PHOTO YODOBASHI

YODOBASHI CAMERA ONLINE PHOTO MAGAZINE

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

Grab a couple of thousand yen bills, some coins, and a credit card. Then put them into your pocket with your camera. This is the best way to go out for shooting. But this time, I tested a camera that doesn't belong to me, so I bubble-wrapped it and put it into my waist bag. If the camera had an APS-C size sensor, it would have been a little too big for a waist bag. I really appreciate the RX100II's compactness because it allows me to put everything but the camera (including a towel on a hot day!) into my waist bag or body bag. Still, it takes great pictures. This is a perfect camera for those who always carry a camera to take pictures with it.

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

My shooting schedule tends to be Rock n' Roll tight and I only try to shoot something that clearly shows the potential of a camera. But, this time I was able to spend a whole day with this camera and it was long enough for awakening my camera (otaku) enthusiasm. So, I used in a variety of situations. For example, this is a difficult scene because the strong sunshine overexposes the fishing boat's white color, while underexposes the shadow part. But, the powerful 1" sensor captured the white and black colors very naturally maintaining nice tonality. To me, it's this extra room for tonality is crucial in determining whether I want to use a camera or not.

The resolution is great, but it really depicts things solidly. The wave shapes are captured with reality in a distance of 20m or further. This is nothing but splendid.

I wide opened at wide-end. Both the trees and the person in focus are wonderfully captured with solidity. I like the dense color production of this camera since the first model. I think I can make the most of this color production by underexposing a little.

I shot at wide-end stopping down a little. If you stop down by one f-stop, you can get sharpness across the entire frame. A few years ago, I would have had to stop down by one more f-stop and still I had to worry if I could achieve what I wanted by post adjusting.


Another good thing about this camera is the tilting LCD. You can now take ground angle shots that had been difficult without it. Also, it's good for portraits because by looking down to the LCD, you don't scare the subject. I overexposed a little, but the highlight looks nice and soft. Oh yes, now you can attach the EVF and it will make outdoor shooting easier. Also, you can fix your camera in front of your face, so the camera becomes an extension of your body. I'm sure that these two additional features broaden your shooting chances.

This image is meant to test how it captures texture. I didn't expect a camera with a smaller sensor to isolate the flower from the background cloth, but it actually did.

When the sensor is large for a compact, it becomes easier to shoot in an insufficient lighting condition. I shot at tele-end by taking the minimum distance from the surface of the beverage on which I looked straight down. Of course, the table surface got out of focus.

When you want to shoot food in a dark restaurant, you have to raise ISO to gain faster shutter speed. The ISO was 800 and this is the number I want to avoid using with other ordinary compact digitals. But, I'm amazed at the moist depiction even though the ISO was raised. This job scores more than 100 points.


The depiction is truly wonderful. You can shoot wide open, but you can get better results if you stop down by one f-stops when you're shooting from no further than 5m.

Look at the texture and shininess of the plating and the tank. Also, the raindrops are so sharp. Any complaints? Even though I'm a professional photographer, I may be tricked if someone says this image was shot by a flagship DSLR camera. And, I think I can notice the difference only after checking the exposure to the extent that the asphalt becomes black and the shallower depth of focus.

I exposed by 2.7 f-stops brighter than what the camera calculated. Plus, I set the white balance to shade. I couldn't stop smiling when I noticed the depiction of the headlight: it looks as if it's swallowed by the backlight.


In fact, I bought the RX1 and the RX100 at the same time, and on top of all that, I bought the RX1R. My wife also likes photography and cameras. I can trick other people because the RX100II looks almost like the RX100, but my wife won't be cheated. I really want the RX100II, and my excuses would be like "I need it for my work." I know she'll be disgusted. Anyway, SONY's cameras are rapidly expanding their market share. I know I should refrain this time, but the RX100II stays so appealing to me because it's perfectly sized for private shooting.

* I tried to test the new Wi-Fi function, but all our crew members use iOS... I couldn't buy other platform just for this and I'm in deep distress. I'm terribly sorry.