Cristian Sorega Photography

Red Bike

2012-01-27T23:15:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1 sec., ISO 400, RAW, 18mm (Voigtlander Heliar f5.6 12mm L)

Yesterday, I received my 12mm Heliar L lens but did not have too much time with it so I could only really use it today.

First impressions are very good, it is very nicely built and the quality is very good so far.
I really like the focus stops so you know when you got to infinity, 1m, 0.5m and 0.3m, this is great and I wish more lenses had it. Makes it in use a bit like the adjustable Snap AF on the other Ricoh cameras. Not that you need to worry about focusing much here anyway since at f5.6 and focus to 1m everything will be in focus anyway.
The field of view is great and despite the wide angle it is well corrected and very sharp, it also handles flare very well and has no visible CA or fringing. At f5.6 it is not super fast but you can easily handhold it at 1/30th and even lower without problems so this kind of makes up a bit for the slower aperture.

I can see this becoming my favourite lens in the summer when it's longer light outside. Need to find out if this can replace my CV 15mm, complement it or whether the 15mm is the better choice.

I.M.S. Agent

2012-01-26T23:26:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/440, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

50 Degrees

2012-01-25T23:51:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/48, ISO 3200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Taxi

2012-01-24T22:13:00.002Z

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/48, ISO 3200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

2012-01-23T23:07:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 1671, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Gong Xi Fa Cai everyone!

Hope you all had fun celebrating the Chinese New Year today.

The Light at the Entrance

2012-01-22T19:47:00.003Z

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/73, ISO 3200, RAW, 135mm (Leica Elmar f4.0 90mm L)

Flat Tire

2012-01-21T23:44:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/133, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Paint it Black

2012-01-20T23:39:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/90, ISO 3200, RAW, 135mm (Leica Elmar f4.0 90mm L)

Look Right

2012-01-19T21:38:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/1620, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

The Berlin Job

2012-01-18T20:17:00.000Z

Before and after my meeting I had a bit of time to walk around Berlin and take some pictures, lucky the weather was as nice as in Zurich yesterday.
I like Berlin as a city, it is pretty chilled out and has some great mix of architecture. There is a lot of history there but it also feels modern and arty.

Stopover in Zurich

2012-01-17T20:05:00.000Z

On my way to Berlin for work, I had a stopover in Zurich and a few hours to spare. The weather was fantastic and since I had the GXR with Nokton f1.4 35mm lens with me, I went for walk around and took some pictures on the way.

Smoking in the Sun

2012-01-16T21:32:00.002Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/1620, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

After the recent b&w series, a bit more colour for today. I have also used a higher contrast for this than in some of my more recent pictures which had a lower contrast.

Smile in the Mirror

2012-01-15T22:51:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/250, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

I like to take pictures of reflections and mirror images so when I saw a few mirrors at the Clock Tower Market in Greenwich, I waited around to get the right reflections in there. Although I wanted to post a colour picture after my recent b&w only picture, this just works better in b&w.

Daydreaming

2012-01-14T23:20:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/125, ISO 2934, RAW, 135mm (Leica Elmar f4.0 90mm)

This was actually just a test shot while trying out a few lenses at Camera Cafe but I quite like how it came out so decided to use it as my picture for the day.

Waiting for the Bus

2012-01-13T20:18:00.003Z

GRD, f2.4, 1/20, ISO 200, JPG b&w

Another b&w and square format picture today. I took this while on my way to work.

I have to say, the GRD I still impresses me with the quality of the files and mostly the character. It also leads me to a different way of shooting. I take more spontaneous shots, I worry less about the technical details and just take the pictures. As good as other cameras are, the GRD I still remains in my opinion the best camera for street photography.

At the Barbican

2012-01-12T23:29:00.002Z

GRD, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Continuing my square and b&w series it's another picture from the GRD I taken at the Barbican, I liked the light so decided to take a picture and this was always meant to be in square format.

At the Museum

2012-01-11T18:38:00.001Z

GRD, f3.5, 1/250, ISO 400, JPG b&w

The Smoker

2012-01-10T19:20:00.000Z

GRD, f5.0, 1/400, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Took this on my way to work, it's always good to have your camera ready since you never know when an opportunity arises.

Since I wanted to travel light I took only my GRD with me but I travelled too light and forgot my SD card so had to make do with the internal memory only. Good thing it's got enough for 8 JPGs and since I don't shoot RAW with the GRD I, it got me through the day.

Texting

2012-01-09T18:48:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 1250, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Was not very inspired today and only took this one picture on my way home. Now I have to ask myself, did I convert it to b&w and cropped it square to make it appear more arty and to overlook some of it's problems or because it works better than the colour 2:3 version?
What do you think, can you make people overlook flaws with a picture just by turning it to b&w and cropping it?

