Peter Jordan Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 In response to a question from BettyLaRue on another thread, Here is my response: Hi Betty, It has taken a good while to get consistently good results with the RX100, but recently I have got it working really well. I always use Aperture priority. I now tend to use the wider apertures (f 2.8) when the focal length allows it. In good light, you just have to watch out that the shutter speed has not reached it’s upper limit. If it has it flashes and you stop down some. Under the Fn button I have the following functions: Focus Mode – set to AFS ISO – usually on Auto 200 – 800, but turned down to 80 in bright light. White Balance – Normally Auto Aspect Ratio – in 3:2 – any cropping done in PP Image Size – 20M Creative style – Landscape IQ RAW+J The front ring is set to control zoom – the power zoom is OK but moves rather too fast for fine adjustments which are better done on the Ring Apart from Aperture Priority, the other setting I have used, when shooting in the dark, is SCN set to “Hand held Twilight” - you pick this setting on page 5 of the camera part of the Menu. I have a few pictures on Alamy taken using this. DD6DXC for example. I have the screen brightness set to Manual +2, but change it to Sunny Weather (when I get some) I have a Kindle Book “Photographers Guide to the Sony DSC – RX100” by Alexander White. There is a lot of information there but you have to dig for it. There is a huge amount of settings that can be tinkered with on this camera so the book is big. Apart from the things mentioned above I have everything left on default. From your post, I see you are concerned about Noise. I PP in Lightroom and use settings recommended by David Kilpatrick – let me know if you want these. Otherwise I try to dial in some positive exposure compensation when it is dark say +0.7. You find the adjustment under the bottom Button of the 4 way controller. For well exposed good-light images I often use the JPEGS but have to go into RAW when fine (or even coarse) adjustments are needed. Hope this helps…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Thanks for the info Peter. I recently purchased an RX100 and am still trying to figure out all the settings. This is very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Maria, Let me know if you have any questions, or if you think there is something I might do better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Peter, thank you for the information posted above. I am a RX100 user and in some ways use the same settings as you but have the front control ring set to alter aperture. Zoom being carried out with the lever under the shutter release. If I were to set the front control ring to enable the zoom function how would I then alter (quickly) the aperture? I know I can find this information and set it up myself but ask the question here so that it may help others. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Allan, I alter the aperture by turning the rear control wheel - seems easier to use than the front ring - it is easy to spin round with the right thumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Strange such a tiny little camera can result in confusion on how to best use it, but I was totally flummoxed when I first got it. The menu system is for the birds, and last time I looked, I didn't have feathers. Unless my African Gray drops one on me. Peter, your settings are great. Soon as this horrible weather (only 1 day of mist and wind) leaves, I'll try them out. Meanwhile, I've made out a cheat sheet with your settings for posterity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Allan, I alter the aperture by turning the rear control wheel - seems easier to use than the front ring - it is easy to spin round with the right thumb. Thanks Peter. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Green Posted March 16, 2014 Share Posted March 16, 2014 Hi I use the first auto setting for everything. Always in RAW and process them in ACR. Never had a reject from Alamy so far. I think its all about the RAW processing to get your image looking great. This way I never have to worry about technical things while on the run. Just try this method and it makes the taking of the images fun. This camera sits in my top shirt (most of the time) pocket while the Nikon D800e sits at home with all the $$$$$$ s of lenses etc. I also use the RX100 as a light meter for my Hasselblad film camera. Set the ASA and A and use it in a square format. Take a picture before I shoot the Hassy. Kind of a backup system as well. Hope this helps Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Tony, I too have tried the iAuto setting and certainly got good results from it. I never felt comfortable with it however, especially the use of multipoint focus. I am not sure if the camera checks the distance of all the focus points and then chooses a distance to suit as many of them as possible or whether it just takes the closest object, Anyway I don't feel comfortable with it. Set to A and Auto ISO you can nearly always switch on and shoot and get something usable. To change the aperture and reshoot is also very quick. I like the idea of using the RX100 as a light meter for your Hassleblad. It is probably not much bigger than most lightmeters and can give you a digital check shot with a