Sony rx100 ii auto mode

frugalman

New Member
Im new to rx100 ii.
I am wondering how is the auto mode for taking pics of moving kids.
I photograph mainly my kids and they are never stationary. Even when I ask them to pose.

So will I be ok with the auto mode?
I just want non blurry sharp pics with bright colors.

I used a g15 and found the auto mode not too good. But its manual mode is great but requires too much work.
 
During my three weeks ownership of the RX100ii, I found the AF to be fairly snappy under good light. Unfortunately, I didn't take any kid photos to test its ability to capture moving kid photos. I did find that using auto ISO with aperture priority, the resulting shutter speeds were too slow to capture moving subjects. So I'd recommend using shutter priority. I didn't use the camera in Auto. But I think there's a scene mode for kid photography. So maybe the camera automatically chooses faster shutter speeds using that mode.
 
Use a flash even in daylight to get sharp pictures. The more light the camera sees, the faster it's shutter speed. Especially with mirrorless cameras (like the RX100) you get really fast sync speeds. I think you can go as high as 1/2000th of a second with the RX100II. Also remember to bounce the flash off a surface, say a ceiling or a wall, that will help give you a natural looking image that doesn't look have the "deer caught in headlights" look about them. While shooting in harsh sunlight, activate the ND filter (built-in with the RX!00) and use direct flash, it will darken the background (skies etc) and keep it from blowing out, while keeping the subject nicely lit.

Google "using fill flash in daylight".
 
Yes in bright sunlight using the flash as a fill flash is very good and very fast. You might want to use flash exposure comp -.3 or -.7 so the flash isn't so noticeable. The flash seems good in most conditions.

In auto mode in normal inside conditions, the flash will slow down to 1/30sec. That's too slow for kids. I am a photographer who sells my landscapes to corporate and private customers using a Nikon D800 SLR (a very good slr). But on my 2 recent trips to visit my grandkids and great-nieces, I only brought my RX100II. As you all know the RX100II is amazing, but I've always had my best Nikons with me in the past.

I like the images I got using the RX100II! I set the camera to "S" and the speed to 1/250sec to stop action inside with the kids. I also set the ISO to auto and allowed it to go to 12,800. I had a couple of shots at 12,800 that are softer than they should be because of the aggressive noise reduction in the RX100II. But they would have been too noisy otherwise. And most of the shots at ISO 12,800 were just fine. I didn't use the multi frame noise reduction to get the ISO to 25,600. And I didn't use the flash. I didn't use these two because I wanted to be able to shoot multiple shots very fast, and it works great.

So for kids I use "S" speed mode set to 1/250sec and regular auto ISO and allow it to go from 160(lowest/outside) to 12,800(highest/inside).

I've done this twice now and am very happy.

DSC01030_2meg.jpg
DSC01472_2meg.jpg
DSC00598_2meg.jpg
DSC00254_2meg.jpg
 
Back
Top