GX GARNERINGS

(Ricoh GR) As surely as you are reading this, cameras come and go. Fact is, when you have adequately come a long way in this run of your life and are going nearer to the finish line, there will be increasingly less things capable of turning heads from your perspective. A new camera is set to have a better sensor and extra superfluous functions with a heftier price tag. A new car will give the driver more forceful torque and stronger horsepower at a higher cost. All things new are adorable until they become not new. C'est la vie, folks! You have been there, seen that, done that. Very boring! If you are into that mentality, you are worthy to be called an oldie. You should be cursed and rot on your sofa! So, the new Ricoh GR, the GRIII, has been announced and made quite a bit of a stir in the street photography community. While it is a mistake that it still doesn't come with a 21mm lens to be worthy of its GR namesake - I don't mind if that makes it physically bigg...

(Ricoh GR) In between the time of slacking off a bit and spending much leisure time on photo contests, I went to Daido’s exhibition on its last day in town yesterday morning.  Not all the images on display are his best but they are invariably filled with the style and taste one will know distinctive about Daido’s works .  The one prominent thing about the master’s shots is that the image quality, hence the grade of camera or lens, is virtually irrelevant.  Not even the photographic skill.  The gem is in the idea and theory the creator has in every single recorded scene through his eye.  The coarseness, imperfection and split-moment impulse are conspicuously flowing in the mastery shots – we all know that Daido celebrates imperfect images, don’t we?

After much ado about what suited me most, I finally decided to part with my money in exchange for a GR limited edition. I hope to post some first shots when I am able to play with it. I almost settled for the Coolpix A, which has dropped to a much lower point than the already hugely discounted GR. That one is a very well built machine. Great haptics like a miniature Nikon DSLR but the ergonomics and controls aren't made for street photographers. Well certainly these have been discussed a year ago.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that the answer is yes. As the camera uses the same sensor as the A7 (some suspected that the issue arose from the sensor reflection-sort-of problem), the A7II is probably still prone to the halo issue if the light enters at some angle to the lens. Well all cameras are so with the lens pointing at the light source. I didn’t compare the result with shots by other camera so I can’t say for sure. I am concerned that this is the case though ---- make your own conclusion from the following shots. These are shots I done with the A7II mounted with the Zeiss 55mm f1.8 and 24-70mm F4 ZA lenses. However, the other shots done with the kit zoom lens do show the halos:

The Luminous Landscape introduces to its readers a touted-to-be ultimate mirrorless camera strap .   For the fast release connector to quickly detach the camera from the strap by way of a buckle, leaving a short section possible to connect to a wrist strap, it earns a rave review from the reviewer. Well, this is as good as it gets. Apart from the ubiquitous design of such a connector system -- I didn't say this design lacks originality but it has been long used for the strap in the extendable sleeves for the local Octopus card and such similar straps for smartphones , I for one will not trust a pricey camera to a strap that can be easily detached. This is from my experience some ten years ago when I bought a camera bag using the same release connector. On many occasions it detached accidentally, falling off with the camera in it with a thump. In the end, I fastened the buckle with exactly that twist tie the reviewer used to thread the ultimate strap. But my camera was in a ...

Not a catch-as-catch-can method can I ever think of to effectively help me memorise the spelling and pronunciation of the Gaelic names of my Irish friend and his two sons instead of letting them go by their initials D, C and R. It might have taken me months to be able to let their names sink in, but definitely in less than a week to have them drained out of my brain and repeatedly so afterwards. This probably sounds familiar to gweilos and gweipos when it comes to the transliterations of the Cantonese names.  No wonder when the first decades the British extended their rule over Hong Kong, the Cantonese names were transcribed by the familiar English spelling system, say, Lei Yue Mun became Lyemun . In a sort of similar spirit but a funnier way, two Irish expats in Hong Kong, Mark and Aisling, have done a  photographic project to poke fun at the Cantonese names of the underground stations . (Nevin's note: Sorry for being silent for a while. First is the busyn...

The post title makes it obvious about the importance of naming a system. The Leica $ system, the gem that makes us drool (and then droop for lacking of funds), now opens its arms to those who have the money to burn but wish to burn it at a slower pace and over a longer period of time. Beg that the workshop will be at just a fraction of what the system is going to cost you. There is something sometimes requiring straight action without reasoning. Buying Leica, to many, is one of that something. Act now before you regret having regretted the lack of wherewithal. (Hong Kong only)

(Leica D-Lux 5) So you are contemplating a camera for free? Now a chance to get a sum of prize money enough for a Sony RX1. Here are the details: http://www.photocontest.hk/index.php/en/online-home-en

(Leica D-Lux 5) Hong Kong’s Le French May comes to its 21st round since its inception in 1993.  The annual festive celebrations in May range from food to visual arts with Michelin-starred chefs flown to bring the city the real French cuisine and French works of art brought to the public eyes.  One of such exhibitions is now on at Landmark of Central, for free, where I took today's shot.

(Leica D-Lux 5) Seldom has it been that winning works cherry-picked for a competition are free of controversy, surely save ourselves being the winner. How many times we have seen the winning works in a photo contest too amateurish, off the mark or exceedingly post-processed is anybody’s guess. Now, there are two new fodders for the photography community to carry on the relay of mockery. This guy and this guy won the inaugural WYNG Masters Award for Photography on the theme of poverty for a prize of HK$125,000 each or, in a common international photography language, roughly two Leica M Monochroms (Well I wonder if the "s" can be suffixed this way). You could be thinking, well, lots of street photographers out there are way better than the first one and, wait a minute; did the other winner set up a CCTV for the eerie peeking shots? First, there is a thing called committee effect which is forever present in an adjudicator panel and shall be blamed for an always balanced c...

