If you have visited this site recently, you know I have been having problems with the availability at Amazon.com of the paperback version of Photographer’s Guide to the Sony DSC-RX100 II. For some reason, Amazon started listing the book as unavailable except from third-party sellers, even though they should have a steady supply available from the print-on-demand company that prints them. I am still working to get that issue resolved. In the meantime, today I received a good shipment of books from the printer myself, and they are available for sale at the list price of $25.95 through Amazon.com, under my seller name of White Knight Press. I process and ship orders very quickly; orders received by 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time will ship the same day. I hope Amazon will soon show the book as available for direct shipment from Amazon, but until that happens I plan to keep this book in stock myself as much as possible.
Dear Alex, the last motion picture camera I had was 16mm and served me well in an underwater housing. I am not young and have just spent the day trying to get my head around my new RX-100 11 digital ‘monster’. Of course I became completely bogged down in the unfamiliar jargon within the camera’s Menu. Looking up individual digital language acronyms etc on the net I bumped into your seemingly marvellous book of instruction on the subject, ‘The Photographers’ Guide to the Sony RX-100 11′
I live in Mauritius and have a friend in the US who can accept the paperback version on my behalf however I would like the Kindle version for my immediate use.
Question – does the Kindle version include all illustrations/photographs etc? I ask this because I may never see the paperback and will operate exclusively from the Kindle version.
I thank you for taking the trouble to write this book in the absence of anything meaningful from the manufacturer. It seems to be an essential reference for operators such as I and to assist us over the ‘digital hump’.
I notice that you prefer to use the RX in 60p 28M (PS) however the camera advises that this “Cannot record to DVD disc at 60p 28M(PS). Save on a Blue Ray disc”. Do you happen to know if I could copy to my 1 year old Mac in the 60p… format? From there perhaps I could reconfigure the resolution according to the use?
Question – Digital editing is going to be my next hurdle; do you happen to know a good reference to get me pointed the right way on this subject?
Alex, any words of wisdom you have would be very much appreciated.
Can’t wait to get started; I think I can see the light!
Cheers, John Seymour
Hello, John — I’m glad to hear you have an RX100 II – a great camera in so many ways, and I’m happy to hear you found my book. As for the Kindle edition, yes, it contains the complete contents of the printed book, including all of the photographs, which are in color if you use a color-capable Kindle or a Kindle app on a computer. By the way, if you purchase the printed book from amazon.com, you can get the Kindle version at a reduced price. Yes, you can copy the video files to your Mac and edit them there however you want. My book mentions the somewhat obscure way in which the AVCHD files are stored on the memory card; you have to find the .mts files, which can be readily edited in a good video editing program. With respect to editing, there are many options available, depending on how involved you want to get and how much you want to spend. If your Mac has iMovie, you can edit the files using that program. I don’t use iMovie that much myself, but I noticed that there is a Missing Manual book about iMovie for 2014. There also probably are good YouTube video tutorials for the program. Personally, I use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. It is more expensive and involved, but has a lot of power. There are books from Adobe such the Classroom in a Book volume, and also there are excellent tutorials on YouTube on many aspects of editing with that program. There is a less-expensive option from Adobe called Premiere Elements, which also should do very well with the files from this camera. Another possibility is Final Cut Pro software from Apple. If you want to use a Sony Option, there is Sony Vegas Pro software, and I saw that there is a well-reviewed book called Sony Vegas Pro 11 Beginner’s Guide, which evidently has step-by-step tutorials to get you started; it sounds like a good option.
Best of luck with your photo and video shooting!
— Alex
Alex, thanks for the very prompt reply. I have THE book already in my Kindle, thanks to the power of the ether! Thanks also for the tips re editing which I will digest in the morning along with digesting your wise words on the RX-100 11. Finding that the book was available on Kindle without having to buy the paperback was a bonus for me.
Cheers from a very happy customer, John
Hello again Alex, your book on the RX-100 11 is as good as I thought it would be. Thanks you. It seems however I have bought the NTSC version, being unaware that there are 2 models available, but with the same model number!! Sony, you have to be kidding?!
I really would like the PAL version. I understand that if the Card is formatted in the NTSC format, then that’s what I am stuck with, is that correct? I understand that a NTSC-PAL conversion results in loss of quality?
Does anyone want to buy an unused DSC RX-100 11 camera?
I will go for the 11 model again as the 24mm lens of the 111 model does not suit the underwater housing and available wide angle adaptors i.e., the lens would have to be zoomed to 28mm to avoid vignetting. Plus the electronic viewfinder would be redundant.
With regards, John
Hello, John — I’m sorry to hear you ended up with the wrong version of the camera. Yes, if you have the 60i (NTSC) version, you are stuck with the NTSC standard. The 50i (PAL) version can switch between them, but the NTSC version cannot. I have never tried to convert video footage between these standards, but I did some quick research and it appears that there likely will be a loss of quality to some extent if you do a software conversion. You probably could get better advice from some of the experts who frequent the various forums that discuss this camera and video. For example, the Sony Cyber-shot Talk Forum at dpreview.com probably would be a good place to ask questions in this area.
