<div>The RX1's pre-decessor, the RX100, was and still is quite a hit. It’s as small as point-and-shoots, though heavier, and yet takes quality photos, giving the user plenty of manual control as well as offering the novice ease of use and auto modes. But now we have the RX1, with which Sony has stepped up everything, most significantly, the Exmor CMOS sensor with a 35mm f2 Carl Zeiss Sonar T lens fitted where no one thought it could be fitted. With such a big sensor, the camera is about twice the size of the RX100 and many times its weight. But at the same time, it’s still almost pocketable (think rugged jacket or thick pants) and beats several DSLRs in performance and portability. <br /> </div><div>With the RX1, it’s the first time that a full-frame has been squeezed into a body this size and for that privilege, the camera is gasp-worthy expensive at Rs 1.8 lakh. Even if you love taking good photographs, it’s difficult to get past that price. If you think of adding any of the accessories such as optical and electronic viewfinders, you can safely assume an even bigger budget as each add-on is also expensive. <br /> </div><div>Full-fledged DSLRs are expensive too, but with those, you get swappable lenses and zoom and quality that can’t even be questioned. They weigh a lot, are very complex, and need a lot of involvement to use. So this is a strage tradeoff. Big, expensive, complex, capable vs small, good but limited, easy but just as expensive. I have heard that the successor to the RX1 will have ­swappable lenses — but I’m not looking forward to the price. <br /> </div><div>Unlike the RX100, which, at Rs 34,000 or so, enthusiasts can consider, the RX1 gets into the realm of what professionals might want for their easy-carry alternative. The menu and hardware controls are easy to use (though I may be biased because of my use of the RX100 which has the same menus), but at the same time there is plenty of manual control, including being able to customise the use of buttons. The ISO range is large and the camera performs well without noise and softness, right up to high values. And so, yes, it’s good at low-light photographs. There’s an aperture dial for easy access to a butter-smooth control of light being let in. Image quality is crisp and clean, with good colour. <br /> </div><div>Though not in the casual photography budget, you still can take casual shots with it — just go auto and no matter what the light, you still get beautiful images. Not an ideal macro camera, it can still shoot close objects when you adjust the focus distance from a ring around the lens. And you also get beautiful depth of field — the blurring out that makes the object focused on look clearer and more artistic. But focus can be slow. <br /> </div><div>I mentioned that the RX1 was much bigger than the RX100, but it would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the RX1 has a solid and handsome build. It’s all black alloy and professional looking and the only bit of colour is the orange metallic ring at the base of the lens. It’s a solid lens extrusion and nothing by way of a rubberised or soft grip. <br /> </div><div>There are no extras like moveable LCD screen, touch screen, or Wi-Fi. It’s a serious camera, in other words. One that takes seriously stunning images with as little or as much effort as you want. <br /> </div><div>With the RX1, one really goes head-to-head against the bigger clunky DSLRs. Great for shooting pictures of scenery, people, things happening on the street, it won’t do the job for, say, bird or wildlife photography or even sports photos, but give it a few iterations and it just might.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Fujifilm X 20</strong></div><table width="200" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="right"><tbody><tr><td><img width="300" vspace="3" hspace="3" height="233" alt="" src="/image/image_gallery?uuid=bd44c6a3-105b-4a2d-aa3d-7fd09dd6e05b&groupId=816580&t=1370000544622" /></td></tr></tbody></table><div>Today, everyone fancies himself a photographer. And why not — photography is in the eye of the beholder. It’s also no less in the camera of the beholder. Fujifilm’s X20 is a little hunk of a camera that looks like conventional kit with totally classic styling. There are two versions, and the blacker of the two is the more serious and traditional. <br /> </div><div>The X20 is a refresh of the X10, a popular Fujifilm camera for enthusiasts. It’s a sturdy metallic camera, for a compact, and has a texturised surface and grip. There are lots of buttons on both left and right sides — or it feels like it because some are quick-access ones. There’s an interesting way of switching it on: turn the lens ring. The lens extrusion comes out and the camera is ready for a shot. <br /> </div><div>And to take that shot you have a 12 megapixel 2/3-inch sensor — not large, really — and 28-112 mm zoom range and aperture of f/2.0 to 2.8. Shutter speed is 30 to 1/4,000 per sec. The ISO range is 100 to 12,800. The X20 has a fixed LCD 2.3-inch screen. It also has a zoomable optical viewfinder with a digital overlay of information. You can also turn off the OVF from the settings. <br /> </div><div>The X-Trans CMOS II sensor gives good sharp images, mostly at low ISO values. There’s a macro and super-macro mode, the latter lets you shoot objects close to you. You can get blurred backgrounds with this camera. Low-light performance isn’t bad either, even at low ISO levels.<br /> </div><div>While the X20 isn’t a pro camera, it isn’t to be equated with 12 megapixel phone cameras which just don’t have the sensors and optics to shoot pictures like one of the ‘bridge’ cameras such as the X20. This is ‘casual-serious’ photography.<br /><br />mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 17-06-2013) </span></div><div> </div><div> </div>
BW Reporters
Mala Bhargava has been writing on technology well before the advent of internet in Indians and before CDs made their way into computers. Mala writes on technology, social media, startups and fitness. A trained psychologist, she claims that her understanding of psychology helps her understand the human side of technology.
