• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Sony RX10 1V the new boy. (1 Viewer)

Would you upgrade from a RX10iii to a RX10iv?

I have had my RX10 iii for almost 2 1/2 yrs and have been delighted with it as a significant upgrade from the Canon SX50.

In aweeks’s time I am heading to Hokkaido for Steller’s Sea Eagles (and hoping for some decent bird in flight shots) and am thinking about making this the excuse to upgrade to the RX10iv.

I would like to ask:

A) Has anyone made this transition and was it worth it?
B) any indications of potential resale value?

Should this have previously been discussed I would welcome any guidance on where I might find this.

Thanks in advance
Mike
 
I am also worried if this camera is suitable for taking pictures of birds in other circumstances than sunny day :) I saw many pictures of birds taken with Sony RX10 IV and almost all of them were done with very low ISO, f around 4-4,5 and shutter time 1/250-1/350 s. These are settings probably good for taking pictures form a hide with camera mounted on tripod. What I do is a walk, sometimes in a cloudy day or early morning/late afternoon, when there is no much light, there is need to use maximum focal length and very short time, and - in many cases f between at least 4-8. What do you think ? I am tempted to buy this camera, but I am afraid it is a little flexible in use
 
Without doing a lengthy comparison I'd say it is about two stops more noisy than my Canon 7D mark ii. As I used that with a f5.6 100 - 400 lens, for most wildlife shots, it's f4 lens meakes up for one of those stops. It is at its best a f4 but I rarely feel the need for anything else for most shots as it has a greater depth of field than a SLR. I imagine that I will never use a tripod with the Sony.

I bought mine a year ago and haven't used my SLR since, for wildlife shots anyway, despite two trips to rainforests. I will be dusting off the SLR for a trip to the Western Sahara soon but that's going to be largly nocturnal and we won't be wandeing much from the car so the weight won't matter.
 
BIF with the Sony RX10 m4

I haven't had the camera for very long, but it seems quite capable of taking birds in flight at a reasonable shutter speed under overcast skies. Of course, there are many degrees of overcast sky. In some really dark situations, then a high ISO would be needed to get even 1/200 sec. Attached is a shot I took in what I would call a light to medium overcast conditions and it was taken at F5 and 1/1000 sec and ISO 100. I'm not sure how the F5 came about, as I usually treat the camera as a constant aperture camera with a max aperture of F4.
 

Attachments

  • DSC05098.JPG
    DSC05098.JPG
    322 KB · Views: 542
Last edited:
pbjosh said:
Curious if anyone has used this yet for birds, particularly in flight, or seen any real-world results/reviews?
Click to expand...

I bought the RX10 IV a couple of weeks ago because, due to health problems I am having to think twice before going for a good nature ramble with my gripped d500 and 200-500vr.
The RX10 iv (compared to a dslr and long lens) is rather liberating!
The 600mm end gives enough reach for close quarter birding and in good light fine feather detail shows as good as the nikon d500.
Focus can be as fast as it gets although I havent tried it on BIF yet.
24 FPS with AF and exposure between each shot is fantastic in theory.
Steadyshot works very well indeed when handholding at 600mm.
Its ability to go to 24mm at the wide end plus its pseudo macro capability are going to make it a great allrounder for me this year.
Having said this, it is mainly (for me) a good weather camera as I do find the AF speed to suffer when the light drops.
 
 
Steve Babbs said:
I bit the bullet and sold my Canon 100 - 400 lens. This is now my only bird/mammal camera.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, Steve. Did you just find that you always reached for the Sony or was it a case of not being able to justify keeping both? I'm interested because I'm still dithering about this camera.

Malcolm
 
Steve Babbs said:
I bit the bullet and sold my Canon 100 - 400 lens. This is now my only bird/mammal camera.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you won't miss your DSLR set up.......i think you may start to wonder if you made the right decision,particularly if iq is high on your list of priorities.
 
