Newspaper Salesman

RD1s, f5.6, 1/390, ISO 400, RAW, 28mm

Since I had the Epson RD1s for my comparison with the GRDs, I decided to use it today and take a few street shots with it. I wanted to see how good it will work for shots from the hip.
This picture while not perfect and blurry is the one I like most.

Divide

GRD, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Did not take many pictures today, this is one of the few I managed to take during my lunch break.

Turned Your Back On Me

GRD III, f1.9, 1/540, ISO 64, RAW, 40mm

Took this picture as part of my comparison between the GRDs and RD1for my upcoming GRD III review.
This is taken with the 40mm lens but processed here, I cropped it to 1:1 format and added some noise.

Sitting on a Box by the Bay

GRD III, f4.5, 1/380, ISO 64, RAW 2:3

Since the weather was great today, it was a good opportunity to go out and take the comparison pictures I needed for my GRD III review. If everything goes well, I should have it finished in the next days although I might add more to it in the future.
This picture is not part of the comparison, I took it in between and liked it as a picture for the day. At first I wanted to post a teaser with a small comparison but this is better.

Back Door

GRD III, f2.5, 1/250, ISO 64, RAW

Did not take many pictures today. On my way to see friends I came across a few old and abandoned buildings and really liked the doors.

The End of an Evening?

GRD III, f1.9, 1/60, ISO 800, RAW

Took this picture on my way home after work. I was happy to see that the GRD III focused perfectly fine on the glasses without me needing to fiddle with the focus. One thing I am not so happy to see is banding in underexposed areas even at ISO 800.

To The Escalators

GRD III, f4.5, 1/540, ISO 64, RAW

Whie out taking pictures during lunch I thought about trying to take some pictures through wndows and of reflections on windows. This is like best from the ones I took.

Relaxed Courier

GRD, f5, 1/320, ISO 400, JPG b&w

I really like this picture, there is something about the way the courier guy stands that I had to take it. Usually you see these guys rushing around so to see him just chilling out is very strange and does not happen often.

Fashion

GRD, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 400, JPG b&w

After having used the GRD III almost exclusively over the last weeks it was time to take the GRD I out again. I really like the b&w JPGs from this camera and although the GRD III is an excellent camera and a huge improvement in so many areas, it simply can't come close to the GRD I when it comes to b&w JPGs.

Friday Prayers

GRD III, f4, 1/440, ISO 64, RAW

Maybe not such a great picture but I found the arrangement of the two signs very funny.

Old Couple

CX2, f5.6, 1/90, ISO 200, JPG b&w, 300mm

Today's picture is a street portrait taken with the high contrast b&w mode of the CX2. Like the R10 and CX1 before I really like the camera with the standout feature for me being the high contrast b&w mode. This looks grweat and gives much better results than the standard b&w mode with no noise reduction smearing going on. I like the crisp images and noise it produces and with the EV +1, as used here, you can get pictures similar to the text mode but with better definition. I really hope Ricoh can add this mode to the GRD III.
My internet access over the last week has been limited so I could not reply to the comments but will reply to all by tomorrow.

Picture Postcard

GRD III, f6.3, 1/380, ISO 64, RAW

If you're spending most of your day in a car driving, it is not easy to take many pictures. Afterall the Autobahn is a pretty boring place. Still, if you do make a stop and look to the side you can be rewarded with views like these.
I have cropped the picture to 16:9 because it works better for panorama style pictures, I wish Ricoh would implement this in their cameras.

An Evening in Graz

An overnight stay in Graz meant I had some time to wander around and take some pictures. By the time I got there the good light was gone so it was more difficult to take good pictures of the architecture there.
I thought of uploading a full gallery but decided to keep it to only a series of five pictures.

Nobody Cares Anymore

GRD III, f3.5, 1/400, ISO 64, RAW

This was the very first cinema I ever went to so it is very sad to see that it's been abandoned and left to rot for the last 10 years.
Like a lot of things in Romania, people stopped carying about them and now they are abandoned and fall apart. With a bit of care this old cinema could get back to the glory it deserves but people are too preoccupied with themselves and how to make easy money in order to care.

I have also updated my gallery if you want to see more pictures from Romania click here.

Geri

GRD III, f5, 1/75, ISO 64, RAW

His name is not Geri but he reminded me of the Character from the Pixar animation 'Geri's Game'.

It is funny how your perception of things changes over time. Going back where you grew up and where things seemed big once, the world feels a lot smaller now. Where a few streets and places were your whole world they are just a few small streets and places now.

"Want Some Apples?"

GRD III, f4.5, 1/500, ISO 64, RAW 2:3

After arriving in Romania yesterday, I had more time for photography today.
Although this is not so much a photography holiday, I will try to post some impressions from here and have created a gallery.
I will try to keep the blog and gallery updated but depending on time I might be lagging a bit behind so check back.

