The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V
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About this ebook
Written for the advanced user (with tutorials and easy explanations in case you are not so advanced), this easy-to-understand yet thorough guide provides a complete instruction manual which explains each feature in plain English and provides hundreds of visual examples as well. In this 613-page, book you'll learn:
* What every mode, button and function does - in plain, easy-to-understand language.
* My personal camera configuration
* Unique features of the RX-10 II, including the unusually high Flash Sync Speed
* How to decypher the alphabet soup that are the video standards;
* NFC, Wi-Fi, and step-by-step instructions on using them.
* Which of the new downloadable "apps" are actually useful.
* A tutorial to get the benefits of shooting RAW, and a condensed guide to the basics.
* A set of "Cliffs Notes" TIP cards
Downloadable .pdf is available at the author's website
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The Friedman Archives Guide to Sony's Rx-100 V - Gary Friedman
The Complete Guide to Sony’s RX-100 V
Professional insights for the experienced photographer
by Gary L. Friedman
Version 1.02
ISBN 978-1-365-78069-1
On The Cover
The Capital building in Washington, DC. 1/60th, f/2.8, exposure compensation set to -1.3.
For Those of You Who Bought the Printed or E-Reader Edition
There are a LOT of demonstrative illustrations in this book that kind of lose their effectiveness when converted to black-and-white. And some are difficult to see on e-book reader screens like the original Kindle.
And so to offset these problems I’m offering a free, full-color, instantly-downloadable .pdf file of this ebook to all customers who bought printed books (be they color or black-and-white), or who purchased this work through the Amazon Kindle, Apple, Barnes and Noble, or any other e-reader store. (The original .pdf file really does offer a superior user experience. Think of it as the director’s cut
regarding how the author intended the work to be seen.)
To get your free .pdf file, just email me (Gary@FriedmanArchives.com) with a copy of your receipt and I’ll send you a download link. Such a deal!
About the Photos
Most of the example photos in Chapters 1-14 were indeed taken with an RX-100 (including the front and back covers!). The photo pages preceding each chapter are images from the www.FriedmanArchives.com stock photo website, and were taken with a wide variety of different cameras over the past 30 years.
About the Author
www.FriedmanArchives.com, is associate editor of f2 CameraCraft magazine (a thoughtful periodical which steers clear of gear and talks about what’s really important in a photograph), and gives highly-acclaimed digital photography seminars worldwide for those who wish to improve their creative photography and learn the essentials in an intuitive manner. Because he teaches seminars worldwide, Mr. Friedman stays in touch with the concerns and challenges of serious amateurs – the kinds of people who buy cameras like the RX-100.
Before graduating to photography he was a rocket scientist for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (you know, those guys who landed probes on Mars and sent robots like Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Pathfinder, Spirit, and Discovery to explore the outer solar system), where he patented the image authentication system used in high-end Canon and Nikon cameras. He has been published in books, newspapers and magazines worldwide, and was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records while in college (go ahead and search the FriedmanArchives.com website if you want to find out what he did to get included).
Despite his mastery of the technical background, Mr. Friedman has an approachable and easy-going teaching style that makes his books a pleasure to read. You can read more about his background at http://friedmanarchives.com/bio.htm.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 In a Nutshell
1.1
Noteworthy Features
1.1.1 On-sensor Phase-Detection AF
1.1.2 24 Pictures Per Second
1.1.3 High Frame Rate (HFR) videos
1.1.4 Tools for Videographers
1.1.5 Can shoot 2 Kinds of videos simultaneously
1.1.6 Capturing Stills in Video Mode has returned
1.1.7 Pop-Up EVF
1.1.8 Wi-Fi and NFC
1.1.9 A Hinge for Selfies
1.1.10 Awesome Lens and Its Sweet Spot
1.1.11 Built-in Neutral Density Filter
1.1.12 Sweep Panorama
1.1.13 Four (!) Different Low-Light Modes
1.1.14 High Dynamic Range (HDR)
1.1.15 Peaking Color
1.1.16 Face Detection and Eye AF
1.1.17 Auto Dual Record
1.1.18 Downloadable Apps
1.1.19 Remote Methods
1.2
Software for your Camera
Chapter 2 Essential Configuration
2.1
The Function Button
2.2
Reassignable Buttons
2.3
Other Essential Customizations
2.4
Control Ring around the Lens
2.5
What’s Incompatible with RAW?
