details" on a card - they vary WIDELY, even within the same "class" (most are now class 10).

For video, you probably won't see ANY difference as long as it's U3 rated (been buying a few, and the 60MB/s is the lowest I've seen on a U3 card, most seem to be 95 and above (although some seen to be rated differently for read vs. write). Presuming it's a genuine card and not a HK/China knockoff, you should be "OK" for VIDEO.

The other place you MAY see a difference is when downloading your clips/stills - a faster card SHOULD in theory result in faster dumping of your data to your computer. This could be affected by your USB port (USB 3 being faster), and your HDD/SSD. An older computer may have other bottlenecks...

Generally speaking, "faster is better", but given that faster costs more $, sometimes there is "fast enough" in practical terms. I've been trying to pick up the largest/fastest SDXC U3 cards I can find, replacing the "fast enough" SDXC U1 that were just fine before the higher bitrate XAVCS firmware updates... fortunately I have someone who is buying most of the U1 cards and appreciating the great deals... on the ones I JUST bought not so long ago...

May 12th, 2015, 02:00 PM	#196
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Well, I cant get over the quality of the video image I'm getting from the RX10, its unbelievable. I have never used a DSLR before and am trying to get used to the different settings it provides. I've read all of the posts (again) in this thread and find it all very informative, thanks to Noa for starting it off. I'm trying to get used to using full manual but its not easy :) I only have it a few days so a bit of practice needed yet. I will use it at my weddings but won't do until I get more familiar with settings and buttons. I got myself extra batteries, led screen protector, two SanDisk 64GB SDXC UHS-I/U3 Cards BTW, so good to go. Thanks for the help and if you can advice me in some of the setting or presets, please do :)

May 12th, 2015, 02:03 PM	#197
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread The only thing I dislike is how easily highlights can clip on this camera, it's dynamic range is not that impressive and you need to have your exposure spot on.

May 12th, 2015, 02:29 PM	#198
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Thanks Noa, i"ll watch out for that.

May 12th, 2015, 02:33 PM	#199
John McCully Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: South Island, New Zealand Posts: 609 Images: 2	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread I continue to be amazed and delighted how good the video quality is I get with the RX10, so much so that I really see little point in 'upgrading' to 4k (for viewing on my 24 inch Dell monitor). I generally find the vivid mode excellent in situations where the scene is a bit flat with little to no blacks and the landscape mode about right when I want to preserve blacks. I generally employ plus 2 sharpening. I have no problem with highlight clipping in fact I find I get remarkably good detail in puffy white clouds with ease. I should add that I have no problem with blown highlights here and there, and for that matter I see that happening in commercial films too. Perhaps the dynamic range is also limited by the viewing equipment. Actually I have never had anyone notice and comment on blown highlights when viewing my output and I believe we fuss over this dynamic range thing overly much. I would go so far as to say that some footage I have viewed where the editor has gone out of his/her way to preserve dynamic range looks unnatural, a bit flat and lifeless. In my experience the RX10 is a great video camera and it delivers excellent photographs too. A little more reach would be nice.

May 12th, 2015, 02:49 PM	#200
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Thanks John.

May 12th, 2015, 03:52 PM	#201
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread The highlights do blow out pretty quick, what I do is set my exposure comp to -0.3. I find this helps.

May 12th, 2015, 04:53 PM	#202
John McCully Major Player Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: South Island, New Zealand Posts: 609 Images: 2	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread I do that too Simon, almost invariably. I also do that with my other Sony consumer cams.

May 12th, 2015, 05:04 PM	#203
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Thanks Simon and John.

May 12th, 2015, 05:13 PM	#204
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread I'm having so much fun with this camera, love it. My main camera is a PMW500, it produces beautiful images but… the RX10 for its size and what it does is great. The thing I dig is, fixed lens, one inch sensor (I don't need full frame) variable frame rates and it take a great still image, for me using this camera in the style as a video journalist it's just about perfect. If Sony upgraded this camera? and put 4:2:2: plus the better dynamic range it's a winner. Sony really made a great camera here and one that I feel could be used in many productions.

May 12th, 2015, 06:06 PM	#206
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Happy with the images I'm getting at the mo, considering I never used a dslr before but would like to know please, what's the max ISO setting you should use for indoors or outside? Is there a rule of thumb ? Thanks.

May 12th, 2015, 06:15 PM	#207
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread ISO 3200 is about the limit and even this there is noise. I guess it's about the shoot, if I need the shot then I'll crank the iso. I would say ISO 1600 is about the max for a clean image, I could be wrong.

May 13th, 2015, 12:34 AM	#208
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread Thank you Simon, I will keep that in mind. The weather is beautiful today, so, a good excuse to give it another outing.

May 20th, 2015, 03:03 AM	#209
Anthony McErlean Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 1,081	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread What benefit will I get from a SanDisk Extreme PRO card in my RX10 compared to SanDisk Extreme version? SanDisk Extreme PRO 64GB SDXC UHS-I/U3 Memory Card up to 95MB/s Read FFP (SDSDXPA-064G-FFP): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories SanDisk SDSDXN-064G-FFP Extreme SDXC UHS-I Class 10 U3 Memory Card up to 60 MB/s read - 64 GB: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

May 20th, 2015, 03:29 PM	#210
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: Sony RX10 user experience thread As long as they are both U3, they should work fine. That's the key for XAVCS high bitrate (for the moment at least, next year if we see 4K/60p and higher bitrates, they may or may not be "fast enough"). The difference will come in read/write/transfer speeds - which may come into play if you're doing burst stills with RAW or RAW+JPEG. The faster card can write quicker, and clear the cameras buffer faster when doing this sort of data intensive shooting. If you want to get 10 shot bursts and reasonable recycle times (camera is ready to shoot another burst/shot), it takes FAST cards. I did some tests when dealing with a bozo buyer of an RX100 - complained the camera was "broken" when it wouldn't write RAW+JPEG bursts to the rated 10 shots and would "freeze" for up to a minute while writing from the buffer... on a CLASS 4 CARD!!!! What I found was a fast card (at that time) would shoot the full 10 burst, and recycle in around 10 seconds, a "slow" card would max at a burst of 8, and take up to a minute to recycle... I now am a little more conscious of the "details" on a card - they vary WIDELY, even within the same "class" (most are now class 10). For video, you probably won't see ANY difference as long as it's U3 rated (been buying a few, and the 60MB/s is the lowest I've seen on a U3 card, most seem to be 95 and above (although some seen to be rated differently for read vs. write). Presuming it's a genuine card and not a HK/China knockoff, you should be "OK" for VIDEO. The other place you MAY see a difference is when downloading your clips/stills - a faster card SHOULD in theory result in faster dumping of your data to your computer. This could be affected by your USB port (USB 3 being faster), and your HDD/SSD. An older computer may have other bottlenecks... Generally speaking, "faster is better", but given that faster costs more $, sometimes there is "fast enough" in practical terms. I've been trying to pick up the largest/fastest SDXC U3 cards I can find, replacing the "fast enough" SDXC U1 that were just fine before the higher bitrate XAVCS firmware updates... fortunately I have someone who is buying most of the U1 cards and appreciating the great deals... on the ones I JUST bought not so long ago...