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    The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii
    The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii
    The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii
    Ebook904 pages7 hours

    The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii

    By Gary L. Friedman

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    About this ebook

    Love your new 20 megapixel wonder, but having a hard time understanding (and configuring!) all those features?

    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
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateSep 26, 2015
    ISBN9781329580756
    The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii

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      Book preview

      The Complete Guide to Sony's Rx-100 Iv and Rx-10 Ii - Gary L. Friedman

      The Complete Guide to Sony’s RX-100 IV and RX-10 II

      Professional insights for the experienced photographer

      by Gary L. Friedman

      Version 1.03

      ISBN 978-1-329-58075-6

      On The Cover

      The clear skies of Kauai, Hawaii.  RX-100 IV, 20s, f/1.8, ISO 1250.  This is the kind of shot you just can't take in Los Angeles. :-)

      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 1-15 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 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 for Both Cameras

      1.1.1      Completely Re-Designed Sensor

      1.1.2      High Frame Rate (HFR) videos

      1.1.3      Better Tools for Videographers

      1.1.4      Can shoot 2 Kinds of videos simultaneously

      1.1.5      Capturing Stills in Video Mode has returned

      1.1.6      Pop-Up EVF

      1.1.7      Wi-Fi and NFC

      1.1.8      A Hinge for Selfies (RX-100 IV only)

      1.1.9      Awesome Lenses and their Sweet Spots

      1.1.10      Olympic-style shooting speeds.

      1.1.11      Built-in Neutral Density Filter

      1.1.12      Sweep Panorama

      1.1.13      Four (!) Different Low-Light Modes

      1.1.14      Handheld High Dynamic Range (HDR)

      1.1.15      Peaking Color

      1.1.16      Face Detection / Eye AF

      1.1.17      Auto Dual Record

      1.1.18      Downloadable Apps

      1.1.19      Remote Methods

      1.2

            

      RX-10 II Features

      1.2.1      An awesome zoom lens

      1.2.2      High Speed Sync and Wireless Flash

      1.2.3      A Real f/stop Ring

      1.3

            

      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 (RX-100 IV only)

      2.5

            

      What’s Incompatible with RAW?

      2.6

            

      My Personal Camera Settings

      2.6.1      RX-100 IV

      2.6.2      RX-10 II

      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 (RX-100 IV only)

      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

            

      Quick Guide for Video

      3.7

            

      Center Lock-On AF

      3.8

            

      Flash

      3.9

            

      Bounce Flash (RX-100 IV Only)

      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 REC

      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      Speed Priority Continuous

      5.11.4      10s, 5s, and 2s Self-Timers

      5.11.5      Self-Timer Continuous

      5.11.6      Bracketing

      5.11.7      Bracketing for HDR

      5.11.8      What exactly changes when you bracket?

      5.11.9      White Balance Bracketing

      5.11.10      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

      5.13.6      Wireless Flash (RX-10 II Only)

      5.14

            

      Flash Compensation

      5.15

            

      Red Eye Reduction

      5.16

            

      Focus Mode (RX-100 IV only)

      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

            

      Exposure Compensation

      5.20

            

      ISO

      5.20.1      High ISO Noise Levels

      5.20.2      Multi-Frame Noise Reduction (MFNR)

      5.20.3      AUTO ISO Settings

      5.20.4      Specifying Auto ISO Boundaries

      5.20.5      Less-than-125 ISO Values

      5.21

            

      ISO Auto Min. SS

      5.22

            

      ND Filter

      5.23

            

      Metering Mode

      5.23.1      Center-weighted and Multi-Segment Metering

      5.23.2      Spot Metering

      5.23.3      A Different Method of Handling Difficult Lighting

      5.24

            

      White Balance

      5.24.1      Auto White Balance and Pre-Set White Balance

      5.24.2      Tweaking the Pre-Set White Balance

      5.24.3      The Color Temperature setting

      5.24.4      Custom White Balance

      5.25

            

      DRO / Auto HDR

      5.26

            

      Creative Styles

      5.26.1      Frequently Asked Questions

      Contrast Setting

      5.26.2      Saturation Setting

      5.26.3      Sharpness Setting

      5.26.4      Combining Settings

      5.26.5      B&W Mode

      5.27

            

      Picture Effect

      5.27.1      Toy Camera

      5.27.2      Pop Color and Posterization

      5.27.3      Retro Photo

      5.27.4      Partial Color

      5.27.5      Soft High-Key

      5.27.6      High-Contrast Monochrome

      5.27.7      Soft Focus

      5.27.8      HDR Painting

      5.27.9      Rich-Tone Monochrome

      5.27.10      How do these effects differ from before?

      5.27.11      Miniature Mode

      5.27.12      Watercolor and Illustration Mode

      5.28

            

