Sony RX10 1V the new boy. (4 Viewers)

[MKinHK]

After four long years of Mark IV envy my RX10iv is now in action. I'll start slowly with the regular birds before moving to BiF. Some initial shots from the fist couple of days below:

• Chinese Blackbird
• Crested Mynah
• Black-crowned Night Heron x 2
• and just for fun, a neighbour's dog

Cheers
Mike

 

[SueO]

Not sure I can add anything worthwhile to this thread, but I will post my non-technical, far-from-great photographer view anyway.
First, I couldn't help comparing this camera to my old Sony HX400, as that is the camera I have had since 2005 (well, four models of them ). I have been in Mexico a week now with my new RX10m4. The first few days out, I thought I should have saved myself a thousand dollars and just bought a new HX400. The new camera is much heavier and I kept moving it slightly as I 'clicked'. I didn't think my photos were all that much better than the smaller Sony. I also had trouble with the macros. If I get as close as I used to with the 400, it is too close and I have to back off. A few times, I backed off so much I had to extend the lens to get closer, it was easier than trying to find the best spot by moving myself in and out. I have learned to hold the camera by supporting the lens with my left hand and have improved stability. I used to hold the 400 on the sides and didn't have to support the lens. The vast majority of my subjects (except macros) have been a minimum of 30 ft. away, but I have a series of shots of a Golden-cheeked Woody shot at approximately 25 ft. and I am going to post some of those. The first posted photo shows the original shot; only the size has been altered. the second post is that same shot cropped, but not sharpened. You can see a blurriness to both. I believe that is due to me moving. Photos 3,4 and 5 are original (only size changed), then cropped, and the third is cropped and sharpened. Now, I can see that more detail does show with the new camera, and if I ever get a chance for closer shots, I feel they can compare to the Cannon slr I have (Cannon D7, D70? Sorry can't remember and I am aboard our sailboat in Mexico right now, so can't check). The Canon doesn't work for me for birding; especially birding during travels. I need to be able to take macros and distance shots without having to change lenses; hence the bridge camera. I am not sorry I got this camera, I just need some time to adjust. If I ever return to writing a blog, I would be happy with posting images taken with this camera. I am posting another image to this, it is an Allen's Hummingbird shot with my HX400; it is not altered except size. It was probably about 15 ft. away.

 

[SueO]

Night shot on auto, between 15-20 ft. Pauraque. Only took two shots as I don't like flashing the night birds. I thought the flash did pretty well at such a distance.

 

[Swissboy]

I have just come back from a 38 days trip to Antarctica and Argentina. I had specifically bought the RX10IV for this trip for BIFs from the ship, plus trying it on hummingbirds in the Jardin de los Picaflores in Iguazú. Have not been able to evaluate all the results, but two basic points seem important. One, the camera is way heavier than what I conveniently handle. So I had my Panasonic FZ200 as a second camera along, and it was my general camera for most purposes. Also, I had read about the Sony's problems with water despite its being sealed to some extent. So I always used the FZ200 on Zodiac landings (still protected by a watertight "backbag"). There was no contest when it came to focussing on those moving birds. Here the Sony simply excelled. Problems came from distance and lack of light. Also, focussing with the lens extended over 300 or so mm was not always reliable. A major problem was that the fast moving water surface often got priority by the camera's focus.
As for battery use, I had 4 batteries along, but usually got by with just two fully charged ones over the time I was out. That was rarely more than two to three hours. During that time the camera was mostly turned on.
I had my Hähnel pro cube2 twin charger along as I have come to love this model very much. It allows simultaneous charging of two batteries plus shows the charging status individually and with fine precision. So no more guessing how long it might take to have the battery fully charged, or which of the two not yet completely charged batteries to pick.

 

[MKinHK]

Sounds like an amazing trip Robert! Any chance you might produce a trip report or show some of your highlight pix?

Cheers
Mike

 

[Swissboy]

Sounds like an amazing trip Robert! Any chance you might produce a trip report or show some of your highlight pix?

Cheers
Mike

It was definitely a great tour, yes. As for doing a write-up or showing some pics, that is open at the moment.

I must add that getting some nice BIF pictures was one of the goals, but by far not the only one. I'm presently going through around 15'000 pictures! The reason being, I was mostly shooting in series mid-speed mode. And then picture numbers grow very quickly.

I had two motivations to select this mode. One, I wanted to be able to get pictures that would allow me the identification beyond any doubts of potentially tricky species. Groups such as the prions were what I had in mind. Particularly so, since I was quite unfamiliar with most of the southern seabirds. I think the many pictures have really been helpful, though not to the point of warranting the high number. But then, the waste can not be that easily avoided when things go fast, and you know you don't have a second chance.

I also did some videos, but there comes the second motivation for the series mode. Replaying a video basically copies the original speed. So if things go fast, you always see the same things as fast again. I'm not into time lapse etc. I know there would be possibilities. But I already had enough to think with my old brain to at least be able to grasp the basics, considering Sony's complicated organising of this camera. So now comes the special part that I love a lot. Simply clicking through a series of shots, one gets the basic pattern of the elegant or often stunning flying of these fine creatures. And one can vary the speed by clicking faster or more slowly. I can easily go back and forth, thus studying the leg movement (patter) of a Wilson's Storm-Petrel on the surface of the water. And I finally got a clear picture that answered my own question of whether the larger tubenoses actually manage the stay out of the water with their wingtips at all times. They manage most of the time, but at least one Black-browed Albatross definitely cut a line into the surface. Neat little details, at least to me.

