GX GARNERINGS

She didn't approve of the candid snap shot.

Visitors to Hong Kong should not miss the local Chinese herbal medicine shops. That's the must-go of my friends visiting here if I am to walk them around town. Usually, the shop owners are friendly to especially foreign visitors, explaining to them the weird stuff in the shop in great detail. The person in the first photo is the owner of the old-fashioned Chinese medicine shop, Wing Hong. He inherited the business from his old dad. So what can we find in his shop? The picture below shows horns hanging from the pole immediate below the roof. They are cut from the deer which are made into some Chinese tonics or medical wine conducive to blood circulation. In such an old-styled shop, there are lots to hold your interest. There are probably lots of antiques too. The wooden bench shown below can go to a museum. When the roadside cooked food stores were still ubiquituous throughout the old Hong King, the likes of it were common sights with coolies squatting on and having their q...

The a55 is of interest because we think that it is a well-balanced bridge between a full-sized DSLR (function- and focusing-speed-wise) and an EVIL (dimension-wise). Holding the camera mounted with the 18-55mm kit lens can readily win over the heart of serious compact users in terms of portability. The following is the translation of an excerpt from a recent interview done in China with representatives from the management of SONY China by Fengniao . For the sake of relevance to GX GARNERINGS, the excerpt is taken from the Q & As which shed light on Sony's differentiation of its EVILs, SLTs and DSLRs, giving some glimpses into Sony's way forward thereof to readers who are probably contemplating their next purchase in the wake of so many launches of new cameras. (Q represents questions put forward by the media; A are answers given by the several Japanese managers of Sony China) Q: Will the semi-translucent mirror (STM) technology become the standards for all fu...

But they will sell.  Pretty sure.  Kitsch! (Gosh!  Look at the orange one!!?)

If you're looking forward to shelling out money for the X100 in Hong Kong, it is expected to be available around January 2011 according to our information. Some new serious cameras have been announced. Ricoh: GR lens A12 28mm f/2.5. Fitted with a 12 million-pixel APS-C CMOS sensor Olympus: Seriously mock-up of its serious compact armed with the ZUIKO lens to be released in the first quarter of 2011. Leica: The expensive version of LX5, the D-LUX5; the enticing X1 black. In a parallel development, Sony has updated the firmware for the Nex cameras and announced the inclusion of a higher-grade SLT in its product line-up at Photokina.

Welcome to the confusing serious compact camera market as what the Middle Ages of battling kings and knights was in history (0r the Warring States Period in the Chinese history for that matter)! The photography community has recently made much ado about the dazzling launches and releases of new brooms by camera makers sizzling at each other. On one hand, how can we users not be excited at this "correct" course of giving more substances to a wider array of cameras at cheaper prices? On the other hand, however, we could be overwhelmed by the enormity of the question facing us: what the camera makers are driving at in the future to the detriment of our purse? The camera makers are probably at their combative best in slaughtering for the market share since the last similar blooming period at the advent of 35mm camera. New cameras are always being in hot pursuit. Naturally, under this climate, we are more easily drummed by the dazzling ads into buying more of them. Afterall...

If you live outside Hong Kong or Macau, the chance of winning a GXR Body plus the A12 module will, sorry guys, skip you.  Laikok Photographic Products, the local sole dealer for Ricoh cameras, is running the 3rd Ricoh Photo Contest.  The theme of the contest is Animal. The winner will take home the GXR body and the A12 50mm module.  The 2nd and 3rd prizes are a CX3 and CX1 respectively. The contest is open to Hong Kong and Macau citizens only and will close on 30 Spetember.  To take part, please send your photo (at least 4MP in resoultion but not exceeding 4MB in size) with your name, phone number, email address and photographic info (including title, camera used, the exposure combo with ISO used) to info@laikok.com.hk   Only one photo is allowed for each participant. The entries will also be put up for public voting at www.facebook.com/laikokhk by way of clicking the "Like" therein.  The dealine for casting your vote is 12:00 noon 15 October 201...

Release yourself from the cage of mundane workdays, and enjoy your Sunday. Have a good day!