permanent record of date. time, ISO, shutter speed. and aperture settings. Well more affordable than a digital back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 16, 2014 Author Share Posted March 16, 2014 Strange such a tiny little camera can result in confusion on how to best use it, but I was totally flummoxed when I first got it. The menu system is for the birds, and last time I looked, I didn't have feathers. Unless my African Gray drops one on me. Peter, your settings are great. Soon as this horrible weather (only 1 day of mist and wind) leaves, I'll try them out. Meanwhile, I've made out a cheat sheet with your settings for posterity. Betty, I hope it works well for you. The internet tells me you have sunshine on Monday. Let us know how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carole Lloyd Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I haven't had my RX100 very long and although I love the fact that's its small and handy I have to admit the photos have been pretty much hit and miss, especially in the bright Queensland sunshine or the dim light of the rainforests. Just lately I've been thinking that small though it might be, it's just a waste of space. But when I get a good photo it's damn good - which reinforces the fact that it's most likely me and not the camera. I can certainly identify with Betty's confusion with both the menu and the manual! Many thanks for taking the time to share your setup Peter - much to my shame I didn't even know where the control ring was much less how and what it did . So as well as trying out your settings and actually reading the manual instead of flicking through it with a mouse, I'm going to download the Kindle book you suggested and have a browse. Never too old to learn - I hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 In response to a question from BettyLaRue on another thread, Here is my response: Hi Betty, It has taken a good while to get consistently good results with the RX100, but recently I have got it working really well. I always use Aperture priority. I now tend to use the wider apertures (f 2.8) when the focal length allows it. In good light, you just have to watch out that the shutter speed has not reached it’s upper limit. If it has it flashes and you stop down some. Under the Fn button I have the following functions: Focus Mode – set to AFS ISO – usually on Auto 200 – 800, but turned down to 80 in bright light. White Balance – Normally Auto Aspect Ratio – in 3:2 – any cropping done in PP Image Size – 20M Creative style – Landscape IQ RAW+J The front ring is set to control zoom – the power zoom is OK but moves rather too fast for fine adjustments which are better done on the Ring Apart from Aperture Priority, the other setting I have used, when shooting in the dark, is SCN set to “Hand held Twilight” - you pick this setting on page 5 of the camera part of the Menu. I have a few pictures on Alamy taken using this. DD6DXC for example. I have the screen brightness set to Manual +2, but change it to Sunny Weather (when I get some) I have a Kindle Book “Photographers Guide to the Sony DSC – RX100” by Alexander White. There is a lot of information there but you have to dig for it. There is a huge amount of settings that can be tinkered with on this camera so the book is big. Apart from the things mentioned above I have everything left on default. From your post, I see you are concerned about Noise. I PP in Lightroom and use settings recommended by David Kilpatrick – let me know if you want these. Otherwise I try to dial in some positive exposure compensation when it is dark say +0.7. You find the adjustment under the bottom Button of the 4 way controller. For well exposed good-light images I often use the JPEGS but have to go into RAW when fine (or even coarse) adjustments are needed. Hope this helps…. Hi Peter - I too would be very interested to know David K's recommended Lightroom settings for the RX100. Thanks for sharing - very helpful! Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 17, 2014 Author Share Posted March 17, 2014 Alex, Having offered to provide DK’s suggested sharpening and noise reduction settings, I now find that I don’t have exact details of them and having tried searching the Forum decided I am not patient enough to find them that way. So what I can provide is the Lightroom 5 settings that I use. These may not be identical to those suggested by DavidK but are based on them and will be similar. For ISO less than 400: Sharpening: Amount 25, Radius 0.5, Detail 25, Masking 0 Noise Reduction: Luminance 25, Detail 50, Contrast 0 Color 25, Detail 50, Smoothness 50 For ISO more than 400: Sharpening: Amount 15, Radius 0.5, Detail 25, Masking 0 Noise Reduction: Luminance 35, Detail 50, Contrast 0 Color 50, Detail 50, Smoothness 50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ramsay Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 Thank you Peter - I'll experiment with those Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I did some lens tests with my RX100. My copy of the lens is sharpest at the following apertures. Widest angle best at F4, tolerable out to F3.2 and F5.6 Normal range best at F5, tolerable out to F4.5 and 6.3 Tele range best at F6.3 and tolerable out to F8 In practice I use Aperture mode and the best F stop. I adjust ISO to maintain shutter speed. The sensor