SONY DSC-RX100 SteadyShot Modes

[Interceptor121 843]

http://wp.me/p2QoIB-11

 

Hope this helps

[SPP 16]

YES, it helps. Many thanks.

.

[kc_moses 142]

Fast forward to 1:49:

 

Can you try to walk and shoot video with the RX100 and see if you get the same result? One of the comments there is that the HX9v has smaller sensor hence it's faster/easier to do the image stabilization part of the Steadyshot.

[Interceptor121 843]

My purpose is not to compare the RX100 to another camera but to check if it is better to have standard or active steady shot

I have done the walking test and the active mode is definitely worth it

If I manage I will do some tests in the pool with the zoom

[kc_moses 142]

Thanks, I thought it would help me to make better decision since I already have the HX30v. When I visit New York in December, may be I can get my hand on the RX100 at the store to shoot some comparison video.

[Interceptor121 843]

Those two cameras you mention HX30V and HX9V are high zoom camera with very slow lens that are not going to be better than the xacti for video except the stabilisation

The RX100 is a camera with a small zoom high picture quality and good lens I don't see the comparison really

[kc_moses 142]

Video quality requirement is a very subjective matter. To me, the HX30V video is good enough for online sharing, especially at 28M.I think the Xacti is around 17M. We're not talking about projecting the video to an Imax screen nor anything larger than a 100" screen.

 

To me video stabilization is the first priority, combine with price and the ease of use of the camera for video purpose. If you're talking about still photo, yes it's not fare to compare RX100 to the HX series, When come to video, just like what you explain in your blog, if one have to do more post processing and at the expense of cropping/lost pixel, I would rather take a more stable video that has less detail, then take a shaky high detail video, stabilize by cropping then blow it up to meet the resolution requirement.

 

I don't know what software you use to stabilize your video. I use VirtualDub and Deshaker. The way the Deshaker plugin work is, it analyze the pixels frame by frame. To stabilize the video, it adjust/rotate the frame by frame image, then you have two options: 1) have black border around the video, or 2.) Crop the overall video. I normally choose 2. But my final output still needs to be 720p (I shot 720p to begin with), so DeShaker has to stretch the video to get to 720p. So the pixel is no longer 1:1, and result in a softer video image.

 

Here is a sample clip taken with the HX200V (the first 50sec):

 

The quality is way better than the Xacti, how is it compare to the RX100? I have no idea, but if there is any better quality video that that level, I don't think my eye can tell much different, unless you display it in a 100" screen.

[Interceptor121 843]

Xacti is 24 Mbps at 60 fps that is quite a lot however it does not have optical stabiliser which is the baseline issue of that camera, you do need a gyroscope before you can go and do software technique

 

Any software stabilisation either done in camera or in editing crops the picture, what I meant in the blog is that by using the steady shot active mode you can do it in camera. I would not expect to stabilise the clips further in editing again as this would introduce a warping effect as the various algorithms try to make sense of the footage

 

I would not capture footage at 720p but always at the highest resolution so that the cropping still results in a fairly defined image

 

I guess all is relative however if you dive in low light a lens with F3.5 is not going to help and noise will creep in as the camera pumps the ISO up like it happens in your lost blue hole bahamas video, however if all you do is diving in the caribbean or warm atlantic maybe that is fine too

 

Your videos look good and it seems that the key ingredient of buoyancy control is there, I think you will do fine with the RX100 but is going to be difficult to extrapolate without directly testing

 

A question though why do you leave all the bubble noise? Is it intentional or what?

[kc_moses 142]

Thanks, I'm trying to perfect my buoyancy to compensate the short coming of the Xacti, and have to remind myself not to zoom. But when there is current, it's just not something I can control.

 

Based on your suggestion about importance of sensor size and image quality, I think the Canon G1X is better suit for that need as it's 50% larger than the RX100, and 1080 60p is not that critical. The price of the G1X is the same as the RX100, I don't mine a little bulk compare to the DSLR.

 

The reason I go after Sony line of product is because of its great image stabilization, which I later found out it's only great in the HX line, and yet to be confirm for the RX or the NEX line.

 

Call me a whim, I only dive in tropical water these days, he he. I have dove in flooded mine that's 50F water, let's just say I don't enjoy the dive. I was wearing 7mm but seeing other people are having problem with dry suit, I'm not that interested in dry suite. I heard that Galapagos require dry suit so I may make exception.

