GX GARNERINGS

Old things always fascinate me.  I still remember how I spent three and a half hours in the Warwick Castle in the UK and left with a wistful sense of anti-climax months ago; so was it when I left Shakespeare's houses and the Roman Bath after several hours of touring on separate days. I have a penchant for historical heritage.  Maybe there's why I still haven't switched to any DSLR…,well, yet.  Knighthood is certainly one of the most marvellous relics of the past. For reason of this passion, I have learned a few things about the castle.  Here are two questions for you: 1) Do you know why the stairs leading up to the top of a tower in a castle were always built in a right-to-left spiral fashion? 2) Do you know what a wardrobe was used for in a castle? For the same reason, I went to the movies for Alice in the Wonderland this morning; Not because the story was old, but the period costumes are interesting.  The best part is Alice in full armour nearing the end of

The Vice-president is correct. It's a big fantastic deal! Hey, what are you thinking? What I am talking about is Samsung's NX10. While Ricoh is laudable for impacting the camera market (it had been quite some time for other makers provided us with compacts fitted with a 24mm lens and a 1/1.7" sensor since Ricoh's models) by the strength of creativity, Samsung should be applauded for letting us get a APS-C-core compact camera without draining our purse or making us niggardly in spite of ourselves when beefing up our acquisitions for the system. As revealed by the Co-editor yesterday, the body plus the 30mm pancake kit set costs just HK$6,590, which can be a bit lower at the retailing level. In comparison, Pany's GF-1, which uses a sensor a wee bit smaller, is sold by at around HK$6,900 (already the street price) with the 20mm pancake. If compared to, say, Canon EOS 550D tagged around HK$ 6,800 (there is a way to get it at HK$5,700!), the Samsung NX10 has lower the

Samsung Hong Kong officially launched the NX10 last week. Size-wise, the camera is hardly a head-turner. It is similar to the Pentax K-m. But for the matter of accessories, Samsung lives up to its vow/ dream to "own" this segment of the camera market by offering a wide range of choices. On the launch ceremony, three local young lady photographers were invited to share their hands-on experience with the NX10. This proves that this market segment is mainly targeted at the ladies. Are we going to see the NX10 in pink, orange, red ...? Likely. Samsung's suggested retail prices of the NX10 kit sets and accessories in Hong Kong are as follows (the street price will be 2-5% lower; very affordable indeed!! -- but for the CPL filters, you can buy a product of a better grade for the same price): Kit Set EV-NX10 ZZBCBHKNX10 BOBY + 30MM F2.0 PANCAKE HK$6,590 EV-NX10 ZZBABHKNX10 BOBY + 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 OIS HK$6,290

When you take a photo, what are your calculations? The exposure combo, check; the composition, check; the suitable focal length, check; the focal point, check; subjects to be taken in and out, check. The decisions are arrived at a split of a second. But wait a minute. What about the atmosphere of the scene? Adding atmosphere to an image is like accentuating your points in a speech. An image with a proper atmosphere or not is like a speech by President Obama or by George W. Bush. Atmosphere is a crucial aesthetic element to photography. The apt atmosphere present in an image can highlight the theme, as well as boosting the sense of reality and aesthetic impacts of the image. There are several ways to play up the atmosphere in an image. The actual setting and environment of the scene are some of the useful tools in this regard. The two photos here, hopefully, serve as examples. I had stood at the crossing for some time, waiting for the chance to take some photos of vehicles whizz

Now that we fans of interchangeble-lens large-sensor camera in a relatively compact body have been pampered with a wide array of choices, are we satisfied? Can we buy such a compact to replace our old DSLRs or SLRs? Let's take the stock: We have the newthink from Ricoh pitched at a high price level. We have the GF1 and E-P2 which can work with different lenses by way of adaptors. But since the reflex mirror is gone, the shortened focal length to the sensor as compared with a DSLR or SLR strips the non-MFT lenses of their optimal optical performance. We have the Samsung NX10. But it leaves much to be desired in size and the choice of lenses. Although it seems that price is an issue, it is not. At press time, Ricoh is offering a HK$1,400 discount in Hong Kong off the rack price for purchase of the GXR body plus the VF-2, making the cost of two at HK$3,600 and a total of HK$9,600 for inclusion of the A12 33mm module. The GF-1 with a pancake costs around HK$7,400 but without the viewfi

We haven't done this for some time.  Check out the images after the links to make your own conclusions. LENS ISO ZUIKO 14-42mm A12 50mm Kit 14-45mm Minolta M-ROKKOR 28mm F2.8 x NR NR (high) 100 E-PL1 GF1 E-P2 200 E-PL1 GXR GXR GF1 E-P2 400 E-PL1 GXR GXR GF1 E-P2 800 E-PL1 GXR GXR GF1 E-P2 1600 E-PL1 GXR GXR GF1 E-P2 3200 E-PL1 GXR GXR GF1 E-P2 (Copyrights of the images belong to their holders)

This is how, by a naughty somebody. This is Sunday.  Be good and get some rest.