The Photographer's Girlfriend

2012-01-08T22:23:00.001Z

GF1, f2.0, 1/250, ISO 100, RAW, 70mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm M)

Technically it's not a very good picture, it's not perfectly in focus and I cropped her foot off slightly but I like it anyway, I like their pose. In the end it's not about technical perfection but about the photograph so I decided to just post it anyway.

I took the GF1 out since I wanted to try the Nokton on another camera but on the GF1 it did not really perform as well and I forgot how fiddly it is to focus without a RF, peaking or Mode 2 on the GXR.

R-D1 People

2012-01-07T23:27:00.000Z

It has been quite a while since I used my Epson R-D1, or any other camera beside the GXR A12-M for that matter, so I dusted it off and took it out for a walk equipped with the Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm lens. The lens surely looks more at home on the larger R-D1 than it does on the GXR A12-M but what I found very interesting is that the pictures look like it was a completely different lens that I used. The character seems different to a degree and it shows a higher degree of fringing next to the usual vignetting.

Framing and focusing on a rangefinder is not the most accurate or easiest thing, especially in low light and after being used to Mode 2 on the GXR. I still enjoy using the R-D1 and it's almost like going back in time.

This is a series of pictures I took at the Tate Modern and Borough market, I do like the crisp images from the R-D1 and the noise character but they are more rough and not on the same level as the GXR A12-M.

Four

2012-01-06T23:17:00.002Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/310, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Took this on my way to work this morning while waiting at a traffic light and turning round to look for a photo opportunity.
I really like the low sun in the winter months, the only problem is to actually be outside to take pictures during the limited time when the sun is low on the horizon and creates long shadows.

Gravestones

2012-01-05T23:32:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/20, ISO 3200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Standing Around

2012-01-04T23:09:00.002Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 351, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Looks like a few bloggers on my blogroll had a waiting theme so this kind of fits in there but I did not want to title this post anything with waiting, too. ;)

I took this with the Nokton f1.4 35mm since I wanted a smaller and lighter camera today. Since I still have both at the moment I can alternate between them and see which one to keep.

I have raised the contrast and blown the highlights in the window to make the guy stand out more and have added some vignetting.

The Man in the Window

2012-01-03T19:24:00.003Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/1150, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

While walking down the stairs I saw my shadow on the wall and thought it could make a nice picture so I waited for someone else to go up. Without a person in the foreground it did not work however and was too empty. This meant I had to wait a bit longer and hope to get lucky with a person walking up and one walking across.
When I first took this shot I was annoyed that I did not wait a bit longer to capture the guy walking past more in the light but after looking back at it and realizing the picture with the wonam in the background it was actually the right time to take the picture.

Buying Jewellery

2012-01-02T20:19:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/310, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

A Man, His Dog and a Pigeon go to Church

2012-01-01T18:36:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/125, ISO 476, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

There is probably a joke with the title somewhere but I can't think of it it so feel free to complete it. ;)

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:45:00.000Z

Happy New Year to everyone!

Have a great 2012 and always good light for photography!

Thanks for visiting my bog.

Since it's the end of the year it is also time to reflect back on some of my favourite pictures. I don't know if it's me getting more critical of my work or if it's just less inspiration but I am not as happy with this years pictures as I was with last year's pictures when looking back.

The pictures are in no particular order other than in the order I found them to add to this post. My comments are under each picture.

I like the colours in this but really liked the peaceful scene of them being together.

I don't know exactly why I like this picture so much over some of the others I took in Cambodia or even just the boat trip but it keeps drawing me in whenever I look through.

This I like mostly for the way the Canon lens captured it with fairly low contrast and almost washed out look.

I do not take a lot of concert pictures but this one I quite like, I did some processing to it but not that much.

I am not a fan of posed pictures or photo shoots with models but when a friend asked me to take some pictures of his wife for her album, I could not say no and am actually very happy with the results.

I took quite a lot of landscape pictures this year, in Scotland, in Colorado, Vietnam and Cambodia for example but this one from Holyhead I like best. The boat at the bottom provides a great scale to the big sea.

The Nokton lens on the GF1 is still one of my favourite lenses and this picture would most likely be my pic of the year. It basically shows what I like about the UK.

I love journalistic and documentary photography, unfortunately I did not get round to do much of it this year but here I was in the right place at the right time.

This picture I like because of the lines in the sand and because the guy looks out of place carrying his table on the beach.

This I like because of the colours and the shadows of the trees that almost hide the guy running across.

