Face

R10, f4.8, 1/97, ISO 80, JPG, 200mm

Last day in HK, flight back is tomorrow morning so a quick update today to bring my blog up to date again.
Went to Lantau Island again but did not climb the peak this time, just visited the big Buddha and monastery. They had a festival so it was very nice to take pictures. Used the R10 and GX200 only. Both did a good job but the display freeze and shutter lag on the R10 makes it almost impossible to use for fast changing shots.
The picture is from one of the statues there, I wanted something different for today. This is unprocessed straight out of the camera and looks exactly as I wanted it to, including the blur and softness.

Conquering Lantau Peak

The weather was great as usual here and since it was Sunday, I thought, I will do some hiking in Lantau. After all the people yesterday I needed a change and also wanted to trial the GX200 as a landscape camera.
Taking the cable car took a while since it was packed but once up there it was fine. I took some pictures of the big Buddha and visited the temple but did not stay long since I will be revisiting this. What I won't be revisiting however is hiking all the way up to Lantau Peak. Before starting the hike I went on the 'Path of Enlightenment'. My enlightenment came although a bit too late. I realized two things while climbing up. First, do take enough water with you and if you think it is enough take some more. Second, this was the last time I ever carry my UMPC and more than one camera up a mountain ;).
The hike was well worth is and despite the haze I've been rewarded with some spectacular views. I can only recommend this but do follow my advice :).
As much as I might have complained about the GX200 yesterday as a decisive moment camera and the poor quality at high ISO but for hiking it's fantastic, the extra resolution and mainly the zoom are essential. If you want a compact camera to take along for hiking, this is it. Forget the GRDs or Panasonic LX3 and don't even think of lugging around the Canon G10 brick, this is the camera to take. You will appreciate the excellent lens and extra zoom compared with the LX3 and the extra wide angle and lighter body compared with the G10.
Enough talk, enjoy today's series.