Monday, August 12, 2013

REVIEW: Sony Cyber-Shot RX100 II with Real World Sample Photos (Part 1 of 2)


I'm as excited as Kai about the new Sony RX100 II
f/2.8 @10.4 mm, 1/250, ISO 160, No Flash, In-Camera JPEG (click for full-size original)

I wanted to like the original RX100, but it left me disappointed about what I got for the price. When I heard about the RX100 II and its removal of the low pass filter and image quality improvements, I got excited. However, my enthusiasm was tempered when I read it would still try to squeeze 20.2MP in a sensor with its the one inch Bionz™ sensor. A modest 12 megapixels would have made more sense, but technology keeps improving so I always reserve final judgment until I see my real world results.

In this article I start with some sample photos, but my main review and comparison to its predecessor is featured in my part 2 review.

Real World Sample Images

I have more featured in part 2 of my review, but click here to see all of my favorite shots taken during my testing. Here’s a few that I felt like were worth mentioning for this short part 1 of my review:


Bokehlicious f/2.5 @ 10.4 mm, 1/125, ISO 160, No Flash
(Click for the uncropped original)


Image Quality is rather tasty, as is the dynamic range
f/5 @ 10.4 mm,1/800, ISO 160, No Flash


Intelligent Auto doesn't seem any smarter, but I've seen worse
f/4.9 @37.1 mm, 1/320, ISO 320, No Flash


With a good focus lock and decent light, the image quality was extremely impressive
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm, 1/1250, ISO 160, No Flash


I found myself getting addicted to its wonderful shallow depth of field at f/1.8
In-camera color is gorgeous as well!
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm, 1/250, ISO 160, No Flash


In my studio with these models (who are also sisters), I decided to test low light conditions.
I was surprised the RX100 II aperture priority at f/1.8 chose only use ISO 640 and 1/30 sec.
However, I quickly remembered this was another feature I didn’t like about its predecessor.
f/1.8 @10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 640, No Flash


Sony Image Stabilization didn’t really seem to help very often indoors because
this camera defaults to shutter speeds that are too low to prevent motion blur
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 800, No Flash


Flash in landscape orientation gets the job done
f/1.8 @10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 160, Flash


Flash in portrait orientation is above average
f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 160, Flash


f/1.8 @ 10.4 mm, 1/30, ISO 800, No Flash with Lamp Light and Tungsten White Balance

Conclusion

See http://www.ronmartblog.com/2013/08/review-sony-dsc-rx100m2-vs-rx100-with.html for more details.

Where to order

Click here to order the Sony Cyber-shot Digital Camera RX100 II at the B&H web site.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

B&H has loaned this camera to me temporarily (at my request) so that I may do this review.

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity

No comments: