Offshoots and Things Primal

(Leica X1)

While this blog has not been updated as frequently, even worse, most posts are off-topic now. Life is full of surprising offshoots and sometimes eventful fluctuations, and I can't help touching on various things other than photography, just as I find fascinations in all manners of a thing by looking through a viewfinder which normal people may normally pass by without a cue.

Die-hard photographers could be quite abnormal at times.

I know, it may seem that photography is no longer the prima ballerina on stage, so to speak. Well, not really. I don't toy with as many cameras for tests as back in 2008, but in the last few years I have tried the Leica SL, M10 and the CL, among which the last one is all-in-all a design disaster (But no review posts - too busy to do that now). I haven't taken photos as often, yes. But I could just as well say that I am more refined in deciding when to press the shutter release or just being wise to cut spending on memory cards of a higher order in speed and capacity.

(Leica X1)

So, despite my cameras and I are aging, we still keep good company of one another on a daily basis. All are still working fine and no one has died. Apart from the several Leicas, I have tried other nice things in life including the Macs and recently BMWs. Material world.

(Leica X1)

However, the other bookend of the story is that, other than the Macs, I prefer my old cameras and riding a bike. Both are easier. Macs are just unbeatable. Pieces of art. Computers in the entirety of the sense.

(Ricoh GR)

Which brings us back to, you're getting this, I am sure, the Ricoh GR. This blog was born because of the Ricoh GRD / GX. The GR is still the prima ballerina on the stage of my heart. It plucks my heartstrings.

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New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Final Verdicts: GF2 in Action

(The rest of the GF2 review posts can be found here ) It is widely believed that the GF2 is a paradoxical downward-upgrade version of the GF1. So, after all the discussions of its bells and whistles, how does it perform in reality? First things first. Which or what kind of cameras should we measure the GF2 against for that matter? We believe that potential buyers of the GF2, maybe except for serial fad chasers and the diehard loyalists, are attracted by its smallness in size with a larger sensor to achieve better image quality, especially at ISO 800 or above. However, given the less satisfactory handling with for example just one dial, the GF2 cannot assume the place of a primary camera. Put together, these assumptions suggest that the GF2 is more suited to be used as a backup camera for social and street shots. Let's grill the GF2 on this basis. In the Hand An obvious merit of the GF2 is size. It feels much less bulky in the hand than the GF1 or the NX100, and just lik...

Dressing Up

(Camera: Ricoh GX200) On the street, a group of Chinese tourists are waiting for probably pick-up. With oblivion to the surrounding, this man changes his vest for an unknown reason to the author taking the opportunity to do a snap shot of the scene of an indecent taste. The increasingly common sights, or eyesores considered by some, of people squatting in front of shops or in the thoroughfares, together with more billboards written in simplified Chinese, seem to push this international city towards the Chinese characteristics of the Mainland cities. The other day when the author visited the the aquarium and panda's home in the Ocean Park, there were, among the swamps of tourists, conspicuous signs saying, "Keep Quiet" and "Don't Use Flash". The management of the Park has obviously deployed a much bigger troop of attendants to carry the signs around. On one occasion, one of those attendants was so annoyed that she went up to a tourist and made a big long...

GX GARNERINGS

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