GX GARNERINGS

(Camera: Sony A55 with Minolta 70-300mm, hand-held) The first post in 2011 features the gorgeous Linzi of the violin duo FUSE from the UK, which staged a free performance for a countdown party in Hong Kong last night.  The accompanying rock music in the background was so loud that the violin tune could barely be heard, but anyway the focus was undoubtedly much on the once-model Linzi.  She is truly photogenic. Happy New Year!

(Camera: Samsung NX100) How fruitful you can say for yourself in 2010 at the close of the year?  A cartful of fruits maybe?  For readers whose 2010 has not been really productive, congratulations to you for the less burdened year. The best wishes to you for even more better shots in 2011!

(Camera: Sony A55) Keep looking at the red balloon... Now, is the background real or a reflection of some sort?

(Camera: Ricoh GX200) "I'll have a square head and a broad shoulder. Taller.  Bigger." These questions pop up in most people's childhood at some point: What will I be like as a grown-up, what will I do for a career and who will I marry?  And these were the questions immediately sprung up when the author noticed this scene.  With years of training to see through a viewfinder, the author instantly saw with his bare eyes an intriguing abstract image from it. The scene could be mundane to most passers-by, or photographers being less observant. Fact is, the framed image was surrounded by many distracting elements while people were hurrying past behind the author to work.  The scene did not appear to be as philosophical or "serene" on the spot. The simple composition against the empty wall gives much room for the viewers' imagination to take flight.  The contrast of the shapes, of the colours (big black shadow and other elements in pastel colour), of the...

(Camera: GXR A12 50mm in 1:1 format, standard colour) Thanks to Laikok , the sole dealer of Ricoh cameras in Hong Kong, GX Garnerings have the chance to update the verdict on the focusing speed of the A12 50mm module upon installing in it the firmware version 1.29 released on 1 November 2010. Previously, the major issue of the 50mm module (actually it is 50mm equiv.)  was the sluggish focusing speed.  With the previous firmware, the AF of the module could take as long as 4 seconds to confirm, but sometimes even to no avail after the time spent on focusing under, say, indoor lighting.  The average time for locking the focus was about 2 seconds.   When the Marco function was turned on, the searching for the right focus took so long that the MF was preferable in the first place.  Undoubtedly, this could be frustrating in some situations. (Camera: Samsung WB600) Now, the Ricoh engineers are known as issue fixers not for no reason.  With the latest firm...

(Camera: Samsung NX100) The small mirror-less cameras have the advantage in size compared with the regular big boys.  But there are some reasons that they still cannot edge out the smaller-sensor serious compacts (sc) or the DSLRs as they lack: 1) the deeper depth of field (vs. sc; important for street photographers) 2) a pocketable size (vs. sc) 3) the convenience of no lenses changing (vs. sc) 4) an excellent focusing performance (vs. DSLR) 5) a good gripping (vs. DSLR) 6) the good weight balance between the lens and the camera body (vs. DSLR) These are the general observations after the hands-on with the several mirror-less cameras.

(Camera: Ricoh GXR A12 28mm; without pp) Absolutely not referring to the holiday mood.