New camera but results seem soft

stearman65

I was intrigued to hear that the camera doesn't have some form of camera shake compensation, so I downloaded the manual. It does have a setting called Steady Shot on page 60, but it's only available for video. For a camera of this price & type, that's naff. Sending it back is what I would have done. Wouldn't buy a camera today without some form of vibration reduction in still & video.

Zone

It doesn't John!

Delete or not?

Johnmcl7

It's not 'naff', it's the compromise from making an extremely small full frame camera which means there's simply no space for an image stabilisation mechanism.

Johnmcl7

That would be great if you could delete it thanks.

John

stearman65

My SJ6 Action camera is 58x40x10mm that has it. It's all in the software now. I think it's just an excuse for a newer model with IS later. If it's there for video, it should be for still images IMO. Sorry to persist but not having it is a retrograde step.

Johnmcl7

Software stabilisation is not very good and the RX1 does have that and it is absolutely not a reason to add it later, I don't think you appreciate how incredibly small the RX1 series is as it's packing a full frame sensor into a body barely larger than a standard compact.  There is simply no space to fit image stabilisation as the rear lens element is almost touching the sensor so the sensor can't be a floating system and the lens elements are tightly packed so there's no space for a moving lens assembly.  The Leica Q is the closest rival which does have IS and it's substantially bigger than the Sony, also Sony's own A7 series also has IS but they're significantly larger both body and lens.  

On top of all that with a fixed 35mm lens there is much less benefit to IS so it doesn't make sense to seriously compromise the design of the camera to incorporate it.

Perhaps the most crucial point though is for this type of shot, image stabilisation should actually be switched off and some systems will automatically switch off when shooting in similar circumstances because the shot isn't going to benefit from IS.

273K

This is an interesting discussion, would be a shame to delete it imo. Do you think the image quality could be down to the fact "the rear lens element is almost touching the sensor" - they've just pushed the limits too far?

Johnmcl7

No for a couple of reasons, it's exactly the same body and lens as the original and others get much better image quality out of the mk II.  I suspect it's either user error or a setup issue (particularly the AF which is a different system to the mk 1) with the mk II as some shots you can clearly see where it or I have missed focus but it's such a huge amount of money and I only had a few days left on the return window I decided to return it.  

I knew the new sensor wasn't night and day different to the old one but I was still expecting to be crop a bit more and have some more dynamic range to play with.  I've always been very impressed with the output from the mk 1 and use it all the time hence why I was initially prepared to pay for the mk II.

snerkler

Steady shot is a form of IBIS and is different to settings such as mirror lock up and shutter shock reduction.

@Johnmcl7 sorry to hear about this, I know how long you've been looking and it's such a shame it's not met expectations. I'd be interested in seeing the shots if you fancy posting them back up? You've done the right thing though, it's. a lot of money not to be happy with it.

Is it a leaf shutter on the RX1 then, I assume they don't suffer shutter shock in the same way as focal plane?

Johnmcl7

I've re-enabled access to the gallery:

RX1R2 Test Shots - Johnmcl7

The Scotrail HST power car and crop is from the mk1, the rest of the photos are from the mk II.  I realise they're not good photos but they're all easy ones as they're in bright conditions and typical of how I'd use the camera.  I'm sure I could get sharp high quality photos if I'd done static tests on a tripod but it's not how I use the camera and while it does have a lot small improvements over the mk 1 (configurable auto-iso, wireless transfer with NFC, EVF, PDAF), I was expecting a boost in IQ for the high cost as well.

It's a leaf shutter both models use and I've had no issues regularly shooting the mk 1 at 1/40 in low light.

It is frustrating but I realised shortly after reading this thread that while I may have been able to improve the output from the camera I still don't think it would be enough to justify the money.  I'm relieved now I didn't trade in the mk 1 as I'd almost done previously and will appreciate it all the more now I've silenced that nagging thought about whether I should have gone for the mk II.

On a side note I should mention Warehouse Express were extremely good from start to finish, I'd paid a bit more for this RX1RII as it was listed with the condition 'as new' and the condition was so good I was initially concerned they'd accidentally shipped me a brand new one.  The return was very quick and painless as well with the refund received a day after they'd got the camera back.  I realise that's how it should be but looking at some second hand cameras even just looking at the pictures they were showing more wear and damage than claimed by the condition and some claim you have to pay a restocking fee when returning a used item.