Racing In The Street

R0002397RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/5, 1/30 sec, ISO100)

When I was in Ho Chi Minh City ( HCMC ) or Saigon the first time I was impressed by the traffic. Or better be the constant stream of scooters. HCMC is the world capital of scooters. Just imagine a city with a population of 8 million and almost no public transport. Sounds like Los Angeles? No. Los Angeles is just half the size but the bigger difference is that Los Angeles has thousands of kilometers of highways, sometimes with 6 or more lanes in one direction. HCMC has a small highway too but the rest is normal roads full of scooters.

Wait! There is something wrong! I just found out that those images are taken in Hanoi not HCMC! The capital of Vietnam. Almost the same amount of people but a less scooters. Still more than enough to exercise panning.

R0002411RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO125)
R0002413RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/4.5, 1/40 sec, ISO100)

I would not like to live there because you can imagine that 2 million scooters cause a massive pollution. That’s why a lot of people wear masks. I didn’t have one when I stood beside the road taking these pictures and after a while I felt it. I will bring a mask next time. But if you want to practice panning shots you are in heaven. No need to wait till you get the next chance. There is a constant stream of photo opportunities passing you all the time. It’s as challenging as fishing in a barrel but I still managed to make mistakes.

R0002415RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/5, 1/40 sec, ISO100)
R0002421RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/4.5, 1/50 sec, ISO100)

What went wrong. First of all my Ricoh GR was very new at that time. I was not used to all the intelligent modes it offers and I also got used to perfect exposure from my Fuji’s without the need to use the exposure compensation dial unless in very light or dark scenes. So I used Tv-Mode instead of the supercool Tav mode and I did not dial in a +1 Stop exposure compensation to compensate for the bright yellow background.

Just in case you don’t know Ricoh cameras. In “normal” cameras you got the PASM – mode dial. Program – Shutter Priority – Aperture Priority and Manual. In Ricoh cameras these modes named different P, Av, Tv and M but there is also this TAv mode. How does it work? This mode allows you to set aperture and shutter speed manually like in manual mode but there is a big difference! Auto-ISO and exposure compensation does still work! And that is nothing but the best combination of going manual without to need to adjust to changes of the light. It would have been the best for this type of shooting. Set aperture to f5.6 or f8 to gain depth of field, set shutter speed to 1/50s to allow for blurred backgrounds as you pan the camera and dial in +1 stop to deal with the bright colors. And of course to use snap focus to avoid shutter lag.

Unfortunately I did not use it because I never had such a mode before but because of that mistake I will remember it next time. That’s how you learn: Try and error.

R0002550RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO200)
R0002557RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO125)
R0002559RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO200)
R0002569RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO125)

But there is another thing I found out. I had problems to keep the camera “stable” during panning. I mean I had problems to move the camera horizontal only. I never had that before. I know that image stabilization can help but my Fuji’s don’t have IS either. The difference is the viewfinder or the lack of it in the Ricoh GR. You are simply less stable when sticking the camera out at arms length. I know it is attractive to leave out the viewfinder to make the camera lighter and more compact and to save money but I think it is a big mistake. Especially for cameras like the Ricoh GR or the Sony RX1. Cameras that are clearly aimed for the enthusiast or even professional user. Do they really want to shoot smartphone style? I will try to get a small optical viewfinder for my GR.

 

Some thoughts about the new Leica T ( Warning: Don’t read if you have ordered one or plan to order one ):

Leica got bashed a lot for their new Leica T and rightly so. Beside the camera body there is very little to be exited about. It’s more an iPhone with a lens than a real camera. Part of the beauty of Leica are the manual controls on the camera bodies. Now they replaced them with a massive touch screen. Big mistake! The lenses do not look impressive either: a slow and over prized kit-zoom and just one prime made by third party. Big mistake! But the biggest mistake is that the Leica T has no viewfinder. Sure you can attach one. A plasticky, ugly looking thing that sticks out of the aluminum body as if it was designed for a different camera.

What were they thinking when they created the Leica T? Looks like Canon or Nikon thinking to me. Let’s make a mirror less camera but let’s make it as bad as possible to avoid people switching from our real cameras. But there is something wrong with that thinking. Customers will switch to other brands instead of buying those stripped down, over prized toys. If you want your camera to operate like a smartphone get a Samsung. If you want camera that feels real get a Fuji X-T1 instead. For the price of the Leica T and the two lenses you get a X-T1 with an excellent kit zoom lens plus the fantastic 14, 23, 35 and 56mm lenses. It seems that Leica decided to go the Hasselblad route. Maybe T stands for Tuna.

But I guess I’m wrong. Leica has become an accessory maker. Like a Hasselblad Lunar or a Vertu mobile phone the Leica T is just a thing to show the rest of the world how rich its owner is. Now the wealthy can leave their Leica Ms and real Hasselblads at home without feeling naked. I don’t know if it will work for Leica or if it worked for Hasselblad but it for sure did not work for Aston Martin. If you don’t know what I mean just google for the Aston Martin Cygnet. Maybe the rich are not that stupid.

R0002575RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO125)
R0002581RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO250)

Ok that was a bit negative but I was exited when there where first rumors about an entry camera system from Leica. I was thinking about an APS-C mirror less camera with a nice viewfinder and some nice, small prime lenses with manual focus. I think that this is the camera that Leica should have made. A camera that looks and works like a true Leica just with the help of a built in modern EVF with focus assist system and nice smoothly focusing lenses to attract new customers to the Leica way of shooting. Some of those customers might upgrade to their M-system at a later stage. Instead they built their answer to the Sony NEX 3 just 4 years after its release date.

R0002589RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO200)
R0002590RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO200)

I do not like where this blog entry went. I don’t know why. I just had to write it. I love cameras and I love camera makers with a heritage. Some of them disappeared already like  Contax but some start to destroy their good names like Hasselbad and now Leica in order to survive. Only the future can tell if that’s the right strategy.

R0002592RICOH GR (18.3mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO250)