New Camera

I've been considering the Sony RX100m2 (or II) since it was announced a few months ago as an upgrade to the original RX100. I've been happy enough with the Canon G12 as my "small" camera, but I was attracted by the small size and high image quality of the Sony. I finally gave in and bought one on Friday (From Don's Photo since I believe in supporting local retailers even if it costs a little more).

It's substantially smaller than the G12, but it has a larger sensor, higher resolution, and better low light performance (high ISO). It doesn't have a fully articulated screen like the G12, but the screen does tilt up and down which is almost as useful. And the screen is double the resolution. What I will miss are the external controls on the G12. It had separate dials for many functions whereas the RX100 relies more on on-screen menus.

My first test was of a flower from a bouquet on the dining room table. It was quite low light, but it came out pretty well.

I took a few more shots at the Farmer's Market Saturday morning, somewhat awkwardly because I had a shopping bag and a coffee in one hand and was trying to operate an unfamiliar camera with the other hand.

It was a beautiful sunny day so when the sun got a bit lower in late afternoon I wandered down the back alley and over to the nearby community garden to see what I could see. I took a bunch of closeup shots. The RX100 does quite well at this but it will only focus close when fully zoomed out to wide angle. The G12 is similar but it will focus closer than the RX100 when you zoom. However, the RX100 has double the resolution so you've got more leeway to crop.



slideshow or overview of set (31 photos)

It's going to take awhile to get accustomed to all the features on the RX100, but I'm definitely impressed by the quality of the images. (All of these images were shot Raw and processed in Lightroom.) And the tiny size will be great for everyday carry and travel.

One of the factors in choosing the RX100 is that it's one of the top rated compact cameras for underwater photography. There are several companies making underwater housings including Ikelite, Recsea, and Nauticam.

The user's manual that comes with the RX100 is pretty skimpy, especially considering how many features the camera has. I picked up Gary Friedman's guide (in ebook) which is helpful.