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something for the holiday sir? (Read 147742 times)

Yossarian

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something for the holiday sir?
August 21, 2008, 06:29:27 pm
I want to get a camera that is a little bit smaller and more discreet than the ones I normally use - D200 / 6x7 rangefinder / Hasselbald V system.  The kind of thing you can use in a group of people without them all thinking you are an evil Parisian paparazzi murderer.  Or the kind of thing that won't attract Japanese tourists keen to know whether you opted for the VR version of that big lens...

I was thinking something along the lines of a Ricoh GR digital.  There is this new Sigma thing too, but it's had mixed reviews. Or should I rob da bank and get a Leica M8...?

It'll be something to partner the 6x7 on a street based photographic tour of new york and california. I should really take my old OM2, but I can't really be arsed with 35mm at the moment.

Anyone got any ideas...?

Falling Down

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#1 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 21, 2008, 07:55:55 pm
I have a Leica D-Lux 3 and it's absolutely fantastic.  Full A & S and ISO manual control (including focus), a widescreen aspect ratio, 10 (or 12) Megapixels, beautiful colours, shoots in RAW.  It fits in the pocket and shoots fast and has a good flash. 

A perfect point and shoot with a lot of oomph and extras.  I barely use the SLR these days...

dave

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#2 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 21, 2008, 09:52:51 pm
some something really pocketable you can't knock the small canon ixus range. all of em are good.

Yossarian

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#3 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 21, 2008, 10:25:58 pm
but are the pictures any good?

even the g9 sounds a bit shit.

i want something with a bit of soul.   not some duty free special.

JB - are you out there?

dave

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#4 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 21, 2008, 11:21:00 pm
a bit of soul? you're talking digital camera here. have as much soul as you like, you still won't be using it in 10 years time.

The pictures will be as good as the person driving it. Heres a snap my shortie took with her ixus 60.



Leica M8s look absolutley utter dogshit.

Yossarian

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#5 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 08:11:50 am
that's a nice picture...

and that m8 review is quite interesting. actually, i don't know why leica haven't tried to make the back replacable.  seems a shame that the whole body will become obselete.

re soul and your analogy - i just want something that drives very well and isn't overwhelmed with buttons and electronic blowjob recognition software.


lagerstarfish

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#6 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 08:35:29 am
I've been well impressed with this little Fuji .
Small, discreet and great pictures (constantly surprising me). Particularly good in low light without flash, good battery life. Mind you, I know toss all about photography or cameras, so this might be nothing like what you are after.

nik at work

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#7 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 08:39:01 am
Does it come in a rosewood box with velvet lining?
Do you get a free cane and tophat with your purchase?
No?
Then Yoss won't be interested, he's a dandy don't you know...

dave

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#8 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 09:05:51 am
maybe yoss would be better suited to one of these:







or maybe something along these lines if you want the camera equivalent of eveningwear.


Yossarian

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#9 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 09:41:39 am
now you're talking...

actually, nik has hit on something with the rosewood.  how about this? 



not exactly pocket size, but i'm sure it'll go down well on 126th street.




dave

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#10 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 10:06:46 am
why settle for rosewood when you can have ebony?



You'd just need an ivory filmholder to really set off that McCartney/Wonder look.

Jim

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#11 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 11:53:23 am
You seem to want to spend a lot of money on a camera just for taking on holiday.
My father in law has the lumix TZ3 which is really good and takes excellent pictures.
I've just gt a casio Exilim something or other, very small, ideal for putting in your pocket. No idea on picture quality yet as I only got it yesterday but I got it for free (10 year service award from work)

magpie

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#12 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 12:04:04 pm
I've got a TZ3 (as above) it's great, but my partner has a TZ5 which isn't much more expensive and is even better, they're dead easy to use as a basic point and shoot but you can do all sorts of adjusting and fancy photography stuff with them if you wish, and have the patience to read the manual.   ???

slackline

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#13 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 12:10:30 pm
I've just gt a casio Exilim something or other, very small, ideal for putting in your pocket. No idea on picture quality yet as I only got it yesterday but I got it for free (10 year service award from work)

I've had a couple of these over the years (can't remember the models of the top of my head) and my brother has one too.  For the size and price I think the quality is brilliant.  They have strange cermaic lenses, lots of preset modes, but increasingly more control can be had over exposure settings etc.  No where near what you can do with an SLR, and it can be fiddly to get to the settings that you want quickly, but as a point and shoot they're great (as are most pocket point and shoots).