2.6
My Personal Camera Settings
Chapter 3 Quick Guide for the Impatient User
3.1
The Two AUTO Modes
3.1.1 Intelligent Auto
3.1.2 Superior Auto
3.1.3 Tweaking AUTO settings
3.2
P,A,S,M Modes
3.3
Focusing Essentials and Face Detection
3.3.1 Focusing Modes
3.3.2 Focus Confirmation
3.4
Things You Probably Didn’t Know about Playback Mode
3.5
Configuring the DISPlay
3.6
A Quick Guide for Video
3.7
Different Ways to Track a Subject
3.8
Flash
3.9
Bounce Flash
3.10
The Panorama Mode
3.11
The Images Remaining Counter
Chapter 4 Wi-Fi, NFC, and Apps
4.1
What is NFC?
4.2
Setting Things Up – Smartphone Functions
4.2.1 Install PlayMemories Mobile
4.2.2 Transferring an Image To your Smartphone
4.2.3 Configuring NFC on your Smartphone
4.3
Now What?
4.3.1 Send (resized) images to your smartphone for social Media
4.3.2 Remote Control with Viewfinder
4.4
Uploading Files to your Home Computer
4.4.1 Configuring PlayMemories Home
4.4.2 Initiate your Download
4.4.3 Throughput Rates
4.5
Applications
Chapter 5 The Recording
(Camera icon) Menu Settings
5.1
Image Size
5.2
Aspect Ratio
5.3
Quality
5.4
Imag. Size (Dual Rec)
5.5
Quality (Dual Rec)
