Sony RX100 Mk2 and Mk3 - a question.

[John Walker]

Anyone know if either of the above cameras allow both Aperture and Shutters Speed to be fixed and leave the ISO on auto?

 

My RX100 Mk1 doesn't allow this but I wondered if it had been introduced on later versions.

 

John

[Alex Ramsay]

I use the Mk II, and I'm pretty sure you can't do it on that

 

Alex

[Bizair]

My M3 arrived yesterday.  This my first RX100 so can't comment on the M1 or M2.

 

But I just tried the M3 and it did indeed work OK on Manual and Auto ISO.  Choose M on the top dial, set shutter speed and aperture, then use the function button and set ISO on Auto.  I swept around the room and ISO varied as I took pix in varied light.

 

This is a useful feature which I use quite often on my DSLRs (7d & 5DIII).

 

So far I'm very impressed with the RX100M3's IQ.   Just have to get used to the tiny size, controls and menu system and I'll be a happy chappy.

 

Ken

[Allan Bell]

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

[John Walker]

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

Thanks Allan

 

I've just tried that on my Mk1.

 

As you say - adjust aperture on lens ring and speed on rear dial - great so far but  ISO does not change automatically on my MK1 but stays on default setting.  Are you saying that on your MK1 the ISO goes into auto mode somehow?

 

John

[wiskerke]

Have both Mk1 and Mk2: no auto ISO on M. No hack available either.

 

wim

[Bizair]

I've done some further testing on the M3 with my first trip out and about with the camera.  It definitely is a feature of this model.

 

As mentioned above.  Choose M, set speed and aperture, and make sure Auto ISO is selected.

 

Ken

[Peter Jordan]

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

[Allan Bell]

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

[Allan Bell]

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,  Yes I do that too, but I usually set out with it in Auto ready for a "grab shot".  The ISO 125 setting often gives a too-slow shutter speed for me, especially as the camera is so lightweight.  I should really be more careful to check exactly what settings I am getting with every shot.

[Martin P Wilson]

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

[Peter Jordan]

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

 

The RX100 images that I shot the other day, and were unusable due to camera shake, were shot at 1/40th for EFL 34mm, 1/30th for EFL 28mm and 1/40th for EFL 31mm. 

 

With my Olympus CSC or DSLR cameras I would not expect to get any camera shake problem at these speeds.  I think the problem arises because the camera is so small and light and with no eye level finder there is less support when shooting.   I will see how it works out with the new settings.  If it still gives trouble I will retire it until next spring.   At least with my winter coat I have bigger pockets and can carry an Olympus EP3 with 34mm EFL pancake lens for walkabout duty.

[Allan Bell]

 

 

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,  Yes I do that too, but I usually set out with it in Auto ready for a "grab shot".  The ISO 125 setting often gives a too-slow shutter speed for me, especially as the camera is so lightweight.  I should really be more careful to check exactly what settings I am getting with every shot.

 

 

Peter you could set the minimum speed to 250th and try again.

 

Allan

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

 

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,  Yes I do that too, but I usually set out with it in Auto ready for a "grab shot".  The ISO 125 setting often gives a too-slow shutter speed for me, especially as the camera is so lightweight.  I should really be more careful to check exactly what settings I am getting with every shot.

 

 

Peter you could set the minimum speed to 250th and try again.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,

 

Did you mean 1/250th sec or ISO250?  

 

I stick to max ISO800 as it gets a bit too noisy for me above that.  I tried some shots today, very limited numbers as it was pouring with rain. My min ISO is 200 and aperture f2.8 instead of f5.6. These settings gave 1/100sec and no problem with shake.

 

If you zoom in to 100mm EFL you really need, say, 1/250th sec to avoid camera shake.  It fact at 100mm EFL the aperture goes down to f4.9 and to get the faster shutter speed you need to go up to ISO3200 which is too noisy.

 

So long as I stick to EFL  28-50mm it should work OK.

[wiskerke]

 

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

 

The RX100 images that I shot the other day, and were unusable due to camera shake, were shot at 1/40th for EFL 34mm, 1/30th for EFL 28mm and 1/40th for EFL 31mm. 

 

With my Olympus CSC or DSLR cameras I would not expect to get any camera shake problem at these speeds.  I think the problem arises because the camera is so small and light and with no eye level finder there is less support when shooting.   I will see how it works out with the new settings.  If it still gives trouble I will retire it until next spring.   At least with my winter coat I have bigger pockets and can carry an Olympus EP3 with 34mm EFL pancake lens for walkabout duty.

 

 

Peter,

 

On mine I have a long neck cord on the right hand side, which I normally keep wrapped around my hand. However when I doubt my stability, I take it's end between my teeth and pull it taut.

