Sony RX1r II and Suitability as a Street Photography Camera

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

I'm a street photographer first and foremost, mostly in San Francisco where I live.

For the way I shoot street I need the following from a camera:

 

MUST

Small size

Light weight

Can be shot one-handed on the move

Silent shutter (prefer leaf over electronic)

As close to zero shutter lag as possible

28mm F2.8 or faster lens

 

SHOULD

Aperture ring on lens

Hyperlocal markings on lens

35mm F2.8 or faster lens

 

COULD

21mm F2.8 or faster lens

 

 

I've owned film and digital Leica's (M3, M7, M240 and M Monochrom) and actually would never recommend a Leica for street photography.

They are too big and heavy and the ISO performance and shutter lag is sub-par with most modern cameras.

They are also to expensive and require maintenance that ain't cheap.

 

I've owned the following Fuji's:

 

X-Pro1, XE-2, X-T1, X100s.

 

For Sony's I've owned or currently own:

 

A7s - near perfect with the 35mm F2.8. Silent mode never caused distortion. lighter weight is beneficial for street.

A7 II - useless due to shutter noise and it's too heavy

A7r II - useless due to shutter noise or distortion if using silent mode. Also too heavy.

A6000 - useless due to shutter lag

A6300 - useless due to shutter noise or distortion if using silent mode. Lack of quality wide lenses. Loxia 21mm is too heavy for it.

 

Today I tried a Sony RX1r II, hoping it may have the secret sauce.

Weight and size were good.

Leaf shutter was silent.

It was difficult to hold one handed, even with a tight strap.

 

Unfortunately focusing is the major problem with it.

Sony stupidly moves ALL the lens elements to focus.

It's slow and noisy.

 

Shooting one-handed @ F8 1/500s resulted in no images in focus.

I suspect that the AF is not fast enough and the 42MP is probably too demanding a sensor.

It's actually too much for street work IMHO.

I tried both C and S modes.

I guess I could pre-focus to 2m every time I use it and use M mode, but that's not the point.

If I'm paying over $3K, I expect it to work well.

 

I've read a few articles on-line saying that the RX1r II is great for street photography.

Sorry, but this is not true.

It's slow and sluggish.

 

My current street cameras are:

 

Digital

Ricoh GR

 

Film

Ricoh GR1v x2

Olympus Stylus Epic x2

 

I don't see anything on the market better than the Ricoh GR at this time.

Not the Leica Q or the RX1r II.

We need Pentax to come out with a FF Ricoh GR

 

 

www.sfstreetz.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest all8]

I was going to suggest a Ricoh GR    

 

There are the little RX100 cameras, however they are sluggish in comparison to the Ricoh.

[VTC]

"shutter noise...shutter noise...shutter noise..." Never thought of SF as a particularly quiet city and would NEVER let that obsession keep me from getting the shot. Roaming streets I've never heard / noticed the shutter of another photographer unless he was right next to me or was firing of a 20 second continuous burst. 

[Guest]

"shutter noise...shutter noise...shutter noise..." Never thought of SF as a particularly quiet city and would NEVER let that obsession keep me from getting the shot. Roaming streets I've never heard / noticed the shutter of another photographer unless he was right next to me or was firing of a 20 second continuous burst. 

I think some people are not quite healthy in their head. Or a perv...

[Colorado]

You must have F 2.8 or faster?? On a APSC or a full frame? There is a big difference. Just something you seem to of overlooked at least in this post.

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

"shutter noise...shutter noise...shutter noise..." Never thought of SF as a particularly quiet city and would NEVER let that obsession keep me from getting the shot. Roaming streets I've never heard / noticed the shutter of another photographer unless he was right next to me or was firing of a 20 second continuous burst. 

 

 

@VTC

I've had people challenge me and get quite uppity about it when I shot with the A7 II.

The thing made as much noise a pneumatic gun going off.

 

It's not an obsession at all, it's called being candid and not getting caught.

Getting caught taking pictures in the areas I shoot will get you killed.

There are people shooting heroin on the pavements and drug dealer with guns on the corners...

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

You must have F 2.8 or faster?? On a APSC or a full frame? There is a big difference. Just something you seem to of overlooked at least in this post.

On FF.

 

F2.8 is really fast enough because most of the time I'm shooting F8 or F11.

It's just nice when it gets darker to have a few stops more latitude...

[rdgeorge55]

The a6300 DOES have silent shutter mode and terrific AF...

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

@rdgeorge55

 

Yes, I know, but the silent mode contributes to distortion if things are moving.

It's not as bad as the A7r II, but it is still there...

 

The A6300 is the best of the Sony's for street and much better than the dreadful RX1r II, but it's still cannot touch the Ricoh GR IMHO...

Again, it depends upon how you shoot.

