New RX10 owner opinions.

[mickfly]

I finally decided to go for the RX10 after reading reviews and opinions from owners around the web, then having a hands on session at my local camera store. Unfortunately my very local, independent store doesn't deal with Sony (says they are a pain) so I bough from a multiple.

I've recently spent two months travelling and working (as a long haul big rig driver which I've done before for longer periods) in the USA and Canada and only took about a dozen 'snapshots' with my Canon 5d2 due to restrictive circumstances, one of which was the bulkiness of my existing camera.
So, on my return I decided I would buy the new camera.

 

My main reasons:

 

The overall size and weight of my existing setup.

 

Dust bunnies and the time spent removing them for acceptable stock and prints.

 

Lack of lenses to lug around.

 

Constant, fast zoom lens.

I will be taking the camera to France for summer whilst I work there as a snake herder and should find time to give it a thorough workout.
Here are 3 quick and simple test shots, taken as I got in the way of Sunday dinner being prepared, but I will be uploading more to Flicker (and here) as I get the opportunity. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mickfly/

My first impressions?

Looks and feels quite small, but has enough heft to sit nicely for hand held shots.

Laggy, but a faster card should fix that.

Fast focusing even in low light.
Hi ISO is no use for quality shots, so I would aim to stay below 1600 for now, but will work on it.
Good layout of mechanical dials, but thumbwheel should be 'clicky' as it doesn't feel positive enough.

More to come when I have had it a bit longer.

[spacecadet]

What does 'big rig driver' mean?

[mickfly]

What does 'big rig driver' mean?

Driving a semi truck and trailer (articulated lorry).

[Allan Bell]

Have you done any "Ice road truckin'" ?

 

Allan

[mickfly]

I've done the winter roads up north Allan, which are worse than the Ice Roads (Ice roads = 15KPH on the flat with no risk of going through as the multi million dollar recovery and environmental costs mean they only let you on when it's safe). I was mainly taking oversize loads from the USA to the coal and gold mines in BC,AB, and ONT lots of cold rough roads and chaining up required.

Just been out taking a couple of shots with the camera and found some design problems.

 

The ridges on the aperture ring aren't there when you turn the camera vertical for portraits and it's too smooth to grip and turn, but it doesn't matter as i can't get my fingers in to turn it when I am holding the camera properly as my other fingers are in the way!

The clickable switch is too easy  to accidentally switch.

[Robert M Estall]

Big trucks, big fingers? Sorry, not wanting to take a cheap shot, but there's got to be a trade-off with making cameras smaller and smaller. I haven't handled an RX10 but there have been times when I have resorted to adapting ridged rubber rings to enable me to operate in the cold wearing thin riding gloves with tiny rubber dimples. My son kept pulling the tracks off his Dinky or Corgi toys for some reason but they could be dead handy.

 

I remember those long cold Canadian roads with crap visibility. These days it's quiet bendy roads of East Anglia for me. And if it snows, I mostly stay in, too many drivers out there with no experience driving on ice or snow. But hey, this year we didn't get any!

[mickfly]

Lol Robert I'm not a stereotypical truck driver, so, small fingers, but a truckers belly. I'm afraid the driving had me beat this time as I was going to do 2 more years, but 13 hr drives is too much for me now, so I'm off to get fit in France for summer and my North American dream is over, after about 300,000.

The rubber rings is a good idea, which I may end up using, so thanks for that.

I'll use it some more then add some more comments, but if anyone has any particular questions about the camera, feel free to ask.

[spacecadet]

Talk about missing the point.

Never mind lorry driver- snake herder?

[mickfly]

Talk about missing the point.

Never mind lorry driver- snake herder?

Well spotted Mark, not something you can easily do with fat fingers either!

[mickfly]

An update:

My Canon 5d broke whilst I was working away so I used the Sony quite a lot.

I am quite pleased with it but keep forgetting that I shouldn't compare it to the Canon.

 

Some cons:

 

The aperture ring clicker switch is still too easy to move in normal use and most of the time it slips into the smooth or silent position.

I still struggle to actually turn the aperture ring with the ridges only on two sides of the lens, so I would have liked  the ridges to be underneath as well.
 

I use the zoom control near my trigger finger, but it sometimes sticks and keeps on going instead of releasing instantly.

Very slow processing night shots, BUT excellent early results with no sparklies.

If pop up  flash is used whilst sun hood is on it throws a shadow of it.

No dust spots, the bane of my life with 5D.

Some pros:

Lightweight.
Good focal range, including the 'super zoom' which, although it's digital, is not bad (no use for stock though).

Fast to use.

Good focusing.
SD card storage inexpensive and easy to stick in most laptops nowadays for transferring.
Far superior to the Canon for video, I'll be investigating further.
Good menu and programmable function buttons.
Lots of low light options, ie scene modes which take multiple pictures in a burst, which should make it better than Canon in low light.
Wifi control, which is limited, but interesting to be able to hold camera aloft with monopod and shoot with a phone!

I'll add more info as I am in a better position to make comparisons now I am back in UK (when I get my Canon back).
 

