Choosing and Inserting a Memory Card

The RX100 IV does not ship with a memory card. If you turn the camera on with no card inserted, you will see the message “NO CARD” in the upper left corner of the screen. If you ignore this message and press the shutter button to take a picture, don’t be fooled into thinking that the camera is storing it in internal memory. The camera will temporarily store the image and play it back if you press the Playback button, but the image will not be permanently saved. Some camera models have a small amount of built-in memory so you can take and store a few pictures even without a card, but the RX100 IV does not have that safety net. (In an emergency, if you took one important picture with no card, you might be able to save it. First, don’t turn off the camera. Second, play the image, and connect one end of a micro HDMI cable to the camera’s HDMI port and the other end to a video capture device. Then capture the image to that device or to a computer connected to that device. I have done this using a Blackmagic Intensity Pro device, which saved the image to Photoshop. But that process is for emergencies only.)

To avoid the frustration of having a great camera that can’t save images, you need to use a memory card. The RX100 IV uses 2 types of memory storage. First, it can use all varieties of SD cards, which are about the size of a postage stamp. These cards come in several varieties; some examples are shown in Figure 1-4.

Figure 1-4 - SD Cards

The standard card, called simply SD, comes in capacities from 8 megabytes (MB) to 2 gigabytes (GB). A higher-capacity card, SDHC, comes in sizes from 4 GB to 32 GB. The newest, and highest-capacity card, SDXC (for extended capacity) comes in sizes of 48 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB; this version of the card can have a capacity up to 2 terabytes (TB), theoretically, and SDXC cards generally have faster transfer speeds than the smaller-capacity cards. There also is a special variety of SD card called an Eye-Fi card, which I will discuss later in this post.

The RX100 IV also can use micro SD cards, which are often used in smartphones and other small devices. These smaller cards operate the same as SD cards, but you need an adapter to use this tiny card in the RX100 IV camera, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Figure 1-5 - Micro-SD Card

In addition to using SD cards, the RX100 IV, being a Sony camera, also can use Sony’s proprietary storage devices, known as Memory Stick cards. These cards are similar in size and capacity to SD cards, but with a slightly different shape, as shown in Figure 1-6.

Figure 1-6 - Memory Stick Card

Memory Stick cards come in various types, according to their capacities. The ones that can be used in the RX100 IV are the Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, and Memory Stick Micro (M2). The Memory Stick Micro, like the micro SD card, requires an adapter.

There is one important limitation on your choice of a memory card. If you want to record video using the XAVC S format, which provides the highest quality, you have to use an SDXC card with a capacity of 64 GB or more and speed of Class 10, UHS Speed Class 1, or faster. If you want to record in that format using the highest quality of 100 megabits per second, you have to use a card rated with the above ratings but in UHS Speed Class 3. These specifications are not just recommendations; if you try to record in a video format on a card that does not meet the requirements for that format, the camera will display an error message, as shown in Figure 1-7, and will not record the video.

 

Figure 1-7 - Error Message 2 for Wrong Memory Card

The XAVC S format is worth using if you want high-quality video, and it is a good idea to get one of the high-powered cards that can support its use. Figure 1-8 shows the one card I have tested that can handle all video formats on the RX100 IV—the SanDisk Extreme 256 GB SDXC card, rated in UHS Speed Class 3. This figure also shows 2 other cards that can handle all video formats except for the 100 mbps version of the XAVC S format—the SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB SDXC card, rated in UHS Speed Class 1, and the Lexar Professional 128 GB SDXC card, rated in that same speed class.

 

Figure 1-8 - High-Speed Memory Cards

If you do not care about using the XAVC S video format, the factors to consider in choosing a card are capacity and speed. If you’re planning to record a good deal of HD video or a large number of Raw-format photos, you should get a large-capacity card, but don’t get carried away—the largest cards have such huge capacities that you may be wasting money purchasing them.

There are several variables to consider in computing how many images or videos you can store on a particular size of card, such as which aspect ratio you’re using (16:9, 3:2, 4:3, or 1:1), image size, and quality. Here are a few examples of what can be stored on a 64 GB SDXC card. If you’re using the standard 3:2 aspect ratio, you can store about 2,850 Raw images (the highest quality), 4,150 high-quality JPEG images (Large size and Extra Fine quality), or about 9,600 of the lower-quality Standard images (Large size).

You can fit about 1 hour 15 minutes of the highest-quality XAVC S video on a 64 GB card. That same card will hold about 22 hours of video at the lowest-quality MP4 setting of 1280 x 720 pixels, which is still HD (high-definition) quality. Note, though, that the camera is limited to recording no more than about 29 minutes of video in any format in any one sequence. The highest-quality MP4 format (1920 x 1080 pixels at a bit rate of 28 megabits per second) can be recorded only for 15 minutes in one sequence, because of the 4 GB file size limit. A sequence using one of the highest-quality XAVC S formats can be recorded for no more than about 5 minutes because of an issue with overheating of the sensor. All of these video formats and their limitations are discussed later.