–Alex
Dear Alex White,
Managed to change the RX100 11 for the PAL version and have just returned from safari in Africa with quite a few video AVCHD video files. Now to the question of viewing and digital editing. My last editing was done on 16mm with the aid of a negative basket, a cutter, tape and a viewer!
1. To get the images onto a TV I understand that the optional HDMI cable is necessary. Unfortunately I did not purchase the optional HDMI cable with the camera; do you happen to know if this type of cable is readily available, or is it a Sony special? I have no local Sony agent here in Mauritius to check with.
2. What cable is used to download from the camera to my Mac?
I have charged the camera battery from the computer via the camera’s MULTI connector however I’m not sure if this connector/cable has another use?
3. Do I need to have the editing software loaded onto the laptop for viewing the AVCHD whilst travelling?
4. I understand that you personally use Adobe Premier Pro and have checked the Adobe site to establish cost etc. I am aware that this software can be complicated however that term can apparently be applied to the purchase of this item! The Adobe website lists a daunting array of packages;
” …premiere Pro, After Effects, the Production Premium Suite, the Master Suite and Creative Cloud”. Premiere Pro and After Effects are the two applications that are of most interest to video editors. With the suites, the Production Premium Suite is the smallest of the to offer both Premiere Pro and After Effects. The Master Suite, included as its applications are made available with a Creative Cloud”.
Thanks again for your excellent book on the camera; I now have the RX by the short and curlies however the digital editing is a another minefield for the likes of me and once again I must seek the advice of the master, if you don’t mind.
I am aware that it is necessary to source a package that can hopefully handle the AVCHD video files without a glitch however I note that some complain that even Adobe has some shortcomings in this direction?
A quote from the Adobe Premier Pro Help site, “There is a known issue for Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. AVCHD files that are spanned can cause the system to freeze up while scrubbing the software. Also, the audio can sometimes disappear after a set amount of playback.
A spanned file has an extended duration, wherein the camera creates separate video files. These files don’t appear to be separate when imported into Adobe Premiere Pro, only if looking at the video files in Finder or Windows Explorer.
There is an update for CS6 – 6.0.4 that resolves the issue. Update CS6 to the latest version. Alternatively, Adobe Premiere Pro CC does not have this issue.”
Some adopt for proxy editing to assist the editing process even when using Adobe. I would really appreciate your guidance on which Adobe packages I should purchase and whether or not it is wise/easier to go the proxy route? I understand that there may be some color correction to be done on the final AVCHD version if we went for proxy approach.
Perhaps I should mention that my expectations of an editing package are fairly straight forward; cut and splicing/dissolves, wipes etc/color correction/exposure correction etc. It is not clear to me how one identifies particular footage in the absence of time coding or some other number referencing system; perhaps some editing software introduces some reference to assist?
Whilst there will be some stills I intend to shoot mainly video.
I can afford to go the Adobe route, if that’s what it takes, and would really appreciate the benefit of your experience to hopefully minimize the potential of my making a huge mistake which could be very expensive on time and money.
5. FYI my 21″ Mac is about 3 years old with OSX 10.9.5, processor 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3. It does have a Thunderbolt connection which I understand can speed up the camera-computer download. Do I need to get a new Mac or upgrade video card etc. for better performance?
6. I also have a new 11″ Mac Air laptop which I intend to travel with to view the mostly underwater footage we will shoot. Will I need software on the laptop for purposes of viewing the AVCHD files?
Can’t tell you how much we appreciate your advice and trust that this enquiry will not be too hungry on your time. Please excuse our naivety and thanks again for your assistance in jerking us into the 21st digital century.
With best regards, John
Hello, John — I’ll give you the best responses I can, though I cannot claim to be an expert on every aspect of each camera I write about; I concentrate on still images, and try to cover video accurately, but I don’t have experience with all that many software packages. At any rate, here is what I can say:
1. You should just look for a generic HDMI cable. You need one with a micro connector at the camera end and a standard HDTV connector at the other end. Here is a listing for one at Amazon.
2. You use the cable that came with the camera to download to a computer, using the USB connection.
3. If you have a Mac, you should have the iMovie software installed. If not, get it from the Mac App Store. It does a good job with AVCHD files.
4. If you find that iMovie doesn’t do everything you need, I suggest you try Adobe Premiere Pro Elements before taking the plunge with Premiere Pro. Elements may be all you need, if iMovie isn’t enough.
5. Your Mac should be fine. At least, I would try using it and see if it is fast enough. It should be. If you can add more memory, that would be a good idea.
6. Try using iMovie on the MacBook Air.
I hope this helps to some extent; best of luck with your video production!
–Alex White
Dear Alex,
The prompt and informative response is very much appreciated.
Cheers, John S