 

[wiskerke]

I still struggle to actually turn the aperture ring with the ridges only on two sides of the lens, so I would have liked  the ridges to be underneath as well.

 

 

If pop up  flash is used whilst sun hood is on it throws a shadow of it.

You could try a long thin tie-wrap with the end cut off. The head then functions like a small lever that you push and pull with one finger. Focusing on a Leica works that way. I have used it on the RX10's smaller sibling the RX100.

 

The flash problem is easily cured with a piece of plain white paper. Take a sheet, Letter or A4 size, fold it into a cone shape; hold the two corners together with tape or a paper clip. As long as the front of whole thing is flush with your shade or protrudes just a bit, it will work. If it sticks out too far it will either show up in your frame or flare your lens. It will work with your flash through the small hole or pointed into the large one.

Con: you'll look totally silly. Or to some, a Macgyver.

wim

[Ed Rooney]

Mick, I own a RX10, as do several other regulars in this forum. With any new camera, there's a period of getting use to the things that are different from your old camera. I find nothing strange on this Sony now, but it took some getting used to. Do a forum search for the many conversations we've had on the RX10. I've been using mine almost exclusively for the past . . . six months (?). I'm happy to own it. 

 

Good luck. 

[Peter Jordan]

Mick,

 

I too have been using an RX10 for some time now.   I do not travel much at present (for various domestic reasons),  so I change around between the RX10, an RX100 and Olympus E-M5.   The great plus for the RX10 is the lens which makes it so very versatile, all in a single package.  The zoom is a bit slow, but faster than changing lenses.

 

A very good choice for travel and you do a lot of that.

 

Always interesting to hear other peoples problems!   I never noticed the problemm with the aoerture ring, because I habitually set it before lifting the camera to my eye, also I have never had to use it with gloves yet.

 

The snake farm sounds good. .

 

I have the same problem with the click switch, too asy to move accidentally.   I keep meaning to tape it up but have not done so yet.

[Ed Rooney]

And, all you RX10 users, is it not fab that we can do closeups at every zoom point with this great Zeiss lens?  When you consider the price of this camera with that zoom, the RX10 is almost a bargain by Sony standards. Just look at the prices of other good Sony or Sony/Zeiss interchangeable lenses.  

[Allan Bell]

And, all you RX10 users, is it not fab that we can do closeups at every zoom point with this great Zeiss lens?  When you consider the price of this camera with that zoom, the RX10 is almost a bargain by Sony standards. Just look at the prices of other good Sony or Sony/Zeiss interchangeable lenses.  

 

I know you are really trying to persuade me to get one aren't you Ed.

 

Allan

[mickfly]

 

I still struggle to actually turn the aperture ring with the ridges only on two sides of the lens, so I would have liked  the ridges to be underneath as well.

 

 

If pop up  flash is used whilst sun hood is on it throws a shadow of it.

You could try a long thin tie-wrap with the end cut off. The head then functions like a small lever that you push and pull with one finger. Focusing on a Leica works that way. I have used it on the RX10's smaller sibling the RX100.

 

The flash problem is easily cured with a piece of plain white paper. Take a sheet, Letter or A4 size, fold it into a cone shape; hold the two corners together with tape or a paper clip. As long as the front of whole thing is flush with your shade or protrudes just a bit, it will work. If it sticks out too far it will either show up in your frame or flare your lens. It will work with your flash through the small hole or pointed into the large one.

Con: you'll look totally silly. Or to some, a Macgyver.

wim

 

Thanks for the comment Wim. I don't usually use the pop up flash (only to fire a slave) but would just take off the lens hood if I was going to use it for fill etc.

I'll just put up with the lack of ridges on the lens barrel, or if it gets to be a pain I will use a little rubber band as suggested by Robert.

[mickfly]

Mick, I own a RX10, as do several other regulars in this forum. With any new camera, there's a period of getting use to the things that are different from your old camera. I find nothing strange on this Sony now, but it took some getting used to. Do a forum search for the many conversations we've had on the RX10. I've been using mine almost exclusively for the past . . . six months (?). I'm happy to own it. 

 

Good luck. 

Hi Ed, yes, i've been following those conversations but have been away all summer without decent internet.

I will probably use it a lot more for stock as it really is more convenient than teh 5d... but... the quality in British winter light?

[mickfly]

Mick,

 

I too have been using an RX10 for some time now.   I do not travel much at present (for various domestic reasons),  so I change around between the RX10, an RX100 and Olympus E-M5.   The great plus for the RX10 is the lens which makes it so very versatile, all in a single package.  The zoom is a bit slow, but faster than changing lenses.

 

A very good choice for travel and you do a lot of that.

 

Always interesting to hear other peoples problems!   I never noticed the problemm with the aoerture ring, because I habitually set it before lifting the camera to my eye, also I have never had to use it with gloves yet.

 

The snake farm sounds good. .

 

I have the same problem with the click switch, too asy to move accidentally.   I keep meaning to tape it up but have not done so yet.

The zoom is a bit slow as you say, BUT, faster than a lens change, as you also say, so I'm happy about that, and I had become afraid of changing lenses on my 5D because of the damned dust spots!