is excellent and I can get reasonable processable noise quality up to ISO 800, but my usual ISO is 125. In extreme conditions I will use any setting. The flash is excellent for fill, set to expose at -0.7 stops To adjust aperture, set on aperture and spin the master adjustment wheel. The only problem I have is determining precise focus, but the camera does a reasonable job. I also do not like to have to adjust aperture every time I zoom in order to maintain optimum aperture. The camera, a spare battery, and spare memory card fits in a very small belt pouch that I wear at ALL times. I have a waterproof Nikon 1 AW1, a 5D11, and the RX100. The RX100 has boosted my photographic output by about 10%, and opened, a new to me, spontaneous, grunge, realistic look. It has NOT taken away from production from the other cameras. I did not shift work from the other cameras. This is important because technically the other 2 cameras do a better job. some examples: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Very useful information here from you RX100 shooters. Thanks! Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Betty LaRue Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 Bill, I've tried some of your range settings, and am at last trying aperture and Peter's setup. I'm happy with what I'm getting. Thanks to both of you! Betty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 24, 2014 Author Share Posted March 24, 2014 I did some lens tests with my RX100. My copy of the lens is sharpest at the following apertures. Widest angle best at F4, tolerable out to F3.2 and F5.6 Normal range best at F5, tolerable out to F4.5 and 6.3 Tele range best at F6.3 and tolerable out to F8 In practice I use Aperture mode and the best F stop. I adjust ISO to maintain shutter speed. The sensor is excellent and I can get reasonable processable noise quality up to ISO 800, but my usual ISO is 125. In extreme conditions I will use any setting. The flash is excellent for fill, set to expose at -0.7 stops To adjust aperture, set on aperture and spin the master adjustment wheel. The only problem I have is determining precise focus, but the camera does a reasonable job. I also do not like to have to adjust aperture every time I zoom in order to maintain optimum aperture. The camera, a spare battery, and spare memory card fits in a very small belt pouch that I wear at ALL times. I have a waterproof Nikon 1 AW1, a 5D11, and the RX100. The RX100 has boosted my photographic output by about 10%, and opened, a new to me, spontaneous, grunge, realistic look. It has NOT taken away from production from the other cameras. I did not shift work from the other cameras. This is important because technically the other 2 cameras do a better job. some examples: Bill, Like you, I have the RX100 with me all the time, in winter in a small case in my coat pocket, and in (rare) warm weather on a belt pouch. It is unusual for me not to pick up a few Alamy candidate shots any time I am out and about. Interesting that you have found where your lens is sharpest at various focal lengths, I have never got round to doing any detailed analysis like that as I tend to find the differences are fairly small anyway. I just set the aperture when I switch it on before zooming and let it stop down as I zoom. Certainly at the long end I agree it is worthwhile to go to f5.6 or 6.3. If something presents itself that needs fast action I just switch the camera on and shoot without resetting anything, this almost always gets a usable result. They used to say “f8 and be there” but with these little cameras, you get the same DOF at about f2.8. I am still rather cautious about the sharpness of the results and often downsize to 5000 or 4600 px on the long side. All my other (Olympus) cameras OOC images look sharper than the Sony ones, but then they are only 12 MP (4032 x 3024), so the Sony images give me room to downsize and be happy with the results. Gradually plucking up courage to leave them full size. I PP in Lightroom and finish off in Photoshop, and after I have saved the image ready for uploading, I do a final check by using “Sharpen/Sharpen More” and check all over the image at 100%. It looks very grainy but you can see very well if edges are sharp. You have to be very careful not to save the changes on closing. Is this a valid sharpness check or am I wasting my time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 I generally set f stop to 5.6 - 8 at all focal lengths on my RX100. Not had any problems or fails to date due to SoLD. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted March 24, 2014 Share Posted March 24, 2014 Peter: I run a test on every new lens, for every camera, to determine lens characteristics. It helps to know every characteristic of the lens you are using. That way you know how far you can push the lens and still maintain reasonable quality. You know where the boundaries are. Also sharpness is not the only quality criteria. I am particular about optimum F opening because I want to get the highest quality that the camera is capable of delivering. In fast moving situations I will take an quick insurance shot at any F opening, but then reshoot at optimum F opening if I get a chance. When the RX 100 camera first turns on, the lens sets itself at the widest angle. Before turning the camera off I make sure the lens is