 

[Western Tanager]

I bought this camera last November and have been impressed with it. My previous camera (which I still have) is a Panasonic dmc-zs50 which I only used on the automatic mode. I followed Stephen Ingraham's suggested setting for birds and nature but have not programmed a setting yet for birds in flight. I do not know much about photography which is why I only used the auto mode with my Panasonic. Hoping to learn more with this much better Sony.

I do not have any photos saved on an image hosting site but would like to post up some pics I have taken with the Sony here. Is there a way to pull the pics from my computer?

 

[Western Tanager]

I think I figured out how to post photos here. I now see in the reply section an attach file button.

 

[Western Tanager]

And some more.

 

[njlarsen]

Also remember we do have a gallery here where more people will enjoy a good photo than those seeing this thread
Niels

 

[MalR]

Some excellent images there. I've had the Sony for about 18 months now, and it's a great little camera.

Malcolm

 

[Western Tanager]

Also remember we do have a gallery here where more people will enjoy a good photo than those seeing this thread

Niels, thanks. I did post 3 images there yesterday and will add more later.

 

[MKinHK]

I finally got the RX10iv in early December and have been enjoying learning about its fantastic BiF-ability - to coin a truly ugly word. Having taken a few decent but unexceptional BiF shots of an Eastern Marsh Harrier at Mai Po that hinted at what might be possible the shot below of a Japanese Quail which highlights the amazing power of the auto tracking function absolutely blew my mind. This bird came up right at my feet, but knowing it was there I had my BiF mode activated (via the button on the left hand side of the lens) and pointed rather than aimed the camera and tried my best to follow the bird without even looking into the viewfinder! Of the series of a dozen shots about half are sharp, and this, which is about a 50% crop of the original, provides an unbelievably (to me at least) sharp image of this tiny flying bomb.

Cheers
Mike

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[Swissboy]

...................................., and it's a great little camera.

Malcolm

Not so "little", actually. A reason why my Panasonic FZ-200 is still in high esteem.

 

[Swissboy]

I finally got the RX10iv in early December and have been enjoying learning about its fantastic BiF-ability - to coin a truly ugly word. Having taken a few decent but unexceptional BiF shots of an Eastern Marsh Harrier at Mai Po that hinted at what might be possible the shot below of a Japanese Quail which highlights the amazing power of the auto tracking function absolutely blew my mind. This bird came up right at my feet, but knowing it was there I had my BiF mode activated (via the button on the left hand side of the lens) and pointed rather than aimed the camera and tried my best to follow the bird without even looking into the viewfinder! Of the series of a dozen shots about half are sharp, and this, which is about a 50% crop of the original, provides an unbelievably (to me at least) sharp image of this tiny flying bomb.

Cheers
Mike

View attachment 1425557
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Agree, a great proof of the camera's abilities. On the cruise I had mentioned in post #444 I usually had the camera in mid speed series mode. The number of sharp bird shots is a bit tricky to evaluate as the camera all too often concentrated the focus on the water surface. But the number of well focussed ones is much better than I had originally thought as many smallish birds turn out to be quite good when enlarged on a PC screen.

 

[Western Tanager]

but knowing it was there I had my BiF mode activated (via the button on the left hand side of the lens)

Can you please expound on what you mean by the button on the left hand side of the lens? I have yet to program my camera for BIF and am not sure how to do that. It would be great to figure out a simple way to switch between perched and BIF modes.

 

[MalR]

Not so "little", actually. A reason why my Panasonic FZ-200 is still in high esteem.

Well, yes. "Little" is always a relative term. As with all cameras, I was referring to the size/function ratio.

Malcolm

 

[MKinHK]

Can you please expound on what you mean by the button on the left hand side of the lens? I have yet to program my camera for BIF and am not sure how to do that. It would be great to figure out a simple way to switch between perched and BIF modes.

Hi Western Tanager

On the left side of the lens on the RX10iv is the focus hold button. I have programmed the camera so that when I press this button my BiF settings are activated. When I release the button it goes back to my perched birds set-up. This works well for me in the field, but I do find I need to zoom before activating the BiF mode.

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I use the settings for both BiFs and perched birds found here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64320070 on the Sony Cybershot forum of DPReview.

There are a few more recent samples on my Hong Kong Birding thread starting from 24 December 2021 here : San Tin Fishponds (and beyond), Hong Kong , but please note that these are first efforts rather than demonstrating any kind of expertise.

Cheers
Mike

 

[Western Tanager]

Thanks Mike, I will see if I can figure out how to program it so that BIF settings will go to that button.

 

[GiG]

Hi Western Tanager

On the left side of the lens on the RX10iv is the focus hold button. I have programmed the camera so that when I press this button my BiF settings are activated. When I release the button it goes back to my perched birds set-up. This works well for me in the field, but I do find I need to zoom before activating the BiF mode.

View attachment 1426157​

I use the settings for both BiFs and perched birds found here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64320070 on the Sony Cybershot forum of DPReview.

There are a few more recent samples on my Hong Kong Birding thread starting from 24 December 2021 here : San Tin Fishponds (and beyond), Hong Kong , but please note that these are first efforts rather than demonstrating any kind of expertise.

Cheers
Mike

That's interesting Mike. I've been using settings based on an older post in dpreview. Using that I swap between BIF and perched birds by pressing a Fn button to select pre-set settings using Memory Recall. Your way seems much quicker if you want to swap between BIF and perched more instantaneously.

Gi