A few weeks back I wrote about my Sony RX10 and how it had to be repaired. The front element had a problem with mould growing on the inside and given the front element is part of a sealed unit ,the entire unit had to be replaced. Rather than use a Sony repair centre I opted to use The Real Camera Company in Manchester. These guys really know their stuff; I purchased my Bronica SQAi kit from them about a year ago.
Having received my repaired RX10, I have been unable to test it properly due to a combination of the weather, a trip to Madeira and having too much work on. At the weekend though I decided to take a walk in the Peak District and took the RX10 along in the hope of giving it a try. As it turned out, the weather wasn’t that good, clouding over quite heavily, and I didn’t shoot any great images. The image at the top of this page is probably the best.
What the trip did allow me to do was evaluate the replaced lens. In short, I’m very pleased. It’s as sharp as my previous lens and I’m confident that the results are much better. The corners are still a little soft, but the central part of the image appears excellent. The other point that I noticed is that more distant detail is now being retained better than with the old lens. Previously, you could see the finer details such as grass and rock turn soft. Now this isn’t noticeable.
I’m feeling very happy about my decision to have the camera repaired – it was certainly cheaper than replacing it. Could I do without the RX10? Yes. Do I want to? No way, it’s a brilliant camera and perfect for a walk in the countryside.
The Lightweight Photographer 
Glad to hear that your camera is functional again. I didn’t see a mention of it, but how do you store your RX10? I keep both of my Olympus cameras in dedicated camera bags, but my Sony RX100.3 is kept in a dresser drawer for quick grabs. I’ve noticed some weird patterns on the LCD screen, and I wonder if heat and/or humidity are the culprits. I haven’t seen any mold, but since reading of your issue I started keeping it a bag. Regards, Jim
Thanks Jim. The RX10 is on a shelf most of the time although sometimes its kept in a camera bag. Disussing equipment storage with people at the Real Camera Company they recommend storing the camera where air can circulate, the atmospher is dry and there is light. Mould doesn’t like anything of these things. They don’t recommend storring in a camera bag or it you do, remove the equipment from time to time.
Nice to see you using the RX10 again Robin. This week I’ve sold all my Sony a6000 gear and have picked up the RX100v. Looking at all my images I have to say the ones I’ve taken with my old RX100 iii have been my favourite due to me taking the little RX everywhere with me before selling it for the a6000. Hope you have a great weekend mate 👍
Thanks Richard. I hope you enjoy the new RX100. It’s a great little camera and so easy to carry. I recall using mine a lot when I went to Death Valley.
Here is the RX10 review page from DPReview that shows the loss of 1 stop of highlights at ISO 80 & 100. https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx10/9 ( scroll down to the ISO Expansion section).
I hope you will start using your Rx10 again using this info as it may dramatically affect your overall results with the 2/3 stop faster shutter speeds and 3.5 stops above middle gray (instead of 2.5), at the true base ISO of 125. I know that you have been using higher ISO’s all along as well off tripod in less favorable light and wind.
I’m not a RAW user and you may have corrected for it in post. It may only make a noticeable difference in images shot toward the sun but you may have been changing the overall color palette and why you got the rich colors you mentioned(and why people prefer the ‘Canon look’!), I would think your Raw workflow would be easier and we would get to see more of the superb imagery you get with it.
I felt I should get this out to you and others here right away. I was thinking the lower settings might improve noise like a D810 at ISO 64 but being a review geek I know most DC’s lose DR. I am glad I checked as this is critical in these smaller sensor cameras that need all the help they can get.
Thanks for the great site, Robert.
Hi Robert,
Firstly, I wasn’t aware that the base ISO was 125. This does though make some sense as in Auto mode the camera selects 125. The reason I use ISO80 is that I feel it gives me a cleaner image. I would agree the dynamic range is probably reduced as this tends to happen when you move away from the base ISO. You actually see this clipping come in quite quickly with the cameras zebra feature but when you get the RAW file back for processing it usually has more headroom for processing. I also tend to shoot using ND Grad filters so this highlight dynamic range tends to be less important. Having said all this, I will try shooting using the ISO125 setting more often to get a better feel for what is going on. Thanks for sharing the tip.
The cleaner results at ISO 80 would be welcome . I doubt the colors would be any different on 2nd thought as most landscape and blue sky colors are mid tones. Thanks again, Robert
I agree, I suspect it wouldnt make much difference to the colours. The colours I achieve are due to shooting in RAW and applying the Sony Colour Profiles in Lightroom. They really are very good.