Sony RX 1R and the RX 1

raconteur

Regular
Location
S.E. Wisconsin
In response to a request from BBW in my new member post I thought I would give my initial assessment of the RX 1R re: the RX 1.

I have only had my "R" since last Friday. I owned my RX 1 for about two months before acquiring the "R" version.

As one would expect they handle identically. My copy of the RX 1 had no quirks or glitches (which made the decision to switch harder) but my "R" performs as faultlessly as the "1" did. Same great color, seems to focus better than advertised (both) and I use a D4 a lot which has awesome AF.

I had planned to have both cameras at the same time to compare but it didn't work out that way. IAn acquaintance was to take my RX 1 if a decided on the R and I had to let it go before the new camera arrived.

I mainly shoot concerts and motor-sports, not exactly in the skill set possessed by the RX 1 series–or so I thought. This past weekend I shot some concert photo's and actually panned with a motocross racer with the RX 1R. With the 35mm you need to be close and I was able to do that at the concert but at the track it was hard. I posted a few shots from the concert below, all taken with the RX 1R. The first shot, profile of the lead guitar player was NOT sharpened. It did see light post in LR5, to a lesser degree than my D4. I will post the shot from the motocross track and a crop of the rider/bike.

I will add to this post, showing pictures from both cameras, and let you see if there is a difference.

My initial impression is that the additional sharpness provided by the RX 1R does show. I think it may have to do with a bit more sharpness throughout the entire image that makes the difference. Most people that are comparing are taking a very small portion of the image to compare the two cameras and personally I think that, when viewing the entire image it makes more of a difference. Not in every picture but often enough.

So far moire has not been an issue. I have tried to induce it but haven't been able too. I took shots under a racetrack grandstand (the girders and beams) and of metal patio furniture with mesh seats and table tops. Nothing, no moire. I'm sure it will happen but so far it is a non-issue.

Both cameras are fantastic and I would be totally happy if I had kept my RX 1. Time will tell how much of a difference there is.

These are my first pictures with the RX 1R. I was following a thread here where people were showing the first images with there cameras. They were joking about the kinds of things we photograph when we first receive a new camera. In my house I am no longer allowed to do that. Too many time I had rushed to my wife to show her a picture of our espresso machine, that I just took with my $XXXX,00 camera. She was underwhelmed.

I'm traveling so I don't have many of the new images available to me. This is what I have. The last shot is an example of what the RX 1 series can't do. That's a D4 picture. However, I am amazed at what these small cameras can do. Far more than I first thought with a fixed 35mm lens.

Lead-Guitar-c-JW-1.jpg
JW-3-Guitars.jpg
Drummer-back-c-Blk-Wh.jpg
image-7.jpeg
 
These are my first pictures with the RX 1R. I was following a thread here where people were showing the first images with there cameras. They were joking about the kinds of things we photograph when we first receive a new camera. In my house I am no longer allowed to do that. Too many time I had rushed to my wife to show her a picture of our espresso machine, that I just took with my $XXXX,00 camera. She was underwhelmed.
I laughed out loud as I was reading!:D

Impressive "unicorn dust" in this newer version, too. I believe you pointed out that your last shot with taken with your D4... Perhaps because I'm female, I'm not as moved by her as I am by your band shots - love that smoke and all that chrome on the instruments...and the sweat and obvious energy with these guys playing, though of course the young woman in question is lovely.
 
Not moved by the subject one way or the other but it is interesting the apparent increase in resolution with the D4, obviously there are other factors involved, like focal length, color and light. It would more interesting to see the D4 shot with a 35mm along side the Sony.
 
I laughed out loud as I was reading!:D

Impressive "unicorn dust" in this newer version, too. I believe you pointed out that your last shot with taken with your D4... Perhaps because I'm female, I'm not as moved by her as I am by your band shots - love that smoke and all that chrome on the instruments...and the sweat and obvious energy with these guys playing, though of course the young woman in question is lovely.

The last shot was the D4. I will now take "only" 75% of my concert shots with the D4 and the "terrioR" shots-those that offer a sense of place" with the RX1R.
 
Not moved by the subject one way or the other but it is interesting the apparent increase in resolution with the D4, obviously there are other factors involved, like focal length, color and light. It would more interesting to see the D4 shot with a 35mm along side the Sony.

If the D4 shot shows more resolution it would only be due to processing or conversion to jpeg. The raw files show a clear advantage for the RX1 and the RX1 R. The D4 is incredible though. It does trail quite a bit in the megapixel race to begin with. "Or. it's my incredible post processing skill! Laugh way out loud!
 
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