Attempted Sand Martins in flight today at a local colony, pretty pleased with the results i got, also the ones that came out best were from following the bird with a blue/sky background before going in front of the cliff edges and the camera kept it's focus.

Noticing a lot of noise in the images though, maybe too high ISO?

Edit: Bee Fly photo i took today, very difficult to get in focus.
 

Attachments

  • 32715168037_19346431fc_b.jpg
    32715168037_19346431fc_b.jpg
    113.3 KB · Views: 523
  • 47657707441_eba2bbabab_b.jpg
    47657707441_eba2bbabab_b.jpg
    86.2 KB · Views: 397
  • 40692487643_c33528fd9e_b.jpg
    40692487643_c33528fd9e_b.jpg
    75.4 KB · Views: 400
Last edited:
MalR said:
That's interesting, Steve. Did you just find that you always reached for the Sony or was it a case of not being able to justify keeping both? I'm interested because I'm still dithering about this camera.

Malcolm
Click to expand...

It was a case of the SLR sitting under my bed for a year not being used. Apart from a mostly nocturnal trip to the Western Sahara, I didn't even consider using it in that time for wildlife photography. I'm keeping the SLR body because I like the shallow DOF for 'arty shots' plus a very batterd Canon 7D mark ii is probably worth very little anyway.
 
Steve Babbs said:
It was a case of the SLR sitting under my bed for a year not being used. Apart from a mostly nocturnal trip to the Western Sahara, I didn't even consider using it in that time for wildlife photography. I'm keeping the SLR body because I like the shallow DOF for 'arty shots' plus a very batterd Canon 7D mark ii is probably worth very little anyway.
Click to expand...


Thanks for taking the trouble to reply, Steve. I appreciate hearing your thoughts.:t:

Malcolm
 
Skean said:
Well I finally had some time on vacation to really get a good feel for this camera and I must say it felt very capable! Please see links for a couple of my favorite shots.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/40501129153/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/40508195203/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/47488173711/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/46543917415/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/47495013971/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/40522349243/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pi_birder/47498509121/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
Click to expand...

Nice set. What settings/focus mode do you use?

Andy
 
Andy Hall said:
Nice set. What settings/focus mode do you use?

Andy
Click to expand...

Apart from the obvious weight reduction, I also love the fact that I am now taking landscape shots on my trips again and that it is considerably less conspicious. A SLR, with a big white lens, is rather an obvious flouting of wealth in 'economically less developed' countries.
 
I started life in photography with the Sony a390, then moved to the Sony a77 and finally to the Sony a77ii.
Over the years my back and knees have gone on me and I made the big decision to move to the Bridge camera's after I fell and smashed my big lens.

I got the Nikon P900 and it was okay but I thought the Canon SX70 HS and this one I do like. But as with these bridge camera's that do have a little wanting in a few ways. I always wondered why I never looked at the Sony RX10iv.

It came to me and it was the price on it. I have looked at a lot of youtube and its getting more pats on the back and yep its still dearer that the Nikon and Canon together. But it going by the sounds of things its well worth it. So I told the wife when we sell our house I want to get this camera. I will give the wife the Canon SX70 as its far easier for her to use and far lighter.

I am looking forward to the money in our bank and I will be a owner of this camera. I can't carry a camera bag and lens so I have become a Bridge Camera operator now. I have seen the difference for these to the DSLR camera but I feel this Sony will be like being home again.

And I know once I get it I will need time to work it out and I will then give you all my thoughts on it in my wn words.
 

Similar threads

Swissboy
Battery problems RX10
Replies
3
Views
830
njlarsen
njlarsen
Stu57
Sony rx10 iv screen saver issues
Replies
0
Views
449
Stu57
Stu57
W
Battery options for Sony RX10-IV?
Replies
2
Views
927
Swissboy
Swissboy
A
Help needed with RX10-iv workflow
Replies
11
Views
1K
andrewsheerin
A
R
Sony RX10 IV for a beginner?
Replies
14
Views
4K
kb57
kb57

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top