Technically Grumpy

Recently, I stumbled upon a photography forum in which a technically grumpy fellow ranted about how a camera maker (Was it Ricoh he/ she had in mind?) should not market the point-and-shoot camera with a tiny sensor and a zoom lens as capable of reaching a focal length in 35mm-equivalence, like the CX3 branded as having a lens of 28mm to 300mm.

Technically, he brought home to us some fact which might not known to the newbies. But, practically, for most of us who don't make cameras or lenses but simply take photos, the fact is irrelevant. Someone can as well point out that the good of a P&S capable of zooming the lens that far. Take for example, the shallow DOF. This is in fact more practical for photographers.

These technically grumpy photographers are galore around the Internet. It is one thing to learn about the technical aspects of a camera. It is entirely another thing to fuss about such aspects which have no practical value to doing photographs. Just this morning when I read the post on a renowned blog about how closing down the aperture (or something else? I didn't quite bother to read to the end anyway) rendered the difference between two sensors of separate sizes indiscernible in print, I was utterly bored.

What can I say to them? What will you say to them actually?

So, we know that the a 35mm-format lens with a long focal length has a unique optical characteristic: very shallow DOF. As pointed out above, it is not the case for a tiny-sensor camera like my CX1. This gives such a camera the edge in taking street photographs. (Note: the DOF also depends on the distance between the lens and the subject. If we are talking about a landscape photo, the DOF may not give any difference no matter what format the camera you're using is.)

Unlike a 35mm-format zoom lens, the 200mm focal length of CX's lens is best for compressing a scene without compromising the DOF. This is great for doing street photographs because we can really make use of the farthest focal length to, say, photograph subjects standing across a street without ending up with a blurred background too.

Using a bit of creativity, you may bring a long-zoom P&S to take photos with a bird’s eye view. Certainly, if you're going high up enough, the DOF does not matter with either a large- or small-size sensor. But fact is, the P&S is way more portable, enabling the photographer to stealthily bring it to a place where he or she is not really supposed to take pictures therefrom.

Oh, I've been hearing that the CX3 is interesting. If you're interested to know about the camera, email me or leave a message so that I have a reason to borrow one and evaluate it.

A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

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).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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