5.6
(Movie) File Format
5.7
(Movie) Record Setting
5.8
Dual Video RECord
5.9
HFR Settings
5.9.1 Preparing for HFR Video
5.9.2 Shooting HFR Video
5.9.3 Caveats You Should Know About
5.10
Panorama Functions
5.11
Drive Mode
5.11.1 Single-Shot Advance
5.11.2 Continuous Advance
5.11.3 10s, 5s, and 2s Self-Timers
5.11.4 Self-Timer Continuous
5.11.5 Bracketing
5.11.6 Bracketing for HDR
5.11.7 What exactly changes when you bracket?
5.11.8 White Balance Bracketing
5.11.9 DRO Bracketing
5.12
Bracket Settings
5.13
Flash Mode
5.13.1 Flash Off
5.13.2 Auto Flash
5.13.3 Fill Flash
5.13.4 Slow Sync
5.13.5 Rear Sync
5.14
Flash Compensation
5.15
Red Eye Reduction
5.16
Focus Mode
5.17
focus Area
5.17.1 Wide
5.17.2 Center
5.17.3 Flexible Spot (S, M, or L)
5.17.4 Expand Flexible Spot
5.17.5 Lock-On AF
5.18
AF Illuminator
5.19
AF Drive Speed
5.20
AF Track Sens
5.21
Exposure Compensation
5.22
ISO
5.22.1 High ISO Noise Levels
5.22.2 Multi-Frame Noise Reduction (MFNR)
5.22.3 AUTO ISO Settings
5.22.4 Specifying Auto ISO Boundaries
5.22.5 Less-than-125 ISO Values
5.23
ISO Auto Min. SS
5.24
ND Filter
5.25
Metering Mode
5.25.1 Center-weighted and Multi-Segment Metering
5.25.2 Spot Metering
5.25.3 A Different Method of Handling Difficult Lighting
5.26
White Balance
5.26.1 Auto White Balance and Pre-Set White Balance
5.26.2 Tweaking the Pre-Set White Balance
5.26.3 The Color Temperature setting
5.26.4 Custom White Balance
5.27
DRO / Auto HDR
5.28
Creative Style
5.28.1 Frequently Asked Questions
Contrast Setting
5.28.2 Saturation Setting
5.28.3 Sharpness Setting
5.28.4 Combining Settings
5.28.5 B&W Mode
5.29
Picture Effect
5.29.1 Toy Camera
5.29.2 Pop Color and Posterization
5.29.3 Retro Photo
5.29.4 Partial Color
5.29.5 Soft High-Key
5.29.6 High-Contrast Monochrome
5.29.7 Soft Focus
5.29.8 HDR Painting
5.29.9 Rich-Tone Monochrome
5.29.10 How do these effects Differ?
5.29.11 Miniature Mode
5.29.12 Watercolor and Illustration Mode
5.30
Picture Profile
5.30.1 Gamma Options
5.30.2 The Seven Profiles
5.31
Focus Magnifier
5.32
Long Exposure NR
5.33
Hi ISO NR
5.34
Center Lock-On AF
5.35
Smile / Face Detection
5.35.1 On (Registered Faces)
5.35.2 Smile Shutter
5.36
Auto Dual Rec(ord)
5.37
Soft Skin Effect
5.38
Auto Object Framing
5.39
Auto Mode
5.40
Scene Selection
5.40.1 Portrait
5.40.2 Anti-Motion Blur
5.40.3 Sports Action
5.40.4 Pet
5.40.5 Gourmet
5.40.6 Macro
5.40.7 Landscape
5.40.8 Sunset
5.40.9 Night Scene
5.40.10 Handheld Twilight
5.40.11 Night Portrait
5.40.12 Fireworks
5.40.13 High Sensitivity
5.41
High Frame Rate
5.42
Movie
5.43
SteadyShot (Stills)
5.44
SteadyShot (Movies)
5.45
Color Space
5.46
Auto Slow Shutter
5.47
Audio Recording
5.48
Micref Level
5.49
Wind Noise Reduction
5.50
Memory Recall
5.51
Memory
Chapter 6 Custom
(Gear icon) Menu Settings
6.1
Zebra
6.2
MF Assist
6.3
Focus Magnification Time
6.4
Initial Focus Magnification
6.5
Grid Line
6.6
Marker Display / Marker Settings
6.7
Auto Review
6.8
DISP Button
6.8.1 Graphic Display
6.8.2 Level
6.8.3 Histogram
6.8.4 For Viewfinder (Rear LCD only)
6.9
Peaking Level / Peaking Color
6.10
Exposure Set. Guide
6.11
Live View Display
6.12
AF Area Auto Clear
6.13
Display Continuous AF Area
6.14
Phase Detection Area
6.15
Pre-AF
6.16
Zoom Speed
6.17
Zoom Setting
6.17.1 Differences between CIZ and Digital Zoom
6.18
FINDER / MONITOR
6.19
Release w/o Card
6.20
AEL w/ Shutter
6.21
Shutter Type
6.22
Self-Portrait/ -timer
6.23
Face Registration
6.24
Write Date
6.25
Function Menu Set.
