I've been shooting with the Sony DSC-RXIII bridge camera for some time now. It has various settings for aspect ratio. What I hadn't been paying attention to was the variation of resolution (MP) versus the various aspect ratio modes chosen. I used to use 16x9, simply because I prefer wide screen formatted images, but I noticed that the resolution was only 16MP. If I shot in another aspect mode, say 4x3 or 2x3, the total resolution was higher, as much as 20MP. I was wondering if those of you Hoggers who use the DSC-RX whatever, WHICH aspect ratio you choose, and why? Thanks in advance.

Greetings CSand. My original DSC-RX10 also suffered irreplaceable water damage from falling into backyard swimming pool. Never again! That was the word from official Sony repair station. I replaced it with a RX10-III (my good find at $850, slightly used, on the internet), only to have it unfortunately later suffer a fall to the ground- whereupon the internal mechanisms were damaged. I took it to a local Camera repair shop in Glendale, CA. The repair estimate was bumped up ($300) when it was discovered that more internal parts had to be ordered. Once the parts came in from Sony, the repair was done in quick order. My RX-10 III has worked well. My takeaway from those two lessons was: 1. Be careful with water, as most Sony's digital cameras aren't rated for underwater use/water exposure, and 2. Your local repair station (near your hometown) should have the wherewithal to repair with genuine Sony parts, if not send them directly to Sony Repair for needed repairs. Good luck.

Thanks Hoggers. I'll checkout Adobe's free DNG converter, and Sony's Imaging Edge. I suspect there was some wierd incompability with my older Windows 7 computer and the Capture One (for Sony software). I know, I know. Get with the program and update my OS to Windows 10, but I'd prefer NOT to do that unless it was absolutely necessary. I"m just now exploring RAW image manipulation now, and RAW isn't a vital part of my workflow, however, I wanted to see if there were any other alternative solutions in the interim. Thanks again.

Hey there Hoggers. I've got Sony's RX-10 Model III bridge cam, and I've just started shooting in JPEG + RAW. I"m discovering that my version of Photoshop (CS-V6, not the subscription model) is incompatible with the version of Adobe Camera RAW needed to process the ARW raw files from the RX-10. You know the dreaded Adobe saw, "NOT SUPPORTED". So I was trying to find a 3rd party app that would let me download and process the ARW files. I've been trying to get Camera One (Sony camera version) from Phase One to work with my Windows 7 Ultimate/SP1 computer, but I keep getting an error message saying Camera One doesn't want to work. I've had my trusted IT guy try to figure it out, and he can't find a solution either to make the Camera One software work. Frustrated, I'm a the point of requesting a refund of PHase One. But I was just wondering if other RX-10 Mod III users out there might have found another solution- in particular one that might be compatible with older Adobe software (CS-6). Please clue me in. Thanks for your help in advance.

I agree that the Video capture feature is probably one of the lesser used features of most modern DSLRS, mirrorless cameras, or even so called "Bridge" cameras. With 4K capture the current high resolution video standard, it allows even dyed-in-the-wool digital photographers the capability to record stunning high quality video which can be enjoyed on the latest 4K TVs.
Most serious digital cinema photographers, ie. the ones that use high-end professional DSLRS/Mirrorless digital cameras, etc. primarily FOR the video feature, have various work-arounds to conquer the "gotchas" of using such cameras. Chief among these hidden "gotchas" are the ergonomics of the camera itself- the layout of controls, and ways to stabilize such cameras when hand-holding. Many third-party manufacturers have stepped up to the bat with so-called "cages" or "frames" that are designed to stabilize such cameras and allow full control of the cameras without having to actually touch the camera. This is significant, because nothing ruins a video shot faster than an unstable or jerky camera. Sound is another issue as well, as most digital cameras leave the recording of sound up to their low-quality inernal microphones, and use automatic gain control, or AGC. AGC is exactly OPPOSITE to what is required for high quality sound capture. Manual gain control is the requirement here. Again, third party sound accessory companies now offer a wide range of "pre-amps" with manual gain that accept a wide variety of professional external microphones to feed into your digital camera. These provide much higher quality recorded sound, and the ability to monitor it professionally.
If you are serious about capturing high-quality video and sound from your late model DSLR/mirrorless camera, you could easily invest an equal amount in these third party accessories. But in view, it's worth the investment.

Howdy Jerry, I too have converted many camcorder tapes to digital using Pinnacle's Dazzle USB capture device. In my case it's an older Windows 7 computer, but the latest Dazzle USB capture device should work with your Windows 10 computer. Just make sure the required driver for the capture device is installed (usually with software installation of the included Pinnacle Editing software). Once this Pinnacle software is installed, when you select the Capture tab you should see options for capturing, either with the conventional AV (composite video/stereo audio, or S-Video/stereo audio) or with the newer DV (Digital Video) process that uses a Firewire/1394 digital cable connected to the tiny Firewire port on your MiniDV camcorder on one end (if that's what you shot the original tape with) and the larger Firewire connector on your computers end. You also have options for quality of the capture as well. Once captured, you could then make further edits using the Pinnacle software, and then burn the edited project to a DVD. Good luck. it's a labor of love for me.

I am a long-time owner/user of the Sony RX-10 all-in-one digital camera. in fact, I was fortunate to be among the first users of Sony's RX-10, often quoted as the "swiss-army-knife" of high-end point-and-shoot digital cameras, way back in late 2013. I've gotten many great shots, some under low light conditions, and I've been quite happy with the overall performance. Well, yes, the menus are quite arcane, and take some work to navigate through, especially if you want to do something out of the ordinary. I'm fairly happy with the built-in automatic controls like ISO, and auto-focus. etc. However, if you don't find yourself happy with the automatic functions of the RX-10, you can generally find a manual control for just about everything- you just have to find it in the menu structure.
Now my RX-10 model 1 is getting "old in the tooth", and I've been considering upgrading to one of the later models. I am asking Hoggers to highlight the most important difference between the latest models and the earlier ones? I believe they fall in the category of faster performance, improved low light auto-focus, and of course, that GINORMOUS zoom lens. And yes, I also think 4K video recording is standard now. Anything else I should be aware of as regards to improved features? Thanks for your input.

