What Makes a Winning Image

Today's two images show the high ISO images produced by the Samsung EX1. The likeable in-camera vignetting effect aside, the nicely balanced noise adds a great film-like quality to the final images. They are as good as the GRD III's in my opinion, if not better.

The reason to show the two photos -- there is something in them I really wish to show you -- sort of echos a recent post on Mike's TheOnlinePhotographer featuring a disturbing winning photo of a British photo contest. It is disturbing because the photo is a very casual, and actually awful, shot which no one would even think about it otherwise. Long story short, Mike later concludes from his experience that as judges of past photo contests, he would pick the ones as winners in which there was something he really wished to show the viewers.

Talking about that "man on the grass" winning photo, a similar story immediately sprang to mind: this year's Hong Kong Ricoh Photo Contest. Since GX Garnerings had asked readers to vote for the winners as a show of support (well, lots of us are Ricoh camera fans), we hoped to follow up and bring back the news of the result for the voters. But when we went over to the organiser's page, what we found were comments of frustrated participants to protest against the result.

The result poses a challenge to the usual understanding of what makes a winning image. Surely, there are rules for different contests. In this case, maybe the rule just overrode photographic considerations. But for those who agree with the conclusion of "something in an image the judge really wants to show viewers" as the judging criteria, the "man on the grass" shot and the winning trios really shed new light on the matter.

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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...

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