Sony RX1-R - blurry indoor shots

AntiHero

New Member
I'm stumped. Even in moderate indoor light (think: overcast day outside with all the lights on inside) my RX1-R takes fuzzy and blurry pictures unless the camera is still. For instance, if I take a picture with my hands moving in a slow/moderate sweeping motion (think "tracking a toddler" speed), here are my results in various modes (all set to exposure comp: 0):

Auto: Blurry. Camera seems to love 1/80.
SCN: Blurry. 1/160, F2.5, Auto
P A S and M: Triple exposure. Camera takes three shots no matter what the settings, so it's totally worthless to track anything.
1/2/3: Still get a little blur even at 1/1600 F2.5 25600 (but by then the images are so grainy who cares)

I'm in lighting conditions that definitely shouldn't require flash. What am I doing wrong?
 
Welcome to the forum, AntiHero. If you can share the images, it may help us diagnose the problem. But generally when you are moving your hands in a sweeping motion, you will get blurry photos. Unless you are using a faster shutter speed (as you evidenced by your shot at 1/1600). if you want to freeze the motion (not blurry) a flash is your best bet.
 
Agree with Luke. Try using the pop up flash at -2 as a test and see if the result is better. If still blurry, post some pics

This is my first 'real' DSLR -- and with it's bitchin' low-light sensor I suppose I made the mistake of overestimating what it is/should be capable of in moderate-low light. I tried the pop flash at -2 and, though that flash takes forever to pop, the results are better than flash-only and much better than no flash.

Thanks, guys! Least I know I'm not crazy and can stop trying to find a mystery setting that doesn't exist.
 
The RX1 is really good in low light - there are better, but it's REAL good and nothing is all that much better. I've had one for almost two years and I've NEVER EVER used the flash and I've done a ton of low light shooting with it. It's capable of a LOT in extremely low light, not to mention moderate low light. But you really need to spend some time to learn the tradeoffs between aperture and shutter speed and ISO. It doesn't have any sort of image stabilization, so you need to figure out what the slowest shutter speed you can use and still get sharp shots. And remember that blur comes from two places - the shooter and the subject. If you can't hold the camera still, you're gonna need a pretty fast shutter speed. And if your subjects are moving fast and you want them sharp, you're still gonna need a pretty fast shutter speed. And if you have moving subjects and an unsteady hand, you're gonna need faster still. Capturing fast movement in low light with a lot of sharpness is very challenging and isn't always possible. But it's a lot more possible with the RX1 than most cameras. Don't bail and use flash right away - experiment and learn what the cameras limits are, and yours. Frankly, if you're gonna use a flash, you can get by with a MUCH lesser camera and do very very well.

Oh, and BTW, it's not a DSLR, real or otherwise... :cool:

-Ray
 
A word of warning... The RX1r has a very impressive sensor capable of resolving ridiculous amounts of detail, and a very impressive lens in front of it, also capable of resolving ridiculous amounts of detail.

This is great, but it also requires perfect technique. The issue is that any sensor/lens combo capable of resolving that kind of detail is also going to resolve, in high definition, any errors you make taking the photo. Ie. any camera shake is going to be visible...
 
I'm intrigues by the triple exposure in PASM, sounds like bracketing is on.
As for the sweeping thing, i'd generally expect 1/1600 to be enough to freeze all motion (ive completely frozen racecars at >200 kph with that shutter speed), perhaps not if you're pixel peeping at 24mp, but in general use cases it should be enough...
 
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