Setting up the Sony RX10Mk4 (still photos) Part 1, 26 January 2018

Pied cormorant,  RX10M4

The RX10Mk4 is one of the most capable bridge cameras you can buy at the moment. It has a very large number of features and capabilities and offers the user the opportunity to configure many aspects of the camera to personal preference. This is a wonderful thing but the number of options creates so many permutations and combinations as to baffle the new user and even some more experienced ones.

It is now several months since the RX10Mk4 was released but there are still many busy discussions on user forums about how to get the camera set up properly with different interpretations of the process and numerous differences of understanding about how the many and various options interact with each other.

The process is complicated by Sony’s use of many cryptic and mystery menu items together with complex processes for setting up many of the available functions.  Of course Sony is not alone in this, all the camera makers are guilty to some extent.

Hence this series of posts. As with all my ‘setting up” posts this series began with my need to figure out how the camera works. Having done so at least to my own satisfaction in most cases I find it useful to clarify my findings by presenting them in a public forum, subject to external scrutiny.

Readers please note: There are literally billions of different ways to set up the RX10M4. Each individual user will have his or her ideas about what is required and those ideas will very likely evolve over time with experience.

So please take my suggestions as a starting point for your own voyage of discovery around this complex camera.

Please experiment with all manner of different settings particularly in the early days of ownership but be aware that in due course you have to remember what settings have been allocated to which buttons/dials/switches and you need to train your brain memory and muscle memory to make the appropriate actions in each photographic situation.
That means arriving at a collection of settings which work for you.

Beginners to camera photography can leave the RX10M4 in Auto (green) Mode and fire away. The camera will make fine photos.

The Help Guide

The camera ships with a printed 37 page Instruction Manual which is definitely worth reading carefully to identify the camera parts and make initial settings for operation.

The much more comprehensive (almost 600 pages) Help Guide is available as an online document from any Sony national website. Scroll through to the support section from the product information. On the front page of this document you will find a link to a downloadable PDF version of the same document.

I strongly suggest any new RX10M4 owner plod through this document with camera in hand. It will take a while.

Please refer to pages 20-27 and 47-75 of the Help Guide for more information about making the camera ready for basic photography in Auto Mode.

I want to press on with suggestions for using the camera in one of the P,A,S,M and MR  modes which allow a great deal more user control.

At purchase

When you buy the camera be sure to purchase with it the following items:

* A high quality 72mm protect filter. I use best quality (go by price) Hoya or B+W filters. These protect the (expensive !) front element of the lens with no detriment to image quality at all.  It is MUCH safer and easier to clean the filter than the front element of the lens.

* At least one, preferably two if you plan to use the camera for lots of photos each day, NP-FW50 batteries and a charger. The camera ships without a separate charger although it does enable in-camera battery charging by USB connector. The separate charger allows you to use the camera and charge a battery at the same time. As the batteries take a long time to charge this is useful.

I use and recommend the Sony battery+charger kit ACC-TRW-W series which consists of one battery and a charger unit.

* A generic or Sony branded screen protector. Fit this immediately after photographing the   camera (see below) as the monitor screen cannot be turned inwards for protection.

* A microfiber cloth for cleaning the lens filter, EVF eyepiece and monitor screen. Keep this in a small plastic Ziploc bag.

* A cheap generic wrist strap. Some people like to fit the neck strap, I never do. I find it much more convenient to carry the camera in a shoulder bag without the neck strap which I find forever gets in the way when I am making photos.

* A carry bag. I am currently using an old Lowe Pro Apex 140 AW. However these are no longer available and this model is over sized for purpose anyway.

Other suggestions include Lowe Pro Adventura SH 140 (2), One of the Lowe Pro Urban models, Manfrotto Amica 30, Benro Element S20.

The best way to carry a camera in a shoulder bag is with lens axis horizontal, handle up. This way it is always easy to grab the camera by the handle and remove it quickly. I have over the years tried several of the top load zoom type bags and been frustrated by them every time.

* A cable shutter release !   The RX10 series cameras have a threaded shutter button which will accept a standard camera cable release.  And it works. So if you plan on some serious tripod work an old fashioned cable release could be a worthwhile investment.

Unboxing

* Check that your camera came in a sealed box. If not find out why. Check for any evidence the unit is not new (if it was sold as new).

* Put on clean gloves and before you do anything else photograph the camera, before you touch it with your bare hands and before it gets covered in thousands of tiny little bits of skin. Assume that sooner or later you will sell every camera you buy and having pristine photos comes in very handy at selling time.

That pesky lens hood

The lens hood mounts with a bayonet type fitting with the petals facing forward for photos and backward for transport and storage. The main thing to remember is that when fitting or removing the hood in either position grip the hood by the sides, not top and bottom. Do this and it can be mounted and removed easily. If you try to remove the hood while gripping it top and bottom excessive twisting force is required.  It all gets easier with repeated use.

Getting into the menus

* Focus Standard.   Users having long time familiarity with Sony menu crypto-code will understand the importance of this item. The rest of us have to learn.

Focus Standard refers to the button you have to press to activate the focus area to enable it to be moved with the up/down/left/right buttons.

See page 75 of the Help Guide.

Go to Menu > Camera Settings 2 > Custom Operation 1 > (screen 9/10) >Custom Key (Shoot) > scroll down to Center Button > Press center button to bring up the selection menu > scroll to Focus Standard > press center button again > press Menu button three times or half press shutter button to exit to normal shooting condition.

You have now allocated [Focus Standard] to the center button which is the most practical button for that particular function. It can be allocated to another button but the center button is the easiest to find and operate quickly by feel.

Now go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > AF1 > (screen 5/14) > Focus Area > set this to [Flexible Spot]. 