      Picture Profile

      5.28.1      The Gamma Curves

      5.28.2      Gamma Curve Nomenclature

      5.28.3      HDTVs have Much Less Dynamic Range

      5.28.4      S-Log2

      5.28.5      Grading

      5.28.6      The Seven Profiles

      5.28.7      Gamma Options

      5.29

            

      Focus Magnifier

      5.30

            

      Long Exposure NR

      5.31

            

      Hi ISO NR

      5.32

            

      Center Lock-On AF

      5.33

            

      Smile / Face Detection

      5.33.1      On (Registered Faces)

      5.33.2      Smile Shutter

      5.34

            

      Auto Dual Rec(ord)

      5.35

            

      Soft Skin Effect

      5.36

            

      Auto Object Framing

      5.37

            

      Auto Mode

      5.38

            

      Scene Selection

      5.38.1      Portrait

      5.38.2      Anti-Motion Blur

      5.38.3      Sports Action

      5.38.4      Pet

      5.38.5      Gourmet

      5.38.6      Macro

      5.38.7      Landscape

      5.38.8      Sunset

      5.38.9      Night Scene

      5.38.10      Handheld Twilight

      5.38.11      Night  Portrait

      5.38.12      Fireworks

      5.38.13      High Sensitivity

      5.39

            

      High Frame Rate

      5.40

            

      Movie

      5.41

            

      SteadyShot (Stills)

      5.42

            

      SteadyShot (Movies)

      5.43

            

      Color Space

      5.44

            

      Auto Slow Shutter

      5.45

            

      Audio Recording

      5.46

            

      Micref Level (RX-100 IV only)

      5.47

            

      Audio Rec Level (RX-10 II only)

      5.48

            

      Audio Out Timing (RX-10 II only)

      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

            

      Grid Line

      6.5

            

      Marker Display / Marker Settings

      6.6

            

      Audio Level Display (RX-10 II only)

      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

            

      Pre-AF

      6.13

            

      Zoom Speed

      6.14

            

      Zoom Setting

      6.14.1      Differences between CIZ and Digital Zoom

      6.15

            

      FINDER / MONITOR

      6.16

            

      Release w/o Card

      6.17

            

      AEL w/ Shutter

      6.18

            

      Shutter Type

      6.18.1      Fast Shutter Behavior (RX-10 II only)

      6.18.2      RX-10 II's Various Flash Sync Speeds

      6.19

            

      Exp.comp.set (RX-10 II only)

      6.20

            

      Reset EV Comp. (RX-10 II only)

      6.21

            

      Self-Portrait/ -timer (RX-100 IV Only)

      6.22

            

      Face Registration

      6.23

            

      Write Date

      6.24

            

      Function Menu Set.

      6.25

            

      Custom Key Settings

      6.25.1      Control Ring (RX-100 IV only)

      6.25.2      Other Button Assignments

      6.25.3      Bright Monitoring

      6.25.4      More on Eye AF

      6.26

            

      Zoom Func. on Ring

      6.27

            

      MOVIE Button

      6.28

            

      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 Set.

      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

            

      Protect

      9.9

            

      Motion Interval ADJ

      9.10

            

      Specify Printing

      9.10.1      Printing the Date on the image

      9.10.2      Cancelling DPOF files

      9.11

            

      Beauty Effect (RX-100 IV only)

      Chapter 10      The Setup (Toolbox Icon) Menu Settings

      10.1

            

      Monitor Brightness

      10.2

            

      Viewfinder (EVF) Brightness

      10.3

            

      Finder Color temp.

      10.4

            

      Volume Settings

      10.5

            

      Audio Signals

      10.6

            

      Upload Settings (Eye-fi card only)

      10.7

            

      Tile Menu

      10.8

            

      Mode Dial Guide

      10.9

            

      Delete Confirm.

      10.10

            

      Display Quality

      10.11

            

      Power Save Start Time

      10.12

            

      Function for VF Close (RX-100 IV only)

      10.13

            

      NTSC/PAL Selector

      10.14

            

      Demo Mode

      10.15

            

      TC/UB Settings

      10.16

            

      HDMI Settings

      10.16.1      HDMI Resolution

      10.16.2      HDMI Info. Display

      10.16.3      CTRL FOR HDMI

      10.17

            

      4K Output Sel(ect)

      10.18

            

      USB Connection

      10.18.1      PC Remote Software

      10.19

            

      USB LUN Setting

      10.20

            

      USB Power Supply

      10.21

            

      Language

      10.22

            

      Date/Time Setup

      10.23

            

      Area Setting

      10.24

            

      Copyright Info

      10.25

            

      Format

      10.26

            

      File Number

      10.27

            

      Select REC Folder

      10.28

            

      New Folder

      10.29

            

      Folder Name

      10.29.1      If Standard Form is Selected

      10.29.2      If Date Form is Selected

      10.30

            

      Recover Image DB

      10.31

            

      Display Media Info.