2018 marks the 50th Anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's iconic movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”.
That film ranks as one of the all time great science fiction films of all time, but it's making is not known very well, except for the most ardent of film-goers. All that unknown knowledge about the making of this amazing movie is brought to light in author Michael Benson's new book “Space Odyssey”- Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece”.
Throughout the film, the movie's HAL 9000 computer is symbolized by its mysteriously ominous all-seeing eye, a big red-domed lens. Some HH'ers might recognize this as a Nikon 8mm fish-eye lens, that was lit from behind- as Benson's incredible book explains. Other special effects in the film were state of the art for its day- mostly done through optical technology, as there was no computer generated imagery technology available at that time.
While the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” is 50 years old, the story it tells, which is mostly visual, still holds up, despite it's often mysterious and baffling ending. Its currently available on DVD and BluRay. The Blu-Ray version has many supplementary documentary videos about the making of the film, and serves to provide the reader with additional fascinating insight into the remarkable film. And Benson's new book reveals hitherto unknown background information how Kubrick's amazing production team brought the film to fruition. It's well worth a read.

Hi there CWHI1444,
My ALL time favorite video converter is a long "no longer available" software from Arcsoft Media Converter 7. I use it it frequently on my Windows 7 OS PC. But more recently, there is another software called Any Video Converter Pro that works with more current OS's. Google Any Video Converter Pro and you'll discover that it offers one of the best and fastest media conversion/compression packages for almost every conceivable video format out there.

Thanks ChapJohn. The fact that Sony Artisans use the RX-10 as a good backup camera tells me volumes about the quality and trust they put into Sony's integrated all-in-one solution, as opposed to separate lens alpha cameras. I think the definitive word in deciding on whether to upgrade my Sony RX-10 original to a newer generation, is the new features, etc- like 4K video, better zoom, etc. There's no question I enjoy the integrated, but high performance zoom lens on the RX-10. Anyone out there ready to trade up their RX-10 current generation to an Alpha Model. I might be interested.

1-yes, 2-yes, 3-no, 4-no

I'm the proud owner and user of Sony's original RX-10 model 1, introduced way back in 2013. It's gotten a bit "old in the tooth" (smaller zoom range), non-4K video, etc. , but has previously consistently delivered quite a range of excellent imagery, and it was relatively easy to lug around. I have been considering if Sony's latest generation RX-10 Model 4 (or even the slightly older Model 3) would be a significant enough of an improvement for me to seriously consider an upgrade. I've seen messages from current owners of the RX-10 Model 4 and the fact that they were very satisfied by the latest model 4. But I was curious what convinced them, especially if they had used a previous model, that the new RX-10 Model 4 (or even the slightly older Model 3) warranted an upgrade. I do like the idea of an "integrated" all-in-one camera body/capable zoom lens. Provided the image quality is top notch. Thanks HH'ers for your response.
Tony

Fellow HHG'ers,
I too have pondered that great "unanswerable" question. I'm currently in the arduous process of scanning in all my 35mm slides from what were my best years of SLR photography (the 70's and 80's with my trusty Minolta SRT-101) to finish off the curation. I have the equivalent of over 100 carousel slide trays to go through. I was lucky enough to find a wonderful second-hand Canon 4000 semi-pro scanner to help me with the process. The Canon 4000 scanner is slow with the original USB/SCSI speeds and only 4 slides at a time, but it does give me some pretty good results with Photoshop retouching. These are scanned in at 2000dpi/TIFFformat. BTW, I had to use the older Windows XP OS just to run the Canon TWAIN software with Photoshop. With regard to the remainder of my photographic archive (prints and digital JPEGS), these have already been scanned in with my trusty Epson scanner at high res, or saved as High Res TIFFs. It remains to curate the entire collection with Lightroom into a book-like printed form to complete my Life Memoir Project. I too, like some other HHG'ers, feel the chances of my descendants in years to come having the wherewithall to retrieve anything in a then "ancient" digital format- to be relatively small. So the best way to preserve my family heirloom images is to present them on the printed page- and in a high quality book-like format.

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, MY super-8 sound projector DOES NOT have the variable speed control, so I am searching for other ways to minimize flicker. I have been told that using a video camera with a longer exposure time, ie. NIGHT MODE or LOW LIGHT MODE might accomplish a similar effect in minimizing flicker, so I'm still researching it. BTW, I have so MANY super-8 films that it's economically not practical to convert them all using professional services.

Thanks Maren. In general, it's best to edit your family movies before creating a DVD. DVD creation is considered the final step, where you want to share your final results with family and friends. That final DVD can either be a DVD,or a Blu-Ray, depending on what your computer is set up with. My recommendation is an external USB 3.-0 BluRay burner. Blu-ray players are fairly common these days, so whatever you create on your Blu-ray burner will be compatible with the universe of players out there. You will also need a good DVD/Blu-ray editing/authoring application for your PC. For editing, I recommend Cyberlink's Power Director series- the Ultimate Version. It's relatively easy enough to use. Now from the DVD transfers you are having made for you, you will have to extract the individual video files and import them into the Cyberlink Director application. From there you can further edit and create your final version, and then burn your release version DVD or BluRay DVD. I too would only recommend Verbatim DVD blank media or Blu-ray media. It's worth the price difference. Good luck on your journey, it's a worthwhile one.