This is the only Focus Area setting which allows you to control both the position and size (small, medium, large) of the focus frame. I use and recommend this for all general photography.

For birds in flight against a plain background such as the sky I use [Wide] Focus Area. I will talk more about this in another post.

Now when you press the center button the focus frame brightens, four bounding arrows appear and you can move the focus frame with the up/down/left/right buttons.

Rotate the rear dial to change the size of the focus frame.

Press the C3 button to re-center the focus frame. I put a dab of clear epoxy resin on the C3 button so I can find it easily by feel.

Press the center button again to de-activate the focus frame, see the bounding arrows disappear. Do this to regain the assigned functions of the up/down/left/right buttons.

I allocate Focus Area to position 1 on the top row of options accessed by the Fn button.

Note that you can have [Face Detect] operating at the same time as [Flexible Spot] focus area.  This can be useful when photographing a person.

Go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > Face Detection/Shoot Assist (screen 14/14) > Smile/Face Detect > Face Detect ON.

I allocate Face Detect as one of the functions available by pressing the Fn button.

* Creative Style

Sony uses this term to describe the camera settings which determine the appearance of JPG pictures. RAW files are not affected by this setting.

But first we need to make settings for noise reduction. Settings for noise reduction are in a completely different place in the menu system from picture style. This makes no sense to me as a camera user but there it is. Canon and Nikon do this also.

Go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > Quality/Image Size 2 > (screen 2/14) > (stills: the little mountain pictogram refers to adjustments for still photos)  > High ISO NR > Set this OFF.

The logic of this is that you can always apply noise reduction in post process in if desired but if NR is locked in at capture it will reduce noise but will also reduce sharpness which may not be what you want at all.

Now go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > Color/WB/Img.Processing1 (screen 10/14) > Scroll down to Creative Style > At this point you have a series of choices.  You can go with one of the presets such as Standard, Vivid, natural etc or you can create a personal group of settings from any of the presets.  Press the right button from any of the presets to bring up a little submenu with adjustments for Contrast, Saturation and Sharpness.

This is still a work in progress for me but after several thousand JPGs I have settled on Standard modified to Contrast -1, Saturation 0, Sharpness 0.

I live in Sydney where conditions are often bright and sunny with clear air and few clouds. Yes I know it’s tough but someone has to live here.  Anyway these conditions often produce high subject brightness range, hence my use of slightly reduced contrast. Users who live in places with hazy conditions and/or poor air quality or low levels of sunlight might want to experiment with the Vivid preset or Standard with increased contrast.

Beware of overdoing the sharpness. Too much can look un-natural. You can always increase sharpness in post process but you cannot undo excessive amounts if they are baked in at capture.

It may be worth allocating Creative Style to the My Menu for easier access. I have done so.

Next we want to look at DRO, Dynamic Range Optimiser. This is Sony’s term for an in camera adjustment to JPGs to cope with high subject brightness range.  All the makers have a similar feature. Canon calls it Auto Lighting Optimiser, the Panasonic version is i-Dynamic.

The idea of this is to reduce exposure a bit from standard to protect highlights from blowing out then apply a tone curve adjustment to bring up the middle tones so they look normal.

It only works on JPGs.

Go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > Color/WB/Img.Processing1 > (screen 10/14) > DRO/Auto HDR> Press the center button > this brings up a little menu and some more scrolling.

* D-R Off

* DRO at level 1-5 or Auto. I use and recommend the DRO Auto setting. You can set and forget this. It will work if picture Quality is set to JPG and will work on the JPGs if quality is set to RAW+JPG. It does not slow down the camera in any way that I can detect.

* HDR at 1-6 EV steps and Auto. In this mode (JPG only) the camera makes three exposures then merges them in camera to output a single file. It only works if quality is set to JPG not RAW+JPG.  This works, I suggest you try it and see if you like the results.

* ISO Auto Min. SS  

This is yet another of Sony’s cryptic menu designations and is very important. It refers to a key Sony technology for the Auto ISO algorithm which is responsive to lens focal length.

I recommend allocating this one to one of the programmable buttons.  I have it on the right button.

Go to Menu > Camera Settings 1 > Exposure 1 > (screen 7/14) > ISO Auto Min.SS. You can set the minimum shutter speed to a single speed by scrolling down the options here.

But I recommend selecting the much more versatile topmost option [ISO A SS] then scroll left/right. You will see the options are Slower, Slow, Standard, Fast, Faster.

With P set on the Mode Dial and [Standard] set for [ISO Auto Min.SS] the camera will set a shutter speed of 1/focal length equivalent, light levels permitting.  This is very useful for general photography. You can leave the Mode Dial on P then zoom out knowing the auto ISO algorithm will keep increasing shutter speed as the lens focal length increases.

This is my standard setting which I use for most types of photography of subjects which are not in motion or at least will sit still for a second or so, like birds.

If [Faster] is set the camera will set a shutter speed of 1/1000, light levels permitting. I use this for sport/action situations.

Touch functions

Reviewers and some users make a big deal of touch screen capability. Here are my suggestions for setting up for touch screen operation.

Step 1: Go to Menu>Setup>Setup2 (2/6)>Touch Operation>Touch Panel+Pad.

Touch Panel works with monitor screen viewing, Pad works when EVF viewing.

Step 2: Go to Menu>Setup>Setup3> (3/6)>Touch Pad Settings>

* Operation in V Orien. > On

* Touch Pos. Mode > Relative Position

* Operation Area > Right half

Now you are good to go with touch screen operation for moving and selecting the focus area.

BUT

I have touch switched off.  I move the focus area using the up/down/left/right buttons on the 4Way controller.

Why ?

I find that using the hard buttons is faster, easier, requires fewer actions each less complex and causes less disruption to my grip on the handle than using the touch function.

See Focus Standard above.

Next post:  button function allocations