GX GARNERINGS

Winners of the 54th annual World Press Photo Contest was announced yesterday. Click on the screen shot below to browse the winners gallery. If you haven't checked out the video before, you won't want to miss it. It will be very exciting for photographers when this technology is implemented in cameras.

We have been receiving requests for the comparison through the search box. So, here you go: ISO NEX5 GF1 GF2 E-PL2 100 ISO 100 0.6s f4 200 f5.6 ISO 200 1/3s f4 f3.5 400 f5.6 ISO 400 1/6s f4 f3.5 800 f5.6 ISO 800 1/13s f4 f3.5 1600 f5.6 ISO 1600 1/25s f4 f3.5 3200 f5.6 ISO 3200 1/50s f4 f3.5 6400 f5.6 1/100s f4 f3.5 12800 f5.6

Apart from the touch screen operations, the GF2 has a bagful of gimmicks to allure potential buyers. In this post, we will dig into the worthy ones and tell you some nitty-gritty which may have been overlooked. I.Dynamic First, there is the I.Dynamic option which is actually the increasingly popular HDR function. The operating manual is short of an explanation of how this function works. Usually the wider dynamic range on the strength of such a function is achieved by combining several bracketed shots. But if that is the case in GF2, we have not noticed any occurrences of double images common to HDR function when the shutter speed was dragged down or the camera was intentionally shifted a bit. Such is sort of a mystery. (Top: Without I.Dynamic; Bottom: I.Dynamic High) Does the I.Dynamic work fine? There are four settings under the option: Off, Low, Standard and High. Our impression is that the results are discernible at the middle and high-level settings. (Top: Without I.Dynam...

A marked difference compared to the GF1, the touch screen functionality is supposedly the biggest draw of the GF2. Does this do any good to the handling and shooting in reality? Without boring you with the details of the on-screen menus which you can surely find elsewhere or in the operating instructions, let's explore the answers. The i-Phone and the lookalike gadgets have swept the world with the increasingly popular touch-screen activation. This function works every fine on cell phones and computing pads. But the story is a bit different in the case of a camera. The Bad With, say, a cell phone, the user can unlock the screen which is important to prevent accidental touching of the screen. However, there is no way to lock and unlock the screen of the GF2. After it is turned on and before it goes into sleep mode, the screen can be touched with or without intent. Users who have the habit of keeping the camera on will find themselves touching the screen to activate a function...

Just over a year ago,  GX Garnerings tested the GF1. By courtesy of Panasonic Hong Kong , we have spent quite a while with the new girl on the block -- the Girl Friend no. 2.  It looks pretty on the surface. Is it as good in the inside? Follow us through this field test report for the verdicts. First, let's look at the outside. The GF2 is substantially smaller and lighter in the hand. It feels marginally right for an average man's hand. For a lady's palm, the camera body may fit perfectly. To a male photographer, the GF1 is more preferable size-wise. As in the case of all mirror-less cameras available to date, the GF2 is not really pocketable, save for an overcoat. At first glance, its dimensions are similar to the GX200's. In fact, it is thicker and much heavier, with a protruded lens. But it is still considered lightweight compared to those in the same class.  Carrying the GF2 around on a hand-strap or neck strap, advisably the former, is not what we can complai...

(Camera: Panasonic GF2) If you are tired of shots of horizontal and vertical light trails, try to do the light trails in any ways other than those two directions. Just tune the movement of your camera to the shapes you desire. The sure-fire way in achieving an agreeable result is to move the camera only before the shutter is about to close.  Understandably, you will need a long exposure. The shot of today was done with the shutter being dragged to one second; the EXIF info is quite confusing though.

(Camera: Sony A55) Recently, the author had a chance to interview a locally-born fine arts trader from Europe. He revealed that since the financial doldrums swept across Europe, the fine arts community has been giving a heavier weight to photography as a medium of fine arts, and a profitable one. The reason is that both the fine arts creators and buyers are short of funds. Cost-wise, photography is reasonably affordable to both sides. Also, given the wide possibility in "tempering" with digital images, fine arts makers have greater elbowroom than in the film era to let their imagination fly. He commented that photography has never been treated on the such a same footing as other fine arts media in history. According to him, photography in at least the filed of fine arts will increasingly lean towards the trend of storytelling.  That is to say, a good quality image will be defined as the one rich in textures both technically and in substance. This, to the author, could be...

(Camera: Panasonic GF2) He is sitting on the fire hydrant. At his background is a sitting-out area with plenty of empty benches. But he has chosen his seat. This is Sunday. Fun day!