 

But back to low light environment. I will get into strobe set up soon so may be slower lens may not be that much of an issue in the future.

[Interceptor121 843]

I would not recommend a micro four third for video, you would be disappointed with a G1X it has focus issue and you are stuck with one lens per dive

The RX100 is a better choice for sure anyway let me go and take some footage and we will see!

[kc_moses 142]

The G1x is fixed lens, 28mm to 112mm. It however has lower burst rate, which is not that big deal. Video mode wise, Canon is using mpeg-4 avc while sony is avchd. have to reaseach on that one. The big issue now is, I can buy the G1x for $510!!!! For that price and 50% bigger sensor than the rx100, it is tempting to just buy it. But I think I better sleep over it, then do more research.

 

Oh, as far as leaving the breathing noise for my video, initially I try to put music in, you can see my 2010 Sipadan diving video. 4 out of 5 times, youtube come back and complain about copyright music used as sountrack. frustrated with repeat mixing, publish and upload then get rejected, I decided to leave out music. How do you guys get away using pop music soundtrack by the way?

[albatross911 0]

I guess I'm in the minority whom have actually done a diving trip with the RX100 so let me chip in a bit here. I have only shared my stills so far as you can see from my post. I have not uploaded any video I have taken yet as it takes time to edit them. I usually make a video as highlights of my trip and rarely upload individual clips unedited. Let me try to upload a few FYR.

 

I'm trying to edit RX100 clips for the first time and the high bit rate and AVCHD files are making the process slower than usual. Actually I have lost the files of half of my trip that were backed up to a HDD and spent half a day just to recover them. Lucky that I got them back and so far I have only managed to repackage them into m4v format, imported into iMovie and trying editing them in both iMovie and FCPX. However my 2 years old iMac is a bit under-powered for the RX100 clips.

 

During my trip I did not pay much attention to the SteadyShot mode. I think I had it on Standard in the beginning and changed to Active halfway in the trip. I did notice the cropping but have not compared the effects between the 2. I'll pay attention to it when I get down to working on editing and give more comments later. Overall I don't think it's at the same level as my previous camera which was a Panasonic DC, but that was a much smaller sensor and 720p only. I was doing 1080 50p all the time in this trip.

 

There were quite a few times when I pressed the Menu button thinking it as the Record button, and I missed the moment when 2 thresher sharks were swimming towards and very close to me. My biggest regret in this trip!

 

Let me know if you have any question and I'll try to answer as best I can.

[Interceptor121 843]

at kc_moses my bad on the canon G1X. The autofocus issue remains though

The G1x is fixed lens, 28mm to 112mm. It however has lower burst rate, which is not that big deal. Video mode wise, Canon is using mpeg-4 avc while sony is avchd. have to reaseach on that one. The big issue now is, I can buy the G1x for $510!!!! For that price and 50% bigger sensor than the rx100, it is tempting to just buy it. But I think I better sleep over it, then do more research.

 

Oh, as far as leaving the breathing noise for my video, initially I try to put music in, you can see my 2010 Sipadan diving video. 4 out of 5 times, youtube come back and complain about copyright music used as sountrack. frustrated with repeat mixing, publish and upload then get rejected, I decided to leave out music. How do you guys get away using pop music soundtrack by the way?

 

My bad on the G1X however the focus issue remain, for what concerns encoding both cameras use H264 for video in AVC format, however the canon wraps this into a mov file whilst the Sony uses AVCHD.

Going a level deeper the canon encodes at 24 frames per second that is the universal mode to encode films and is compatible with both NTSC and PAL. It will be easy to manipulate those files into any editor. The Sony uses the latest AVCHD incarnation with 1080p50 or 1080p60 and AC3 audio, those files are heavy to digest and get converted anyway by youtune and similar that only support 24,25,30 frames per second anyway. Most editors for mac including imovie, final cut pro will not be able to read those files, but they will only see the lower quality format 1080i50 an interlaced format that they will convert. Sony vegas will instead process those files fine

 

For what concerns music you do get the issue that the video was blocked in certain countries, the only alternative is to replace it with songs that are free to use, youtube does a good job, however you loose all your editing efforts! To my knowledge vimeo is less restrictive up to now

 

I guess I'm in the minority whom have actually done a diving trip with the RX100 so let me chip in a bit here. I have only shared my stills so far as you can see from my post. I have not uploaded any video I have taken yet as it takes time to edit them. I usually make a video as highlights of my trip and rarely upload individual clips unedited. Let me try to upload a few FYR. I'm trying to edit RX100 clips for the first time and the high bit rate and AVCHD files are making the process slower than usual. Actually I have lost the files of half of my trip that were backed up to a HDD and spent half a day just to recover them. Lucky that I got them back and so far I have only managed to repackage them into m4v format, imported into iMovie and trying editing them in both iMovie and FCPX. However my 2 years old iMac is a bit under-powered for the RX100 clips.

