RX1 AF

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RX1 AF

mnakhla
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p.1 #1 · RX1 AF

Hey guys,

I have yet to shoot with an RX1, so to those who have:

What's the autofocus speed/accuracy like in low light? I was thinking of incorporating the body into my wedding work as another body/backup, but I'm not sure if the autofocus is up to the task. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Mike

Jan 01, 2013 at 07:31 PM

vovkinson
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p.1 #2 · RX1 AF

IMHO, AF is slow especially in low light. Forget this camera if you're intending to shoot the bride walking down the aisle in a church, etc. The tracking AF capability of this cam is not good. Can tell you this as a former wedding photographer.
However, you can still use RX1 for stills (as a backup) if you have time to struggle with AF.
HIgh ISO is pretty good (3200), 6400 is usable for 50% crop.

Jan 01, 2013 at 08:43 PM

ricardovaste
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p.1 #3 · RX1 AF

I wonder if focus peaking might be quicker / more accurate in such light?

Jan 01, 2013 at 08:45 PM

h00ligan
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p.1 #4 · RX1 AF

It would be if you didn't have to have zoom on. Unfortunately they omitted that for some unknown reason.

Af is the reason I'm fence sitting a return. Fwiw

My initial thought was fun time cam and occasional backup for events. I'm not thinking the latter will work.

Jan 01, 2013 at 08:49 PM

vovkinson
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p.1 #5 · RX1 AF

mnakhla,
regarding using RX1 for weddings. Please note: the RX1 uses contrast detection AF which means shooting bride&groom in front of the woods or bushes (location shooting) can be challenging because the (CD) AF "likes" contrasty background more than the subject which can lead to focus error(on the background)
Just a heads-up!

Jan 01, 2013 at 09:14 PM

Makten
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p.1 #6 · RX1 AF

I used my RX1 to shoot my brothers wedding yesterday, and I really recommend you NOT to get this camera for such a task. I missed like half of the (edit: low light) shots because of the AF failing or being to slow.

The RX1 is not a good camera for anything that moves, at all. Luckily I will never again shoot a wedding (regardless of what camera I have) and I'm just glad that I didn't screw it up completely.

Jan 01, 2013 at 09:39 PM

ricardovaste
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p.1 #7 · RX1 AF

Makten wrote:
I used my RX1 to shoot my brothers wedding yesterday, and I really recommend you NOT to get this camera for such a task.

Is any camera really up to this task?

Jan 01, 2013 at 09:48 PM

mnakhla
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p.1 #8 · RX1 AF

I found a few AF tests on youtube - this one was done at midnight and might help address the AF speed in low light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKCXtvwi-D0

As vovkinson stated above, the camera seems to favor contrasty backgrounds, which I think this video shows. Considering how dark it was outside, I think it's AF speed is acceptable. Is it DSLR-fast? No, but it's usable IMO.

Jan 01, 2013 at 09:56 PM

ricardovaste
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p.1 #9 · RX1 AF

Try before you buy at least. You've had a bunch of people advise against it for such use, from hands-on experience... Might be unwise to brush it aside. If you want it for fun I see no issue, but perhaps easier to justify if a business expense?

Jan 01, 2013 at 10:03 PM

mnakhla
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p.1 #10 · RX1 AF

Agreed - I'm definitely not brushing it aside. I just thought I'd provide a test to add to the discussion. I wouldn't risk using this at a wedding if I didn't feel like it could perform

Jan 01, 2013 at 10:05 PM

Makten
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p.1 #11 · RX1 AF

ricardovaste wrote:

Is any camera really up to this task?

I'm not sure I understand your question. The wedding was a very relaxed event and I just wanted to make good enough pictures, which I did. We were not even in a church, but the light was very low both during the marriage and the party afterwards.