Yossarian

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#14 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 12:20:12 pm
You seem to want to spend a lot of money on a camera just for taking on holiday.
My father in law has the lumix TZ3 which is really good and takes excellent pictures.
I've just gt a casio Exilim something or other, very small, ideal for putting in your pocket. No idea on picture quality yet as I only got it yesterday but I got it for free (10 year service award from work)

well, if the pictures are any good i'll use them to replace the ones in our showroom, like in the pic below. if there are 8 workable pictures then the saving on scanning alone would pay for a gr digital.





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#15 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 22, 2008, 10:19:51 pm
Ricoh GX200. End of story.
The extra pixels over the 100 (available very cheap now) are probably worthless but the improved RAW write times definitely aren't. At the bmc international meet I saw about 5 of the 100s, being touted by some big names. It even has an option to step the zoom into classic primes. I don't think a fixed lens compact worth buying has been made yet.
Failing that, the Panasonic version of FD's Leica is the same but you don't have to pay for a red spot.

Yossarian

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#16 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 23, 2008, 08:23:18 am
a ha...

i will go and have a play with one of those.


cofe

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#18 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 09:47:59 am
I don't think a fixed lens compact worth buying has been made yet.

it has, you just have to put 'film' in it:



i've got one of those little panasonic leicas. very good but no raw and i doubt it's what yossarian's after.

SA Chris

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#19 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 10:07:15 am
We have one of the Lumixes (Lumi?) too, and I really like it. Not sure what model it is though.

slackline

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#20 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 12:14:30 pm
Just came across a review of the world's smallest dSLR.  Doesn't sound too shabby, but may be larger than what your after.  Not too pricey anyway.

Yossarian

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#21 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 01:15:06 pm
having just had my first weekend in a darkroom for about 20 years i am sorely tempted to give ricoh a couple more years to sort out the gr digital and stick to tri-x for the time being...

it would also appear that shooting film gets you laid. conversation i heard waiting at the film counter on saturday.

hot eastern european chick - "i need some film for this rolleiflex. i don't know much about it though."
bloke at counter - "maybe some HP5?"
scruffy bloke who's just bought a couple of bottles of perceptol - "nice camera"
hot eastern european chick - "thanks! it's pretty, isn't it? yeah, that film sounds good. i'll take two. can you process them here?"
scruffy bloke - "hey, you can process them yourself. it's easy."
hot eastern european chick - "you can? really?"
scruffy bloke - "yeah. i tell you what..."
bloke at counter - "your receipt"
scruffy bloke and hot eastern european chick walk off together, her face eager and inquisitive, his hands gesturing as he explains why he prefers to mix his perceptol 1:3, before launching into a heart-felt monologue about pyrogallic development. she lets him hold her rolleiflex. he lets her hold his 503. the screen splits into a montage. in one corner, we see him hurriedly tearing the foil from a roll of adox chs 25 art, then sliding it with practised fingers into the body of her rolleiflex. in the other corner, we see them both in his darkroom, their naked skin illuminated by the safelight. her prints are scattered across a table. they're a bit shit. peeling paint and stuff - nothing very exciting. in their passion they manage to spill a tray-full of selenium toner all over the floor. he doesn't care though. because a hot eastern european chick has put her finger up his bottom...



Jim

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#22 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 03:19:34 pm
Did you have a lot of cheese before you went to bed that night?

a good story none the less

Yossarian

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#23 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 26, 2008, 03:30:01 pm
yes. i was mainlining fontina...

rc

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#24 Re: something for the holiday sir?
August 28, 2008, 09:30:33 am
Bit late in the day maybe, but G9 review here seems measured but positive for its role as a holiday-snaps camera.
Bloke comparing G9 (With a Lensmate hood and custom grip) with his "Leica M8 with a 28/35/50 Tri-Elmar" while travelling around Japan. Lots of limitations with the Canon, but overall:
Quote
So was it a [holiday] fling, or something more serious? I’m still ask myself that every time I look at the prints.  At the end of the day, I think my affair with the G9 will remain just that.  It’s not quite a keeper just yet. But it’s oh, so very close.  With tweaking in the right places, the next generation of high-end digicams might just become the perfect travel cameras.
And what of my relationship with the M8?  Let’s just say I haven’t served divorce papers quite yet, but I’m thinking about it. While the physical aesthetic of our tools is essential to a good creative relationship, my time with the G9 showed me that, for me, the cutting edge of technology is capable of more ultimate artistic satisfaction than the M8 can deliver.

 

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