360 DEGREES OF MADNESS?
In January 2018 I got a new SONY RX10 IV and it was fabulous! I couldn't believe how good it was! But 3 years later I thought I needed a full frame camera and so I sold the RX10 and bought a new A7III Body and a collection of the best lenses Sony had to offer, including the FE200-600mm, the FE24-105mm and the FE90mm. £OUCH!
Thankfully, I got the new A7III Body at an absolute bargain price, which is a good job, because I have now sold the whole kit after just 6 months and gone back to an RX10 😮.
WHY SELL A DREAM OUTFIT?
Well the truth is, that full-frame outfit with all its amazing lenses actually stopped me taking photos! Taking all that gear out with me was just one hell of a chore. It was heavy and cumbersome and I always worried about damaging something. I was bothered about constantly changing lenses and little things like getting dust on the sensor, etc. I was also concerned about the reported shutter failings and basically fell out with it all very quickly.
I knew I'd lose a chunk of money this time, but I was more concerned about my loss of interest in the hobby than a loss of money. So it had to go!
It probably seems ridiculous to many people that I was parting with such an amazing camera kit, but I have absolutely no regrets. I faced the truth - as much as I wanted to be a great photographer - I'm not. I'm more of a casual enthusiast and I had no business buying the A7III outfit in the first place. My bad.
THE REPLACEMENT
Now that the A7III was sold, I started to look for a brand new RX10 IV. I began my search by trying to find out if the Mk5 was due to come out soon, but no information was available and I could see that people had been predicting its arrival for around a year already. Sony remained tight-lipped.
So I needed to get the Mk4 for now. Unfortunately, no one had any stock - not even rip-off Amazon!! Damn this Covid!!
Used prices on eBay were pretty ridiculous thanks to supply and demand, but I was lucky enough to find someone just 7 miles away who was selling a 5 month old, virtually unused one.
I sent him a message with a cheeky offer, telling him that I could be there within minutes with the cash and he accepted! When I got there, I could see that this was a real bargain, coming with a genuine Sony leather case, a UV filter, a mains charger and two batteries. It was also AS NEW!! So I handed over the cash and drove away. As soon as I got home I went to register the camera on Sony's website and was pleased to find that the previous owner had not already done the same.
There's no shutter-count information in the RX10's exif-data, so there's no way to discover the shutter-count, but the condition of the camera and the fact that it was so young leaves me feeling happy. The previous owner was a keen wildlife photographer and used his full-frame Canon outfit most of the time. He'd bought the RX10 for his family holidays which Covid ruined.
DID I DO THE RIGHT THING?
Absolutely yes!!! I was getting too precious about the A7III and like they say, the best camera in the world is the one that you have with you. The RX10 is small enough to always take out with you but big enough in features to do almost any job.
Sure, there'll be compromises along the way, but make no mistake, this is a very special camera with fabulous abilities, allowing you to do a great job with Sports, Wild Life, Landscape, Portrait, Commercial and even Macro. It's also the world's best travel camera as far as I'm concerned.
The 24-600mm lens is a peach, being pretty damned sharp at all focal lengths bar the absolute extremities. The camera has great stabilisation and a super fast drive at 24fps. Video performance is good too. The downsides?? Well it uses the older "W" style batteries and there's only one SD CARD slot. Oh, and the LCD screen isn't fully articulated.
To go with it, I ordered a SONY HVL-F45RM Speedlite. I'll post separately about that.
So let the journey begin. I must remember that I am just a lowly amateur who takes good snapshots for showing on the internet and not a professional who needs a super-camera for large prints.
Here's some of my previous RX10 photos...