 

wim

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

 

The RX100 images that I shot the other day, and were unusable due to camera shake, were shot at 1/40th for EFL 34mm, 1/30th for EFL 28mm and 1/40th for EFL 31mm. 

 

With my Olympus CSC or DSLR cameras I would not expect to get any camera shake problem at these speeds.  I think the problem arises because the camera is so small and light and with no eye level finder there is less support when shooting.   I will see how it works out with the new settings.  If it still gives trouble I will retire it until next spring.   At least with my winter coat I have bigger pockets and can carry an Olympus EP3 with 34mm EFL pancake lens for walkabout duty.

 

 

Peter,

 

On mine I have a long neck cord on the right hand side, which I normally keep wrapped around my hand. However when I doubt my stability, I take it's end between my teeth and pull it taut.

 

wim

 

 

Thats an idea, I never heard of that before.  A greenie for you!

[wiskerke]

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

The RX100 images that I shot the other day, and were unusable due to camera shake, were shot at 1/40th for EFL 34mm, 1/30th for EFL 28mm and 1/40th for EFL 31mm.

 

With my Olympus CSC or DSLR cameras I would not expect to get any camera shake problem at these speeds. I think the problem arises because the camera is so small and light and with no eye level finder there is less support when shooting. I will see how it works out with the new settings. If it still gives trouble I will retire it until next spring. At least with my winter coat I have bigger pockets and can carry an Olympus EP3 with 34mm EFL pancake lens for walkabout duty.

Peter,

 

On mine I have a long neck cord on the right hand side, which I normally keep wrapped around my hand. However when I doubt my stability, I take it's end between my teeth and pull it taut.

 

wim

Thats an idea, I never heard of that before. A greenie for you!

Thank you!

 

I am also guilty of reviving the knowledge of the other form of negative tripod (monopod actually): the cord or chain tripod.

This link is to my own website. I hardly dare to publish it, because it's not been maintained for 10 years or so. (I get bored easily.)

String tripod.

It's a page from 2000 I think, and I posted a link to a Dutch newsgroup in 2001. This is the English page, which was done around that time.

It certainly was the first time it was mentioned anywhere on the interwebs. And though viral in those days meant 1500 views a day, this did go sort of viral at one point.

And people made commercial versions of it. No I did not get any credit or royalties, because it was not my invention, nor was it the invention of the photographer I quoted on that page. I merely revived the idea.

I have seen it mentioned, with illustration, in catalogues of the 1880-ies as a chain tripod, because they used a chain.

 

Over time I had many nice emails about it. Once I was photographing the Hollywood sign, and someone told me, completely out of the blue, about this guy who had invented that string pod.

And that it would have made my image a lot better if I would have used it. After saying you're kidding me right? a couple of times, and him answering no it's just a piece of string you know; it's going in there, pointing at the tripod socket of my camera, I pulled out my string pod and attached it. I don't think I quite convinced him that I was that original guy from the internet.

 

wim

 

edit: link

[Allan Bell]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,  Yes I do that too, but I usually set out with it in Auto ready for a "grab shot".  The ISO 125 setting often gives a too-slow shutter speed for me, especially as the camera is so lightweight.  I should really be more careful to check exactly what settings I am getting with every shot.

 

 

Peter you could set the minimum speed to 250th and try again.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,

 

Did you mean 1/250th sec or ISO250?  

 

I stick to max ISO800 as it gets a bit too noisy for me above that.  I tried some shots today, very limited numbers as it was pouring with rain. My min ISO is 200 and aperture f2.8 instead of f5.6. These settings gave 1/100sec and no problem with shake.

 

If you zoom in to 100mm EFL you really need, say, 1/250th sec to avoid camera shake.  It fact at 100mm EFL the aperture goes down to f4.9 and to get the faster shutter speed you need to go up to ISO3200 which is too noisy.

 

So long as I stick to EFL  28-50mm it should work OK.

 

 

Shutter speed 1/250th I meant Peter.

 

Thanks for the results of you trials with the RX100.

 

Allan

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

 

 

As a long time sports shooter I tend to think in terms of motion blur and so it is shutter speed first for me. I usually set a shutter speed of around 1/60 or 1/125 for a walkaround lens then set ISO that gives me f5.6-8. For most purposes after that I let aperture float around f4-f11 unless I have a need of limited or deep depth of field then I take control accordingly.

The RX100 images that I shot the other day, and were unusable due to camera shake, were shot at 1/40th for EFL 34mm, 1/30th for EFL 28mm and 1/40th for EFL 31mm.

 

With my Olympus CSC or DSLR cameras I would not expect to get any camera shake problem at these speeds. I think the problem arises because the camera is so small and light and with no eye level finder there is less support when shooting. I will see how it works out with the new settings. If it still gives trouble I will retire it until next spring. At least with my winter coat I have bigger pockets and can carry an Olympus EP3 with 34mm EFL pancake lens for walkabout duty.

