Old Man

GRD, f4.5, 1/320, ISO 400, JPG b&w

Today, I got the chance to take more pictures around Mong Kok and also saw the "Ginger Man" from my previous post again. He did remember me and smiled when he saw me, this was very nice. Thought of featuring him but this picture works better.

Another very nice thing was getting to meet Nevin and walk with him around the night market. As you might have guessed it from his blog he is very enthusiastic about the GX200. It was a very nice meet up and shows how a camera and a blog can connect people from all around the world. I am very happy I could meet up with both him and Mike during my stay here. Both are very enthusiastic about photography and their Ricoh cameras. Both also bought them for the same reason, the great controls and excellent, award winning design.

Sunset over Lamma Island

GX200, f3.5, 1/230, ISO 64, RAW, 50mm

After Guangzhou it was nice to have a break and be away from crowds and big cities. Lamma island is fun and a nice visit, at least once.
The GX100 got drenched by a wave while being on but it still worked fine and after drying it for a while it's like new. The lens might be wobbly as a design choice and there are dust problems with it but it survived this without a problem.Water definitely god inside but drying got rid of it. My GRD I started acting up after having water get inside through the lens.

Why Boats?

GX200, f7.1, 1/320, ISO 64, RAW, 50mm

This will probably be what you are thinking after today's picture. Well, the answer is simple. First, I wanted something different and second, I went to Stanley today and it felt like a beach holiday so decided to share this. Should also bring some more color in my blog. At the same time it is a different part of HK and shows that HK is not only tall buildings, narrow alleyways and markets.
Don't worry, you can find my street shots and b&w pictures in my Dropbox gallery. Also today no camera or gear talk, just the picture :).

Change Given

GRD, f4, 1/250, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Ok, I just love the GRD I for street photography. I know, I said it before but there is no better camera out there. The JPGs at ISO 400 and 1600 look great, grainy but very crisp and with lots of detail. The huge depth of field and instant shutter release are also very helpful and allow me to look for photo opportunities and compose my shot rather than worry about various things. The GRD I never gets in the way and I can rely on it to take the shot when I want to.
Having both the GX200 and GRD I with me in HK is great as it helps making clear what I really want and expect from a camera.

HK is great for street photography and especially in the evening you can get some great shots. I can only recommend you walk around and step away from the main roads and into the dark and narrow side streets, this is where you get some great shots of people and the gritty stuff :).

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.

One Day in Mong Kok

Today, I have a series from the Mong Kok district. This is a fantastic place to take pictures. It has lots of markets, people bustling around, old buildings and narrow side streets full of character. I could do a series or release a book about every single street if I had more time.
I used mainly the GX200 with EVF and wide angle lens and it performed admirably, at ISO 64 that is. Above that it still can't match the GRD I but at ISO 64 it surpases it and has more detail. The most annoying thing however is the LCD/EVF freeze when focusing like on the GRD II. Also like the GRD II is the biggest fault and something Ricoh MUST fix, it has focus priority and with this quite a considerable shutter lag. I have not seen ANY compact camera that would come close to the GRD I in terms of focusing speed but I expect Ricoh to fix this or will have to look for alternatives, Snap focus or manual focus are no real alternatives for me. I need a camera that takes the picture when I press the shutter, even if it's not fully in focus. So far the GRD I and GR1 are the only cameras I can fully rely on to always take the shot. I had the Nikon D70 fail on me on a few occasions when I used it, so a dSLR is not the answer.
Other than this the GX200 is a fantastic camera and the EVF way more usefull than I thought and better than an OVF due to the fact you can tilt it and it displays the full shooting information. For low ISO and long exposures it is the best Ricoh camera and easily beats the GRD II although you have to sharpen the RAW files slightly more. I went through 3x2gb SD cards and 2 batteries with it today so this should be proof enough how much I like it.
Reviewing the pictures however shows exactly why the GRD I is still the best compact camera ever produced. The JPG quality is fantastic, the images crisp and the noise fine grained. But more than anything, it always got the shot even if it did not always manage to focus perfectly.
The pictures are taken with the GX200 at ISO 64, ISO 200 and ISo 400 in RAW and the GRD I at ISo 400 in JPG. I will let you figure out which pictures are which. You can find more pictures in my Dropbox HK Gallery.

Waiting to Cross

GRD, f2.4, 1/50, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Took it easy today, had a look around the shops for UMPCs and cameras. Ricoh cameras here are more expensive than in the UK so this was a big surprise but they are available everywhere and not only in selected shops. Need to check out some more photography oriented shops. To bring this into perspective, the cameras cost more but mainly due to the British Pound being not much worth at the moment. Hope they will introduce the Euro in the UK or it will be very expensive to travel soon.
For UMPCs I had a look at the 'HP mini 1000' and the 'Asus eee S101', both are very sleek and light. While the Asus looks slightly more expensive, as it is more expensive, it is the HP that has the best keyboard I've seen on any notebook. The Q1 Ultra however is still one of the best portable devices and turns heads wherever you go, still don't get how Samsung managed to completely mis-market this or not market it at all. I still hope they will release a Q2 Ultra with a keyboard like the 'Wibrain B1/i1'.

Hong Kong Bay

GX200, f5.7, 4 sec., ISO 64, RAW, 24mm

Arrived in Hong Kong and went straight for a walk. It's much hotter than expected but this is quite nice after the weather in London. Hong Kong so far is great for street photography and long exposures at night, so my choice to take the GRD I and GX200 was definitely right. Although I also have the R10 and GRD II along but these are here to help me finish the reviews.
If you're interested to see more pictures from HK have a look here, the Gallery will be updated as I go along and have time. Dropbox is a really good tool for this.

As a note, I will not always have time to reply to the comments but will reply to all the latest when I'm back.