[Ilya]

Totally disagree. Tried a7rII + zeiss 55/1.8. It was fast and 90% in focus. I think a7rII + Batis 18mm will be perfect combo.

[seb]

I like your "perspectives of indochine" series. Very nice.

 

in wide focus mode it should work fine with the RXIRII. At least, I know someone that is shooting street this way with the RX1RII.

f8 (or slower) is very challenging for any focus system, especially in AF-C (which will refuse to work at f9 or slower). It should be far better with f6.3 or faster and AF-C.

For f8 you can put the distance to 3m and you will have all in focus from 2m-8m. Wheres the point to use AF in this case?

A FF 42mp sensor allows you to have more distance between you and your subject (because you can crop afterwards). This will reduce movement blur, outframed subjects and danger to the photographer.

 

But maybe I'm the wrong one to give you advices for street. I never shoot without permission.

 

Seb

[chromono]

Hi,

 

if you had problems shooting one-handed @ F8 1/500s with no images in focus you simply did it completely wrong. I use the RX1R II especially for street photography and especially the AF is perfectly usable even with apertures like 2.2. You should use AF-C instead of AF-S as it is faster in general and not less accurate. I see the RX1R II AF wise after some practice on the level of an A7 II. Of course it will never compete with a like an A6300.

 

As you have a long list of cameras which are useless for you it might be something in the way you are approaching the topic of street photography in general.

 

I have written a long test on the German sonyuserforum http://www.sonyuserforum.de/forum/showthread.php?t=169284

 

Even if you don't understand the text you can at least look at the included images.

 

Best regards

 

Stephan

[itlust]

I have rx1r2 , and its my main camera for street photography... Never had any problem with it ... Its funny when you set the aperture at f8 and still didn't get at least one image in focus

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

@itlust

It depends whether you are standing still or moving.

I shoot on the move and for that, the RX1r II is useless...

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

@chromono

 

Yes, and you are who exactly?

I don't think you have the chops to tell me whether I am approaching the subject of street photography correctly or not...

[chromono]

@chromono

 

Yes, and you are who exactly?

I don't think you have the chops to tell me whether I am approaching the subject of street photography correctly or not...

 

Well, I added a link to my review of the RX1R II with example photos, so you could know who I am.

 

And it is not about having the chops, it is simply based on the contrary practical experience. I can use the RX1R II perfectely, you state that you can't. Simply fine to say, that you don't like this camera and don't want to invest to learn how to use it and that you still prefer to use something else. But the statement, that the camera is unusable for the pupose of street photography remains in general wrong. If you find this, you do something wrong or you have not really tried.

 

I am doing a lot of street photography. Don't worry about my background. You can have a look at the full Rome series mentioned in the review purely shot with a Sony RX1R II and Sony A7 II and Batis 85mm: http://www.chromono.org/albums/rom/

 

It contains several RX1R II shots where I am passing by a person while shooting or even with both me and the subject moving at the same time (normal walking speed). All shot in AF-C and apertures definitely smaller than f8. It works very well. The RX1 first model could not provide this AF-C performance but the RX1R II now has it and together with its size and image quality this camera is a gift (even though a very expensive one).

 

The Ricoh is definitely a great camera and budget wise also the smarter choice. So don't worry that I have any problem with the list of your current tools. They are completely reasonable as the RX1R II is for others.

 

Stephan

[seb]

Very nice collection Stephan. I like your style very much.

 

@Colin: Your post #15 is not very useful, if someone wants to help you.

 

Ok, you don't get a sharp pic with AF, 1/500s, f8, one-handed and moving. As others mentioned, AF of the RX1RII is more than fast enough for street. SS of 1/500s is it too. Moving should also be no problem with 1/500s, because you can shoot fast cars with that (while standing still) and it works. So, it looks like you are just twist the camera too much while pressing the shutter (in combination with moving and close distance to the subject). OR your camera has an issue and needs a repair.

[Guest Colin Scott Johnson]

@chromono

 

I'm sorry, but you are the one who started the insults with this comment:

 

"As you have a long list of cameras which are useless for you it might be something in the way you are approaching the topic of street photography in general."

 

You can take my comments or you can leave them, but please keep the personal attacks out of it...

[chromono]

@chromono

 

"As you have a long list of cameras which are useless for you it might be something in the way you are approaching the topic of street photography in general."

 

You can take my comments or you can leave them, but please keep the personal attacks out of it...

 

Well, this wasn't meant as a personal attack but was referring to your statement that this long list of cameras is simply unusable for street photography. You made a very strong statement which needs a strong correction as it is simply wrong (not just for the RX1R II but also for most of the other cameras). Don't see it as a comment to you as a person but purely dialectically.

 

As said before: No problem with "I don't like", "I prefer" or "for my way of working". Cameras are tools which should make fun to be used because only then we take photographs.

 

Stephan