The Best Travel Camera Ever...

Another fine 600mm win from the RX10 IV

Also in this Issue:

• HDR Shooting - Should you or Shouldn't You?
• Next Time in Cameracraft Magazine
• Newest books released and in development

The Best Travel Camera Ever

I'm a member of Sony's Pro Support service.  For the past five years, every time I called them to ask a technical question or provide some feedback on a particular feature, I always ended the call with, "Oh, and one more thing... you need to make an RX10 V to bring it up to date!"  

600mm lenses come in 
handier than you think.

The response each time was always the same: "Yeah, we hear that a lot".  

I have a lot of cameras, but if you go through my lightroom catalog you'll see that the RX10 IV was my most-used camera for the past 9 years.  Little wonder, as whenever I travel I always take the version IV with me, sometimes leaving the heavier gear in the hotel room just because I wanted to enjoy my trip more instead of being burdened by my bulkier equipment and camera bag.  

The RX10 IV was probably one of Sony's most under-loved cameras, having a versatile 24-600mm lens and the same 1"-type sensor used in their famous RX100 point-and-shoots.  It had a flash sync of 1/2000th of a second (great for overpowering the sun with flash on bright days) and could be operated with just one hand.  It was designed to appeal equally to videographers and photographers, given the motorized zoom lens and option for click-free f/stop ring.  Every time a reader asked me "What camera should I take on an upcoming trip?", I would always tell them to leave their big cameras at home, and get an RX10 IV.  Without exception they would always write back thanking me profusely for this uncommon recommendation, for the images were great and their trip became much more carefree.  

I loved the camera so much that I created a dedicated blog post hearalding its praises and sharing how I overcame my serious trepidation about shooting licensable images using a small-sensor camera.  I also created this Google Photos album showing my favorite images taken with this camera over the years. 

From 2017: One of these images was taken with the 42 megapixel Sony A99 II with 135mm f/1.8 Zeiss prime.  The other was the RX10 II with equivalent settings.  When enlarged and displayed people couldn't tell which camera took which picture.  (The giveaway is that one picture had the chest hairs in focus also.  That was the RX10.)  There's much more to the story, and you can read all the detail on my blog post at https://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/full-frame-vs-small-sensor-dont-laugh.html 

A 1/1,000th of a second flash sync speed (1/2000th if the f/stop is smalleer than f/5.6) is a great tool for overpowering the sun using flash.

Shots you just can't take
with a normal camera.

Mine has been around the world with me, and there were only two things I wish it had:  1) a bigger battery (it used the tiny NP-FW50 battery introduced with the original NEX camera line), and 2) the ability for it to go into "sleep" mode with the lens still extended, allowing me to wake it up and instantly go back to shooting at the touch of the shutter release button.  (That would save time and power, since it took almost 2 seconds for the camera to power on.)  Grafting the new subject tracking and animal eye AF features onto it would have been icing on the cake.  

So imagine how happy I was when Sony actually announced the RX10 version 5, which used the same lens and sensor as the camera I loved so much, and adding the missing features I had been wanting!  Online reactions were mixed - yes, it now shoots at 30 fps (up from 24), and they added the modern Sony menus, better ergonomics, and a locking exposure compensation dial (mine was always getting changed accidentally.).  But they also took away some features (no built-in fill flash, no panorama mode), or didn't improve upon others (no twist-and-flip LCD, no pre-capture, no dual SD cards.)  

Vietnam, 2018

Most disappointing to me is the fact that it STILL didn't allow you to zoom while shooting continuously - something I felt a lot of amateur sports photographers could have benefitted from.  

Regardless, I'm thrilled, and of course I've already started my book on this new camera, which I expect will be finished by mid- to late September.  But is the new camera is compelling enough for version 4 users to upgrade to? I have two honest answers: 1) if you're shooting pets or wildlife, then the updated focusing and tracking features - especially the animal eye AF - are compelling.  If you're not shooting pets or wildlife, then the Mark IV will continue to meet your needs.  2) YES, you should upgrade, in part to thank Sony for investing resources into keeping this unique camera format alive, and of course for the important new features.

Sony doesn't pay me for these valuable opinions. :-)

Animal Eye AF is a compelling reason to upgrade.  The camera's predecssor
would focus on whatever was closest (the nose) if it didn't detect a human eye. 
(Click on the image to view larger and sharper.)

Sweden.  When the 24mm lens wasn't wide enough, I turned the camera 90 degrees and used the Sweep Panorama funciton to create a wider shot.  Since the Sweep Panorama feature is gone, I'll have to take several overlapping vertical pictures separately and merge them in Photoshop using their File --> Automate --> Photomerge feature.  But the results will be the same.

The Usual Announcements

The aforementioned Sony RX10 V book is available for pre-order at 10% off!  Reserve your e-copy now!

The Sony A7R VI ebook is now out in all formats - .pdf, epub, printed versions in eitheir color or B&W.  And here's a quick youtube video I made showing off some of the impressive obscure features that nobody's talking about:

Next time in Cameracraft Magazine

In the next issue I speak with art and documentary photographer Pako Dominguez, who is self-publishing a book containing photographs taken in Paris, France in the 1990's, as part of his rocky quest to become a documentary photographer.  After working as a photographer and printer in Lima, Peru, he landed in Paris, taught himself French, and worked in a restaurnt to pay his expenses, volunteering time in an industrial photography studio in exchange for learning the ropes.  His classic B&W photography and style make you feel that you were there with him, and captures a bygone era in this famous city.

There are other articles too about cameras and stuff. :-)

Subscribe to Cameracraft Magazine today!

HDR Shooting - Should you or shouldn't you?

Many high-end Mac owners love the fact that their screens can display HDR natively. Cameras can already capture it, and shoot it in video — but the still-image file sitting between the two usually can't carry it.  And one of the big draws to Sony's recent A7R VI camera was the viewfinder's ability to show high dynamic range previews.  

HDR Shooting - Before and After.  One of the things that always bothered me about this technique is you can't control how an image is presented to viewers using different types of hardware.

In trying to assess the usefulness of this feature I consulted with one of my readers who has embraced an entire HDR/HLG workflow.  And he shared with me this paper his friend Albert Shan wrote extolling the virtues of this format.  The paper was so interesting that I got permission to share it with you here.  Keep in mind it was written by the developer of ApolloOne, a Mac image viewer built for photographers, so alongside the problem and the solution there's a mention of his app at the end. Don't let that stop you — it's a very interesting read.

Here's the link: https://anogeissus.com/what-is-true-hdr.html  And you can reach Albert with any questions at support@anogeissus.com .

Until next time,

Yours Truly, Gary Friedman