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.

Hey!

GX200, f4.4, 1/40, ISO 800, RAW, 72mm

Another picture from the airport, this time thankfully without any cancellations or problems. I forgot to install Noise Ninja on my UMPC so will have to do without or try to download it later. This picture was planned as b&w anyway so no noise reduction is required.

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.

The Wapping Series

While taking a walk after work I came across an old power station in Wapping and saw that there was an exhibition on so I decided to go in and have a look. The place is 'The Wapping Project'. It was well worth the visit since it is an old power station with some of the machines still inside so it makes for an interesting setting. This time I can also recommend something to Yesbuts, usually he is the one telling me about these places in London.
I need to go back there and take more pictures since I did not have a lot of time today. So for now enjoy this series, all taken with the GX200 and most are at ISO 800 and RAW.