Somewhere Under the Rainbow

GRD II, f5, 1/320, ISO 80, RAW

After the heatwave we had in the last days we got the rain back today. The good thing about the rain today was that it created some dramatic clouds and shadows. On my way home I even saw two rainbows over Blackheath. It looked fantastic and while I was glad to have my GRD II with me, the CX1 would have been better due to the longer zoom for this since there were some nice detail shots I could have taken. I was split between two pictures for today, this one and one of both rainbows but somehow this just worked better.
I quite miss the CX1 and am thinking of buying one or the CX2 when it comes out to have in my bag just in case.

Race for Life 09 in Blackheath

This is a early blog update for me but after getting back from the 'Race for Life' event in Blackheath I think I found the 5 pictures I want to use for today.
I decided to use the Panasonic LC1, it has the zoom and color pictures are just great from it. I am highly impressed with the quality from the LC1, it has a fantastic lens but more than that, the sensor is very good. I believe 2/3" (or slightly bigger) and 6-8MP is the best size for a compact digital camera, it gives enough dynamic rage, very nice colors and does not have too much noise.

Across the Field

GRD, f9, 1/1000, ISO 400, JPG b&w, 21mm

Went for a quick walk around Greenwich Park today. I took pictures with the 21mm lens and tried using the OVF but I still can't find the point if one has a big LCD available which is superior in every way.
I processed this picture to add more contrast and have the noise stand out more.

Blackheath Bike & Kite Festival 2009

The 2nd Blackheath Bike and Kite Festival was on today. The weather was great so there were a lot of people around. I went out to take some pictures with the Panasonic LC1 and ended up taking more pictures of kites than bikes but it was good fun and the LC1 performed just fine and I was quite glad that it did have a zoom.
You can see the full gallery here.

Helicopter Flying

CX1, f9.4, 1/1600, ISO 400, JPG, 200mm

The weather was great today, one of the best days this year. I spent is mostly in the sun relaxing and taking some pictures in between. This is the one I like most, it was taken using the continuous mode of the CX1.

As a reminder the 2nd Ricohforum meetup will be on next Saturday the 6th at 10pm. We will have two Ricoh representatives joining us this time and have prepared a walk to take pictures and more.

Snapshot or More?

CX1, f6.6, 1/810, ISO 80, JPG, 66mm

Today's picture is a simple snapshot, something people might take with the CX1. It is nothing special and I did not spend too much thought on it. Now what if you take a boring snapshot and process it, can it become interesting? This was the question I asked myself and decided to find out.
I took this picture while walking by and while it is a pretty boring picture by itself, I have tried to find out if processing it changes that. I wanted to give it a very processed look, almost Lomo like but still different. What do you think of this? Is it a interesting picture or does it remain a boring picture and can (over-)processing an image turn a simple snapshot into something more interesting or will it always be a simple snapshot?
One thing the processing does however is make this picture 3x bigger than the original size. I don't understand why some people say you can only really process RAW files, JPGs can be very flexible and you can push the files a lot.

Moonshape

GRD II, f2.4, 1/2, ISO 100, RAW, 40mm

Took this while walking home after work today. I liked how the shape of the kite looked like the shape of the moon above and even the yellow color of the kite matched the moon.

Rays Through The Clouds

CX1, f6.2, 1/850, ISO 80, JPG, 200mm

I took this picture while having a drink in a pub near the heath. When I saw the rays coming through the clouds I thought it would make a very good picture. I really like the result but I had to use Photoshop to increase the contrast and brighten the shadows a bit.

Screens

CX1, f4.4, 1/16, ISO 80, JPG, 66mm

I decided to try out the in-camera editing on the CX1. Thanks to the high screen resolution it works pretty well and especially the level compensation is helpful to get more contrast in your images. The in-camera editing options also put a different spin to the phrase "Getting it right in-camera".
While it is better to use a computer and a decent program, it it nice to be able to adjust a few things quickly after taking or while reviewing the picture. The CX1 saves a copy with your changes so you won't lose the original image and can easily experiment a bit. It is a bit like drawing sketches so that you can get a quick idea about different ways to process your image.

Humped Crossing

CX1, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 148, JPG, 93mm

I took only a handfull of pictures today. I was mainly writing the rest of my CX1 review diary and had to reinstall my notebook. I thought I try Windows 7 on it but I could not find all drivers because it is a bit too old.
This is one of the few pictures where I actually use the flash on purpose for the effect it gives or as fill light, in this case I used it for both.

