Category: Cameras
Hip Shot
Test shot from my new Ricoh GX100. I picked one up largely on the basis of the high-iso B+W output I’ve been seeing on the web, and the noise does look better than most of the compacts out there – almost like film grain. Obviously in color I’ve been sticking to ISO 80-200.
The ‘snap mode’ setting for focus works quite well – DOF is huge on these small-sensor cameras, so I’ve programmed one of the two user settings to be B+W, iso 400, and snap mode – call it my street photography default. Ongoing output can be seen on my Flickr photostream.
Point and Shoot Update
Lots of stuff happening – turned 30 last Thursday. Lots of friends came out to celebrate on Friday, some of whom I hadn’t seen in the flesh in a very long time. I have no photos, unfortunately, an oversight to which the remainder of this post relates directly.
Fake Steve Jobs was finally (and regrettably, in my opinion) unmasked, and new Apple hardware and software got announced yesterday. It says something about my obsession with keyboards that I’m probably most intrigued by the new razor-thin keyboard that they debuted as opposed to the iMac/iLife announcements. I’m using a Macally IceKey at work, and at home I’m rocking the super-clacky Matias Tactile Pro. So far the Tactile Pro is my favorite, but unfortunately it’s simply too loud for the office.
In a fit of autogifting I ended up getting the Ricoh GX-100, and the battery is charging as I write this. Amin Sabet’s detailed comparison between the GX-100, Panasonic LX-1, and Canon G7 helped me make up my mind. That, and seeing/holding all of the cameras in the flesh at Adorama.
I waffled for a long time between the GX-100 and the GR-D, but in the end the need for some measure of focal length flexibility won out. I think if/when the Sigma DP-1 and the GR-D follow-up hit the market I can decide whether I need a prime-lensed model. The other candidate was a Pentax K100D, with either the 21mm or 40mm pancake lens. The rationale behind getting the compact instead was for more portability – I already leave the rangefinder at home more often than I’d like, and that outfit is around the size of a small DSLR.
I’m excited to start shooting this thing. I’m going to install the Aperture and Lightroom trials on my machine, and see how each runs. I have a feeling that Aperture is going to be pretty slow on my Macbook, but it’s worth a try.
More hockey tonight.
Point and Shooo…wait
For the last few years I’ve been primarily been using a combination of a Lomo LC-A and a couple of M-mount rangefinders (a Bessa R2A and a Leica M4) for taking photos. But the cost of good film processing is rather prohibitive (a decent lab here in NYC will generally charge around $20 per 36-shot roll for 4×6 proofs and a CD) so I’ve been looking to shoot more digital for everyday walkaround stuff. I get this urge every three months or so, and always return to shooting with the Lomo and rangefinders. The primary reason isn’t some romantic attachment to film, it’s that they’re fast to operate.
I have an aging, battered Canon A85 that I use every now and then, but it frustrates me – setting stuff using multiple button presses is time-consuming. I realize that I could get a small DSLR (say, a Pentax K100D with a pancake lens) but I’m thinking of something more pocketable. I would’ve thought that three years later the digicam market would’ve gotten better by leaps and bounds, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. Here’s the few contenders:
The Ricoh GR-D: 28mm is a bit wide for my taste, but the results I’ve seen (especially B+W) have been far more interesting than the usual digicam snaps. The GR-D2 is rumored to be around the corner, though, otherwise this would be in my hands already. Some have criticized the lack of an optical viewfinder (you can mount one to the hotshoe, though) and the noise at higher ISOs, but its vocal defenders contend that the noise approximates film grain quite well in B+W.
Ricoh Caplio GX-100: 24mm to 72mm zoom (I don’t like zooms usually but this one has a step-focus feature to jump to the classic focal lengths – 24/28/35/50/72), anti-shake. Otherwise the control scheme is very similar to the GR-D. If I had to choose a camera specifically to replace the A85, I’d probably get this one since the zoom and anti-shake make it more flexible for when Jordan’s using it.
Finally, there’s the vaporware Sigma DP-1, which has intrigued me ever since it was announced – a big sensor in a digicam. Sony did this first with their R1, but that body was SLR-sized. Besides the sensor, however, it appears they were paying close attention to the GR-D – fixed 28mm, hotshoe. f/4 is a bit slow, but if the results at high-ISO settings are ok, then losing a stop probably won’t matter too much. If it ever comes out, that is.
Of course, if someone wants to give me one of these I won’t complain.
New (Old) M4
Just back from a thorough CLA (Clean-Lube-Adjust): chrome M4, with a 50/2 Summicron.
While in North Carolina Jordan and I visited her family friends Walt and Marianne Brauner at their farm. Walt noticed the Bessa I was using to shoot while walking around their property, and he asked me if I was interested in his old Leica. He told me it had been sitting in the basement unused for about a decade. He sold me the body and lens for a song – I guess that he was simply happy knowing that I would get a lot of use out of it.
The M4s don’t have a built-in meter, so I may get a small one to mount on the accessory shoe. For now I’ll guesstimate and rely on the exposure latitude of print film to cover my errors in judgment.
one. one. one. one.
I’ve finally put up my one-year photography project at shutter.dirtystylus.com.
I also just received the iPhoto book and poster in the mail; I’ll take some quick digital pics of both and post them shortly. I will also try to include my impressions on the Bessa/Zeiss combo I used for the project.
Curiously, no sooner had I put this project to rest than Zeiss announced a new superfast 50 in M-mount. Mike Johnston’s The Online Photographer has the details.