Sony RX10: What the Reviews Don't Tell You 

+Gibie Bien Yes, Sony sells a separate charger, and there are generic/3rd-party chargers as well. I picked up a pair of generic spare batteries for my RX10 and they came with a charger.

+Martin Treacy Thanks for the kind words! Indeed, with where prices have ended up with the original RX10 it's an even better value than before. While editing video I'm constantly surprised at the level of detail I get out of the footage.

I'm sorry why can't you use the charger like a regular battery charger why not

Adam Loretz I think the zoom speed while recording is fine -- for the reason that this isn't a parfocal lens. If you need to do a quick zoom, most likely you're already focused on the subject you plan to zoom in on. For a fast punch-in zoom, you're going to want that subject in focus the whole time, which is tough for any AF system. As for manual focus, I haven't found the number of turns to be much of a problem. You might want to check out my Afton State Park video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v30zmMqa73I.html), I have a rack focus shot in there that I was able to pull off pretty easily. I'm curious how many (if any) of my criticisms of the original RX10 were addressed in the Mk2 model. I'm not cool enough for Sony to send me a review unit though ;-)

+John Graboski Thanks for the kind words! The RX10 is "weather sealed" which really just means you can get a couple of drops of rain on it -- I'm not aware of any similar cameras that would fare better against water. I have an AS100V myself and really like it, especially the fact that it's splash-resistant outside of its underwater housing.

I'm not a fan of what Sony's done with the RX10 III and IV -- the biggest complaint being the loss of constant aperture with the lens, but losing the built-in ND is a bummer too. And yes, I did a horrible job setting up the talking head shot in this episode.

+Florian Willemot Hi Florian! I bought the camera in the Mediamarkt. If you subscribe to their newsletter you will get notified when the next tax free promotion starts. Usually they notify you just a few days before, thats a bit annoying though because you dont know when the next promotion will be so it requires some patience but its well worthed in the end. The promotion lasts for 4 to 6 days and i think its twice per year. You can subscribe to Mediamarkt Netherlands too since its not that far. They have the promotion twice per year as well but on other occasions. Hope this helps.

kipling1957 I'm curious about the MkII as well; I haven't been able to get hands-on with one yet. It remains to be seen how many of the original model's limitations carry over. For me, if they add an intervalometer, WiFi control and AF-S in video mode, then I might consider upgrading.

This Does Not Compute Look at the Sony Ax100. I have one. I also have stills cameras I shoot video with, like the Sony A7R for my full frame shots. But a lot of the things you mentioned here are solved in the AX100, but it is built for video, the price has dropped to 1500 dollars. It's 4k at 24 or 30 p. The sensor is also backlit, the low light performance is amazing. Built in ND filters, the screen turns all the way around where you can see yourself. Zebras, focus peaking, 4k records at 100mbs a second, thats a lot of information. If you read that it records at 60mbs a second, that was the old firmware. It's 100mbs. For video you'll find it's built for video more than the rx10. The ax100 has the same size sensor as the rx10 but the backlight in the sensor makes it a bit better. It has full manual controls that are easy to get to, your shutter speed, your iso/gain, and your iris/fstop. It comes with a long ac adapter cable that you can record while charging with, or you can even record while charging with USB. I'd go for the ax100 over the RX10ii. The only advantage the Rx10ii has, is it has picture profiles that allow you to turn things down more. However, I am pretty good at speed grade and coloring. So I'm able to take the default picture profile of the ax100 and make it look however I want. For example if it's too sharp, I can soften it without the image looking soft. It will also shoot stills, however I shoot raw with stills so I wouldn't use it for that. I'd get the AX100 for video and do your stills with your RX10, since the AX100 is a camcorder, it's not limited to 30 minutes per recording. It'll record for like 3 hours on one battery and a 128gb card. The 1080p shoots at XAVC however, just shoot in 4k and down convert it to 1080p and it looks better than regular 1080p because you get 3 times the amount of pixels, it also takes away noise. Your computer will handle it, it's not raw 4k, it's 100mbs 4k. So, you drag it in a timeline on premiere or logic and make the timeline 1080p. You can also do punch in's, like do a close up of your face and then back to your whole body and not lose any quality, since the 4k image is 4 times the size of 1080p. So in a 1080p timeline, a 4k camera makes it look like you have 2 or 3 cameras.

nagol5178

+Rob Schmitt If you could find a remote that let you control how often it would fire the shutter, then that would work. The newer RX10 II has support for PlayMemories Camera Apps, one of which does timelapses.

You could just record a video and then fast speed it and then you have an time lapse. Intervall meter were you need to take picture after picture requires more work were you need to edit. Ofc it's "better" but time lapse with recording a video is possible on every camera! 😀

Rob Schmitt Sony added a time lapse app, plus a cool companion app that lets you pan within the resulting movie.

xfani92 Thanks for the kind words! I haven't gotten my hands on the Mk2 version yet, but hope to soon.

This Does Not Compute Really a useful video. Congratulations! And like the previous comment, I am looking forward to see this video applied to the RX10 II. Thank you for the objective and impartial analysis that you performed in this video. Regards, Nuno Onofre

Yeah. Weird framing. Overexposed and recording himself reading. Not good first impression for someone claiming that he knows something others don't and he will teachus.