Looking at Me

2011-12-30T23:52:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 1250, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Hooded

2011-12-29T23:19:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 1181, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 53mm)

Sunset in Greenwich Park

2011-12-28T22:28:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/1230, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Staircase

2011-12-27T22:34:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 271, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Portrait of a Deer

2011-12-26T23:59:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/217, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T23:53:00.000Z

Happy Holidays to all of you, thanks for following my blog!

Have a great time and hope you receive all you wish for.

Reflections of Rain

2011-12-23T23:09:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/64, ISO 3200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Buying Pearls for Christmas

2011-12-22T23:25:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 295, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Another quick day trip to Frankfurt but the weather was still grey and rainy like last time so not great for photography. This is actually the first picture I took after arriving at the train station from the airport.
The Jupiter-8 is a very nice lens and has a nice bokeh and colours. This is not bad for a lens that costs around £15-20 and you get an old Russian rangefinder camera thrown in for free.

Looking the Wrong Way

2011-12-21T23:52:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.0, 1/125, ISO 1532, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Green

2011-12-20T22:29:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/1150, ISO 200, RAW, 75mm (Jupiter-8 f2.0 50mm L)

Ricoh GXR A12-M and Sony NEX-5N Comparison

2011-12-19T12:07:00.001Z

This is not my own comparison but one written by photographer Sam Waldron and it marks the first guest post on my blog. I am thinking of having more guest posts on my blog in the future.

I really liked the comparison and wanted to share it with people who do not read the forums it was posted on. So thanks to Sam for allowing me to post this here.

You can see his great work on his website here:

Sam Waldron Photography

Now without further ado, let's get to his comparison.

Introduction

I've been using the NEX-5N with M mount lenses for about 6 weeks now – I've been happy with the set up and i'm getting better results than with my D7000 and lenses but my interest was piqued when I heard the rumour the GXR M mount could be shipping with the Sony 16MP chip in the new year.

Autofocus isn't something i've ever really needed or wanted – this is the type of thing I like to shoot.

Beyond - Sam Waldron Photography

My target output is prints, up to 16” x 24” (or Panoramas which are stitched to any size).

To my surprise, a local company had the GXM M module for rent and i've been using it the past three days. Unfortunately the weather has been terrible here so I only had a limited amount of time to do some decent shooting out and about.

I'm using it with my lenses (all very good but not without quirks) – Voigtlander 15mm M mount, Leica 35mm 2.8 Summaron, Voigtlander Nokton 40mm F1.4 and Leica 90mm F4 Elmar-C.

My general thoughts at how the cameras compare purely as a M lens platform are as follows.

Read more »

The Camel Room

2011-12-18T22:17:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 456, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Ankunft C

2011-12-17T21:09:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 2167, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Call at the Station

2011-12-16T22:12:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 2363, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Retro Light

2011-12-15T22:07:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 951, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

The Fountain

2011-12-14T23:29:00.000Z

iPhone 4, f2.4, JPG, Hipstamatic app

Italian Menswear

2011-12-13T23:26:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/350, ISO 200, JPG, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Windows

2011-12-12T22:57:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/3000, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Hampton Court Palace Visit

2011-12-11T20:44:00.001Z

Just a quick series from my visit to Hampton Court Palace, all pictures are with the Nokton f1.2 35mm and most also taken at f1.2.

Just an Empty Bench

2011-12-10T23:39:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 2934, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

The Long Table

2011-12-09T23:41:00.000Z

The Long Table and a long series from there. The Long Table is a food night market in Hackney and a good place to try some street food and some more exotic drinks. It is also a good place for photography but you will need a fast lens and even then might struggle at times.

I had the GXR with the 35mm f1.2 Nokton lens but despite this it was not always easy to get the shot. This is a series of the pictures I like best. For more pictures you can have a look at my Flickr set here.

Behind the Glass

2011-12-08T22:59:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/73, ISO 3200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Not sure why but I really like this picture and reminds me of the scene from a movie, this is why I cropped it to 16:9 format.

Looking at Reflections of St. Paul's

2011-12-07T23:30:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/189, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

This is looking in the opposite direction from where I took this picture, just a few months later and with a different lens.
I really like the details that the GXR managed to pick up in this picture..

Windowshopping

2011-12-06T23:42:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/143, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

The great thing about using legacy lenses and M lenses in particular is that each has a different look and characteristic, the Nokton lensess for example render reds completely different while the GR lens does this with greens and blues.

Old and New

2011-12-05T21:43:00.001Z

GRD III, f4.0, 1/1070, ISO 64, RAW

Children of Angkor

2011-12-04T23:22:00.001Z

While at Angkor Wat, my posts focussed mostly on temples and not much on people in and around them. I mentioned I would post some people shots later on and since I have been doing some sorting of my pictures today it was kind of the right time.

Most of these pictures have been taken with the Canon f1.8 50mm lens and are out of camera JPGs.

Buying Books

2011-12-03T22:08:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 1234, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Yellow Leaves

2011-12-02T23:07:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, 1/3200, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Cool and Wet Britannia

2011-12-01T22:41:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/125, ISO 238, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Carrying Their Collection

2011-11-30T22:55:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.2, 1/270, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.2 35mm)

Two from Saturday

2011-11-29T23:08:00.001Z

Ok, these pictures are not from today but I could not post them on Saturday since they did not fit in so decided to post them now. Both are taken with the Ricoh GR lens at f2.8.

GXR A16 24-85 Pre-Announcement

2011-11-28T22:39:00.001Z

Today, Ricoh has pre-announced their latest GXR camera unit as mentioned in my HK meetup post.
It's the new APS zoom module and while not all details have been made public I got some details from Ricoh regarding the module.

As you can see in the above image it will feature a 16 MP sensor, have a 24-85mm zoom and the lens will not be GR labelled. Further it should be relatively big as it will not collapse like the Olympus m4/3 kit zooms for example.

The release was planned for the end of this year but the flooding in Thailand caused delays sensor production so it has been pushed back slightly.

UPDATE: I have made some changes to the post as I am awaiting further information from Ricoh on a few points.

UPDATE 2: No further information, other than the display at PMA & CES 2012 was for the press only. I would expect the module to be announced and released in the next month (maybe at C+ in Japan) but have no further confirmation yet.

First Ricoh HK Meetup

2011-11-26T23:37:00.000Z

Today, was the first Ricoh meetup in Hong Kong so let me start by saying thanks to Nevin and Laikok for organising this meetup.
There were only 20 seats available but over 100 applications for this meetup.

Unlike the last London meetup we had a wider variety of Ricoh cameras with the GRD cameras being the most prominent, followed by the GXR with M mount and then some GX200 and CX cameras.

There was a relaxed atmosphere and some games and speeches held by some of the local bloggers, including Nevin.
Since my Cantonese is none existent I could not follow all of it but it was great to talk to some of the people attending.

As a treat for the people joining this meetup Ricoh released some information about the upcoming GXR zoom module.
The official announcement will be on Monday so you have to wait till then for all the details but you can get a very good idea what to expect from reading my last London meetup report.

With this my holiday is over and tomorrow will be my flight back to London.

Tablet Photography

2011-11-25T15:22:00.001Z

I understand taking pictures with your phone but I will never understand how people think it's a good idea to hold a massive 10" tablet in front of your face to take pictures with. What's even more puzzling is that cameras found in tablets are really poor compared to even the cheapest phones. It is fun to see though as it looks pretty silly.

More from the Mong Kok Markets

2011-11-24T23:07:00.000Z

Walking around the markets in Mong Kok is a great way to spend the day and something everyone coming to Hong Kong should do.

Visit to Tai O

2011-11-23T14:14:00.001Z

I took the ferry to Mui Wo and then the bus to Tai O where I spent most of the day wandering around and taking pictures. In the end I did not take all that many pictures but enjoyed the walk.

People in Mong Kok

2011-11-22T16:06:00.001Z

Just a few pictures from my walk around Mong Kok this morning, I wanted to have a theme so kept it to only these pictures for today.
Afterwards I went to the Walled City park and walked up to the Peak in the evening which was a bad idea (note to myself, next time walk down rather than up).

As a special I have a bonus picture of the Ginger Man.

I took pictures of him last time I've been here in 2008 (see one here) and was really happy to see him again. He either recognized me or always has a smile for people taking pictures of him but whatever the reason I hope to see him again next time I come to Hong Kong.

If you are in Hong Kong and wander around the markets in Mong Kok, keep an eye out for the Ginger Man.

Hong Kong Bay Cruise

2011-11-21T15:17:00.001Z

Arrived in Hong Kong today.It's great to be back here but I kind of miss Vietnam already.

Goodbye Vietnam

2011-11-20T15:55:00.001Z

It has been a great two weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia but tomorrow morning it will be time to leave and move on to Hong Kong for another few days.
I will miss Vietnam, the people here are fantastic and I like the country so will surely be back soon. There is also a lot more to see and it would be nice to have more time in some places rather than having to rush.

Ha Long

2011-11-19T23:48:00.000Z

Another set from Halong Bay, I got up early to catch the sunrise.
In the afternoon we'll return to Hanoi so the cruise will come to an end. Hanlong Bay is amazing and more than worth the trip there.

On another note, in one week we'll have a Ricoh meetup in Hong Kong so if you are around have a look here for more details: Ricoh HK Meetup
Thanks to Laikok and Nevin for helping me organize this.

I am planning to organize more Ricoh meetups when I travel so more people from around the world have the chance to join and not only people from London.

Day in Halong Bay

2011-11-18T23:06:00.000Z

Seeing Halong bay for the first time is impressive and gives a nice contrast to the busy citylife and old temples we've seen recently.
Sailing through the bay and past the islands and floating cities is a fantastic experience.

Having dust on the sensor unfortunately was not so fantastic but after an operation in the evening I managed to remove the dust almost completely so the next day's pictures should not suffer from the black blob as much as these.

Hanoi Life

2011-11-17T23:41:00.000Z

Back in Hanoi and after all the building and landscape pictures, I wanted to focus only on people today.
This is a series I took during a relaxed stroll around Hanoi, there was nothing planned for this day so it was a good opportunity to just wander and explore.

Angkor - Day 3

2011-11-16T23:29:00.000Z

The last day in Siem Reap and Angkor, there is still a lot to see and do here but it's time to continue our journey.
This day was all about the sunrise and sunset rituals performed every day by thousands of tourists (I will need to post a picture to showcase this at some point) while visiting Angkor Wat.

We starte it off like everyone else by watching the sunrise at Angkor Wat before sending more time around there since it was very quiet after the sunrise when everyone left. We headed to see a few other temples before going back to the Bayon temple to spend more time there.
The last part of the day was to watch the sunset but we decided on a lesser visited place rather than the main tourist hangout.

In case you wondered why I never showed any people in my Angkor series, this is done on purpose but I will post a series with people later on.

Angkor - Day 2

2011-11-15T23:08:00.000Z

We spent the day seeing some of the places a bit further out and started the day with a hike to see the carvings on the waterfall.

Angkor - Day 1

2011-11-14T23:04:00.000Z

Angkor Wat was the main thing to see during this trip and one of the things I had to see in life.
It is really impressive and I can only recommend everyone to go and see it at least once.It is difficult to show it in pictures how great the place is.
The whole of Angkor Park is massive and has lots of temples to see, from small to big. Angkor Wat is only one of these but one of the most impressive.

This is a series with a few pictures from the first day.
I will also post more picturs for the next 2 days and maybe do some more series in the future on it since I have too many pictures to effectively show in a single blog post.

River Views

2011-11-13T23:22:00.001Z

After too short a stay in Phnom Penh it was time to board the boat and head to Siem Reap in the morning.
It was a great trip and much nicer than taking a plane or bus.This series is a collection of pictures I took from the boat to give you and idea of what you can expect to see.

Sleepover in Phnom Penh

2011-11-12T16:14:00.001Z

Sometimes this trip feels like we're always on the road travelling. The good thing about this is that you first get to see a lot of stuff but it also makes your holiday seem/feel longer. I feel like I have been away for weeks and not just days.

Today, we arrived in Cambodia and Phom Penh. Not as early as planned so the stay here will be very short since the boat to Siem Reap leaves tomorrow mornig at 7am.

The first walk after dinner through Phnom Penh was really nice though. It is really relaxed and chilled out and the people are very nice, even after coming from Vietnam.

So far I like the country and city a lot and regret not having more time in Phnom Penh but Angkor Wat should make up for it.

I tried to give a quick impression of the place with my pictures but realize this is not possible in the short time I have here. So just take them for what they are and trust me that Phnom Penh is very nice and worth a visit, I will definitely be back.

Day in Saigon

2011-11-11T16:58:00.001Z

Arrived in Saigon at 5am this morning for a one day stopover on our way to Cambodia.
It is funny how much you get done by getting up early, by lunch time we have already seen most of he sights in Saigon.
Saigon feels very loud and busy, especially after Hue and Hoi An but is quite interesting.

Did not get any amazing pictures so only a very small series with my main impressions of Saigon.

All Aboard

2011-11-10T23:39:00.000Z

Spent most of the day in the train from Danang to Saigon so no series for today.

While the train journey was long it did give time to relax a bit and sort through the pictures taken so far. The journey itself has great views and is definitely to recommend over flying.

Tomorrow will be a day in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City and then it's off to Cambodia.

Hoi An After the Floods

2011-11-09T16:07:00.000Z

After half of the old town in Hoi An was flooded yesterday, the water retreated and the day was nice and bright today. It was great to see people all getting on with their business and cleaning up the mess.
If I would not have seen (and waded through) the flooded streets yesterday I would not have known of the flooding in some of the places.

Water, Lots of Water

2011-11-08T17:20:00.001Z

Woke up this morning without power in the hotel and water almost in the reception area, the good news was that it stopped raining.
By the time I finished breakfast the water levels went down a bit although it was still not possible to leave the hotel without getting wet feet.
Rather than stay longer in Hue we decided to stick to the plan and leave for Hoi An, for this we had the hotel arrange a car for us. we took some pictures along the way.

The weather was nice and sunny although the flood waters were visible everywhere along the way.
Once we arrived in Hoi An we found out that half of the old town was flooded, not getting discouraged we decided to go out and take some pictures anyway even if it meant wading through more water.

This is a series depicting the day and focusing on scenes with water in them (not that I have a lot of pictures without water in them). It is a longer series but I wanted to give a good overview of the situation we have been in.

I have a lot of respect for the Vietnamese people who despite all this flooding and having no electricty at the hotel were always friendly and managed to help us out with everything possible. Even the people we saw who had their houses flooded anyway had a smile and made the best out of the situation. Live just goes on here without too much fuss. I hope my pictures can show this.

Rain

2011-11-07T14:00:00.001Z

Arrived in Hue after a night in the train and got out in the rain.

It started off with rain, it continued with stronger rain and finished with even more rain and flooding in between.
I guess this is not the best time to come here, I have never seen so much rain in one day.

Still, life goes on and so does the holiday. Despite the rain we set out to do some sightseeing and to take pictures.

This was one of the times when I could have used a weatherproof body and module for the GXR. The current body and Mout A12 moule did very well though and braved the rain better than me.

Hue is a great place even with monsoon-like rain so I can only imagine how much nicer it is when the weather is better.

Thanks for all the comments, I will reply as soon as I get the chance.

To get a different viewpoint have a look at Tom's blog here.

EDIT: My title was not very accurate, it should have been 'Flooding in Hue' instead of simply 'Rain'. Because of this I decided to post 2 bonus pictures to show the before and after of the street next to the hotel.

To put it in words, on my way out this morning I did not even get wet feet as long as I avoided the streams, of water, on my way back the water was knee high so there was no avoiding anything but wading though.

People in Hanoi

2011-11-06T23:50:00.000Z

The first full day in Vietnam was a bit hectic, we had to take an earlier train than expected to leave for Hue so only had till 6pm to see Hanoi. It is a busy city with lots of people around and the traffic is crazy. At times it reminded me of my stay Marrakesh with the scooters everywhere.Like in Marrakesh my photography for the first day was not first rate, it is not easy to keep up with everyting and do some sightseeing while at it.

Nightfall in Hanoi

2011-11-05T23:34:00.000Z

After a long flight with a stopover in HK and a quick meet with Ricoh , I arrived in Hanoi.

There was no much time other than to go for a quick walk in the evening and take some photos. While I ended up deleting a lot of them, these 5 I liked best.
All taken with the GXR Mount A12 and the Voiglander Nokton lens.

Travel Kit

2011-11-04T12:26:00.002Z

Travel kit: Asus eee Transformer with keyboard dock, Ricoh GXR with EVF, A12 28mm module and Mount A12 module with the following lenses: Ricoh GR 28mm f2.8, Voigtlander Heliar 15mm f4.5, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm f1.4, Canon 50mm f1.8, hard drive, spare SD cards (I only use 2GB and 4GB cards), batteries, chargers, lens cleaning cloths, earphones and sunglasses. Not pictured is my iPhone 4.

This is an early post since I will have to head to the airport later and don't know when I get the chance to post otherwise.

I will be travelling to Vietnam, Cambodia and then to Hong Kong for the next 3 weeks so I am not sure how often I can update the blog during that time but whenever I get the chance I will post an update.

In case you wonder (or not) what I take along you can find the answer in the picture and description above.

Expect after my return a review of the GXR Mount A12 and of the Asus eee Transformer from a photographers view.

Nightfall over the O2

2011-11-03T23:30:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 2 sec., ISO 250, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Behind the Curtain

2011-11-02T22:26:00.001Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/125, ISO 250, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Toy Story Fighter

2011-11-01T23:19:00.000Z

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/126, ISO 2167, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Today, I had a small Ricoh meetup with Duane, who could not make it for Saturday. It is always great to meet other photographers and this one of the great things about starting this blog, it allowed me to meet some great people from around the world.

Red Wall

2011-10-31T18:35:00.001Z

GF1, f0.95, 1/25, ISO 100, RAW, 50mm (Voigtlander Nokton f0.95 25mm)

I just love the Nokton lens for m4/3 and it is together with the 7-14mm lens the only reason for me at the moment to keep the GF1 or keep m4/3. The feel of the lens and build is fantastic and in this respect it's one of the best lenses I have.
I tried the Nokton f1.1 50mm M lens over the weekend and need to try the new Nokton f1.2 35mm M lens to see if any can replace this lens for me on the GXR.
After using the GXR for the last weeks it was not easy to go back to the GF1 in terms of handling and usability, also manually focusing with the GF1 is nowhere near as good as on the GXR.

Today, was a try to see if it's worth taking the GF1 with both or one of the lenses with me on my trip to Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong. Right now I am not sure if it's worth to take along the GF1 for use with only the 7-14mm lens when needed.

5 from the Meetup Walk

2011-10-30T22:14:00.000Z

This is a series with some pictures I took during the photo walks that did not fit in yesterday's post.
All are JPGs out of the camera and except from the 1st one taken with the Nokton f1.4 35mm lens, all have been processed on my Asus Transfrmer using Pixlr-o-matic.

4th Ricohforum meetup

2011-10-29T23:24:00.000+01:00

What better way to start my article about the 4th Ricohforum meetup than with a picture of the new Ricoh GRD IV and of course a thanks to Ricoh for attending this meetup.

Today was the 4th Ricohforum meetup and it was intersting in a lot of ways, not least because of the Pentax buyout by Ricoh but also because of the GXR Mount A12 module for the Ricoh GXR system.
This meant that this time the focus was also on legacy M lenses and not just on the Ricoh cameras, wether this is a good thing or bad thing is certainly up for debate. Still, seeing that the GXR Mount A12 modue is one of the most successfull cameras for Ricoh and hard to find, I believe it to be a very good thing for Ricoh.

We started off with coffee and a chat about Ricoh cameras and lenses. It was interesting to see the different lenses we had on te table and the unique character and look each produced. It was also intersting to see that everyone used Mode 2 to manually focus the lenses and we agreed it is the best way to focus once you get used to it and way superior to the peaking Mode 1.

We also had a Leica M9 there and while a completely different class of camera it was great to have the ability to swap lenses around, the GXR also handles the Voigtlander 15mm lens much better than the M9 but it is of course not full frame and the crop should make it easier. There is no question though that it is easier to frame and focus with the GXR when using ultra-wideangle (under 28mm) or telephoto (90mm-135mm) lenses where it's not possible to eiher have or see the framelines well enough.

I also got a change to try out the new Ricoh GRD IV camera and I was quite impressed, it is indeed a small step up from the GRD III but it feels more finished and more refined due to the changes Ricoh have done to both the body and the firmware. Althogh they have put in the often requested (and in my view pointless) RAW only shooting mode, Ricoh needs to start saving a higher resolution embedded preview file since it will be pretty much improssible to check focus or anything from the RAW only review image.
There are a lot of other changes and adjustments and I hope to get a review sample at some point after my upcoming holidays to be able to better compare it to the predecessors.

I have asked Ricoh about a GXR roadmap or more details of what will come out of the Pentax buyout. It is still early days for Ricoh and the Pentax buy certainly has changed a few things for Ricoh so before comitting to any more GXR modules they will have to first evaluate the different camera lines and see how to best integrate everything. They are however aware of the demand for a FF mount module and a K-mount module and looking at the success of the GXR Mount A12 module it seems clear where the focus for the GXR system should be.
For the Pentax users out there, the dSLR line will be continued since it complements Ricoh's own offerings, the most changes will probaly emerge for the lower end compact camera lines.
It's still early days though so nothing concrete is known yet until Ricoh had a chance to evaluate the different cameras lines. They will provide an update as soon as there are details and I am sure the next Photokina will be interesting for both Ricoh and Pentax users.

The already announced GXR Zoom module has been delayed due to the floods in Thailand and the reduced availability of sensors from Sony, which will most likely also impact the GXR Mount A12 availability.
What I could find out is that it will have a zoom range similar to the GX100/200, so from 24-80/85mm, it will not be GR labeled and will not have a constant aperture.
It should be available early next year from the looks of it.

Afterwards we headed out for a photo walk and checking out some camera shops to try out some legacy lenses and also got the change to play around with the Nikon V1 and the new Fuji X10.
I was really underwhelmed with the Nikon V1, it felt cheap and plasticky and had only a slow kit zoom lens attached to it in similar size to the Olympus m4/3 kit lenses.
The Fuji X10 looks very nice and looks like a muc better camera than the V1 but it's not the hoped for Panasonic LC1 replacement, the OVF is pretty useless and has no point being there and the firmware seems as bad as on the X100 at first look. So I was again not tempted.