      10.32

            

      Version

      10.33

            

      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

            

      4K Shooting

      11.4.1      4K on the RX-100 IV

      11.4.2      Capturing a 4K Freeze Frame

      11.5

            

      Slow-Motion Videos

      11.6

            

      Dual Record

      11.7

            

      Manual Control in Movie Mode

      11.8

            

      AVCHD Warnings

      11.8.1      Why is my camera warning me when I change formats?

      11.8.2      Can’t Record this Kind of Movie

      11.9

            

      Playing back Videos

      11.10

            

      Shooting 2 Video Formats At Once

      11.11

            

      Importing your Files to your Computer

      11.12

            

      Motion Shot Video

      Chapter 12      Wireless Flash (RX-10 II Only)

      12.1

            

      Introduction

      12.2

            

      Flash Models

      12.3

            

      Bounce Flash

      12.3.1      Diffusing your Light

      12.4

            

      Wireless Flash

      12.5

            

      As Simple As It Gets

      12.6

            

      Groups and Channels

      12.7

            

      Will the Control Bursts Affect Exposure?

      12.8

            

      Manual Flash Mode

      12.8.1      To Put the 60 Into Manual Slave Mode

      12.8.2      To put the 43 into Manual Slave mode

      12.9

            

      A Portable Studio Setup

      12.10

            

      High Speed Sync (HSS) flash

      12.11

            

      To Probe Further

      Chapter 13      DRO and HDR

      13.1

            

      Dynamic Range Optimization

      13.1.1      How it Works

      13.1.2      More DRO examples

      13.1.3      Frequently Asked Questions about DRO

      13.1.4      So When Does DRO kick in?

      13.1.5      When DRO is bad

      13.1.6      Combining with Sunset Image Style

      13.1.7      DRO on Your Computer

      13.2

            

      High Dynamic Range (HDR)

      13.3

            

      DRO vs. HDR

      Chapter 14      Digital Imaging Topics

      14.1

            

      Introduction

      14.2

            

      An Introduction to RAW

      14.3

            

      The Bayer Filter and Demosaicing

      14.4

            

      How Your Camera Creates A JPG

      14.5

            

      RAW, TIF, and JPG Compared

      14.6

            

      JPG Compression Artifacts

      14.7

            

      Any Other Upsides to Shooting .JPG?

      14.8

            

      RAW Processing using RawTherapee and NeatImage

      14.8.1      Step 1: Convert the RAW File

      14.8.2      Step 2: Apply Noise Reduction

      14.9

            

      RAW Processing using Lightroom or Adobe Camera RAW

      14.10

            

      Image Size and Resolution

      14.11

            

      Hot Pixels

      14.12

            

      Memory Cards

      14.12.1      Memory Card Corruption Issues

      Chapter 15      Additional Resources

      15.1

            

      Some Cool Accessories

      15.1.1      Grip

      15.1.2      Screen Protector

      15.1.3      Add-On Optics

      15.1.4      Leather Case

      15.1.5      SteadyCam

      15.1.6      Underwater housings

      15.1.7       External USB Battery

      15.1.8      Filters and Macro Lens

      15.2

            

      Upsells

      15.2.1      Books on Other Cameras

      15.2.2      An Introduction to Sony’s Wireless Flash (video)

      15.2.3      Ways to ‘Wow!’ with Wireless Flash

      15.2.4      25 Ways to Wow! e-Booklet

      15.2.5      Advanced Topics 2

      15.2.6      f2 Cameracraft Magazine

      15.2.7      The Friedman Archives Seminars

      15.2.8      Facebook and The Friedman Archives Blog

      15.2.9      The Road to China

      15.2.10      The Maui Xaphoon

      15.3

            

      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

      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

      Chapter 1      In a Nutshell

      We're at an interesting point in history.  As I write this, all of the photo industry buzz is concentrating on the full-frame cameras that are pushing megapixel boundaries.  But sometime when someone wasn't looking, the smaller sensors were coming into their own.  And while the new flagship cameras such as the Canon 5Ds and the Sony A7r II now offer more megapixels than most people will ever need, the smaller sensor cameras have suddenly become way more than good enough for even serious and experienced photographers like me.

      It's no secret that I love these 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 the RX-100's small size.  Between the silent operation, face recognition and burst-shooting mode, they are the perfect cameras for shooting family pictures.  Besides, THE RX-100 FITS INTO YOUR POCKET.

      With good light, images from these cameras 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 50 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.