Came here to say just this! Great video, but the exposure on this video is bad lol

@@KrunoslavStifter Understood. But really, there are no gurus who know it all, and even few fools who are wrong on everything. I listen to anyone who thoughtfully shares their experiences. If I were judge-y about them, I'd miss out. You too.

Key light is too bright.

Um it’s not the camera, it’s the gaffer or grip work. If his lighting is trash his video will be trash

eric madrid I've had to shoot video at 1600-2000 ISO and it holds up pretty well. The constant f/2.8 aperture really helps in this regard, that said, it's still a 1" sensor.

+This Does Not Compute I agree with this comment. Video at 2000 ISO is not a problem but still photo quality starts to drop off significantly at that point. SONY has done a good job of eliminating color noise through their noise reduction logarithms but the grain from the small sensor is very irregular and noticeable above 1600 ISO for stills.

+TIMagicProd I can tell you that the recording quality when using external mics on this camera is fantastic. it uses Dolby Digital AC-3 recording technology. The only thing I would advise is that you choose to manually control the audio in levels rather than leave them on auto.

+RedroomStudios - I have looked all over the internet to find a sample that really tests the audio quality of this camera in the most demanding situations. However, I have not seen anything that demonstrates that this camera can record deep bass. From the few sample that I did find, it sounds as if the recorded bass is very thin and not as deep and rich as the Panasonic GH3 (when using an external mic like the Sony ECM-CS3) or when compared to the Sony HDR-CX900 video camera. I prefer recording audio in uncompressed LPCM rather than compressed Dolby Digital.

+TIMagicProd the RX10 is essentially the exact same camera as the CX900 with only a few minor differences (the major one being the form factor - one being a "stills" camera and one being a "video" camera) the CX900 has a 50% longer zoom range which is one of the main reasons I am thinking of upgrading from my RX10 to the CX900. I'm not an expert on audio but I have had several videographers who have been doing the same car racing videos I do for decades longer, compliment me on the the great audio quality of my videos. I am running a mix of "line in" from a mixing board with announcers voices and an ambient microphone to pick up the car engine noise and I just manually set the record level very low to around 3 or 4 on the scale which goes up to 31. from what I have read, it is this ability to manually control your recording levels that sets the RX10 apart from any other dslr type camera when it comes to audio quality. the camera has good audio recording software built in... the only thing you would need to do is make sure you are using a good quality external mic that doesnt distort the low bass before it even gets to the camera. OR... if you have confidence about the CX900 then why dont you just buy it?

Functions that Can Be Used Remotely Live View Display Shutter release Press the shutter halfway down Start/stop movie recording Touch AF Zoom Play back images recorded by the camera on your smartphone (*A) Transfer images recorded by the camera to your smartphone (*A) Delete images recorded by the camera (*A) Settings (*1) Zoom Self-timer Flash Mode Exposure Compensation ISO Sensitivity Shooting Mode Program shift Aperture Shutter Speed White Balance Focus Mode

Yes, Sony added a number of features to the RX10-II and III models. This video is about the original version of the camera, which lacks them.

The Post Color Blog Also, it's nice to see that you have that on an S2 benro head. I have one on my monopod and I would like to get the Mark 2. and although I KNOW it's within weight limits, it's still nice to see someone who actually uses that setup :)

The Post Color Blog Yeah, I think the S2 is a decent value. It's not perfect, but does produce good results. (I did a review on it a while back.) And your trick of focusing on a stand-in is exactly what I do now...I don't trust AF-C, even with face recognition turned on.

Bazza On the original RX10, no. I've heard of a 3rd-party Android app that can do it, but the camera has to stay in Wi-Fi tether mode the whole time (so your battery life will be drastically reduced). I haven't gotten my hands on an RX10 II yet, but some things I've read suggest that it supports PlayMemories apps, which are installed directly on the camera. Presumably there is/will be an intervalometer app available.

+This Does Not Compute Many thanks for your reply and video.

+Nandish A It's a bit apples-to-oranges comparing the RX10/RX10-II to the A6000 since the latter has an APS-C sized sensor. If you're mostly/only interested in stills, the A6000 appears to be a good value and there's a decent selection of lenses these days. (That said, supposedly the replacement for the A6000 is due to be announced in early 2016.) The RX10 is really a video powerhouse but I haven't been disappointed with its still quality either.

Thanks for that clarification

+Ivan Phan The RX10 II cost more than twice as much.

+Simon Garfancule And there is no point in buying m2, maybe m3 will bring 60fps 4K, then it will be worth upgrade

+Simon Garfancule not sure where you are shopping but where I have bought all my cameras it's $1599 vs $999 in Canadian dollars.

DanishSpaceman Unfortunately, the PlayMemories apps aren't available for the RX10. The only remote control the camera offers is through the PlayMemories Mobile smartphone app, which is incredibly limited in functionality with the camera. I have yet to find an explanation why the apps aren't available on the RX10; it's a real missed opportunity.

This Does Not Compute i wonder is it because u are using an iphone. the app i have on my sony phone has more features than the one u shown.