Kilmainham Gaol

I always liked watching prison movies like 'Shawshank Redemption' or 'Escape from Alcatraz'. Since getting into photography I always enjoyed taking pictures of abandoned buildings so when I got the chance of going to an old prison here in Dublin it was great. unfortunately you have to join a tour if you want to visit Kilmainham Jail so photography is a bit limited. I really enjoyed it though and would like to try and spend more time there on my next trip to Dublin. This is why I decided to put up a series today. To give the pictures I gritty feel, I used b&w and ISO 400 or 1600 for my pictures inside the jail.
I have also updated my gallery if you want to see more pictures from Dublin and the jail.

Bus Stop 'C'

GRD, f2.4, 1/60, ISO 1600, JPG

After work I went to the British Museum to take some high ISO comparison pictures and with this the last batch for my upcoming GX200 review. I used all Ricoh cameras to take pictures at ISO 100, 400 and 1600. So far I did not manage to compare all yet but it should be very interesting.
This is a ISO 1600 picture I took while waiting for the bus. I saw a few Wong Kar Wai movies and liked the way he uses shots through windows with the reflections. This is my try at something similar, kind of inspired by WKW and Christopher Doyle.

Shadow of the Witch

GRD, f2.4, 1/6, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Sometimes it's not easy to get the picture for the day, not because I am not motivated or inspired but because I have not much time for it. Then again, there is always a little bit of time for photography even if it's just on the way home. For this time of the year when it gets dark early the GRD I is the best camera I can really take along since none of the other cameras I have are good enough at ISO 1600.
I cropped the picture to 1:1, darkened the blacks and sharpened it. This is also one of the few pictures where I used the burning tool in Photoshop.

Night Rider

GRD, f2.4, 1/100, ISO 1600, JPG b&w - Taken on 19/01/2007

When is a compact camera superior to a dSLR? Everytime you need a high DOF in low light, like in this situation. This picture was taken with the GRD at ISO 1600 and EV -1 so effectively at ISO 3200 and using Snap focus. The D70 we had along could not focus, the f3.5 lens was too slow and the DOF too shallow as to be of any use.
This might not be an amazing picture but it shows where a small sensor camera can be much better than a big sensor camera. This is why I hope someone will release a compact camera with a 2/3" sensor and a very fast lens. I don't need or want a full-frame or APS sensor because the DOF is too limited there. It can be nice for portraits but not when you loose all advantage of a fast lens and high ISO.
While everyone is asking for compact cameras with a big sensor, I would like to see compact cameras with improved small sensors. If I could have a 2/3 sensor which can deliver the same image quality as the GRD I in this picture at ISO 6400 and a f1.4 or f1.8 lens it would be the perfect camera for me. Looking back through my pictures I noticed that the image quality of my Ricoh cameras was never really limiting or not good enough to get the shot and have a memorable picture. The only thing I missed me was a higher ISO and faster lens.

Cat's Eyes

GRD II, f2.4, 1/6, ISO 800, RAW

Todays picture fits again the 'non-photography' category. I quite like to sometimes break the rules and deliver a blurry and noisy photo. Afterall, I think technical perfection, although it is what most people strive for, is not important for a good picture. There are too many technically brilliant but boring pictures on the internet.
Not that this is the most exciting picture but sometimes a technically bad photo actually benefits from the noise and blur. I doubt, I would have selected this image if the cat would have been in perfect focus or there would be no noise at all, this picture would lack something in my view.

Curves

GRD, f2.4, 1/8, ISO 1600, JPG b&w

Took this picture in the evening while walking home. I liked the light and shapes of the car. It seemed like it would make a good b&w picture and it did come out very well.

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 :).

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.

High-ISO Comparison - Teaser

Ok, this is the last technical post for the next week where it's more about cameras than the pictures. I've planned to do this for a while but never got round to, so last week at a concert I finally managed to get this started.
The high-ISO comparison this time is only a teaser, this is due to the very slow shutter speeds and moving subjects which make it difficult to compare the cameras properly. All pictures were taken at ISO 1600, f2.5 and a shutter speed of 1/15 so this will account for loss of sharpness or motion blur in some pictures. Anyway, I thought it good to do a quick comparison and see how bothe GRDs perform. I ran Noise Ninja on the GRD I JPG and the GRD II RAW file with the same settings. The in-camera JPG settings were set to Contrast +2, Sharpness +1 and Color Depth -2 on both GRDs.
Hopefully I can do a better comparison soon. This is therefore not a final comparison and the results might be different for the final comparison. Noise Ninja also turned the GRD II file slightly blue so I need to work on that profile.
You can download the files here so you can have a look for yourself.

GX200 Walk

First day out with the GX200 and I am very impressed. It is in almost every respect better than the GRD II as long as you don't go over ISO 800.
The lens needs to be faster though, especially as you zoom in you lose too much. The JPG quality is very good though even if it does not get close to the GRD I JPGs. Even long exposure pictures can be used from the JPGs, something that is impossible with the GRD II. So far my impresions of it are very good and I would say from the current Ricoh cameras it is the best right after the GRD I. The RAW files are as good as the GRD II but with less contrast and not quite as sharp but this can be easily fixed. The only most notable differences are the distortion and the size of the camera. I was even quite impressed with the EVF. More will be posted in my review. For now have a look at some pictures

Window Shoper

GRD, f2.4, 1/60, ISO 1600, JPG

Although I still have three pictures left on the film in the GR1, I did not get roun to use it today so took this picture with the GRD I instead. I had to use ISO 1600 since it was dark so I doubt the ISO 200 film in the GR1 would have been of much use today. Only processing was a slight crop and removing the color noise using Noise Ninja. After using the GR1 recently, I really hope Ricoh can get the GRD III to focus as fast and reliable as the GR1. While the GRD I is very fast and one of the feastest focusing compact cameras, the GR1 is even faster and more reliable in low light. This coupled with a fast lens would be the prefect camra for low light street photography.