SONY RX100 II / SHOOTING REPORT vol.1 vol.2 vol.3

The RX100II is a compact camera with a 1%quot;-type sensor, which is large for a small camera but not as big as the APS-C. So, the price is appropriate for the sensor size. The usability is of a conventional compact digital camera, while the picture quality is better. It's not as stoic as the cameras with a fixed focal lens, and it has a practical standard zoom lens. This camera is ideal for those who want better results from a handy camera. I shot whatever I liked as I walked on the street.

( Photography : M.Ito & K / Text : K )

Even at the tele-end, bokeh isn't as big as the one generated by larger sensors, but it's big for a compact digital and this allows different approach. The backlight is covered by the leaves, but still it shows the lens is backlight-resistant. Also, it's sharp more than enough.

The sensor size is about four times as large as the other compact digital sensors, and the number of pixels exceeds 20 Megapixels. So, it powerfully resolves each leaf beautifully. The gradation of light is also very smooth. This camera must have a good balance between the sensor size and the number of pixels.

It was almost raining and I shot wide open. For the scene like this, I don't want to panfocus. But, this camera got me a right amount of bokeh. This is great when you what bokeh to be moderate rather than maximum.

The texture of the shop curtain looks great. I shot wide open to use a faster shutter, but to get a sharper and clearer result, you may want to stop down if you can. * You can also raise the ISO, taking advantage of the improved high ISO performance.

This kind of dolls sometimes look scary to me. The texture of cloth is perfectly resolved. It has a certain amount of noise at ISO400, but it's practically no problem and it's rather "photographic."

It's a little loose wide open because of aberration, but other than that, it's very sharp. The solidity of the neon sign is also wonderful. This was shot at wide-end. In such a situation, conventional compact digitals only allow panfocusing, while this camera brings some bokeh. This makes a great difference in the results.

Images become a little soft if shot in the minimum distance wide open at wide-end, but sharpness increases if shot in some distance at tele-end as shown above. It depicted the moist peel I found on a very humid day.

With a compact digital, I unintentionally tend to get so close to the subject zooming to wide-end. This is because many compact cameras allow such shooting. This camera doesn't let you get ultra close, so I recommend you to pull back a little and use the range from standard to telephoto for easier focusing and better results.

I think this bokeh is close to the one that human eyes get. This was shot wide open. This bokeh doesn't look appealing to those who expect larger bokeh from a large sensor, but this bokeh is more realistic and rather ideal for true everyday shooting and recording. I look forward to my next short trip as I will take only this camera with me and it will be our third report. Until then!