Sony RX10 M2 - first part of my review and a mini-comparison with the A7S and Canon 1D C

[Andrew Reid]

TONS more coming from RX10 II in the review.

RX100 IV is a separate piece but I have had to work on that for past week, time which could have been spent finishing off my RX10 II review!

[elkanah77]

Hi Andrew.  I got the RX100M4, it had an issue and I got a replacement one, it also has the same problem.  The problem is if you zoom in/out while recording from say, 24 to 70 the zoom/motor noise is really scratchy/noisy. It was initially near silent, then developed later.  Perhaps you could check this out when doing the RX100M4 test.  It may be a bad batch, the 2 cameras are within 1 serial no. of each other, I'm also waiting for Sony to get back to the shop about it.

Probably a bad batch or extremely unlucky. Mine is working flawlessly with near silent motor in every position. Regardless of motor speed.

[Oliver Daniel]

Ordering 2 of these next week. 

Any recommendations on memory cards and batteries? 

[agolex]

The cheap Transcends U3 (95/65) work flawlessly. In terms of batteries I got cheap ones for 14 Euros from your island (Expro), no issues, either.

[dafreaking]

Someone who owns the RX 10 II, Does the USB Charging work while recording? Can I plug/unplug it while recording? Also do you know if it comes with a cable lock/protector like the A7s does? Have any of you used a smartphone with the play memories app to control/monitor the camera?

[agolex]

Someone who owns the RX 10 II, Does the USB Charging work while recording? Can I plug/unplug it while recording? Also do you know if it comes with a cable lock/protector like the A7s does? Have any of you used a smartphone with the play memories app to control/monitor the camera?

Charging indicator goes out once you switch on the camera. No cable lock. Yes, the app could be great due to the best resolution of all free solutions around, however this gets messed up by the fact you can't use picture profiles and other advanced settings when recording with the app.

[misterwiggles]

Final part of the review is coming soon.

Delay due to accommodating RX100 IV as well.

Spoiler: I ended up preferring the small one!!

Wow. Bought the RX10m2 based on the Preview post and wanted the greater zoom reach than what the RX100m4 has. Very curious on what your issues were with the RX10m2. Any major issues that would impact a possible return?

[agolex]

Wow. Bought the RX10m2 based on the Preview post and wanted the greater zoom reach than what the RX100m4 has. Very curious on what your issues were with the RX10m2. Any major issues that would impact a possible return?

He's probably just loving the form factor of the 100. ; )

[Emanuel]

He's probably just loving the form factor of the 100. ; )

But, if he will want to add an anamorphic adapter such as SLR Magic... Bye-bye 5K 2.35 aspect ratio against 16:9 UHD...

[Emanuel]

 

While we are waiting for the second part of Andrew's review... ;-)

 

[Ak Ns]

why sony decided to have just UHD 3840x2160 instead of DCI 4096x2160 ??

 

And sony india says RX10ii can only record 4k for 5minutes only! is it same every where else ? 

[Oliver Daniel]

How's it going using the camera handheld? I'd say 80% of my shots are handheld. I'm used to using some kind of shoulder support, but I'm hoping I can get away with something much less. 

[agolex]

How's it going using the camera handheld? I'd say 80% of my shots are handheld. I'm used to using some kind of shoulder support, but I'm hoping I can get away with something much less. 

The Steady Shot is superb, so no problem in handholding.

And sony india says RX10ii can only record 4k for 5minutes only! is it same every where else ? 

That limit is for the RX100M4, not for the RX10 for which the limit is as stated before 29:59 or something like that. I've recorded over 22 minutes in 4K and no issues. 

[Emanuel]

 

The Steady Shot is superb, so no problem in handholding.

That limit is for the RX100M4, not for the RX10 for which the limit is as stated before 29:59 or something like that. I've recorded over 22 minutes in 4K and no issues. 

In that clip with the horse, autofocus seems to trace the subject... Does 240fps mode offer it? Or only fixed focus? 

[Ak Ns]

hi. thank you.

here is the sony link saying 5minutes 4k limit : http://www.sony.co.in/product/dsc-rx10m2?hpid=dsc-rx10m2:model:hub:mainbanner

 

[agolex]

hi. thank you.

here is the sony link saying 5minutes 4k limit : http://www.sony.co.in/product/dsc-rx10m2?hpid=dsc-rx10m2:model:hub:mainbanner

 

Would be ridiculous to change that per region, probably just an error. Though I wouldn't be too surprised, it's Sony after all.

 

In that clip with the horse, autofocus seems to trace the subject... Does 240fps mode offer it? Or only fixed focus? 

Tbh, I can't say for sure, I was under the impression you had to set focus before shooting. Anyhow, focussing in HFR is a major PITA anyway. If you can use AF with HFR, I doubt it works in a sensible way.

[dafreaking]

Hey agolex, Can you get repeatable rack focus or even accurate focus pulls with this or is it like all fly by wire lenses which are a pain in the a$$. Does the focus ring ever have hard stops? Also, is the xooming in/out very noisy? And the battery life?

[agolex]

Hey agolex, Can you get repeatable rack focus or even accurate focus pulls with this or is it like all fly by wire lenses which are a pain in the a$$. Does the focus ring ever have hard stops? Also, is the xooming in/out very noisy? And the battery life?

Hello dafreaking, thanks for your inquiry, I hope I can be of help to you.

I'm not really sure about this, but as there's always software involved and adjustments made, I think it's a thing you just have to learn individually. The sensor size helps immensely, though, just using focus peaking worked relatively well for me. Andrew can probably say more about this.

The zooming certainly is far from silent and will most likely end up on the audio track. Other than that I didn't find it too annoying, though. And since the lens isn't parfocal, anyway...

Battery life is OK (few hours with a bit of recording here and there) and since the things are cheap, I don't see it as much of an issue.

Best regards,

Your unofficial Sony support

[kaylee]

The cheap Transcends U3 (95/65) work flawlessly. In terms of batteries I got cheap ones for 14 Euros from your island (Expro), no issues, either.

thanks for the recommendation! ive got a couple of those transcends on the way from amazon

unfortunately i dropped the ball on this and my new rx10ii is coming tomorrow and i need something in the meantime that i can just pick up in a store... 

does it have to be U3 or will U1 work? like would this be ok? 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-extreme-pro-64gb-sdxc-uhs-i-memory-card-black-red/3827055.p?id=1218435170116&skuId=3827055

 

[agolex]

thanks for the recommendation! ive got a couple of those transcends on the way from amazon

unfortunately i dropped the ball on this and my new rx10ii is coming tomorrow and i need something in the meantime that i can just pick up in a store... 

does it have to be U3 or will U1 work? like would this be ok? 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-extreme-pro-64gb-sdxc-uhs-i-memory-card-black-red/3827055.p?id=1218435170116&skuId=3827055

 

They're much more expensive and have higher write speeds (90 instead of 65), so I don't see why they shouldn't.