6.26
Custom Key (Shooting and Playing Back)
6.26.1 Control Ring
6.26.2 Other Button Assignments
6.26.3 Bright Monitoring
6.26.4 More on Eye AF
6.26.5 Custom Key (Playing Back)
6.27
Zoom Func. on Ring
6.28
MOVIE Button
6.29
Wheel Lock
Chapter 7 Wi-Fi Menu
7.1
Send to Smartphone
7.2
Send to Computer
7.3
View on TV
7.4
One-Touch (NFC)
7.5
Airplane Mode
7.6
WPS Push
7.7
Access Point Settings
7.8
Edit Device Name
7.9
Disp MAC Address
7.10
SSID/PW Reset
7.11
Reset Network Settings
Chapter 8 Apps Menu
8.1
Application List
8.2
Introduction
Chapter 9 The Playback
Menu Settings
9.1
Delete
9.2
View Mode
9.3
Image Index
9.4
Display Rotation
9.5
Slide Show
9.5.1 PhotoTV HD and Bravia Sync
9.6
Rotate
9.7
Enlarge Image
9.8
Enlarge Initial Magnification
9.9
Enlarge Initial Position
9.10
Protect
9.11
Motion Interval ADJ
9.12
Specify Printing
9.12.1 Printing the Date on the image
9.12.2 Cancelling DPOF files
9.13
Beauty Effect
9.14
Photo Capture
Chapter 10 The Setup
(Toolbox Icon) Menu Settings
10.1
Monitor Brightness
10.2
Viewfinder (EVF) Brightness
10.3
Finder Color temp.
10.4
Gamma Display Assist
10.5
Volume Settings
10.6
Audio Signals
10.7
Upload Settings (Eye-fi card only)
10.8
Tile Menu
10.9
Mode Dial Guide
10.10
Delete Confirm.
10.11
Display Quality
10.12
Power Save Start Time
10.13
Function for VF Close
10.14
NTSC/PAL Selector
10.15
Demo Mode
10.16
TC/UB Settings
10.17
HDMI Settings
10.17.1 HDMI Resolution
10.17.2 24p / 60p Output
10.17.3 HDMI Info. Display
10.17.4 TC Output
10.17.5 REC Control
10.17.6 CTRL FOR HDMI
10.17.7 HDMI Audio Out
10.18
4K Output Select
10.19
USB Connection
10.19.1 PC Remote Software
10.20
USB LUN Setting
10.21
USB Power Supply
10.22
Language
10.23
Date/Time Setup
10.24
Area Setting
10.25
Copyright Info
10.26
Format
10.27
File Number
10.28
Set File Name
10.29
Select REC Folder
10.30
New Folder
10.31
Folder Name
10.31.1 If Standard Form is Selected
10.31.2 If Date Form is Selected
10.32
Recover Image Database
10.33
Display Media Info.
10.34
Version
10.35
Setting Reset
Chapter 11 Movie Mode
11.1
The Simplified Explanations
11.2
So How Do I Know What Video Format to Choose?
11.3
Choosing a Frame Rate and a Bit Rate
11.4
More on 4K Shooting
11.4.1 Shooting 4K a Lot?
11.5
Capturing a Freeze Frame
11.5.1 Method 1 – In camera
11.5.2 Method 2 – Using PlayMemories Home
11.6
Slow-Motion Videos
11.7
Dual Record
11.8
Manual Control in Movie Mode
11.9
S-Log2 Primer
11.9.1 The Gamma Curves
11.9.2 Gamma Curve Nomenclature
11.9.3 HDTVs have Much Less Dynamic Range
11.9.4 S-Log2
11.9.5 Grading
11.10
Playing back Videos
11.11
Shooting 2 Video Formats At Once
11.12
Importing your Files to your Computer
11.13
Motion Shot Video
Chapter 12 DRO and HDR
12.1
Dynamic Range Optimization
12.1.1 How it Works
12.1.2 More DRO examples
12.1.3 Frequently Asked Questions about DRO
12.1.4 So When Does DRO kick in?
12.1.5 When DRO is bad
12.1.6 Combining with Sunset Image Style
12.1.7 DRO on Your Computer
12.2
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
12.3
DRO vs. HDR
Chapter 13 Digital Imaging Topics
13.1
Introduction
13.2
An Introduction to RAW
13.3
The Bayer Filter and Demosaicing
13.4
How Your Camera Creates A JPG
13.5
RAW, TIF, and JPG Compared
13.6
JPG Compression Artifacts
13.7
Any Other Upsides to Shooting .JPG?
