(City in Posters: The streets of Hong Kong are covered with posters from the time shops are closed until they open the next day. Poster companies send their workers to stick posters on nearly every available space on the street wall during those hours. I hope to take more for this topic. These posters are posted on the gate of a bank. It was a Staurday )
Do you use a tripod with your camera?
When the GX200 first saw the light of the world, there was a common comment that Ricoh was making this camera as what a camera should be like: if you shoot in high ISOs, the images would be noisy; if you don't prefer the noise, use a tripod and sho0t in lower ISOs.
(My mini-tripod)
An excuse of not, the comment has some truth in it. A camera with a tripod comes naturally to me as the earbuds with an iPod. Surely, no user wishes to forsake the portability of a compact. So, I usually carry a tripod with me, a mini-tripod, because there are chances when a tripod will work wonder to a shot.
Take for example, the "City in Posters" [first photor in this post] was taken at four stops down the safety shutter speed which is beyond the effect of the anti-shake magic. When taking the photo, I was on the street where
there was no flat surface to rest the camera on. Even if there were one, it might not be at the desirable height. So, the tripod came handy. I simply fixed the camera on the tripod and steady it on my belly, activated 2-sec self-timer, pressed the shutter and held my breath. (This is how I rested it on my belly)
(Symphony of Light: The Victoria Harbour is one of my favorite themes. I would rather use a tripod than risk a blurred handheld shot at a high ISO.)
For night shots as the above one, I would prefer a camera on a tripod to shooting in high ISOs even with a good high-ISO performer. Surely, good high ISO IQ is sometimes useful depending on your photographing style. To me, the ISOs are most useful when I need a fast shutter speed in a dimly lit environment like shooting candid photos of a restless kid in a coach. For that matter, GX200 may not do the trick. In that case,
following the advice of Cristi, I am now used to shooting B&W at ISO 1600. The noise appears with a grainy character of a film image which I like.
(Kid Kidding: This was a candid shot at ISO 1600 in B&W straight out of the GX200)
The tripod can afford me some other advantages. I have found it more easy to steady a shot by holding the tripod with the camera attached to it
.
When the tripod is held in a horizontal position, I can easily shot a photo over the edge from a high position like a footbridge.
(Lines and Patterns: This was shot with the GX200 on my tripod held in a horizontal position over the edge of a footbridge. That gave me a fuller play to compose at an angle which would not be as good otherwise)
If you are now convinced to buy a mini-tripod, mind that it should be easily attached and detached from the camera. An extra note is when you attach a camera on a tripod and rest it on a surface, find a less windy location or else the camera may be blown over.
(The one on the left is my present tripod which I can just twist to attach or detach from the camera. The one on the right was my old tripod which I found it troublesome to turn the tiny dial for attaching and detaching while steadying the tripod when another hand to prevent it from turning)
Comments
However, chances are that I may need that exact composition with, say, the passersby passing the points I wished them to be. In that case, a tripod helps to get exactly what I want. And for some night shots of the Vic Harbour, similar situations arose when I needed the composition with of without a certain building / vessels passing, then a tripod helps too. For night shots, the tripod kind of gives me better chances of getting what I desire. Surely, as you suggested, the continuous mode can do the trick too. I actually tried it before but when I looked closer, the shots were not as sharp. Maybe my hands were not as steady.
Of course, there are other cases like shooting over the edge of a footbridge which I found the min-tripod handy.
I think readers can try either or both and see which suits your photographing style best. Thanks again, Wouter.