Wat really tempted me was the Voigtlander Nokton f1.1 50mm lens (pictured above) which seems an excellent lens capable of producing some very nice images and it's actually lighter than expected although not small as ou can see. Now I just need to try out the Nokton f1.2 35mm before deciding which one to go for. Having the GXR Mount A12 certainly is not a good thing for my bank account ;) .

While trying out lenses and cameras we also got a few people very interested in our GXR cameras and after seeing how well they performm and the easy of using the MF assist functions with legacy lenses it was not difficlut for them to see why the GXR is such a great system for using legacy lenses on.

The last stop of the day was the British Museum to take some more pictures before heading to a pub for a well deserved pint.

It was a great day and I like to thank everyone who joined, I hope you all enjoyed it.

Double Reflection

2011-10-28T22:38:00.001+01:00

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/870, ISO 200, RAW, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

I really like wide angle lenses and find them a lot more interesting than focal lengths over 28mm, while it's more difficult to work with the you always get a more interesting perspective on things.

What a Difference a Lens Makes

2011-10-27T22:32:00.000+01:00

Top: Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm (JPG) / Bottom: Leica Sumicron f2.8 50mm (JPG)

This post is based on a discussion I had recently with Tom about lenses and the different characters they produce. While this is no scientific comparison, it shows quite well how different lenses produce a different and unique character even when used on the same camera. In other words it shows that the lens is more important to the look and character you get than the camera or sensor behind it, then again this will come to no surprise to most people.

Just as a note, this comparison is just for the character of the lenses and the exposure is not exactly the same, nor is the field of view due to the different focal length. The character however remains the same and is visible irrespective of these differences.

Both top images are straight out of camera JPGs while the bottom pictures are RAW files developed with RAW Therapee and the 'Natural 1' setting and using the Auto WB.

Were I to choose between the pictures I would go for the Leica Sumicron JPG since it has a more dreamy an warm look out of the box without any PP. This does not apply for all situations though where the Leica look can be quite distracting at times.

Top: Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm (RAW) / Bottom: Leica Sumicron f2.8 50mm (RAW)

Rain Drops

2011-10-26T21:55:00.001+01:00

GXR A12-M, f4.0, 1/2500, ISO 200, RAW, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Took this while out for lunch, in between the rain today.

I hope the weather will be better for the Ricoh meetup on Saturday, we'll be meeting from 9:30am onwards at the Fix Coffee place near the Barbican on Whitecross street so if you want to join and ask Ricoh some questons or just have a chat please come along.

Crossing the Ghost Bridge

2011-10-25T23:50:00.000+01:00

GXR A12-M, f1.4, 1/60, ISO 3200, JPG, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Ready to Take Off

2011-10-24T23:18:00.000+01:00

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/203, ISO 200, JPG, 75mm (Leica Sumicron f2.0 50mm L)

Cottage in the Woods

2011-10-23T23:38:00.006+01:00

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/350, ISO 200, JPG, 75mm (Leica Sumicron f2.0 50mm L)

Lonely Wagon

2011-10-22T23:47:00.009+01:00

GXR A12-M, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 228, JPG, 53mm (Voigtlander Nokton f1.4 35mm)

Foggy Mountain

2011-10-21T23:13:00.014+01:00

A small series from my drive up to the top of the Semenic mountain nearby. The weather was grey and rainy at the bottom and foggy at the top, a complete change from the sunny weather of the past two days.

Just as a reminder, the Ricoh meetup will go ahead in about a week's time on the 29th in London. The location will be confirmed shortly, due to my travels it got pushed back a bit.

Parked on the Street

2011-10-20T23:09:00.011+01:00

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/570, ISO 200, JPG, 75mm (Leica Sumicron f2.0 50mm L)

Went around the little village in Romania to take some pictures, the weather was really nice and great for walking around and taking pictures. Nothing too exciting since the place is not very exciting so no series but just a single picture.
I like how the Leica renders light, it also produces a very warm and soft image compared with the more contrasty and sharper Nokton or the GR lenses in the A12 modules.

Toy Train

2011-10-19T23:08:00.002+01:00

In Romania now but I had to spend the day sorting out through pictures since I ran out of space and needed to create a backup. Since I have been travelling a lot without access to the internet I also had to prepare my blog pictures and posts so it was a light day for photography but a productive day in other ways.
This is not a exciting picture but I quite like the result from the Pixlr-o-Matic app.

In the Driving Seat

2011-10-18T22:04:00.006+01:00

Spent the day mostly travelling to Timisoara so did not take many pictures, this is actually one of only 4 pictures I took. I had some fun with it and the Pixlr-o-Matic app on my Asus Transformer tablet.