Mini Review of GRD II by Colin Bradbury

Today, we are going to learn some useful insights from Colin Bradbury in his mini review of the GRD II. Colin is a professional photographer stationed in Hong Kong. Photos are copyrighted to him.

(St Agnes, Cornwall. 'Environmental' portrait)

By COLIN BRADBURY: Just back from 2 weeks in rural England with the family over Christmas. Since this was a family holiday and not a photography trip I wanted to travel light. On that basis I left my DSLRs at home and took the GRDII as my only camera to save weight but also to see how useful it would be as the only camera in a variety of photographic situations. I have to say I was very pleased with it and didn't miss having a zoom or longer lens at all. The 28mm is a perfect single focal length and proved itself useful in a variety of situations. Landscapes are clearly well suited to the 28mm but less obviously I have also found it to be great for portraits. With a 28mm you are forced to do 2 things. First, to get in closer to the subject, which gives the images a real feeling of intimacy. Secondly, I found myself naturally including more of the surroundings in my people pictures, making them much more interesting as environmental rather than just 'straight' portraits.

(Bodmin & Wenford steam railway, Cornwall. Available light portrait)

As far as settings were concerned, I bought the camera primarily for it's high degree of manual control and ended up using manual exposure, Spot metering and Spot AF most of the time. The ability to switch to manual focus for landscapes and 'action' shots (pre-focusing in the case of the latter to make use of the large depth of field for the 28mm) gives the GRD additional flexibilty and expands the range of situations where the camera 'works'. Overall, the user interface is very intuitive and the shortcuts which I used for rapid shifting of ISO and focus modes were used regularly.

(Porthtowan, Cornwall. Use of wide angle / perspective)

I had been considering buying the 40mm and 21mm converters but I think I will wait awhile and make myself learn much as possible about the potential of the 28mm. There is definitely something satisfying about taking photography back to basics and I think one of the really attractive aspects of the GRD is that 'less is more'.

(Porthtowan, Cornwall. Landscape - benefits of manual exposure control)

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About Colin: 20 years photographic experience. Started as a hobby - landscape, travel, underwater photography - then 9 years ago I spent 3 years studying for a photography degree before turning professional. I opened 2 high street portrait studios and ran them for 4 years. Also continued to work as a freelance photographer covering sailing, local press work and landscape work for local tourist board. Current gear - GRDII, Nikon D2x, Hasselblad 501.

(Sai Kung, Hong Kong. Marmite the family dog. Close up wide angle)

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Final Verdicts: GF2 in Action

(The rest of the GF2 review posts can be found here ) It is widely believed that the GF2 is a paradoxical downward-upgrade version of the GF1. So, after all the discussions of its bells and whistles, how does it perform in reality? First things first. Which or what kind of cameras should we measure the GF2 against for that matter? We believe that potential buyers of the GF2, maybe except for serial fad chasers and the diehard loyalists, are attracted by its smallness in size with a larger sensor to achieve better image quality, especially at ISO 800 or above. However, given the less satisfactory handling with for example just one dial, the GF2 cannot assume the place of a primary camera. Put together, these assumptions suggest that the GF2 is more suited to be used as a backup camera for social and street shots. Let's grill the GF2 on this basis. In the Hand An obvious merit of the GF2 is size. It feels much less bulky in the hand than the GF1 or the NX100, and just lik...

Dressing Up

(Camera: Ricoh GX200) On the street, a group of Chinese tourists are waiting for probably pick-up. With oblivion to the surrounding, this man changes his vest for an unknown reason to the author taking the opportunity to do a snap shot of the scene of an indecent taste. The increasingly common sights, or eyesores considered by some, of people squatting in front of shops or in the thoroughfares, together with more billboards written in simplified Chinese, seem to push this international city towards the Chinese characteristics of the Mainland cities. The other day when the author visited the the aquarium and panda's home in the Ocean Park, there were, among the swamps of tourists, conspicuous signs saying, "Keep Quiet" and "Don't Use Flash". The management of the Park has obviously deployed a much bigger troop of attendants to carry the signs around. On one occasion, one of those attendants was so annoyed that she went up to a tourist and made a big long...

AtomicZen said…

Thousand thanks for very interesting post.

14 January 2009 at 12:18

Nevin said…

You're welcomed. We should thank Colin. Glad that you find his post useful.

15 January 2009 at 02:33

jackpeat said…

All very interesting but where are the Cohen tour pics?

17 February 2009 at 10:49

Need me to ask Nevin to forward your question to Colin? I think those are all the pics he hoped to publish for this :) Good works, aren't they?

17 February 2009 at 12:18

GX GARNERINGS

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