I know I have the skill too shoot stuff like this with proper gear, and the RX1 had many advantages such as being unobtrusive and dead quiet. If AF would have been faster, I'd recommend it as a second camera straight away. Edit: Of course it could be the ultimate second camera, but not as a backup! Just for snaps and the unobtrusivness, combined with fantastic IQ under circumstances when no one would have expected it.

Anyway, I got the proper images that I really wanted and my brother and his wife are very happy with the results.

Jan 01, 2013 at 10:06 PM

wayne seltzer
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p.1 #12 · RX1 AF

I would not use the RX1 for weddibg shots where subject is moving. Yes the AF is slower than DSLR AF and hunts sometimez in low light if there is no contrast in the part being focused on, like a dark suit jacket.
Manual focus with peaking works well with EVF in low light but is not fsst enough for moving subjects due to auto zoom going on which as said before can not be turned off.

Jan 01, 2013 at 10:36 PM

311erin
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p.1 #13 · RX1 AF

Ha! I told you Mike! But really, the best thing to do is try one out. You can listen to all of us and never really know, or get one and run it through your scenario.

Jan 02, 2013 at 04:37 AM

artur5
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p.1 #14 · RX1 AF

wayne seltzer wrote:
I would not use the RX1 for weddibg shots where subject is moving. Yes the AF is slower than DSLR AF and hunts sometimez in low light if there is no contrast in the part being focused on, like a dark suit jacket.
Manual focus with peaking works well with EVF in low light but is not fsst enough for moving subjects due to auto zoom going on which as said before can not be turned off.

I'm not surprised to read about the AF speed ( or lack of it). What surprises me more is that only a few users mention or complain about the absurd decision from Sony to link peaking and image zooming.
I can't believe this is a technical limitation. All other cameras with peaking have the option of using it in normal or zoomed view mode. Why Sony did this with the RX1 ?. Peaking is specially useful in non zoomed view with moving subjects. (I mean sedate, not frantic moving

)

Jan 02, 2013 at 11:45 AM

wayne seltzer
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p.1 #15 · RX1 AF

artur5 wrote:
wayne seltzer wrote:
I would not use the RX1 for weddibg shots where subject is moving. Yes the AF is slower than DSLR AF and hunts sometimez in low light if there is no contrast in the part being focused on, like a dark suit jacket.
Manual focus with peaking works well with EVF in low light but is not fsst enough for moving subjects due to auto zoom going on which as said before can not be turned off.

I'm not surprised to read about the AF speed ( or lack of it). What surprises me more is that only a few users mention or complain about the absurd decision from Sony to link peaking and image zooming.
I can't believe this is a technical limitation. All other cameras with peaking have the option of using it in normal or zoomed view mode. Why Sony did this with the RX1 ?. Peaking is specially useful in non zoomed view with moving subjects. (I mean sedate, not frantic moving

)

The focus peaking linked with image zooming issue has been mentioned by reviewers and people here in the forum. Most RX1 users sre using AF since it is very accurate and works well in most situations. Hopefully they decouple these two things in a future firmware release.

Jan 04, 2013 at 10:50 PM

Bifurcator
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p.1 #16 · RX1 AF

ricardovaste wrote:

Is any camera really up to this task?

Makten wrote:
I'm not sure I understand your question. The wedding was a very relaxed event and I just wanted to make good enough pictures, which I did. We were not even in a church, but the light was very low both during the marriage and the party afterwards.

I know I have the skill too shoot stuff like this with proper gear, and the RX1 had many advantages such as being unobtrusive and dead quiet. If AF would have been faster, I'd recommend it as a second camera straight away. Edit: Of course it could be the ultimate second camera, but not as a backup! Just for snaps and the unobtrusivness, combined with fantastic IQ under circumstances when no one would have expected it.

Anyway, I got the proper images that I really wanted and my brother and his wife are very happy with the results.

Glad it worked out! Bummer about the camera slowness!

More directly speaking Ricardo Vaste, Hell yeah! Like, all FF DSLRs and half (or more) of the APS-C ones!

Jan 05, 2013 at 12:43 AM

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