Best Sony RX100 VII Settings for Beginners: Change These First

The best Sony RX100 VII settings to change first are the file format (RAW & JPEG), a Neutral Creative Style, the Flexible Spot (M) focus area, ISO on the right side of the control wheel, and a 2-second Auto Review. Before any of that, set the date and time and format your memory card inside the camera, then learn shutter, aperture and ISO so you can step out of auto.

This guide draws on the published setup lists from photographer Jerad Hill and his Ditch Auto site, plus reviews from Digital Camera World, PetaPixel and Photography Blog. Each setting comes with the reason behind it, so you know what it does, not just where to tap.

Before you change a single setting

Set the date, time and time zone first. Jerad Hill points out that if you skip this, your photos won't be organized well when you upload them to services like Google Photos. Think of it like writing the date on a letter: it helps you find it later.

Next, format your SD card in the camera, not on your computer and not in another camera. Formatting clears the card, and Ditch Auto says to make sure everything is off the card before you do it. Ditch Auto recommends in-camera formatting for the best card longevity and fewer problems with corrupt images.

The three settings behind every photo

Every photo is a mix of three settings: shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Picture three faucets filling one glass of water. Turn one down, turn another up, and the glass still fills to the same line.

Aperture: the pupil of the lens

Aperture works like the pupil of your eye. A wide opening lets in more light and can make the background softer. Apertures are written as f-numbers, and a smaller number means a wider opening. The RX100 VII's lens opens as wide as f/2.8 at 24mm and f/4.5 at 200mm. So when you zoom all the way in, the lens lets in a little less light.

Shutter speed: a door opening and closing

Shutter speed is like a door that opens and closes. A quick open-and-shut freezes a running dog. A slow one lets in more light, but moving things turn into streaks, and the whole picture can blur if your hands shake. In Manual mode, the RX100 VII can hold the shutter open for up to 30 seconds.

ISO: the brightness boost

ISO is like the volume knob on a radio. Turning it up makes a dark scene brighter, but it also adds grainy specks called noise. Keep it as low as the light allows. Photography Blog's review lists 9 ISO settings on this camera, with sample crops showing the noise at each one.

Jerad Hill puts the RX100 VII in manual mode before changing anything else. Manual means you choose all three settings yourself. It can feel slow at first, and that is normal. Every dark or blurry frame you take while learning shows you which setting to nudge next.

Photo settings to change first

Here is the short list. Each one is explained below the table.

Setting	Change it to	Where to find it	Why it helps
File Format	RAW & JPEG	Main menu	Room to fix exposure and color
Creative Style	Neutral	Main menu	Less contrast, easier to edit
Focus Area	Flexible Spot (M)	Main menu	You choose what is sharp
Right Button	ISO	MENU > Camera Settings2 > Custom Key	ISO with one press
Auto Review	2 Sec	MENU > Camera Settings2 > Auto Review	Check each shot right away
Touch Panel/Pad	Touch Panel+Pad	Setup3	Move focus with your thumb at the viewfinder
Audio Signals	Shutter only	Main menu	No focus beep
Grid	Rule of thirds	Main menu	Help with framing

1. File format: RAW & JPEG

Jerad Hill's first menu change is File Format to RAW & JPEG. A RAW file is like cookie dough: you can still shape it. A JPEG is the baked cookie, ready to share. Hill says the RAW file lets him pull back an overexposed photo, brighten an underexposed one, and correct color much better. He also notes the JPEG transfers to a phone faster and acts as a backup, which matters because the RX100 VII has only one card slot.

For the JPEG side, the camera offers 3 image quality settings, and Extra Fine is the highest.

2. Creative Style: Neutral

Ditch Auto changes the Creative Style from Standard to Neutral. A Creative Style is the camera's recipe for color and contrast in your JPEGs. Neutral is a little less contrasty, which Ditch Auto finds easier to adjust in a photo editing app. If you like bold pictures straight out of the camera and rarely edit, Standard is a fine choice too.

3. Focus area: Flexible Spot (M)

Hill sets the focus area to Flexible Spot (M). Think of it as a small focus box you place yourself, like pointing a finger at the one thing in the picture you care about most. This helps with a common problem: the camera grabbing the background instead of your subject. One RX100 VII owner asking a question on the manua.ls manual page described that exact trouble, with the background sharp instead of the closest object.

For people and pets, the camera also has Real-time Eye AF for humans and animals, plus Real-time Tracking that can follow a subject you pick on the touchscreen. Digital Camera World lists 357 phase detection AF points covering 68% of the frame.

