Photographs and thoughts on photography and camera collecting
We went out last Sunday to pick up a couple of lamps we’d just purchased. On returning home I noticed this colorful little guy on our door. I thought it would be relatively easy to get a picture, but no doubt observing my presence he started to move away. He didn’t jump off or fly away, preferring to just walk around on the door. It did make my job rather more difficult though. I liked the bright colors against the plain white of the background.
Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
I came across a fallen tree in the woods an on it were etched these lines. I have no idea how they’re made – possibly some kind of insect? They reminded me a bit of either the Chinese/Japanese paintings you often see, or perhaps some kind of ancient map with the lines representing roads and rivers. Maybe I should write “Here be Dragons” on it.
Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.
I’ve taken a picture of this blue door before (see first picture in: Cold Spring in Color).
I think this is a better picture though. I love the colors. Blue is my favorite color and I find this particular shade to be very attractive. But then you also have the more muted blue of the bench of the left. There are also greens in the wreath, and yellows in the daffodils and the dandelion by the curb. And of course the bright reds of the curtains and the hanging lamp.
Lots of bright colors, but then there are also earthtones: the subdued reds of the lintel, the bricks and the stones in front of the door; the tan window frames and wall; the browns of the planters.
I also liked the textures of the wall, the bricks, the sidewalk and the road and the dappled sunlight filtering across everything.
It all felt very Spring-like and cheerful.
Taken down by the Hudson in Cold Spring, NY with a Sony RX100 MIII.
RX100 model 3 showing a couple of its distinctive features: the articulating screen (seen here rotated 180 degrees); and the excellent viewfinder (top right in the picture).
Happy New Year!
A few days ago I posted that my RX100 model 1 had given up the ghost on Christmas day and that I had ordered a model 3 (see RIP RX100).
It arrived December 29 as part of a bundle, which also included an 8 inch table tripod; a Sony 64 Gb memory card; a Sony AG-R2 grip; a 12 inch rubberized spider tripod; an LCD/Lens cleaning brush; a camera case; a lens cleaning kit; a travel charger; an SLR/DSLR hand grip; an additional battery; a USB multi card reader/writer; a memory card wallet; and a USB/micro USB cable all for the same price as the camera alone.
We’ve were pretty busy over New Year so I haven’t really had a chance to try it out thoroughly. Also it’s been pretty bleak (cold, wet and icy) for the past few days and I haven’t really felt like going out.
I did, however, give it a quick try – if nothing else than to make sure that everything was working properly and that I had configured it to meet my needs. My initial reaction follows:
I’ve read that it’s bigger and heavier than the model 1, but if that’s true I haven’t noticed it.
I had found that the control ring on the model 1 was virtually unusable and I had also read that this had NOT changed with the model 3. I was pleased to find that this was NOT the case. With the old model I had to move the ring a large distance to get it react. With the newer model focusing manually felt much more like I expected it to.
The viewfinder is excellent even if it is a little close to the camera body (so close that your face is pressed up against the LCD).
I always had trouble composing at a low angle with the model 1. I couldn’t get down low enough to the screen so I just had to point in the general direction of my subject and hope. The articulating screen nicely gets around this problem. I also like that you could rotate the screen through 180 degrees. I’m not much into selfies, but my wife is so I imagine this will be quite useful.
The interface is much improved and much more configurable.
I like the new lens with its wider 24mm focal length and faster aperture (f2.8 rather than f4.9) at the zoom end. So far I haven’t missed the focal length change from 100mm to 70mm.
I tried using the wifi to send images from the camera to my iphone and it worked perfectly. I’m not sure I’ll use this a lot, but it’s nice to know it’s there.
I haven’t yet used the neutral density filter, but there have certainly be occasions in the past when I could have used such a capability.
I shoot everything in RAW so the images below have all been processed.
Frozen lake.
Selfie mode.
Early morning shadows.
Gypsy.
Statue.