There is no two ways about it, the Sony RX100 series of point and shoot cameras are one of the most successful and popular sets of cameras ever released. Although the more recent releases to the range definatley have the best image quality possible, even some of the older variants of the Sony RX100 can still offer some excellent image quality when used optimally.
Although the latest Sony RX100 has a hefty price tag, the fact that the RX100 is a point and shoot camera with a fixed lens can limit what you are able to do with it. That said though, its popularity just keeps on growing with more and more photographers, videographers, and vloggers flocking to the camera en mass.
As you would expect from one of the most popular and successful camera ranges of all time, we constantly see an absolute ton of questions being asked about the RX100 and how people who use it as their camera of choice are able to get the best image quality possible from it. Recently, we have noticed a huge spike in the number of people reaching out for advice on how they are able to improve their Sony RX100 night photography so we have decided to dedicate this article to it.
We know that although the RX100 range do usually have more of an intermediate price tag, a large number of people who use the RX100 may be entry level photographers due to vlogging or videography being their main use for the camera. Due to this, we have tried to include sometime for all levels of photography experience as well as tips and tricks that are applicable to as many night photography sub-niches as possible.
Consider An Online Night Photography Course
Although we are going to offer our readers some great tips and tricks in this article, there is only so much that a single article is able to offer. That’s why we often remind our readers that as a reader of Photography Paws, you are able to claim a no-obligation trial of Skillshare premium without having to spend any money.
Not only does taking advantage of this trial mean you get access to one of the best online night photography courses ever made but it also means that you are able to enroll on all of the other photography, videography, and vlogging courses that Skillshare has to offer without you having to spend a cent for the duration of the trial.
All of the premium courses on Skillshare that the vast majority of other students usually have to pay to enroll on offer excellent tips and tricks to help you improve your skillset. They are able to offer you much more than any article will be able to and have been created by world wide experts in their field so we always recommend that our readers at least check the available courses out.
Invest In A Suitable Tripod
Although we do see this first mistake with many people who use other camera bodies, the Sony RX100 range is definitely one of, if not the most frequent camera body that we see this problem with. So many people try to capture their photographs with their RX100 in their hands offering little to no image stabilization at all and this can result in poor image quality, especially at night.
We think that this is due to so many vloggers who hold their RX100 in their hand when vlogging switching over to use their camera to capture photographs and trying the same thing. Although this can work fine in some photography niches with good lighting, night photography with its low light is a totally different story.
As the Sony RX100 is a point and shoot camera with a mounted lens, you arnt able to switch to a better lens for night photography either meaning that you have to do your best to ensure you are offering the camera image stabilization. Although many people do already have a tripod in their collection of camera accessories, if you are yet to purchase one, we would highly recommend something like the Zomei Z699C as it is a cheap yet very effective little tripod.
Mounting your Sony RX100 to a tripod for your night photography sessions ensures that the camera sensor has the best possible chance of capturing a clear photograph for you that is free from blur. Even just a slight blur on your photo can ruin it and the difference between holding your RX100 in your hands or mounting it to a tripod can result in a quick and easy improvement to your image quality.
Consider Getting Some Steel Wool
We know that the Sony RX100 range is very popular with travel vloggers and backpackers as it is so small and light while offering excellent image quality. A problem with traveling around is that many of your photographs will be of sights and landmarks that have been photographed thousands of times before meaning that your photo can get lost amongst the noise.
Adding some steel wool to your camera accessories can be a quick, easy and cheap way to ensure that your photographs stand out, especially on social media to help you grow your online presence by catching the eye ball and getting people to like your photographs and subscribe to your social media profiles. Steel wool works best at night due to it adding an additional light source to the photographs so is a great way to improve your night photography images.
Another benefit of steel wool is that it is small and light making it very easy for your to be able to travel around with it and not have to add a bunch of weight to your luggage too. If you do choose to start using steel wool for your night photography sessions then we would highly recommend that you check the regulations for its use in the areas you plan to travel to as some places will restrict what you are able to do with steel wool due to it being a fire hazard during and immediately after use.
Take Advantage Of The Landscape
Another problem that you may encounter when traveling around with your Sony RX100 is that you dont know the local area and landscape meaning that you can often miss out on opportunities for excellent photographs. Due to the moon and stars coming out at night, this can end up in you missing some truly unique, once in a life time photographs too so we always recommend that our readers try to get used to taking advantage of their local landscape to frame their photo before capturing it.
The photo above at the start of this section does offer you an examples of this where the moon, mountain, and trees all come together to add depth and scale to the photograph ensuring that there is something at all three distance ranges for the image. If you think out site of the box and time it right, you are able to use the moon and stars to your advantage to capture some extremely popular landmarks in this way to help pull eyeballs to your photograph and social media profiles to help them grow.
Play Around With Your Camera Settings
This next one is actually going to depend on the variant of the Sony RX100 that you own as the older cameras in the range are pretty restrictive in what you are able to do. That said though, the newer cameras in the RX100 range offer you a ton of versatility in their settings offering a bunch of different ways that you are able to capture the same photograph but get a totally different look and feel in your work.
We would highly recommend that you spend some time playing around with the camera settings on your Sony RX100 to get used to how you are able to quickly tweak the active settings and the changes it will make to your image quality. Although this definitely comes into play for night photography due to every location having unique lighting situations, being able to get a feel for the camera settings you should be using helps in a bunch of different popular photography niches too.
Capture Your Photographs In RAW Format
This is one of those tips that we used to have to repeate time and time again but more and more photographers are starting to preach the importance of using the RAW format for their photographs. Although JPEG is great for when you are short on storage space, the compression rate for the image type really does your image quality no favours at all.
Although RAW results in a large file size, memory card price tags have fallen while their storage capacities have increased kind of negating this problem. When it comes to the actual image quality of the RAW file type, it is second to none and ensures that you are capturing the absolute best image quality possible while also ensuring you have a great starting image for any post-production editing too.