Before the Dawn

GRD III, f4, 3 sec, ISO 400, RAW

I had to catch an early fight so while walking to get the bus I came across this churchyard. The light was very strange, especially what the camera made out of it. At first I thought of using it in b&w but decided against it, instead I tweaked the white balance a bit more to get these quite surreal colors.

Tap

GRD III, f1.9, 1/2, ISO 1600, RAW

Todays picture is again something that does not work as expected. I saw this while walking home in the evening but it was too dark to use the AF or macro focus and I messed up using manual focus even with the very good screen.
I have used a few digital cameras and even rangefiders but using manual focus in low light is almost impossible, especially when you need to be precise.

The Wapping Series #2

If you have been reading my first impressions of the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in my first 'Wapping Series', you will know that I was really impressed with theplace and think it' one of the coolest places in London. I have been there a few times already but have not done another series on it. Today, I decided to walk there again and took the Panasonic LC1 with me and decided to do another series on it.

No More Games

GRD III, f1.9, 1/1740, ISO 64

I took this on my way home in North Greenwich, I liked the feel of the abandoned parking lot and the lonely ball there.
I used f1.9 and focused on the ball to try and get a bit of shallow DOF. This worked very well although the ball was 3-4m away.

Waiting

GRD III, f4.5, 1/570, ISO 64, RAW

After my recent encounter with the Canary Wharf security I managed to go about taking pictures without any hassle today. The sun was shining so it made taking pictures at Canary Wharf more interesting, if it's grey and overcast it's not really a great place to take pictures.

209A

GRD III, f1.9, 1/250, ISO 64, RAW 1:1, 40mm

I have tried to use the 40mm lens in 1:1 format today but it does not realy work much better. It does give a very nice shallow DOF if used at f1.9 but the quality is not very good overall and the picture is only in the middle really sharp.
So overall I can say that if you want to use the 40mm adapter lens you have to get a GRD II.

Connected

GRD III, f5.6, 1/760, ISO 64, RAW, 40mm

Today, I decided to try out the 40mm lens with my new step up ring, which I recieved yesterday. I can fully understand why Ricoh did not want this lens to be used with the GRD III, it has vignetting, is very soft on the edges and suffers a lot more of flare than usual. Overall it is just barely usable in 1:1 format but not in full format.
One thing I noticed is that the step-up ring seems to move the adapter lens too far away from the internal lens, it actually works better if you hold the 40mm adapter lens in front. I will need to experiment more with this.

While taking pictures in Canary Wharf, I also had a run in with the local security idiots who were not quite sure if I am or I am not allowed to take pictures there and needed 6 people to ask me if I took pictures of one of them.
I had a few small run-ins with them but today, I must have found the biggest idiot on duty to acuse me of lying and trying to bully me with 6 colleagues to show them the pictures I took. After telling them that there is no chance without a court order and they better not accuse me of anything or there will be repercusions they finally got back to do what they usualy do, which is stand around and look 'important' in their uniforms.
Overall, some security guys are funny as they really want to make themselves more important than they are and if you, like me, just laugh at that they can get a bit irritated. It is all nice and helps pass the time, I am sure I will get to know them a lot better soon. ;)

Hiding

GRD III, f3.2, 1/200, ISO 400, RAW

Saw this hanging at the Greenwich Park entrance gates while walking home and decided it looks quite nice.

Counting the Change

GRD III, f3.2, 1/100, ISO 64, RAW

I did not take many pictures today. Actually I only took two pictures so the choice was not great and neither was the quality.
While on some days I have quite a fee pictures which I really like and I have a hard time deciding which ones to post. On other days I just don't have the time to go out taking a lot of pictures or am not very inspired. On these days I ask myself if it would not be better to just use an older picture I really liked but did not post yet or if I should still use the picture from the day. What do you think?

The Fan

GRD III, f1.9, 1/100, ISO 71, RAW

This was a picture which would not have been possible without the new ful-press Snap mode of the GRD III. While walking past a phone booth she just appeared in front of me, although I did not have time to focus or even change the Snap AF distance I could still get the shot and this is always better than nothing.

Crossing the Bridge

GRD III, f4, 1/800, ISO 64, RAW

I like shadows and reflections, Canary Wharf is great at certain times during the day when the reflections create some very nice shadows.

Flowers and Reflections

GRD III, f6.3, 1/153, ISO 64, RAW

When I got out during my lunch break I saw these reflections and had to stop and take a few pictures. I was quite lucky with my timing, soon after clouds moved in front of the sun and the nice reflections were gone.

Metropolitan Police

GRD III, f1.9, 1/45, ISO 200, RAW

Weather has not been very good and I have not been too inspired today. When I saw this, I really liked it and wanted to incorporate it into a good picture, I am not sure if this is it but I still like the result.
If you wonder about the title of this picture of why it looks out of focus, do look closer.

Walking Past

GRD III, f5, 1/500, ISO 64, RAW

I really like the light and reflections at Canary Wharf, it gives pictures a different look and feel.