Calling for Directions

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1/660, ISO 200, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this during my lunch break, maybe not a great street photo but I still like it.

Royal Mail Meet

GXR A12-M, f6.3, 1/930, ISO 200, RAW, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Just a quick picture taken on my way to work, was not hugely inspired today despite the nice weather.

Louwman Visit

If you're in Den Haag and have at least a slight interest in cars, you should visit the Louwman Museum. Even if you don't have interest in cars but just want to have a coffee in a cool setting you should still go for a visit. I don't normally like going to museums when the weather is nice as it feels like I am missing out by being inside but the visit to the Louwman was worth it.

I decided to post a series of pictures from it, trying to be as varied as possible when taking into account that I was taking pictures of cars in a museum. The pictures are taken both with the Gr and the Heliar 15mm lens, which performed extremely well despite the low light in the halls but the wide angle and extra DOF sure came in handy. All pictures processed on the Nexus 7 using Photo Mate, a RAW developer which quickly manages to surpass even RAW Therapee for quality but also ease of use.

Rotterdam Architecture

Having a few hours in a new place as a stopover is always quite nice but a challenge for photography as you never know what to expect any what to focus on. I like the challenge and try to capture what I feel is the character of the place or what makes it what it is.

Rotterdam certainly is all about the architecture and art or at least this is what my first impression was.

Here a series of photos taken during the time I had there, all taken with the fantastic Heliar 15mm lens.

Barbican Blossoms

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/1230, ISO 200, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L) 

Another picture of blossoms, taken during lunch at my favourite spot to have lunch and chill.

Moon over Tower Bridge

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1.3 sec., ISO 200, RAW, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this on my way home, the moon looked great but unfortunately I did not get it very close due to the wide lens I had with me. Still, I am still impressed by the level of detail the GXR A12-M manages to capture thanks to the excellent lenses and the sensor which works great with the lenses.

Barbican Rising

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/380, ISO 200, RAW, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this while out for lunch enjoying another nice and sunny day, I like the Barbican to both go there to chill at lunch but also to take pictures of the architecture.

OXO Sunset

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/164, ISO 200, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L) 

Took this at the end of another warm and sunny day while having a drink after work.

I like to include reflections in my photos and found that here it almost looks like an alien invasion taking place due to the shape of the roof.

Looking

GXR A12-M, f4.5, 1/125, ISO 2000, RAW, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Took this during my lunch break on a short visit to the Tate Modern, it is nice to work in the city as it allows to go out and visit some galleries during lunch.

London Marathon 2013

Another great day in London with sunshine and mild temperatures, almost perfect for the 2013 London Marathon to take place although the runners would have probably preferred it a bit cooler.

I got up early in the morning, packed my GXR with Heliar 15mm, Jupiter-8 50mm and Leica Elmar 90mm lenses and set out to take pictures of the marathon. I took the Heliar with me because I had some specific pictures in mind I wanted to take with t and the Elmar to try and use a longer focal length and see how I would get on with. For most part I got on well but I had a bad manual focus day so got quite a lot of out of focus pictures due to me not paying attention to the distance markings or the screen.

Here a slightly longer series with some of the pictures I like best, I also tried to keep it varied so hopefully it's not too repetitive.

Meantime

GXR A12-M, f8.0, 1/330, ISO 200, 22mm (Voigtlander Heliar f4.5 15mm L)

Spring arrived and this was one of the nicest days this year, it was sunny and a clear blue sky although still a bit chilly in the shade.
Took this while walking around Greenwich with the very nice Heliar 15mm lens.

Walking Next to St. Paul's

GRD, f5.0, 1/400, ISO 64, JPG b&w

I somehow really like how this picture came out, despite not being sharp and having slight motion blur despite the shutter speed. It is still my favourite picture of the day and fits with the last two St. Paul's pictures to form a trilogy.

Walking Past St. Paul's

GRD, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 64, JPG b&w

Took this during lunch while enjoying a break outside in between the sunshine and rain that followed after. I had the GXR and GRD I with me but decided to use the GRD for the easier handling.

Dusk over St. Paul's

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/60, ISO 456, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Took this on my way home after a long day in the office, I liked the colour in the sky and the way the clouds looked like.

Today, after what can be described as the most leaked product launch ever for Ricoh, they have officially announced the new Ricoh GR.

The Ricoh GR is in some ways the most exciting digital GR camera since the GRD, it not only packs a 16MP APS sensor in the same body but it actually manages to offer even more direct controls than the previous GR and GRD cameras.

I was a bit sceptical after the first leaks and wondered if the GR is really enough since Rioch already released the very good but overlooked GXR A12 28mm f2.5 module with GR lens and Nikon beat Ricoh to the punch in releasing the Coolpix A, which on paper sounds identical to the GR. Sure, the GR is smaller than either of those and has the fantastic Ricoh controls but is this enough to get the attention it deserves?
While I did not have a chance to try or handle one, the first previews and impressions are very good and it looks like Ricoh has really delivered. They were maybe a bit later than they should have been but sometimes it's better to be a bit late to the party than to stay home.

The more I read about the GR and the more I think about it, the more do I want to try one and put it through it's paces.
I have not had much time recently so all my planned reviews and articles have been put on hold but should I get my hands on the GR, you will get a full comparison between the GR1, GRD I-IV, GXR A12 28mm, GXR A12-M with Ricoh GR 28mm lens and the GR. This should answer my question about which one is the ultimate GR camera.

Waiting

GRD, f3.2, 1/160, ISO 100, JPG

In anticipation of Ricoh's most likely soon to follow official announcement of the new GR camera (not that there is much that is not known already), I decided to use my dusty but trusty GRD I today.
The GRD I is quirky and has it's problems but has a lot of character and is unique, if the GR manages to deliver something similar it can easily become the cult camera the GR line deserves to be.

Spring Blossoms

GXR A12-M, f5.6, 1/380, ISO 200, RAW, 42mm (Ricoh GR f2.8 28mm L)

Spring is finally here with some nice weather and blossoms, I just hope the weather stays like this.
If this were Japan people would be taking pictures of the cherry blossoms even when just out to grab lunch, this being London however people are not really all that interested and just walk by without really looking.

Today, also saw a  leaked video of the new GRD V or just the Ricoh GR. You can view the video here and get a feel for what the camera will look like. I have been pestering Ricoh for details on their new cameras for a while but did not hear anything but some people certainly did to be able to not only leak the specs but also the full promo video. At least this will get people talking about Ricoh cameras again after more than a year of silence on their part. It is very disappointing though hat Nikon has beat Ricoh to the punch by announcing and already releasing the Nikon Coolpix A which seems more or less the same as the GR but without tyhe excellent Ricoh handling.
Having watched the video a few times and also looked at the leaked specs before I am still not quite sure what to think of it. On one hand it is finally what the GRD III or latest GRD IV should have been but on the other hand I am not sure if other than size and a newer sensor it really offers that much more over the very capable A12 28mm module.
I am certainly curious to try it out and will try to get a sample to compare it against the older GRDs, the GXR A12 28mm module and the GXR A12 Mount with GR lens.

Helicopter

GF1, f8.0, 1/4000, ISO 100, RAW, 290mm (Jupiter-11 f4.0 145mm L)

It's been a nice and sunny day but a few clouds moved past in the sky, I took this out of my window with the GF1 and the Jupiter-11. I wanted it more dramatic and used Snapseed to process it.