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. ;)

Happy New Year!

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

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

Hooded

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

Sunset in Greenwich Park

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

Staircase

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

Portrait of a Deer

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

Happy Holidays

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

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

Buying Pearls for Christmas

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

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

Green

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

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.