GX GARNERINGS

^The other photo I posted of this same scene looks like a big fire having been broken out. Fact is, it was the flame-like orange brightness of the sun shown on the edges of the clouds against an opening with a view to the sky In case you're considering the viewfinder V-F1 for the GX cameras, or virtually an optional viewfinder for your other serious compacts, here are the links to the old posts of my review of the V-F1: 1) VF-1 Impresses Me : Observations of the external features 2) Viewfinder Spares You Troubles : The benefits of using the viewfinder 3) Stability and Variations : Two other advantages of using the viewfinder 4) ACES : Conclusions and final words In addition, there are two posts about the significance of viewfinders: 5) A Scene as a Framed Photo 6) E-P1- Importance of an Integrated Viewfinder

^The photo is an edited version to the original with a thumb on the lower right edge shaded. The photograph that has become known as "Migrant Mother" is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made of Florence Owens Thompson and her children in February or March of 1936 in Nipomo, California. Lange was concluding a month's trip photographing migratory farm labor around the state for what was then the Resettlement Administration. In 1960, Lange gave this account of the experience: I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet. I do not remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was thirty-two. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold ...

(A postscript has just been added by the original author of the Chinese post that the whole thing is faked. That's bad taste.) It's time to save up some money! The following fresh gossip is believed to be an intended leak from some person in the know about the next challenger in the pipeline after the E-P1 and E-P2. In view of the pent-up demand among photographers for lighter and more portable photographic products, Ricoh, Pentax and Samsung are working jointly on an upcoming camera which will incorporate the image quality afforded by a DSLR and the portability of a DC. Pentax is responsible for engineering the down-sized version of its DA15 Limited lens (re-branded to Ricoh) while Samsung will supply its 14MP CMOS sensor adopted in K-7, K20D and other DSLRs. Ricoh releases the patented body of its quick-selling GRDs which is to be adjusted and expanded to be the GZ-1, an interchangeable-lens type of portable serious camera. The above photo is reproduced from callbusy's...

^GRDIII at F1.9, 1/14s, ISO 154 Now that the GRDIII is piling up in shops for sale, the Japanese photograph compatriots are coming up with photos on the Internet.  Besdies the useful links put up by Pavel of ricohforum.com, the following tables should make good reference for you fellows who are inquisitive, puzzled or ticklish at every new camera. Reference Shots The first table  mainly shows photos taken with the GRDIII at f1.9 and/or high ISO (some shots are of the same scene at various ISOs).  The photos are at reduced size but give an idea of how the new camera performs in these two areas: Aperture full open f1.9 1/3s ( f2.8  1/2s ;  f4  1s ;  f5.6  2s ;  f8  3s ; f9 4s )   f1.9  1/20s at ISO 100 ( f1.9  1/50s at ISO 200 )   f1.9  1/270s at ISO64 ( f2.5  1/143s at ISO64 )     ...

The above engineered photo has been circulating on the Internet for some time. Now the rumour has gone further, probably closer to the truth. The latest issue of Chasseur d'Images , a French photography magazine, reveals in its latest issue (#316) that Olympus is working on the E-P2 to be released by the end of this year. The successor (or a hasty update? A calculated step?) to the E-P1 is reported to finally feature a viewfinder, the lack of which and the same of a built-in flash are at the heart of the challenge targeted at the camera. But if there is really going to be a E-P2 with a viewfinder as suggested, the not-so-small-sized digital PEN will be even bigger. And most likely the price will go up into the higher-grade DSLR's territory. These may defeat the intention of photographers who wish for DSLR's IQ in a camera without the price and size of it. Anyway, other advisable upgrades: high-resolution LED screen, faster auto-focusing speed, wider choice of lens. But, c...

^A Match: the scene conjures up and now the image still does a feeling of hope which is wearing thin as the day draws to an end, connotated by the confluent clouds to close the piece of blue sky. Held up my GX200 to it, I made a wish and shot the picture. Traumatised by some personal problem, a friend mine has recently been diagnosed with hypochondria, the infamous psychologic illness which makes the sufferers blue about just anything. She is having her black dog with her, so to speak. This reminds me of the very bottom in my life which I hit some years ago. Those darkest days seemed to be lasting forever at that time. As a habitual photographer, if I can call myself it, I have been keeping photographic records of my life and the lives of people close to me. For that matter, I can tell exactly how long those days were by looking at the period when I ended up with little photos. Life is full of ups and downs, yes. But this fact is more easily known up in the head than on the heart. F...

Probably for the large number of commercial powerhouses stationed here, Hong Kong is regularly with sponsored competitions of all sorts coming up. Photography competitions are certainly the commercial sponsors' popular choice. Besides the dozen of photo contests separately organised or sponsored by a district council, the HK InvestED, the Radio and Television HK, the Civil Engineering Department, Greenpeace, Jurlique, HK Yahoo, Canon, Sony, Ricoh and Nikon (still going on) over the past seven months, there are two other photography contests coming up. The first one is organised by the HK Science and Technology Park (picture above), for which you may check out the details here . The other one is organised by the Wetland Park, which is less enticing prize-wise. The details are available here . To accompany the photo competition, both organisers will hold some activities and talks on photography about the related themes. Get going, take part in a photo competition. You may take ...

^This was taken in a local public housing estate.  One third of the local population is housed in the government funded estate.  People living there are understandbly less well off but largely, because of the same reason, more casual and friendly.  If you're in Hong Kong and hope to take some photos with an atmosphere, you cannot miss the public housing estate. I simply like the tubby guy's posture.  First grade.  This is Sunday.  Have a good day.