Peter,

 

On mine I have a long neck cord on the right hand side, which I normally keep wrapped around my hand. However when I doubt my stability, I take it's end between my teeth and pull it taut.

 

wim

Thats an idea, I never heard of that before. A greenie for you!

Thank you!

 

I am also guilty of reviving the knowledge of the other form of negative tripod (monopod actually): the cord or chain tripod.

This link is to my own website. I hardly dare to publish it, because it's not been maintained for 10 years or so. (I get bored easily.)

String tripod.

It's a page from 2000 I think, and I posted a link to a Dutch newsgroup in 2001. This is the English page, which was done around that time.

It certainly was the first time it was mentioned anywhere on the interwebs. And though viral in those days meant 1500 views a day, this did go sort of viral at one point.

And people made commercial versions of it. No I did not get any credit or royalties, because it was not my invention, nor was it the invention of the photographer I quoted on that page. I merely revived the idea.

I have seen it mentioned, with illustration, in catalogues of the 1880-ies as a chain tripod, because they used a chain.

 

Over time I had many nice emails about it. Once I was photographing the Hollywood sign, and someone told me, completely out of the blue, about this guy who had invented that string pod.

And that it would have made my image a lot better if I would have used it. After saying you're kidding me right? a couple of times, and him answering no it's just a piece of string you know; it's going in there, pointing at the tripod socket of my camera, I pulled out my string pod and attached it. I don't think I quite convinced him that I was that original guy from the internet.

 

wim

 

edit: link

 

 

Wim,

 

I am very familiar with the string pod, although I have not used one for years.

 

On my RX100 I have a wrist "strap" made of black string.  It fits through the tiny loop on the camera, so I think it is an original Sony one.  It fits very loosely on my (skinny) wrist.

 

It is long enough to hold in my teeth and for me to still see the screen, so that method works for me.

[Peter Jordan]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M on top dial on MkI.

 

Allan

 

EDIT

 

Adjust aperture on ring around lens, as usual, and speed on rear dial.  Just be careful not to press rear ring or some strange things may happen like resetting the flash etc.

 

Allan,

 

This does not work for me on the Mk1.   If you set  ISO to Auto and set the top dial to M,  the ISO changes itself to 125 and the "Auto ISO" setting is greyed out.

 

Not really a problem for me as I am used to working Aperture Priority.

 

 

Hi and sorry I did not check ISO setting.

 

As you say Peter ISO is greyed out on manual setting on the MkI.

 

I usually work in aperture priority too with ISO set to 200/400/800 depending on daytime light availability.

 

Allan

 

Allan,

 

I have been working Aperture priority usually f5.6 and ISO Auto on 125min and 800max.

 

Now that it is beginning to get cold and dark I find a lot of images useless due to motion blur.

 

After studying the DOF calculator, I have "winter" settings of f2.8 and ISO Auto on 200min and 800max.  Also shooting more at 28mm EFL as this lens stops itself down rather fast as you zoom. I will see how this goes.

 

 

Peter I find setting the ISO manually for the light levels on the day for a given aperture gives better/more consistent control of the speed for the EFL.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,  Yes I do that too, but I usually set out with it in Auto ready for a "grab shot".  The ISO 125 setting often gives a too-slow shutter speed for me, especially as the camera is so lightweight.  I should really be more careful to check exactly what settings I am getting with every shot.

 

 

Peter you could set the minimum speed to 250th and try again.

 

Allan

 

 

Allan,

 

Did you mean 1/250th sec or ISO250?  

 

I stick to max ISO800 as it gets a bit too noisy for me above that.  I tried some shots today, very limited numbers as it was pouring with rain. My min ISO is 200 and aperture f2.8 instead of f5.6. These settings gave 1/100sec and no problem with shake.

 

If you zoom in to 100mm EFL you really need, say, 1/250th sec to avoid camera shake.  It fact at 100mm EFL the aperture goes down to f4.9 and to get the faster shutter speed you need to go up to ISO3200 which is too noisy.

 

So long as I stick to EFL  28-50mm it should work OK.

 

 

Shutter speed 1/250th I meant Peter.

 

Thanks for the results of you trials with the RX100.

 

Allan

 

 

Shot some more with the RX100, out in the November fog today.

 

With min Auto ISO at 200, and using the zoom ring to set to 35mm and using f2.8 gave excellent sharp results.

[Allan Bell]

 

 

 

 

Shutter speed 1/250th I meant Peter.

 

Thanks for the results of you trials with the RX100.

 

Allan

 

 

Shot some more with the RX100, out in the November fog today.

 

With min Auto ISO at 200, and using the zoom ring to set to 35mm and using f2.8 gave excellent sharp results.

 

 

RX100 zoom ring??

 

Did you mean Rx10?

 

Allan