Bridge to the Wharf

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/2, ISO 400, RAW, 18mm (Voigtlander Heliar f5.6 12mm L)

More of the O2

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/2, ISO 200, RAW, 18mm (Voigtlander Heliar f5.6 12mm L)

Westminster Pier

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/2500, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Kent Walk

Went for a walk around Kent today from Edenbridge to Sevenoaks with a Meetup group, it was a very nice day out and I got the chance to use my two new lenses. I used only the Voigtlander 12mm and the Leica 90mm lenses but had to cut down the pictures to 5 so aside from one picture the rest are all taken with the 90mm.

Red Bike

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

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

50 Degrees

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

Taxi

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

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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

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

Flat Tire

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

Paint it Black

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

Look Right

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

The Berlin Job

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Smoker

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

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

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

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

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

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

Standing Around

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

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

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

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. ;)