set at the widest angle and optimum wide angle aperture of F4. This means when I turn the camera on and take a very quick shot without zooming, or even looking at the screen, I am already set up at F4 for optimum quality. This camera is supposed to be used for quick spontaneous shooting, so I have to be careful that I do not allow my fetish for quality to get in the way of spontaneity. I prefer to check my TIFF images in photoshop at 100% or 200% without filters or layers that change the image. I sometimes find esoteric artifacts, that I am not looking for, that would not be obvious using your sharpening method . If I suspect that there is a problem just flying under my radar, like you I will do something in photoshop to bring that particular problem out so I can work up a strategy to remove it. For instance in photoshop you can use a temporary curves layer, set for very high contrast, to emphasize bad cloning. You can then reclone under the curve layer to clean the bad cloning up. If the recloning is invisible under the curves layer, it will be completely invisible when you remove the temporary curves layer I do all my cleanup on a TIFF image, and only then, output an Alamy JPG from the TIFF. This way I am not loosing quality by saving a cleaned up JPG on itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 I generally set f stop to 5.6 - 8 at all focal lengths on my RX100. Not had any problems or fails to date due to SoLD. Allan Allan, When I first started with the RX100 it was early in the year when lighting was often dull. I started off using f5.6 but had a number of pictures blurred by camera shake, so I now tend to use wider apertures and remember to keep an eye on what shutter speed I am using... It wouldn't surprise me if yo have a steadier hand than I do.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Peter: When the RX 100 camera first turns on, the lens sets itself at the widest angle. Before turning the camera off I make sure the lens is set at the widest angle and optimum wide angle aperture of F4. This means when I turn the camera on and take a very quick shot without zooming, or even looking at the screen, I am already set up at F4 for optimum quality. This camera is supposed to be used for quick spontaneous shooting, so I have to be careful that I do not allow my fetish for quality to get in the way of spontaneity. I prefer to check my TIFF images in photoshop at 100% or 200% without filters or layers that change the image. I sometimes find esoteric artifacts, that I am not looking for, that would not be obvious using your sharpening method . If I suspect that there is a problem just flying under my radar, like you I will do something in photoshop to bring that particular problem out so I can work up a strategy to remove it. For instance in photoshop you can use a temporary curves layer, set for very high contrast, to emphasize bad cloning. You can then reclone under the curve layer to clean the bad cloning up. If the recloning is invisible under the curves layer, it will be completely invisible when you remove the temporary curves layer I do all my cleanup on a TIFF image, and only then, output an Alamy JPG from the TIFF. This way I am not loosing quality by saving a cleaned up JPG on itself. Bill, I agree with most of that. I try to remember to reset aperture to f2 - f4 before shutting down. I PP in LR5 as far as possible then go to PS2 as a 16-bit TIFF for everything else including keywording. Final action is to convert to jpg before saving ready for upload. The final "Sharpen More" check done on the final jpg is not really part of the PP process, it is just because I am paranoid about sharpness. If it passes that test I keep it, if not I either delete it or rework the whole process from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I generally set f stop to 5.6 - 8 at all focal lengths on my RX100. Not had any problems or fails to date due to SoLD. Allan Allan, When I first started with the RX100 it was early in the year when lighting was often dull. I started off using f5.6 but had a number of pictures blurred by camera shake, so I now tend to use wider apertures and remember to keep an eye on what shutter speed I am using... It wouldn't surprise me if yo have a steadier hand than I do.... Peter, I tend to adjust the ISO depending on the weather (cloudy, sunny, etc) and range from 200 on a bright day to 800 or even 1600 on a dull day. This generally keeps the shutter up to a useful speed for most things. Not had any problems with noise either. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted March 25, 2014 Author Share Posted March 25, 2014 Allan, Yes I agree, default for me is ISO Auto (200 - 800). If the weather is bright I shift to ISO 100. This is to prevent over-exposure due to running out of shutter speed. I see very little difference in noise from ISO 80 -200. Although I limit auto to 800, I can go to 1600 if pushed. I such dim light, if there is not much subject movement, I use "Hand held Twilight" even though jpg only no RAW. The functions I have under the Fn button are: 1. Focus Mode 2. ISO 3. WB 4. Aspect Ratio 5. Image size 6. Creative style 7. Image Quality I could perhaps make some changes here as I don't remember using 4 or 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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