Under a Dark Sky

GRD II, f5, 1/400, ISO 100, RAW

Been moving today so did not have that much time for taking pictures. At first I thought it will end up being just a picture of boxes ;). In the end I got everything done a lot faster than anticipated (pays off not to collect too many possessions) and could go for a walk.
The sky looked spectacular and it was a great backdrop for taking pictures. Unfortunately, I noticed dust on the sensor while reviewing my pictures. But a few knocks against the camera later and everything is fine again :).

Look Behind You!

GRD II, f4, 1/320, ISO 200, RAW, 21mm

Took this again during my lunch break while out for a walk. Liked how he was just standing there smoking and looking at his phone, unimpressed by the things behind him.
I had the 21mm lens on and used the OVF, the problem with the OVF is that it is not always very accurate but a bigger problem is that I do not see when my SD-card is full ;). Missed a few shots because of that but this is my fault for not checking in between.

C.I.B. - Cameras In Black

GRD II, f2.4, 1/55, ISO 100, RAW, 21mm

Ok, a geek post today and another boring camera picture. A friend got his Epson R-D1s yesterday so it was a good opportunity to do a quick comparison.
As you can see, the R-D1s is a bit taller than the LC1 and a lot taller than the GRD, it is however slightly thinner and the lens is smaller than the one on the LC1. On the other hand to get anywhere near the speed and versatility of the LC1 lens you would need around 3 lenses for the R-D1s and then it would take up more space.
All three cameras feel heavy and very solid. It is impressive how close the GRD is to the build and feel of the R-D1s. Both have the same metal, with the same texture, the hand grip is the same soft rubber (again with the same texture) and both feel literally like a brick (in a very positive way). The LC1 is on the same level although the metal is smooth and the hand grip is hard rubber that does not feel quite as nice to hold. Overall they all have a great build and if you hold either you know why they cost as much as they do and you can feel what you pay for. I haven’t held many better built cameras and especially not digital cameras.

A quick image comparison revealed that the R-D1s has (unsurprisingly) the highest dynamic range and the GRD I and II the lowest, the LC1 has the higher noise and due to the 5MP captures the least details. The GRDs can hold their own very well with the R-D1s and capture the same amount of details but have more noise. The depth of field is the highest on the GRDs and even at f4 the lowest on the R-D1s.

As a summary I can say that if I would not know that Epson (with help of Cosina/Voigtlaender) made the R-D1s, I would think it’s a Ricoh ;).

Keep Your Head Down

GRD II, f2.4, 1/80, ISO 400, RAW, 21mm

Very depressing day, it has been gray and raining from the morning till the evening. Not much chance to take any nice pictures. This picture is cropped to the 1:1 ratio and has some noise added.

Gate 2

GRD II, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 200, RAW

When I was younger I liked drawing scenes with a lot of people and action inside and my favorite paintings also have people and something happening in them.
In photography people often try to use shallow DOF to get rid of distracting elements I find that this also takes away any life in the image. I find that street photography using shallow DOF is lazy and lifeless. I really like busy scenes since they reward someone for looking closer and even after seeing the picture a few times one can still find new things in there.
While this picture today is not a perfect example of this it is close enough. I cropped it to the 16:9 format since I find that it enhances the composition.

Look Right

GRD II, f3.2, 1/160, ISO 200, RAW

Another rather wet and dark day in London. Seems we will have one of those typical British summers.
Took this picture while on my way home and liked the fact that the GRD II indeed managed to get a reasonable shallow DOF.
What I also wanted to do is show one of the typical signs for pedestrians in which direction to look when crossing the street. Since the British all drive on the wrong side instead the right side it seems even they need a reminder of which way to look for cars. Or they will probably tell you this is for only tourists ;). Have to admit though that these signs come in handy when you are not quite sure which way to look for various reasons.

Rain at the End of the Tunnel

GRD II, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 200, RAW

A rainy Sunday in London. It means the Wimbledon finals were on and it is always raining during it.
After using the LC1 yesterday it was again time for the GRD II. The My settings are really great since it makes for very fast and convenient changes of the main settings and allow to take some fast shots after taking the camera out.
On this picture I liked how the GRD II rendered the light but decided to increase the contrast a little bit more. The GR lens certainly has a very different character than the LC1 lens and is more contrasty, plus the sensors in the GRDs have a lower dynamic range which works in my favor when going for a high contrast look.

Painted Faces

LC1, f5, 1/500, ISO 100, RAW, 28mm

While walking around central London I realized that the Gay Pride is on in Soho. So what better way to spend some time and take some pictures. It was pretty crowded and had some very colorful characters around. This also allowed me to see how the LC1 performs in manual focus since the AF is way too slow for street photography. It performs very well indeed although it still has a slight shutter lag, nothing beats the GRD I here. But the dynamic range of the LC1 is indeed very good and helped a lot with the changing light conditions.
This is the picture I liked most and while it was tempting to just post more pictures I need to get back to the “One day, one picture”. But I will post the other pictures on Flickr as soon as I get around to.

Guy Smoking

GRD II, f4.5, 1/250, ISO 100, RAW, 40mm

I usually try to use titles from songs, movies or words in the picture for my posts and pictures. This time I simply decided to use a description of the picture for the title.
Today, I used my lunch break again to walk around the City and take pictures. My timing was pretty bad though and I missed some nice shots due to that. Still, I got an idea for my theme for next week and also found the right location for it.
This shot came out very nice and I like the fact that he is looking right at me. While I usually try to avoid interaction with people so not to intrude and influence the scene I think sometimes the interaction makes for a better picture.

Spare A Little Change

GRD II, f5.6, 1/400, ISO 100, RAW, 40mm

This guy has been in the same spot since the first time I’ve been to London 5 years ago. He is always at the walkway up to the Millennium Bridge on the Tate Modern site and always with his dog. I had him before in one picture but liked this shot since I always wanted to have a picture taken from above.
I changed the contrast and colors and cropped the image slightly.