The other major consideration is the speed of the card. High speed is important to get good results for recording continuous bursts of images and the highest-quality video with this camera. You should try to find a card that writes data at a rate of 6 MB/second or faster to record HD video. If you go by the class designation, a Class 4 card should be sufficient for shooting stills, and a Class 6 card should suffice for recording AVCHD video, except for the requirements discussed above for recording XAVC S video.

You also may want to consider using an Eye-Fi card. This special type of device looks like an ordinary SDHC card, but it includes a tiny transmitter that lets it connect to a Wi-Fi network and send your images to your computer on that network as soon as the images are recorded by the camera. You also may be able to use Direct Mode, which lets the Eye-Fi card send your images directly to a computer, smartphone, tablet, or other device without needing a network, though Direct Mode can be tricky to set up.

I have tested a 16 GB Pro X2 Eye-Fi card with the RX100 IV, and it worked as expected. Within a few seconds after I snapped a picture with this card in the camera, the image appeared in the Pictures/Eye-Fi folder on my computer. The Pro X2 card, shown in Figure 1-9, can handle Raw files and video files as well as the smaller JPEG files.

Figure 1-9 - Eye-Fi Cards

Of course, with the RX100 IV Sony has included built-in Wi-Fi capability, as discussed later, so you do not need to use an Eye-Fi card or the equivalent to transfer images wirelessly. If you already have one or more wireless SD cards, you should be able to use them in your RX100 IV, but there are other options for wireless transfer that may make more sense.

If you decide to use a Memory Stick card and want to use it with a card reader, be sure you have a reader that can accept those cards, which, as noted above, are not the same shape as SD cards.

Once you have chosen a card, open the same door on the bottom of the camera that covers the battery compartment, and slide the card in until it catches. An SD card is inserted with its label pointing toward the back of the camera, as shown in Figure 1-10; a Memory Stick card is inserted with its label pointing toward the front of the camera.

Figure 1-10 - SD Card Going Into Camera

Once the card has been pushed down until it catches, close the compartment door and slide the latch to the outside position. To remove a card, push down on its edge until it releases and springs up, so you can grab it.

Although the card may work well when newly inserted in the camera, it’s a good idea to format a card when first using it in the RX100 IV, so it will have the correct file structure and will have any bad areas blocked off from use. To do this, turn on the camera by pressing the power button, then press the Menu button at the center right of the camera’s back. Next, press the Right button (right edge of the Control wheel on the camera’s back) multiple times until the small orange line near the top of the screen is positioned under the number 5, while the menu’s highlight lines are on the toolbox icon, as shown in Figure 1-11.

Figure 1-11 - Format HL on Setup Menu

The toolbox icon stands for the Setup menu. The orange highlight bar should be on the top line of the menu, for the Format command. If the highlight is not there, press the Up button (top edge of the Control wheel), or turn the wheel, until the Format command is highlighted.

Press the button in the center of the Control wheel (called the “Center button” in this book) when the Format line is highlighted. On the next screen, seen in Figure 1-12, highlight Enter and press the button again to carry out the command.

Figure 1-12 - Format Confirmation Screen

Setting the Language, Date, and Time

You need to have the date and time set correctly before you take pictures, because the camera records that information invisibly with each image and displays it later if you want. It is, of course, important to have the date (and the time of day) correctly recorded with your digital images. The camera may prompt you to set the date and time the first time you turn it on, but if not, carry out this procedure.

First, follow the same steps with the menu as noted above, but this time highlight the Date/Time Setup item on the fourth line of screen 4 of the Setup menu. Then press the Center button to move to the next screen. On that screen, select the Date/Time item and press the Center button. You will see a screen like the one in Figure 1-13.

Figure 1-13 - Date and Time Settings Screen

On that screen, by pressing the Left and Right buttons or by turning the Control wheel, move through the month, day, year, and time settings, and change them by pressing the Up and Down buttons. When those settings have been made, press the Center button to confirm. You can adjust the Daylight Savings Time and Date Format settings on the previous screen if you need to. Then press the Menu button to exit from the menu system.

If you need to change the language the camera uses for menus and other messages, press the Menu button as discussed above to enter the menu system, and navigate to screen 4 of the Setup menu, as shown in Figure 1-14.

Figure 1-14 - Screen 4 of Setup Menu

Then navigate with the direction buttons, if necessary, to the Language item on the third line of the screen and press the Center button to select it. You then can select from the available languages on the menu, as shown in Figure 1-15.

Figure 1-15 - Language Selection Screen

Click here to order the complete Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV photographer's guide!