Kite Flying

CX1, f5.1, 1/710, ISO 80, JPG, 135mm

While out for a walk I saw this girl really excited about the kite flying, it was very nice to see and I took a few pictures to try and capture her joy.

The CX1 is probably not a low light camera due to the slow lens and not so great high ISO proformance as it's usual on cameras with small sensors. But using it in a dimly lit club on easy mode and utilizing the flas it did a very good job and produced pictures with accurate colors and low noise (but high NR at times). It did do pretty well compared with the other p&s cameras there although it is not quite a GRD I that can shoot without flash at ISO 1600 and produce very good quality images.

12:20pm Pancakealympics

After my long walk yesterday, I decided to take it easy and just went out to take some pictures at the Blackheath Farmers Market today. They had the first Pancakealympics in London. The kids had a lot of fun and especially the kid in the green t-shirt really went for it, he was constantly racing along.

All pictures are taken with the LC1.

The Reader

GX200, f4.4, 1/10, ISO 200, RAW, 72mm

For low light work the GX200 is really not good unless you can get away with using a low ISO and can rely on steady hands and the image stabilizer.
Took a few pictures while having some drinks in a pub this evening and this I liked best. I did have to underexpose the picture to get a good result out of the GX200, unlike the GRD I where you have to slightly overexpose. Also you need to desaturate the blue channel quite a lot so as not to get blotchy noise after using Noise Ninja or other noise reduction methods.
I do hope the next GX camera will have at least a faster lens and better high ISO to make these shots easier.

No Trains

GX200, f4.1, 1/200, ISO 64, RAW, 28mm

Took the picture this morning while on my way to work. If you've ever wondered how snow gets cleared from railtracks in Britain, this is a old well kept secret...you just leave the snow on the tracks untill it melts by itself ;). A least this gave me the opportunity to take some pictures on my journey to work.
Unfortunately the snow melted so now we have slush or ice on the roads.

Snowed Under

GX200, f4.4, 1/250, ISO 64, RAW, 72mm

The great thing about living in one of the most unorganized and inefficient countries in the world is that you might get unexpected a day off to play in the snow. This happened to most Londoners today. It began snowing quite heavily yesterday evening and since no one ever bothers here to clean up the snow it was clear that busses and trains will have problems in the morning. It came as expected so my thanks to the "idiot" who decided that puttng the powerlines for trains on the ground is a good idea. He is in a big part responsible for giving everyone a day off :). The other part goes to whoever should be clearing the roads so that cars and busses can drive.
When it snows it's the perfect chance for adults to behave like children and go out playing in the snow, building snowmen, having snowball fights and sliding down a hill on whatever they can find. These were the scenes in and around Blackheath and Greenwich park today and probably most of London.
Took this picture on the heath today. The title for the picture would be "Tree of Love" but "Snowed Under" fits better to the theme for today. Took all pictures with the GX200 and while it has some problems with fringing and the focus gets confused by too much white snow it performed great and had no problems with the wet and cold conditions.

Window

R10, f4.1, 1/570, ISO 80, JPG

After the yesterday's assignment it was time to take it easy and relax a bit today. I went for a walk around Blackheath since it was nice and sunny to take some pictures. I decided to take the R10 with me since it is small and different than the cameras I used yesterday. This picture shows the pretty good dynamic range the R10 has and that there is no fringing visible.

Neighbourhood Watch

R10, f4.9, 1/90, ISO 200, JPG

Quick update today as I haven't been taking that many pictures. I see E.T. every day on my way home and always thought to take a picture but never got round to do it. Today I had the R10 with me and decided to take the picture and see how it comes out. It is not as I hoped for but at least now it's done and I can walk past without thinking how it would look in a picture.

Bins

GX200, f2.5, 1/4, ISO 800, RAW, 24mm

Quick update today. I found a way to get better high ISO from RAW files with the GX200 but need to work on the processing a bit more.

Little White Dog

GRD, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 64, JPG

A quiet Sunday but the weather was a lot nicer after the rain yesterday so I went for a walk around Blackheath. Forgot my SD card so could only take 7 pictures but I had my GR1 with me and made some good use of it. This also got me thinking to do a GR1 week. This should be interesing since I will only see my pictures at the end of the week.

Tickets

GRD, f9, 1 sec., ISO 64, RAW, 40mm

Quick update today, after the recent news it's a bit quieter now.
Took this picture today on my way home and thought I try a long exposure and play a bit with light streaks from passing cars. It came out almost as I wanted it but it's a bit soft due to the dark frame substraction the GRD performs for long exposures, even in RAW.