Got this little camera yesterday from Amazon. As mentioned, I got an extra Sony battery, the semi-hard LCD screen cover, a Lowepro Apex 100 AW camera bag, the Lensmate "kit" to enable mounting of 52mm (they also make it for 49mm) filters, an extra mounting ring for the other filter I'm going to use (makes changing filters a lot faster/easier), the Richard Franice's grip for the RX-100 (also available through Lensmateonline.com), a 52mm Rubber hood, a B+W Digital Pro 010 UV Haze MRC filter (52mm), and a B+W XS-Pro Kaesemann Circular Polarizer w/MRC and Nano coatings. I got the camera, filters, battery, Lowepro bag, and LCD cover through Amazon. Everything else came from Lensmate. The Lensmate stuff, including the small grip, is very easy to install, sticking to the lens ring and body with a 3M type adhesive. The Sony LCD protector also sticks on with similar adhesive.
Most people would not need the filters, etc. But, I use filters often, and that's always been one of the things I hated about P&S cameras, particularly not having the option of putting a polarizer on the lens. The UV Haze filter has MRC coating, to reduce ghosting and flare, and will serve as a lens protector. And most people would not spend the kind of money I do on the B+W filters, but, IMO, they are the best on the market, being machined of solid brass and using German Schott glass. The Lensmate kit adds about .5" to the thickness of the camera, so it's still totally pocketable. The little aluminum grip is nicely made...CNC machined, and just sticks on the right front of the camera to give your fingers something to hold on to. The camera is REALLY small...literally fitting in the palm of your hand. It is made of aluminum and feels substantial in the hand, despite it's size. The LCD screen is nice and bright, even in sunlight. It comes with a wrist strap, and two other connectors for a neck strap if you wanted to put one on it (it does not come with the strap, only the means to connect one). The supplied manual is very basic, but there is a User's Guide available on line that delves deeper into the functions on the camera. The lens ring is a really nice feature, enabling you to either zoom, change shutter speed/aperture, exposure compensation, etc., depending on what shooting mode you're in. You can assign it things to do as well, by setting up camera shooting "banks" for your particular way of shooting. You can also just set the thing on Auto, Program, a "regular" intelligent shooting mode, and a "super" intelligent shooting mode, which takes more than one frame (if the algorithm decides it needs to) and combines them for proper exposure. Also has Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual. Records images in small, medium, and fine Jpeg, or RAW, or RAW + Jpeg. Fine Jpegs are about 5mb each. RAW + jpeg is 17mb each...large files. Mulititudes of other settings in the camera. It really is a "Pro's" point and shoot. ISO's are completely useful up to 1600, producing prints in the 24X36 range, down to 13X19. Above 1600, up to 3200, you can still get usable images, but they would not print over 11X14 without some loss of detail. The Macro setting is pretty good, but only works well at the 28mm end, and the lens is very close to the subject. I have an old Nikon 6T Diopter (rare as a hen's tooth, with outstanding quality) which will allow me to be more versitile for any Macro stuff I might want to do. Bottom Line: The camera is quite capable of doing almost everything a full blown DSLR will do, with a few exceptions, of course. But for 90% of what I do, even with a DSLR, this little camera will do it. You'd be hard pressed to tell a 13X19 print produced by this camera compared to a $4000 DSLR. Seriously. The lens is just slightly soft at the extreme edges wide open...stop it down one notch, and everything is fine. You have to really look to see the softness though. In all my years of photography, with multitudes of different lenses, all of them have some weakness somewhere in the range, with rare exceptions. Particularly zooms. You can also put a level on the LCD screen to ensure you're not taking crooked pictures. One of the neatest functions is the Panoramic setting...you can set it for left/right, right/left, up/down...you then just start, hold the shutter button down, and sweep the camera in the direction you chose. The camera then processes the images, stitches them together, and shows you what it came up with. It works, and you can do a nearly 180 degree photo doing this.
The Lowepro Apex 100 AW is the perfect bag for what I got...it holds the camera with the Lensmate filter system attached easily, along with an extra filter in the box it came in, extra battery, memory card, rubber hood, microfiber lens cloth, and a lipstick style dust brush...with room for an additional filter, if needed. If you only had the camera, battery, and memory card, the Apex 60 AW would be plenty. The bag has a nice padded strap,or you can simply slide your belt through the back and carry it on your hip. Either carry method would keep the camera easy to get to, even when riding. The AW bags have a little rain cover that hides in the outside bottom for dust/rain protection.
Highly recommended...
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Topic: Sony RX-100...The ultimate Point & Shoot? (Read 2168 times)