I think my RX100 M3 is defective.

[nerwin]

So I just got my used RX100 M3 from a really good seller on eBay and I'm not happy at all. The camera looks and seems to function okay as described.

But the issue is when you take the pictures. EVERYTHING overexposes about 3 stops except when shooting video. To get normal exposed images, I either have to shoot at -3 EV exposure comp or go into manual and dial it in manually and nothing matches the screen and I have to set to do the live view thing. Now what is worse is even at shooting say 1/800th or 1/1000th of a second, the pictures look as if they were taken at 1/15th of a second without steadyshot. I've disabled steadyshot and get the same results.

I never had a camera where shooting at such a fast shutter speed as 1/1000th results in image shake. I've played with the Mark 3 before in stores and they NEVER exhibited this overexposing or image shake issue.

I reset mine to factory settings and it made no difference. Been through all the settings and what not.

I'm tempted to just send it back if I can and get the Panasonic LX100 instead. its bigger, but you can't really fit this RX100 in your pocket either.

 

[DarkShadow]

Hopefully he or she has a return policy because it sounds wonky to me.Sorry for your trouble,it really sucks getting caught with faulty gear.By any chance is there a custom exposure adjustment In the menu for selected metering? I have this on the D7200 but I always use the EV Comp button.On my D7200 this feature is not affected by a reset at all,you have to physically go in a dial it up or down or zero it.Just a thought.

 

[nerwin]

Hopefully he or she has a return policy because it sounds wonky to me.Sorry for your trouble,it really sucks getting caught with faulty gear.By any chance is there a custom exposure adjustment In the menu for selected metering? I have this on the D7200 but I always use the EV Comp button.On my D7200 this feature is not affected by a reset at all,you have to physically go in a dial it up or down or zero it.Just a thought.

I just checked, there doesn't appear to be any custom exposure adjustment for the metering. The only metering options are is Multi, Center & Spot. No further adjustments as far as I can tell.

A camera is a camera, if taking a photo on a bright day at 1/100th of a second, SHOULD NOT have image shake even when its just sitting on something. Unless I am doing something completely wrong, then I'm thinking the camera is faulty and no wonder why they were selling it.

Its really disappointing, but I think the camera is too small for my hands anyways lol.

 

[DarkShadow]

Personally I hate Sony stuff and think panasonic makes far more reliable camera Just my two cents. Time to test the sellers rep I think.

 

[nerwin]

Personally I hate Sony stuff and think panasonic makes far more reliable camera Just my two cents. Time to test the sellers rep I think.

I knew I should have gone with the the LX100.

 

[astroNikon]

I've noticed my small sensor nikon P7800 was completely different than a APS-C or FF sensored camera. Exposures seem to be different, using higher and lower shutter speeds than a larger sensor camera. And image blurriness from shake was more pronounced. The p7800 also has vibration reduction control.

It is more like my old Nikon L20 P&S which I replaced it with. Matter of fact, they have the same size sensor. Very similar cameras in a way the images are in the same settings. But with the P7800's full controls I can get rid of blurriness. And I gained a lot of experience in trying to learn to use it the correct way, even on a tripod it was much more sensitive to any shake affecting the image. This is a good example of pixel density not being a good thing.

I've found it a completely different beast than a DSLR.

 

[nerwin]

I mean when I had my Fuji X20, I could shoot that thing at 1/10th of a second and still get sharp images because of the image stabilization, but on the sony, its like I have to shoot above 1/1000th to get a non blurry image.

I did some more tests just now and the image shake doesn't appear to be there, but its in some. Its not every image it seems, but I don't know if I can trust it, but the metering system is useless. Its either I keep the camera and shoot in manual or I try to return it.

Check it out.

Here's a shot zoomed in 1:1 at 1/400th of a second with steadyshot on.

Here is the overexposing issue. My cheap $90 8mp smartphone does this than this!! Settings: 1/320, f/8 & ISO 125. It sounds about right to me, I should be getting a decent exposed image.

