GX GARNERINGS

We take a breather from the hefty serving of Nevin's GRD III review.  A job well done it is for sure.   I am rather amused by the newfound nickname of Pany's new camera, the Girl Friend No.1.  It is more sexy than the official short form, and can actually lure more business because probably of its overtone.  This Girl Friend finally made an appearance in Hong Kong on the official launch two days ago.  The dealer is receiving pre-orders whereby the buyers will receive one of the two Pany camera case for free.  The case is priced at HK$ 1,180, or US$160 or UK£100.  Pricey stuff.   Pre-ordering is found in other official Panasonic websites too.   The following information is borrowed from Panansonic USA.  The photos are from the Hong Kong, er, Girl Friend No. 1 launch Versatile Functions and Superb Images. Uncompromising Performance in the World's Smallest, Lightest System Camera* ...

This is the fifth post of the GRD III review series.  Today we will finish up the remaining discussion about the major improvements I see in the GRD III.  The photos featured in this post are folk playthings on a traditional Chinese festival. ^Besides the solstice and the Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival is an important celebration for the Chinese during which families get together for a meal with the special festival food.  The moon cakes are must-haves.  It is a tradition to buy kids lanterns to play with.  This is one of the shops selling lanterns made of paper and plastic alike in all sorts of shapes and characters. The following improvements and additions to further boost the GRD III in terms of ergonomics are good surprises to me. - Shutter Priority Mode One very important addition to the camera is the shutter priority mode.  The point that this addition is essential to photography should not be required making.  When I got the G...

We have already discussed some of the major strengths of the GRD III, namely, the fast lens and its image sensor.  This forth post of the review series continues the  discussion on the image sensor and the ergonomics of GRD III.  Photos of Mongkok are featured in this post.  Mongkok is a place bustling with all sorts of activities with some interesting place nestled in the side streets to be discovered. Let's check out what to look for in the GRD III and Mongkok.   ^Mongkok is actually an old area where, away from the busiest streets, there are clusters of rundown tenement buildings.  A visit to these residential neighbourhoods will open you up to some old ways of life here.  On the back of the aged woman is a traditional baby carrier in which sits the little chap. Previously we stopped at the ISO performance of the image sensor. Image Processing Some users has complained in the past about Ricoh cameras producing less vibrant colours and...

Hong Kong was hit by a tropical cyclone (called a typhoon here) on Monday and Tuesday, which interrupted normal lives and my review schedule. So, this is a post to fringe the proper review with RAW images of the GRD III for those who are interested. The shots were taken right after the typhoon stepped its other foot out of the way. But there were still occasional downpours and fierce gales. I had to live without a dramatic scene. The RAW images, as always, are in DNG format. In case you don't know, this common format is preferred to the proprietary ones. For the GRD III, I am not aware of the implementation problem with the DNG format in GX200, leading to a data-less black strip on the edge when the image is opened in certain PP software. Full resolution files in Jpeg and RAW-DNG formats of the following images can be downloaded here for comparison. The GRD III review is to be continued tomorrow.

This is the second post of the GRD III series. In this post, we will show you images which commonly define Hong Kong. We will carry on the discussion on the significant improvements of the camera, namely, the lens, the image sensor and engine, the ergonomics.   ^Wealth disparity is quintessential about Hong Kong.  The drunk beggar, with emptied bottles of Chinese spirits around him, is lying barely conscious on the waterfront where troops of tourists are passing by. This post continues on the observations about the new GR lens, and also the image sensor. Advantages of F1.9 The faster GR lens affords photographers to use a faster shutter, which is very often needed for street shots as unexpected moments present themselves, well, unexpectedly. A faster lens also means that the ISO can stay lower and the image cleaner under a dimly lit environment. I have tested the LX3 for its F2.0 lens which gives it an edge over the GX200. Since the GX200 is way superior in e...