4. Put ISO on the right button

Out of the box, the right side of the control wheel opens Flash Mode. Hill changes it to ISO through MENU > Camera Settings2 > Custom Key, so a press to the right brings up ISO, the same as on Sony's a7 cameras. Ditch Auto notes the trash can button is already mapped to ISO by default, so this change is about habit and speed. If you rarely use the flash, this puts the setting you touch most right under your thumb.

5. Auto Review: 2 seconds

By default, the camera simply gets ready for the next photo after each shot. Hill turns Auto Review on at 2 seconds so each picture appears briefly on the screen or in the viewfinder. You'll find it in MENU > Camera Settings2 > Auto Review. A half-press of the shutter button takes you back to shooting, and the review stays out of the way while you shoot continuously. For a beginner, this quick look is a free lesson: you see right away if a photo came out dark or blurry.

6. Use the screen as a touch pad with the viewfinder

The RX100 VII has a pop-up electronic viewfinder. When your eye is at the viewfinder, Ditch Auto suggests using the back screen like a laptop trackpad, sliding the focus point around with your thumb. Go to Setup3, find Touch Panel/Pad, and change it from Touch Panel only to Touch Panel+Pad.

7. Quiet the focus beep

Ditch Auto sets audio signals to shutter only. The camera beeps when it locks focus, and that beep can make people think you are already taking their picture. You still get a visual sign on screen when focus locks.

8. Grid, copyright and file names

Hill's list also turns on a rule of thirds grid, adds copyright info and sets a custom file name prefix. The grid draws two lines across and two lines down the screen. Placing your subject where the lines cross is a simple way to make a photo feel balanced. Copyright info and a custom file name help you show a photo is yours and find it later.

Burst shooting: fast, with one catch

The RX100 VII shoots 20 frames per second with no blackout and full focus and exposure tracking. Blackout free means the view stays live, so you can follow a moving subject the whole time. A Single Burst Shooting: Hi mode reaches 90 frames per second with focus and exposure locked, for up to seven frames.

Here is the catch. Photography Blog notes there is no pre-buffering, so your timing has to be right, and the camera records only 7 RAW shots at that top speed. Digital Camera World found that once the buffer fills, you can't zoom into pictures in playback or change settings until it clears, which took around a minute. The card slot is UHS-I only, so a faster UHS-II card won't speed that up.

The fix is a habit, not a setting. Shoot short bursts at the peak of the action instead of holding the button down. Start a split second early, and let go once the moment passes.

Zoom, sharpness and blurry backgrounds

The lens covers a 24-200mm equivalent range. Digital Camera World found image quality pretty good at short to medium zoom, but detail disappointingly soft at full zoom. When sharpness matters most, back off the zoom a little and step closer if you can.

For a soft background, Digital Camera World notes the camera produces fairly tight depth of field at full zoom. Depth of field is like a flashlight beam of sharpness: a narrow beam leaves the background blurry. For portraits, try zooming in partway, moving your subject far from the background, and placing your Flexible Spot box on their eyes. Each soft shot along the way teaches you which mix of zoom and distance works best.

Night photography settings

Photography Blog calls the 30-second maximum shutter in Manual mode great news for night photography. A long shutter only works if the camera stays perfectly still, so rest it on a wall, a table or a small tripod. Keep ISO low, shoot RAW so you can brighten shadows later, and use your 2-second Auto Review to check each frame.

For more low light ideas that apply across Sony cameras, see the Sony a6700 low light and night photography guide.

Video settings to set once

Jerad Hill's guide sets movies to XAVC S 4K at 30p 100M. Ditch Auto picks 30p because it leaves a little room to slow footage down when editing in 24p. For real slow motion, the camera reaches 120p, but only in HD.

Ditch Auto also sets video to manual exposure: turn the dial to the movie position, press Menu, and change Exposure Mode under the Movie panel from Program Auto to Manual Exposure. That lets you control exposure for photos and video separately. The RX100 VII added a microphone port, though it has no headphone jack. For a fuller video walkthrough on a related Sony body, see Best Sony ZV-E10 Video Settings for Beginners.

Shooting a ZV-E10 or a6700 instead

Many of these ideas carry over to Sony's interchangeable-lens cameras: RAW & JPEG, a focus box you place yourself, a quick review after each shot, and ISO within easy reach. Digital Camera World points out that APS-C models like the Sony ZV-E10 and Sony A6400 offer a larger sensor and a more comfortable grip than the RX100 VII, though they don't fit in a pocket. Menus and buttons differ from model to model, so use a guide written for your exact camera:

• Best Sony ZV-E10 Photo Settings for Beginners
• Best Sony A6700 Settings for Beginner Photographers
• Best Sony a6400 Settings for Beginners
• Best Sony Camera Settings for Beginners

Change a few settings at a time, take the camera out, and see what each change does to your pictures. Small steps like that are how auto mode slowly becomes something you no longer need.