Same settings as above but dialed in -3EV comp. Looks normal right?

 

[astroNikon]

you have a metal roof ?

yeah, I'm not a fan of Vibration Reduction things. I tend to turn them off on my DSLR lenses.
On my p7800 I think I was having the same problems as you until I just turned it off too.

I recall the first couple days trying to take photos of stuff they would come out blurry with the VR turned on at certain settings. I can't recall now. but I just turned it off then learned the idiosyncrosies of the camera setup. It ain't no dslr that's for sure.

 

[nerwin]

you have a metal roof ?

yeah, I'm not a fan of Vibration Reduction things. I tend to turn them off on my DSLR lenses.
On my p7800 I think I was having the same problems as you until I just turned it off too.

I recall the first couple days trying to take photos of stuff they would come out blurry with the VR turned on at certain settings. I can't recall now. but I just turned it off then learned the idiosyncrosies of the camera setup. It ain't no dslr that's for sure.

That's my garage haha.

I have also turned off steadyshot and it doesn't seem to make a difference unless I'm shooting something super close indoors.

 

[DarkShadow]

Its normal to have to dial in exposure correction from time to time we all know this but -3 EV to get a normal exposure on a regular basis is not acceptable,at least to me its not for an expensive little camera.My Panasonic LX7 nails exposure most of the time with a spot on WB at no where near the cost of the sony RX3.Eeven adding an optional viewfinder still cheaper.

 

[astroNikon]

My camera has different modes of "macro", "up close', "AF' and a couple others.
quite annoying. you have to be in the correct setting otherwise weird things happen to the image. I just learned to go with the flow with the correct settings.

 

[nerwin]

Its normal to have to dial in exposure correction from time to time we all know this but -3 EV to get a normal exposure on a regular basis is not acceptable,at least to me its not for an expensive little camera.My Panasonic LX7 nails exposure most of the time with a spot on WB at no where near the cost of the sony RX3.Eeven adding an optional viewfinder still cheaper.

I agree, it is normal to correct exposure every now and then, I do as well on my D610, but 3 stops?! Just doesn't seem right.

 

[astroNikon]

I forgot. Live view on mine shows exposure compensation, but not the entire range. I still watch the meter because if my exposure gets too far one way or the other the Live View doesn't go to those extremes. If your meter is off, then that would be really annoying. If you are sensing that things are snafu, then return it and go another route.

 

[nerwin]

I forgot. Live view on mine shows exposure compensation, but not the entire range. I still watch the meter because if my exposure gets too far one way or the other the Live View doesn't go to those extremes. If your meter is off, then that would be really annoying. If you are sensing that things are snafu, then return it and go another route.

There is a setting that shows you what you see is what you get kind of thing. I have it enabled and doesn't reflect anything. When look through the viewfinder or the LCD, the scene looks like its exposed properly, then when I take the image..BOOM is all white. What's the point of this feature? Haha.

 

[astroNikon]

I forgot. Live view on mine shows exposure compensation, but not the entire range. I still watch the meter because if my exposure gets too far one way or the other the Live View doesn't go to those extremes. If your meter is off, then that would be really annoying. If you are sensing that things are snafu, then return it and go another route.

There is a setting that shows you what you see is what you get kind of thing. I have it enabled and doesn't reflect anything. When look through the viewfinder or the LCD, the scene looks like its exposed properly, then when I take the image..BOOM is all white. What's the point of this feature? Haha.

View attachment 119802

yeah ... the Live view isn't exact all up and down the range even on mine.
I've found that I'm, as you have, 3 stops off of a larger sensor camera due to the extreme small size of the pixels I assume. I first started using settings that would have been fine on my d600. but then had to compensate heavily due to the small pixels lack of light gathering ability by comparison. This is evident even on a APS-C vs FF. Now with the really small sensor it's even more variant.