13.8
RAW Processing using catpure One Express
13.9
RAW Processing using Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW
13.10
Image Size and Resolution
13.11
Hot Pixels
13.12
Memory Cards
13.12.1 Memory Card Corruption Issues
Chapter 14 Additional Resources
14.1
Some Cool Accessories
14.1.1 Grip
14.1.2 Screen Protector
14.1.3 Add-On Optics
14.1.4 Leather Case
14.1.5 SteadyCam
14.1.6 Underwater housings
14.1.7 External USB Battery
14.1.8 Filters and Macro Lens
14.2
Upsells
14.2.1 Books on Other Cameras
14.2.2 25 Ways to Wow!
e-Booklet
14.2.3 f2 Cameracraft Magazine
14.2.4 The Friedman Archives Seminars
14.2.5 The Friedman Archives Blog
14.2.6 The Road to China
14.2.7 The Maui Xaphoon
14.3
Epilogue
Appendix A A Condensed Guide to the Basics
A.1
Shutter Speeds
A.2
F/Stops
A.3
ISO
A.4
Focal Length
A.5
Tradeoffs
A.6
Program Shift
A.7
The Histogram Display
14.3.1 Brightness range, sensors, and the human eye
14.3.2 Using the Histogram for a finer degree of control
A.8
The Secrets
of Light and Composition
A.9
Writing with Light
A.10
Composition – The Rule of Thirds
Out of place shot
Texture
Classical Portrait
Environmental Portrait
Hey, Look at Me!
Appendix B A Cookbook
for Special Shooting Situations
B.1
Introduction
B.2
Street Photography
B.3
Fireworks
B.4
Artistic Waterfalls
B.5
Stage Performances / Rock Concerts
B.6
Nighttime Time Exposures
B.7
Shooting in Snow
B.8
Outdoor Group Portraits
B.9
Sunsets and Silhouettes
B.10
Nighttime Sports
B.11
Christmas Lights
B.12
Product Shots
B.13
Candlelight Shots
B.14
Star Trails
Appendix C Tip Cards
Index
Mercedez Benz has a division called AMG which takes their stock vehicles and super-charges them with high-performance features. BMW has their M division that does the same thing. Their cars may look perfectly normal on the outside, but the raw horsepower on the inside is a whole 'nuther story.
That's kind of what Sony did with the RX-100 mark V. They developed a new sensor with phase-detect autofocus sensors built right in, with supporting electronics and memory to make sure it could suck that data off the sensor as quickly as possible. The result? Follow-focus without hunting. And the ability to shoot a whopping 24 pictures per second – unheard of even in pro-level cameras.
So you can think of your RX-100 V as having a point-and-shoot with a Porsche engine.
It's no secret that I love the RX-100 cameras. Back in August 2014 I was extolling the virtues of the RX-100 models in my blog (http://bit.ly/1yvfm3l), specifically their portability, convenience, and image quality, the latter of which is out of proportion to their small size. All of my RX-100 cameras have been capturing the grandkids as they grow up, because unlike my larger cameras they are always with me. (And they produce superior quality images to your average smartphone camera!)
Between the silent operation, face recognition and burst-shooting mode, there is no better nor more capable point-and-shoot on the planet. Congratulations. You've chosen a winner! (Oh, and did I mention that this tiny thing also shoots 4K video??)
With good light, images from this camera are so good that when blown up you’d be hard-pressed to tell which images were taken with my RX-100 or my larger full-frame cameras. Many RX-100 images grace the www.FriedmanArchives.com stock photography website, and about 63 have been licensed to very happy customers thusfar. Not bad for a point-and-shoot.
Apparently I’m not alone. The original RX-100 very quickly became a legend among professional photographers of all brands as their pocket camera of choice. Its image quality has been willingly accepted (and sold!) by stock image libraries like Alamy. And there are documented cases of travel and stock photographers abandoning their full-frame DSLR cameras to roam the world with this exceptional tiny camera so as not to call attention to themselves. So you’re in good company.