(Leica X1) Obviously a top pic is today's shot. LOL! The real top pic will show soon. I'm referring to the WYNG Masters Award which has been mentioned on GXG (if you're wondering, search the blog using the search bar). The decision on the sole winner for the award – a swooping sum of HK$250,000 – will be hammered out soon from the few finalists. But the organiser is not going to drop the other shoe just yet. Well, not before the coming inaugural exhibition - Poverty in the Midst of Plenty to show the works from 19 March to 6 April at Artistree, 1/F Cornwall House, Taikoo Place, Island East, Hong Kong. To tie in with the event is a series of – let me check – hmmmm, yes, FREE talks on the topics of poverty, art and photography.  Registration is required as seats are limited. Go here .

(100% crops of the following Jpeg originals and of the Lr4 processed images can be viewed here ) (Sony A99 @ ISO 6400 with ZEISS 24-70mm F2.8) (Sony A99 @ ISO 8000 with ZEISS 24-70mm F2.8) I brought a memory card with me to the Sony Store this evening to try out the A99.  With a hefty price tag, the Sony A99 needs to give lots of grist to support a buying decision. The speedy focusing, the right ergonomics (and very light weight in its class indeed) and the comfy button layout are not to be doubted. The white balance and dynamic range look fantastic even though this is not a scientific conclusion. But the noticeable smudgy images at ISO 6400 and above are characteristic of the algorithmic approach of Sony's sensor used in its Alpha and Nex cameras. The question mark on the IQ aside, fitting a EVF, however excellent it is – and it is, in a top-of-the-line FF camera is a miscalculated step I think.  At least, it is a regretful deal breaker to me.

(Leica D-Lux 5) This shot was taken at the famous Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, where the locals go for all sorts of out-of-this-world electronic parts and appliances. The district is also known as the mecca for computer geeks from around the world for the Golden Computer Shopping Centre is situated just a stone's throw away from the Shui Shui Po MTR station. The computer centre fest (Chinese site only) is now on and shoppers can snap up bargain items galore.

(Sony A55) An important exhibition on in town is the Picasso's masterpieces from Musee National Picasso of Paris. If you happen to be in Hong Kong, the exhibition is open in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum [weird venue for such an exhibition] from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. until 22 July, including public holidays (but close on Tuesdays). The entrance fee is HK$20 per session, which entitles the holder to a whole-day admission to all other exhibitions in the museum. But be sure to buy a ticket at the Urbtix outlets for any of the three daily sessions before going to the museum in Sha Tin.

Two photos taken by an ex-PLA solider taking part in it are on exhibition in Hong Kong. It was overpowering enough to just stand up close to the oversized prints. It was the morning after that night. The images posted below are of large size. Click open to see them and let them speak.   That night 23 years ago is to be remembered tonight. Be there at the rally. Make a number and MAKE CLEAR THE STANCE OF HONG KONG

(Sony A55) Remember an old post about a photography talk in Hong Kong by a UK photographer on his Don't Call Me Urban project? As I wrote the talk was sort of a kickoff event for the big thing to come: the first annual WYNG Masters Award for Photography. Now the 2012 contest is on (actually submission can be made starting from yesterday)! If you have taken part in enough number of photo contests and wish to do something meaningful, read on. Supported by WYNG FOUNDATION (locally incorporated in law), the WYNG MASTERS AWARD for Photography is a non-profit project initiated to spark public awareness and support interest in socially relevant subjects. The intention is to stimulate discussion and encourage social responsibility on important issues in Hong Kong through the medium of PHOTOGRAPHY. The WYNG Masters Award theme for the 2012 inaugural contest is POVERTY. The reasons I am recommending this to you are (1) this is a meaningful endeavour; (2) the cash prize is hefty; and (...

(Ricoh GRD4) Oh, this is May 10. Leica is launching something new today.

A local WYNF Foundation is calling interested photographers to attend a free talk by Simon Wheatley ( his works here or project website here ) to kick off a WYNG Masters Award for Photography. It is a photography contest with the theme, let me take a deep breath for it's a bit long -- Don’t Call Me Urban: the Time of Grime. Submissions are welcomed from photographers of whatever nationalities on the condition that the images are shot in Hong Kong. Details of the contest can be viewed by downloading this file . The free talk is on 11 May. Reservation is required.

I'd slack off a bit and let you enjoy this educational video about street photography. If you haven't ever tried some of their shooting strategies (not in those funny dresses though) as a street photographer, go and try any that suits your style. Anyone so wishes may send me your results to my email box and I'll post them on GXG, maybe with comments. Anyway, I will show you mine next week. Stationed in Hong Kong, Kai is the most entertaining presenter of camera reviews on this planet.  If there are lives on other stars, then he'll the best out of this planet too.  His lively, hilarious and somewhat tart (he commented the NEX7 as "brilliantly alright") style just dwarfs that of those boring camera reviewers who give technical-ish lectures on what a camera can do in video clips that sucks with sound recording that also sucks.

(Sony A55) Let me start by saying something about today's shot. This was taken on the escalator leading to the lift lobby level of the Upper House hotel where I attended the cocktail party last night to open the photo exhibition of the Leica x Swire Hotels project. I think this image adequately conveys the mysterious quality to the hotel's atmosphere, as well as the moment's jovial feelings in my heart fluttering with inexpressible anticipation of the event -- my winning shot was one of the highlights in the exhibition. The reason for me to take this shot was simple: to challenge a commissioned photo taken (by a Beijing photographer) at the escalator top for the project echoing the theme "views from the top". It is not that the commissioned photo taken with a Leica M is bad, but that I prefer one with more depth in meaning apart from the interest of composition so that the photo can give more punch. The soliloquy to my soul led to one conclusion: take a shot to...