Setting up the Sony RX10Mk4 Part 4, 28 January 2018

Classic Sydney Harbour scene. Ferry, Opera House, Bridge. RX10M4

Modes (Still photos)

Modern cameras have lots of modes. We usually want to make mode selections in Prepare Phase of camera use to get ready for a change in photographic requirements.

Shoot Mode

I will assume that anyone reading this series of posts is an enthusiast photographer or a camera owner heading in that direction. This involves using the P,A,S,M Modes most of the time.

Hence I have little to say about operating the camera in Auto (green) Mode on the shoot mode Dial.

The RX10M4 is really not a beginners or snapshooters camera. It is a complex, high performance  device better suited to enthusiast and expert users.

There are plenty of snapshooter friendly bridge cameras on the market. Sony has the HX400V and several variants.

The topic of “best shooting mode” always provokes plenty of debate on user forums with users strongly supporting their preferred approach.

Any of the P, A, S, M modes is of course able to make correct exposures. But different circumstances favour different modes.

My practice is to use P (Programmed auto exposure) for all general photography. This works well on the RX10M4 because of the flexibility and versatility of  the ISO Auto Min.SS function, see previous posts.  The auto ISO algorithm is very effective at picking the optimum aperture/shutter speed/ISO firing solution in most circumstances.

In addition Program Shift is available simply by turning the control dial. This changes the Aperture/Shutter Speed relationship without changing exposure.

I suspect there might be a bit of a cult on forums involving users who appear to believe that P Mode is for dummies and that “real” photographers use the more difficult to manage A, S, M  Modes. It ain’t so.

I reserve A (Aperture Priority auto exposure) Mode for those times when  the picture taking process is deliberative and I want to control depth of field. This might be for a landscape situation or with the camera on tripod at night.

S (Shutter Priority auto exposure) can be useful when photographing sport/action or other subject requiring a fast shutter speed. However for these situations also consider P Mode with [ISO Auto Min.SS] set to [Faster].

M (Manual exposure) is essential for specific situations including multi shot panorama (for stitching in post processing) and fireworks.

For general photography it is not so suitable as adjusting aperture with the ring around the lens housing is slow and requires many movements each complex and the control dial which changes shutter speed is an awkward thing to use.

I think that people who say they routinely use M Mode are just making life difficult for them selves.

I described use of the MR Mode Dial position in the previous post.

Video and HFR are not covered in this series of posts.

Panorama is executed so badly on the RX10M4 I regard it as useless. I gather from users on forums that this was also the case on the RX10M3. Apparently Sony has not managed to fix the stitching process yet.

This needs an urgent update.

Scn Mode   I never use this as the various functions hand control of most settings to the camera.

Focus Mode

See Page 70 of the Help Guide.

S (Single) and C (Continuous) are self explanatory.

I have noticed on user forums that some people say they routinely leave the setting at C, even for still subjects. The rationale for this appears to be the idea that S uses contrast detect AF and C uses phase detect AF and some users think the phase detect AF works better.

My experience after several thousand exposures is that AFS works just fine for still subjects including perched birds. So I use it routinely for all general photography and anything not in continuous motion.

Obviously for subjects in motion, sport/action, birds in flight and the like, you need the AFC setting.

Between S and C is an A setting. This appears to have a function similar to that of AFF on Panasonic cameras. It is a “helper” setting supposed to work like AFS if the subject is still and switch to AFC if the camera detects subject movement.

I never found this to work reliably on my Panasonic cameras so have not really tried it yet on the Sony.

DMF allows you to have AF+MF simultaneously. This could be quite useful for specific subjects such as close ups where you might want to fine tune focus. The manual focus aids (peaking, zoom-in)  spring into action when you turn the manual focus ring.

M is Manual. This is essential for panoramas and fireworks and other subjects where you must ensure focus if fixed for a series of shots.

Go to Menu>Camera Settings1>(12/14)>MF Assist, Peaking Level and Peaking Color to adjust these settings.

Drive Mode

This is best allocated to one of the buttons with user assigned function. I have it on the Right Button.

See Pages 104-105 of the Help Guide which describe all the options quite well.

There re lots of options on this mode including various kinds of bracketing.

By the way you can have the self timer together with exposure bracketing on this camera. So if the camera is on a tripod you don’t have to press the shutter button at the time of exposure.

To set this up,

1.  Allocate [Self timer during bracket]  (pick your timer delay) to the Fn button.

2. Then go to the Drive Mode and scroll down to Continuous bracketing and select the number of shots and EV interval you want.

Switch the Drive Mode back to Single for normal shooting.

There are three options during Continuous Drive, Hi (24 fps), Mid (10fps), Lo (3.5 fps).

The signature feature of the RX10M4 is that incredible 24 fps high frame rate with AF on every frame. This is video speed for still photos.

No doubt that is a remarkable technical achievement for Sony. The thing is I cannot find a use for it. 

Even the Mid rate of 10 fps generates a huge number of files in just a few seconds. Yet the Lo rate of 3-3.5 fps is a bit slow for many action subjects.

My preference is a rate of 5-6 fps which captures the elements of action without generating an excessively large number of files.

Focus Area

I make this one of the modes accessible via the Fn button.

See Page 72 of the Help Menu.

As usual there are many options.  

Wide is really a multi-area option with the camera deciding which single or group of focus points it will select for focus. I have found that when Wide is combined with AF Continuous the camera preferences subject elements which are closest to the camera and/or are moving. This works well for sport/action most of the time.

It is also effective with birds/helicopters etc in flight when it is impossible to keep the subject exactly centered in the frame.

Center is just what it says.  I find no use for this at all. somebody will though.

Flexible Spot  is not really a spot focus area but a selection between three AF areas by size, small, mid and large. The small setting is useful for birds and other small subjects surrounded by visual clutter.

I use Flexible Spot for all general photography.

It is the only focus area mode which allows the user to control both the position and size of the area.

Expand Flexible Spot appears to be just Flexible Spot-small with an automatic expansion to Medium if focus is not achieved on the small area. I have not used this as I am not sure how it might be better than Flexible Spot.

Lock-On AF  is a “helper” mode, only available if AFC is set on the rotary focus mode switch.  The idea is that focus is acquired on a part of the subject (such as the head of one’s running dog) then tracks focus on that same part of the subject as it moves towards/away from the camera and around the viewing frame.

In practice this produces lots of excited little green focus indicators dancing around the frame but I am yet to be convinced it is useful. Maybe I need to spend more time experimenting with the feature.  

Metering Mode

This is can be allocated to the Fn button. This is one of those modes which could encourage the ambitious user to make his or her life much more complicated than it needs to be.

As usual in typically Sony fashion there are multiple options.

The one I use routinely and leave set all the time is Multi. This is the safest mode to use for general photography.

Then we have Center, Spot (Standard and large), Entire Screen Average and Highlight.

Some users say they use Spot for birds which are often small in the frame. That might be all right except if the bird is black or white when Spot will likely under or overexpose.

Flash Mode

I allocate Flash Mode to the Fn button menu.

I generally set minus one stop of flash exposure compensation for fill flash if required.  This can be useful with backlit subjects.

See Page 199-204 of the Help Guide.