There are so many features on this camera that I could write a book explaining all of them. (Oh, wait…) But let me start with some of the highlights:
A little history: A previous incarnation of this sensor (the one used in the RX-100 MK3) was so good that other camera manufacturers used it in their similarly-spec’d cameras – including the Panasonic FZ1000, the DxO 1 (a connected camera for iPhones), and TWO bridge cameras from Canon - the Powershot G3X and G7X (shocking for a company that insists on making all of its own sensors!).
Then a newer version for the RX-100 IV was designed that had something called a stacked
design. In addition to ever-so-slightly better high ISO performance, this new sensor was designed from the ground up to get the data off the chip as quickly as possible, enabling some pretty important features: 2 kinds of slow motion video, 16 pictures-per-second (this was on the RX-100 IV, remember), a top shutter speed of 1/32,000th of a second (for your next trip to the Sun), and an electronic shutter which approaches - but doesn’t quite reach - the holy grail of a global shutter
– where all the pixels can be turned on and off at exactly the same time, rather than capturing and reading out one row at a time. This reduced the rolling shutter
effect greatly. (Read more about rolling shutter in Section 6.21.)
For the RX-100 V, an even newer sensor was developed, this time they incorporated a very sophisticated autofocus technology called Phase-Detect AF. It’s what the big DSLRs use to accurately track Olympic athletes. It’s responsible for the skateboarder being in focus in every single frame in Figure 1-4. And it is responsible for better video focusing with less hunting
in most circumstances.
Phase Detection AF works in all modes EXCEPT when the video mode is set to XAVC S HD at 100p or 120p. It also won't work when your f/stop is f/8 or smaller (meaning a higher f/number). In these instances the camera will fall back on contrast-detect AF which worked extremely well for its predecessors.
As mentioned a few pages ago, the RX-100 V can shoot a whopping 24 pictures per second at full resolution. And it will autofocus and auto expose between frames! It can keep this up for 150 .jpgs or 60 RAW+JPGs thanks to its massive buffer.
To put that engineering achievement into perspective, Nikon's top-of-the-line D5 DLSR also sports 20 megapixels but can shoot at only 12 pictures per second with follow-focus. That camera costs $6K and doesn't fit in your pocket.
And check this out: 24 pictures per second is the same frame rate as 4K shooting. But whereas each 4K video frame is a mere
3840 x 2160 pixels, each RX-100 V frame is 5472 x 3648 pixels – the equivalent of 5.5K video
(if there was such a standard). Few people actually have a real need for this capability, but isn’t it nice to know it’s there? :-)
(Disclaimer: You can only shoot 24 pictures-per-second if your shutter speed is 1/100th of a second or faster. And you can keep that up for about six seconds or so until the otherwise massive buffer fills. Then the write speed of your memory card becomes the limiting factor for shooting speed.)
Other welcome speed improvements include the ability to play back your last few images without having to wait for everything to be written to the memory card.
1.1.3 High Frame Rate (HFR) videos
Being able to move data off the sensor so quickly enables some really nice slow-motion video effects (or possibly a music video for Sia http://bit.ly/1VuNiaZ ). Your camera has two different methods for capturing slow-motion videos:
1.1.4 Tools for Videographers
It’s interesting to note that the 1-type sensor was designed with video journalists in mind. The video quality even excelled compared to what the larger full-frame and
Super-35" (the video industry's equivalent of APS-C sized sensors) sensors were capable of producing. How is this possible?
The answer has a lot to do with the fact that sensors for high-end cameras can capture significantly more pixels than what is required for video. And just as throwing away pixels in Photoshop to reduce the image's size fuzzifies the image a little bit, so too do the subsampling techniques used when grafting video onto a high-res still camera. This results in other artifacts too – mostly moiré-induced color stripes.
