My photography experience extends to buying my cell phones based on the onboard camera specs. I enjoy taking pictures, but I'm no professional. With that in mind, this review should come in handy for those with needs similar to mine, but people expecting a technique/tech savvy write up will want to look elsewhere.
I decided that I needed to upgrade to a physical camera in order to take product shots for a company I'm starting. At first, I looked into a range of professional-grade digital cameras. A random web link (touting the rx100's high video quality) put me on the path toward this camera. After additional research, I determined that I probably didn't need a bulky $2k camera to get the results I wanted. The rx100 has been described as "the professional's point-and-shoot," and that pretty much says it all; this small camera can produce images on par with professional tools, in an easy-to-use format.
First of all, the camera takes incredible pictures right out of the box. There are essentially two layers to its operation: a for-dummies top layer, and a more serious lower level. The average non-professional will find that the basic layer of preset functions allows them to take excellent photos, 99% of the time. I have only started to play around with the deeper settings, but I suspect that more seasoned/demanding users will find that this secondary level of adjustment will get them very close to what they are used to in a full-on pro camera. You can tweak pretty much any camera setting I've ever heard of, and your favorites can be saved to a memory recall function that resides in the top menu layer for quick access.
The "auto" settings adjust very well -and quite quickly -to the demands of the moment. For instance, I've only needed to manually activate the "cloudy" setting once, in a month of ownership. Colors are accurate and focus is usually precise. The 20.2 available mexapixels provide crisp details. Video is very high quality, with surprisingly good sound. Although quite small, the camera body has a solid feel in the hand. And, unlike its larger relatives, it can be stored in a jacket or pants pocket, rather than an inconvenient bag. If you want a "starter" high-end digital camera, this is one that you'll actually USE.
I have only refrained from rating this product "five stars" because some of the included kit items were of poor quality. In particular, the tripod feels cheap and -at least in this case -does not actually allow a level horizontal position due to sloppy construction. That said, this bundle cost about the same as the camera alone, both on Amazon and on numerous other sites. So I'm not terribly surprised or disappointed that the peripherals aren't top grade.
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