      The RX-10 II is essentially the same camera as the RX-100 IV – it has the same advanced sensor, the same image processor, same CPU and data path, same menu structure (almost), and the same features – only with a utopian lens.  Specifically, an f/2.8 constant aperture lens, with a reach the equivalent of 24-200 mm on a full-frame camera.  This is probably the highest-quality super zoom you'll find anywhere.

      I could write a book about the very cool features of these cameras.  (Oh, wait… )  But let me start with some of the highlights:

      The 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!). 

      The standout feature with this 3rd generation sensor is the entirely new stacked design and manufacturing process.  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 shooting (with a very generous buffer), 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. 

      The ability to read the data off the sensor so quickly also improves the Autofocus speed.  Synergy at its best.

      There's another benefit as well – the rolling shutter effect that sometimes can distort fast-moving objects in stills and video is reduced.  Read more about rolling shutter in Section 6.18.

      Being able to move data off the sensor so quickly enables some really nice slow-motion video effects.  Your camera has two different kinds:

      It’s interesting to note that the 1"-type sensor (and the original RX-10 in particular) was designed with video journalists in mind.  Specifically, for less than half the cost of a Canon 5D Mark III (the camera that most of the DSLR-shooting pro's were using for video at that time), you could get superior quality video AND an awesome zoom lens, with full audio control. 

      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-induces 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.

      So for video, both cameras do a remarkable job, and if you’re an esoteric user (or even if you’re not), there are some esoteric settings for you to use like the S-Log 2 curve built right in.

      There are a host of other features on this camera targeted specifically at video enthusiasts:

      XAVC S 4K video is the obvious new feature here.

      There's also a XAVC S HD video format that records in HD (1920 x 1080) offers double the bit rate from the RX-100 III (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 1-3). 

      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.

      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 11.6 has all the details.)

      These cameras have a lot of technology inside!  So much so that when the RX-100 MK2 came out the only way they could include an EVF was to make it a bulky add-on accessory.

      That’s why most of the engineering world was astonished that Sony was able to squeeze in a high-quality, pop-up EVF for those times when the sun is so bright that the LCD screen washes out and you can’t discern anything nuanced.  (Even if you have MENU --> 1 --> Monitor Brightness set to Sunny Weather.) 

      Where in the world did they find the room to put it?

      For the new cameras, the EVF has improved – it now has 2.3 million dots vs. the previous 1.4 million dots.  Does it make a meaningful difference?  As with so many things with engineering, doubling the number of pixels doesn't necessarily double the apparent visual quality.  Looking at the RX-100 III and RX-100 IV side by side, it was difficult to see much of a difference.  But it's nice to know those extra pixels are there. :-)

      The EVF has a diopter adjustment as well, so those of you with basic eyesight ailments can dial in a correction and use the EVF without needing glasses.

      I will say the EVF 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.

      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 (Figure 1-4).

      Well, both cameras have 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 specifically to upload images to web-centric 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 roaming 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 IV'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 --> 4 --> Self-Portrait/ -timer --> Off.

      If you’re an experienced photographer, you already know that 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 Hassleblad cameras, and also for the high-end Contax RTS 35mm film cameras.

      For the RX-100 III and IV, 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?)

      For the RX-10 II, Sony and Zeiss designed the ultimate super-zoom – a constant aperture f/2.8 lens that is the equivalent to a 24-200mm zoom on a full-frame camera.  (Depth-of-field wise, it’s the equivalent of f/8 on a full-frame camera.) While normally such super-zooms trade off convenience for image quality, when you can design a lens specifically for a certain sensor, and employ other tricks, you can create the ultimate tourist's camera.  That's what the RX-10 II is.

      The Lens’ 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 and Figure 1-9 give the answers.

      The performance keeps getting better.  16 full-resolution pictures per second for the RX-100 IV!  (14 pps for the RX-10 II – not certain why there's a difference.) This is much faster than the 5 fps your camera will shoot in Continuous drive mode (which isn't anything to sneeze at either!).  (Figure 1-10.)

      You can access this mode in the DRIVE menu, 3rd option down. Sony calls this feature Speed Priority Continuous.  The tradeoff for all this speed? The camera does not try to autofocus between shots.

      How many shots can you take before the buffer fills up?

      Both cameras have incorporated 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 necessary to create the effect (Figure 1-11).  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).

      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!

      This feature is so common now that I considered taking out this section altogether - except I like showing off the panoramas I've made over the past 5 years. :-) More information about Sweep Panorama can be found in section 5.10.

      These all can get kind of confusing since these four features are all advertised to do the same thing.  The features are:

      The first three features are designed for when you’re shooting in low light and don’t have a tripod handy.  (And you just hate

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