With the smaller 1"-type sensor, Sony doesn't have to subsample anything – it reads out every pixel for every video frame, and averages things together as needed (depending on the video format chosen). In addition to sharper and artifact-free video, the perceived noise is reduced as well.
There are a host of other features on this camera targeted specifically at video enthusiasts:
XAVC S 4K video is the obvious feature here.
There's also a XAVC S HD video format that records in HD (1920 x 1080) offers double the bit rate compared to earlier cameras (100 MB/s) and a higher frame rate (up to 120 frames per second for NTSC), allowing for the creation of smooth slow-motion video.
Ultra-slow motion (the High Frame Rate function) is another obvious one (1000 frames per second in PAL, 960 fps in NTSC).
Picture Profiles are a series of settings designed for professional videographers who intend to post-process their video (usually referred to as 'grading' in the video world).
Better video quality due to a new downsizing algorithm – instead of sub-sampling pixels which create a lot of artifacts, the Bionz X hardware accelerator chip samples every pixel from the sensor and downsizes from there, resulting in sharper video with fewer of those pesky artifacts.
Zebra Stripes, a feature which professional videographers have been using for decades (Figure 1-5).
This is a feature made especially for videographers who are also social media moguls. It is designed to address this very scenario: You’ve just shot some cool high-res video and you want to share it on Facebook while still in the field. So you bump your phone to the Camera (using NFC) and transfer the video footage to the camera so that you may then upload it to Facebook. The problem is that the high-res video footage is LARGE, it takes up a lot of space on your phone and it uses eats up your data plan in the process. There’s GOT to be a better way!
Leveraging the fact that Facebook just crappifies (that’s a word!) video anyway when you upload high-res video to it, Sony has now given you the option of storing video in two different formats: The high-quality format (XAVC S 4K, XAVC S HD, or AVCHD), along with a [much] lower-quality .MP4 version which is the perfect size for uploading to social media in the field. (This is an even smaller size and lower quality than can be selected manually via the menus.)
You can enable Dual Mode via MENU --> 2 --> Dual Video REC --> On. See Section 5.8 for which Record Settings allow its use.
1.1.6 Capturing Stills in Video Mode has returned
I really liked this feature when it was on the RX-100 II. Basically, when you press the shutter release button while shooting video, a video capture was produced simultaneously and written to the memory card.
That feature, called Dual Record, vanished on the RX-100 III but now it's back and with much, much better quality than before! You can now capture a high-quality 17 megapixel image when shooting in certain video modes. (Section 11.7 has all the details.)
There’s also a feature where the camera will grab a still video frame for you when it thinks your composition looks impressive
and save it as a .jpg on the memory card all on its own. That feature is called Auto Dual Record and you can learn more about it in Section 5.36.
Where in the world did they find the room to put it?
The EVF is useful on bright sunny days when the rear LCD is too washed out to see anything useful. To use it, pop it up using the lever on the left side, and then pull the rear element toward you so it will look clear when you hold it up to your eye.
The EVF also has a diopter adjustment, so those of you with basic eyesight ailments can dial in a correction and use the EVF without needing glasses. To adjust it, call up a menu screen, and move the lever atop the extended EVF until the image looks sharp.
I will say the EVF (for all cameras having EVF, not just this one) has a weakness if you’re an eyeglass wearer: if the sun is at such an angle that the light shines between your eyeball and your eyeglasses, then the EVF image itself is likely to washout, and you’ll have to block the sunlight from hitting your eye in order to see what’s going on. The solution: Take off your eyeglasses, look into the EVF directly, and trust that the autofocus will do its thing well.
1.1.8 Wi-Fi and NFC
There have been SO many times in the past when I took a picture with my original RX-100 and wanted to post it to Facebook that instant. Couldn’t do it – I had to transfer the images to my laptop first and upload it once I got back to my hotel.) What I would usually do instead is whip out my smartphone, take the same lower-res shot with its built-in camera, and upload it to Facebook, all the while letting people know that I have a much better picture in my other camera. An example from a few years ago (before Sony started putting this feature into its cameras) appears in Figure 1-6.
