Choice of compact: OM-D em5 vs Sony RX 100

[te4o]

My RX100 arrived yesterday: had an afternoon of random shooting: wow! That little thing is so usable, OOF blur is close to my big and heavy ZEISS  (not the same though, there is still some distance to the 5D3 with a 1800 USD lens on it...) but let me tell you, I cannot be happier because now I can tell my wife "don't worry, just shoot jpegs and mpegs and we'll have a look at them later". The AF is very very good, the usability and customization is more than enough for her and for me as well, video is perfect, colours are just what we need them to be: very close to real. The lens is sharp, very sharp but not in the wide open corners. There it is pretty average but I don't care, this part is beautifully blurred with a centered subject.
Yes, I'd say this is a good step down from a DSLR, a MFT system would be an overkill.
Thanks for your almost united advice!

[Mt Spokane Photography]

My RX100 arrived yesterday: had an afternoon of random shooting: wow! That little thing is so usable, OOF blur is close to my big and heavy ZEISS  (not the same though, there is still some distance to the 5D3 with a 1800 USD lens on it...) but let me tell you, I cannot be happier because now I can tell my wife "don't worry, just shoot jpegs and mpegs and we'll have a look at them later". The AF is very very good, the usability and customization is more than enough for her and for me as well, video is perfect, colours are just what we need them to be: very close to real. The lens is sharp, very sharp but not in the wide open corners. There it is pretty average but I don't care, this part is beautifully blurred with a centered subject.
Yes, I'd say this is a good step down from a DSLR, a MFT system would be an overkill.
Thanks for your almost united advice!

Post some photos. 
Do you use RAW?  If so, how do you convert them, Sony's raw converter is a bad joke.

[te4o]

I had a go at the local market today, the camera has now 250 shots on the counter. Not very much but I had a busy day at home.
Mt Spokane, I don't use RAW and I think I'll leave it until there is RAW support in LR4 or Aperture, whoever comes first. But I have seen RAWs from the RX100 on DP Sony forums and while they have naturally more DR they show huge barrel distortions and other issues which are automatically corrected in camera's JPEG. I see that the JPEGs are quite good, AWB is near perfect, colours are great, blue is blue, green is green as in real life (I use a colour calibrated NEC PA27). NIK can do a lot with these JPEgs, sharpening is easy, NR is not necessary until 3200, colour work is easy too, so I don't bother about RAWs from this P&S at the moment.
I like some of the picture effects! It is a fun camera and this is precisely what the effects augment.
I like most the size and weight (and built) AND the IQ it delivers for this weight!
Now some random shots straight OOC, NO SHARPENING, NO CHANGES to the original file, just as if a "soccer mum" would make them...
reduced to 72 dpi and 900px

[te4o]

Gold Turmeric, and other common stuff

[te4o]

The last shot of the planes was at max optical zoom, one shot AF, multiple focus points, just as if there is never a topic about AF... I am happy there are no dust spots on the sensor

[te4o]

Rocks in harsh light, I choose this because I am amazed to see plenty of detail in the shadows and when I pushed them - well, no black and red dots... The shadows appear better on the NEC display than on the simple Samsung. Anyway, nothing spectacular, I would not shoot rocks in the sun otherwise.

[te4o]

floristic separation. Reflected light from the sand in the bright sun.

[te4o]

The last one is misfocused. The AF does this like 5% in more complex situations. I have the impression the camera knows what I am photographing and sets the focus points right most of the time at the first or second shutter half press. It rarely struggles.

[te4o]

And here some experiments:

[te4o]

And some NIK-ing on the first and second, the third shows very good sharpness to the corners if stopped down a bit.
That's all, sorry for the huge amount of photos, they are all from today and are probably 50% of what I shot randomly around. The rest was composed even worse than these and does not deserve viewing.

[powershot2012]

Is there a noticeable difference in the RX100 compared to the S100 with regards to cost?

[Gman]

Interesting reading. Especially as I am stuck in the need to get a new camera to travel with, within the month. The G11 has reached the end of it's useful life for me, there's no point in buying a G12 if there's a suspected G13/14 on the horizon. I'd kick myself silly if while waiting for the Gxx to come along I settled for the G12. So I have been looking around, like many I have a good dslr an Oly E410 with kit lenses and a great 12 -60mm Zuiko lens but it's too heavy for me to travel with (no silly remarks please).

The Canon EOS M wont be available until mid October when I will already be away. So what do I get in the meantime. No excuses that it's for the wife, it's for me. My wife never touches a camera unless I put it in her hands.

Anyway I dont want to travel with loads of lenses and so the RX100 looks very tasty to me too, I looked around for competition I couldn't see anything near it. Pity about the restricted zoom but it does seem to get good write ups around the groups. let's face it I wouldn't even be talking Sony if Canon got their act together and announced the G13 or 14 or whatever they or going to call it, bet they announce it at Photokina available........ xmas! Just like the EOS M announced recently not available till mid October, is that just to get us salivating or to make sure we dont wander off to the competition in the meantime? 

By the way, I looked at an OMD body and compared it to my G11, it's fine until you start putting lenses on it, it will be the same with the EOS M but at least the OMD has a swivel screen (I think).

[powershot2012]

Besides the Canon G series, would you consider the S series?

Interesting reading. Especially as I am stuck in the need to get a new camera to travel with, within the month. The G11 has reached the end of it's useful life for me, there's no point in buying a G12 if there's a suspected G13/14 on the horizon. I'd kick myself silly if while waiting for the Gxx to come along I settled for the G12. So I have been looking around, like many I have a good dslr an Oly E410 with kit lenses and a great 12 -60mm Zuiko lens but it's too heavy for me to travel with (no silly remarks please).

The Canon EOS M wont be available until mid October when I will already be away. So what do I get in the meantime. No excuses that it's for the wife, it's for me. My wife never touches a camera unless I put it in her hands.

Anyway I dont want to travel with loads of lenses and so the RX100 looks very tasty to me too, I looked around for competition I couldn't see anything near it. Pity about the restricted zoom but it does seem to get good write ups around the groups. let's face it I wouldn't even be talking Sony if Canon got their act together and announced the G13 or 14 or whatever they or going to call it, bet they announce it at Photokina available........ xmas! Just like the EOS M announced recently not available till mid October, is that just to get us salivating or to make sure we dont wander off to the competition in the meantime? 

By the way, I looked at an OMD body and compared it to my G11, it's fine until you start putting lenses on it, it will be the same with the EOS M but at least the OMD has a swivel screen (I think).