 

Albatross not sure what is the latest workflow you use but just yesterday I cracked the nut and now I have a procedure with imovie and two other free programs that imports in a instant in imovie. Maybe I should put it in my next blog?

[albatross911 0]

I am still using iVI to repackage into m4v and then straight import into iMovie. Once in iMovie I can open the events in FCPX too. So it's quite simple also.

[Interceptor121 843]

I am still using iVI to repackage into m4v and then straight import into iMovie. Once in iMovie I can open the events in FCPX too. So it's quite simple also.

 

Why is it taking time then? Is iMovie converting into apple AIC?

Edited October 31, 2012 by Interceptor121

[albatross911 0]

Oh I had FCPX analyzed all the clips first which took quite a bit of time.

[Interceptor121 843]

You don't want to do that. The stabilizer of FCPX or iMovie is not better than the one inside the camera so you should let the clips as they are without any conversion

Note that when you import a clip this will always be converted in AIC

[kc_moses 142]

A note on the Canon G1X. After reading detail review, I have concluded it's a no go for me. The movie mode is a joke like it's designed for a 10 years old just want to press the recording button and run around. The lack of ISO, shutter and aperture setting making it way under utilize the 1.5" sensor. My HX30v can already do that and allows me to set focus tracking in the middle of recording while the G1X require to set tracking BEFORE recording.

 

Looks like Canon is going down hill. I guess I will patiently wait until I can play with a RX100 in my hand, or hoping that a RX200 will be around the corner by next October before my big trip.

[Interceptor121 843]

to the regard of movie mode just being program there will be a blog soon, I think people overestimate the manual mode in movie a great deal

Canon usually has AF and AE lock which is essential

[albatross911 0]

You don't want to do that. The stabilizer of FCPX or iMovie is not better than the one inside the camera so you should let the clips as they are without any conversion

Note that when you import a clip this will always be converted in AIC

 

No I still think it's worth it to use stabilization in FCPX to reduce movement for more comfortable viewing. As I said the SteadyShot of RX100 is not that effective, IMO.

 

Here're 4 videos I've uploaded. If I remember correctly the blue ring and thresher were on standard mode and the frog fish and nudi were on active mode. Can't see on info screen to check this setting after importing. I guess the only way to check is to copy the whole folder back onto a SD card and put it back into the RX100 to see.

 

http://s138.beta.photobucket.com/user/albatross911/library/RX100%20Videos

[Interceptor121 843]

Can't find the page. It may be worth stabilising but how good is the FCPX routine for it? Are there external plug ins? I don't believe Apple algoryhtm are very good...

[albatross911 0]

try this: http://s138.beta.photobucket.com/user/albatross911/library/RX100%20Videos

 

actually it's pretty good. once the analysis is done, which may take a while, enabling it is quite straight forward. it will need to render again.

[Interceptor121 843]

Just looked at the nudibranch, are those stabilised??

[albatross911 0]

only in camera, not yet on FCPX

[Interceptor121 843]

If I look only at that one there is far too much shake to savage it in the initial part I would cut it out

After 38 seconds there are few really good parts, I think you can maybe extract 10 seconds 38-48 and then another 10 from 50 to 1 minute

They look pretty stable to me I would not do anything else

The frogfish are good you can cut out maybe 10-15 seconds

The thresher and blur ring can't be savaged, the camera was not focussing (hence my frustration with lack of AF lock), it looks like you did not have a wide angle lens??

I am not sure what your expectations are but out of that footage you have there you would be looking at taking 10-20 seconds max high quality from the material and you have it. That one does not need any further stabilisation, there are parts where you literally loose the subject or zoom in and out or pan, those are unlikely to survive any 'screening'

I put a clip on the stabiliser in my new post for you to check out