Well, your camera has a built-in Wi-Fi feature which helps to address this very problem – it lets you send your images wirelessly either to your home computer via your 802.11g/n router, or to your Wi-Fi equipped smart phone. And if your smartphone has NFC (more commonly known as bump
), the entire image transfer process becomes insanely simple once everything is properly configured.
Here are some cool and essential things about this feature:
It was designed to upload images to social networking sites. And so the camera gives you the option of sending resized (smaller) images to your phone – high enough resolution for the internet, and much smaller so your international data plan doesn’t get eaten up so quickly.
If your smartphone has the new NFC (Near-Field Communication) feature built-in, you can save time and initiate said transfer by simply touching the back of your phone to the camera’s N
logo while viewing the image you wish to share. It works, it’s simple, and it’s the feature I’ve wanted for a long time.
Again, using your Wi-Fi (and optionally NFC)-equipped smartphone, you can use your smartphone’s screen as a remote viewfinder, and take stills and movies by remote control! I think I’ve had more fun playing with this feature than any new feature of any camera in recent memory.
Those of you who love the idea of tethered shooting might welcome the ability to transfer the images you just took to your home computer via Wi-Fi if you also have quite a bit of patience.
I give the details of using each of these new features in Chapter 4.
If you’re fond of taking selfies, the RX-100 V's LCD hinge is made for you. You can also use the hinge to shoot over a crowd – just hold the camera upside-down and over your head.
One thing you’ll notice immediately if you try to shoot a selfie is that the LCD display automatically goes into mirror
mode (so you look like you normally see yourself in the mirror), AND the camera invokes a needless 3-second countdown timer when you’re sitting there holding a stale smile. You can disable this undesireable timer via MENU --> 5 --> Self-Portrait/ -timer --> Off.
1.1.10 Awesome Lens and Its Sweet Spot
If you’re an experienced photographer, you already know that the Zeiss
name is the Rolls Royce of optic brands. During World War II they were producing some of the sharpest lenses in the world (and this was before computer design or multi-coatings). For decades they were the only supplier of lenses for the medium-format Hasselblad cameras, and also for the high-end Contax RTS 35mm film cameras.
For the RX-100 V, Sony and Zeiss designed a relatively fast
lens (f/1.8 at the wide end), which is a nice thing to have on a point-and-shoot since it helps when shooting in low light and it can also help to get artistically blurrier backgrounds in certain conditions. (And I’ll explain what those conditions are later on in this book.) And there's not much light loss while zooming in as there tends to be with most point-and-shoot zooms; at the telephoto end the f/stop shrinks to f/2.8 (i.e., hardly any light loss).
This lens also offers the ability to focus on things very close (1.9 inches) to the camera (usually referred to as macro mode
) when the lens is set to wide-angle. While it doesn’t perform quite like a traditional macro lens, it can certainly come in very handy (which is the whole point of this camera, right?)
The Len's Sweet Spot
Every lens tends to have a sweet spot
– an f/stop setting right in the middle of its range in which the sharpness tends to be the best. Where is it for this lens? Figure 1-8 shows the answer.
The RX-100 V incorporates a Neutral Density filter in the light path, allowing you to take great head shots (with blurrier backgrounds) in bright, desert-like conditions.
It’s also a great aid for taking photos of silky-smooth waterfalls by attenuating the light, necessitating longer shutter speeds which is necessary to create the effect (Figure 1-9). The built-in Neutral Density filter reduces the light transmission by 3 stops, and can be set to On, Off, or Auto (which is the factory default).
1.1.12 Sweep Panorama
Every camera does this now. We all forget just how much math and PhD dissertations went into the capability – the camera starts to stitch images together while the panorama is still being taken!