The two-year-old Leica X1 is the most endearing among my photographic gear. Yes, it is truly sluggish in focusing but for those who appreciate it, the philosophy behind the X1 is actually pure photography, to steal from Nikon. It slows you down which in turns begs you to think and observe before snapping a shot, resting on the photographer rather than the electronics to take control of the result. The joy overflown from using this aesthetically equally brilliant machine is for a large part the result of such slowness. With the X1, I have even found myself walking at more leisurely pace to observe because I couldn't just snap snap snap anyway. The fixed Elmarit lens is also very loving. It was built to do what it does best, sharp images with a "3D-ish" appeal. Today's photos in reduced size surely don't do justice to what high quality images the lens can produce. I should have been more generous to post some full-size images here.
(Ricoh GR) In their own unique style, the squatting Mainland Chinese tourists have become an eyesore a common sight in the usually narrow walkways around the more busy areas in Hong Kong since the r eturn of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China (Editor-in-chief's note: Officially banned phrase for political incorrectness) Chinese Communist Party resumed sovereignty over the city. Hordes of the likes are too generous in their estimation of either the width of the sidewalks or the number of people passing by them, so stretching out an array of luggage cases in a disarray fashion for making rearrangement or taking a recess never seems to be too unedifying a bother to them. No location can dampen their determination in doing so, not even if it is right at a shop front, which is a somehow laudable national quality potentially in a positive way. Well, there are always two sides of a coin. Through the artistic eye of a photographer, can't these scenes be reproduc...
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