118 replies to this topic

[EOSHD]

Buy the RX100 at Adorama or Buy the RX100 on eBay

The RX100 is a camera that fits in your jeans pocket. Would I consider intercutting RX100 footage with 1080p from a pro Super 35mm cinema camera? Yes I would.

This should give you an idea of what a monumental achievement the technology of the RX100 is.

Read the full story here

[johnnymossville]

Holy Cow Andrew I think we have a winner! While I'd like the price to be even a bit lower, this looks like the perfect camera for carrying around, street photography, and capturing some great video as well.

F1.8 lens!!!! Brilliant!

Thanks for the review.

[hoodlum]

Thanks Andrew. I will likely get this very soon although 24P and ND filter would have made it perfect.

[richg101]

that is indeed a lovely looking picture. amazing it outperforms the nex7 detail in video mode. thanks for the detailed review:)

[amweber21]

Good review Andrew. This is both exciting and disgruntling to us DSLR shooters to see this kind of quality in a compact. You are right, there is hardly reason to get the compact mirrorless cams over this if you are new. Have you figured out the bitrate of the video?

[grisnjam]

Thanks for the great review. I ended up getting the HV9x after your last compact review and the one thing I don't like is the 30 minute record time limit on it. Do you know what/if the RX100 has a limit on the record time?

Thanks,

[Cfreak]

Andrew, kickin' it back in Berlin. Nice review, thanks!

[chulx1001]

Great review. Totally amazed by the video quality! Glad to see Sony making new moves in video domain. Let's hope the video capability on A99 will be as good as or better than it is on RX100.

[sandro]

If only sony would give this resolution to APS-C cams..

[trevmar]

The big problem for me is the 30 minute limitation on the length of all recorded video. I often record longer sequences of B-roll, to capture unexpected events, and to record, for example, lectures, and the 30 minute limitation completely disqualifies this camera for me. I can only hope that somebody (eg Vitaly) is going to hack the camera, and get rid of this limitation, as has been done in the past (with GH2, etc). Meanwhile I have no choice but continue to use my Canon M41's in this role...

[DPC]

I've been using my NEX 7 a lot on documentary jobs (the 5D MK III stays in the bag) and was thinking of adding something like a Canon HF G10 to my other kit. Your comments comparing this to camcorders were of particular interest...
A few questions: is it really possible to use a Zacuto finder? Presumably if you use the adhesive frames they have to stick on the screen itself. Would you be able to see all of the screen and display through the Z-Finder?
How quickly does the maximum aperture drop from 1.8 when you zoom in? What does it become at, say, a 35mm EFOV?
What about sound? I don't expect miracles but I imagine that a low-end camcorder would win out there. There's no microphone input, right?
Does the peaking work better than on the Sony NEX 7 (which I find pretty hit or miss in low-light, low-contrast situations)? I also find the central square AF zone on the NEX 7 to be too large for accurate focus at wide apertures. Is the RX100 any better? I generally end up zooming in to focus manually but that's not an option with the RX100...
What happens in bright light? I don't think there's a built-in ND filter and you can't put a vari-ND onto the lens. Presumably you just have to drop the ISO, then stop down the lens, and, if that's not enough, raise the shutter speed with the risk of jerky motion.
And thanks for the review!

[blindriver]

Now this would be a prime candidate for a re-housing project
Preferable one that would give it an articulated screen, though a grip with a mount for a 2nd monitor would be already a good start.

BTW, the article already indirectly states why there is still a good justification for low-end mirrorless cameras: their capability to go much wider than 28mm equivalent

[EOSHD]

The big problem for me is the 30 minute limitation on the length of all recorded video. I often record longer sequences of B-roll, to capture unexpected events, and to record, for example, lectures, and the 30 minute limitation completely disqualifies this camera for me. I can only hope that somebody (eg Vitaly) is going to hack the camera, and get rid of this limitation, as has been done in the past (with GH2, etc). Meanwhile I have no choice but continue to use my Canon M41's in this role...

DSLRs are not ideal for your type of shooting but you can easily get around this issue by having more than one camera. It is better to cover a live event with more than one angle anyway. I certainly wouldn't want to sit through over 30 minutes of one shot, would you?

35mm film had a reel running time of 12 minutes so 30 minutes is actually better than the Hollywood recording format

I'd consider a camcorder instead, and a DSLR or RX100 for some cut-away beauty shots to mix in with the constantly running stuff.

[EOSHD]

Thanks for the great review. I ended up getting the HV9x after your last compact review and the one thing I don't like is the 30 minute record time limit on it. Do you know what/if the RX100 has a limit on the record time?

Thanks,

It is 29 minute limit at least in Europe because of the tax law. That only applies to one continuously running clip not your entire shoot which can be as long as the cards you have with you allow for.

[Xiong]

Damn that does look good, well guess I'll have to pick one up down the line.

Thanks Andrew.

[Xiong]

oh and Drive soundtrack for the win! haha

[EOSHD]

Quick update - Handheld Twilight is a revelation for low light stills on this cam. Had a chance to use that mode more tonight and the sharpness and lack of noise is something to behold at F1.8. Damn I love this camera.

[richg101]

I've been using my NEX 7 a lot on documentary jobs (the 5D MK III stays in the bag) and was thinking of adding something like a Canon HF G10 to my other kit. Your comments comparing this to camcorders were of particular interest...
A few questions: is it really possible to use a Zacuto finder? Presumably if you use the adhesive frames they have to stick on the screen itself. Would you be able to see all of the screen and display through the Z-Finder?
How quickly does the maximum aperture drop from 1.8 when you zoom in? What does it become at, say, a 35mm EFOV?
What about sound? I don't expect miracles but I imagine that a low-end camcorder would win out there. There's no microphone input, right?
Does the peaking work better than on the Sony NEX 7 (which I find pretty hit or miss in low-light, low-contrast situations)? I also find the central square AF zone on the NEX 7 to be too large for accurate focus at wide apertures. Is the RX100 any better? I generally end up zooming in to focus manually but that's not an option with the RX100...
What happens in bright light? I don't think there's a built-in ND filter and you can't put a vari-ND onto the lens. Presumably you just have to drop the ISO, then stop down the lens, and, if that's not enough, raise the shutter speed with the risk of jerky motion.
And thanks for the review!

10mm f1.8 is equiv to around 27mmf1.8 according to the 2.7 crop?. considering it costs £1000 for f1.8 at 24mm for the nex range zeiss glass and the video quality is more detailed here this is a winner. the tiny front end means smaller high quality nd's can be used if needs be.

[richg101]

Based on the size of the sensor i recon this little cam could be a really good anamorphic camera. From what I have seen the best anamorphic dslr results have been from the GH2 - the smaller sensor seems to take better to the anamorphic adaptors like la7200, optex, century, soligor, generic. an even smaller sensor will bring the system even closer to the optimum where they used to use small sensor 4:3 3chip cameras with the anamorphic adaptors to create 16:9 before everything went over to 16:9. Andrew... Please Please Please try this out!

[gelly]

I imagine there's no way to add filters to the RX100 lens. Looks like an exiting prospect for video but I'd really miss my variable ND when outdoors.