It was cold in January, but this did not stop us from walking through this beautiful city with so many nice places and inspiring perspectives … depending on where you go and what you (want to) see.
This time I used two digital cameras. Number one was a Ricoh GRII with its marvelous 2.8/28mm lens. Number two was my workhorse, an Olympus OM‑D E‑M1, this time with a M.Zuiko 2.8/7–14 mm lens, which gives a nice width and which is part of the holy trinity — the m.zuiko 2.8/7–14 mm pro lens, the m.zuiko 2.8/12–40 mm pro lens and the m.zuiko 2.8/40–150 mm pro lens. I still have to improve on these very wide city shots. As often, I made black & white and colour versions.
From time to time I take a picture showing two cameras side by side where I think it’s worth it. The first and the second image can be found here, showing two Canon bodies (a Canon EOS 3 vis-a-vis a Canon EOS5D) and two Contax bodies (a Contax Aria vis-a-vis a Contax AX).
This time two Minolta bodies found their way into my focus. They both make a very good job as photographic tools and both still look like new.
The Minolta X‑700 was the endpoint of the manual focus SLR from Minolta and served many years as my preferred camera during the 80s. Besides a manual mode it offered aperture priority mode and a program mode. It is equipped here with my goto lens — a MD Rokkor 1.4/50mm.
The Minolta Dynax 9 was Minolta’s final film autofocus SLR. An extreme professional body with tons of premium features never matched by any of the competitors. Some say it was the best film autofocus SLR ever made. It is equipped here with an AF Macro 2.8/50mm lens.
They are both excellent tools from two different periods in the development of camera technology — manual focus vs autofocus.
Just to mention … the shot was taken with a Sony A7R2 and a Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 1.4/50mm lens attached.
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Did I ever tell the story, … why I love a special kind of city skyline images?
It was some time ago, when I was looking for something wide, something quite wide, something quite large and something … quite old.
I found a Zeiss Ikon Ercona, a 6x9 technical wonder from the early fifties — last century. This gem uses a large format in a small body — it is a folding camera using a 105mm Zeiss Tessar lens. Soon after, I found a special image on flickr … from the Swedish photographer Gustaf Emanuelsson. It was an image of the Copenhagen Skyline. The image is mind-blowing. I do not include the image here — simply a link to the flickr location.
Yes, an Olympus OM‑D E‑M1 with its M.Zuiko 12–40mm is not 6x9. Nevertheless I tried the image of the Melbourne skyline with that masterpiece in mind. Yes, this result is lightyears away from what I had in mind … but this means there is room for improvement and … further images.
The image was shot using the equipment mentioned above and it was slightly cropped and post-processed to get a de-saturated colour version and a b&w version.
In case you’d like to comment, it’s appreciated … and maybe, you want to visit my website or my flickr page too.
After having back the Olympus OM-4Ti from repair, I took it on a short trip to Frankfurt. Equipped with a Zuiko Auto‑T 2.8/100mm and loaded with an Agfa Vista 200, I was keen to see, if the problem has been cured at the OM-Doktor in Hamburg.
… and here the right lens.
We had two full days — one in Frankfurt and the other in Mainz — and besides the Olympus OM-4Ti, an iPhone 6s and the highly respected Ricoh GRII were on board. Olympus OM-4Ti was used in Frankfurt, the Ricoh GRII was used in Mainz.
First of all, why did I use the OM-4Ti only in Frankfurt but not in Mainz … it’s because the lens appeared to have a slightly bent aperture pin, which prohibited the OM-4Ti’s aperture simulator to work at the end of the first day. So sad! In the meantime I have repaired this (thanks to a phone call with the OM-Doktor), but on the second day in Mainz I’d better switched to my Ricoh GRII.
Second, my impression on the OM-4Ti is twofold.
On the one side I’m massively impressed.
it worked flawless after repaired by the OM-Doktor in Hamburg
the technical specifications of the camera are superb
the size and weight are pretty stunning — one of the smallest and most lightweight (professional) SLR bodies
it simply rugged
the viewfinder is large, bright and clear
and so on …
On the other side, I do not really get warm with this body (taking into consideration also the OM-2sp I used during my trip to South-Tirol, which shares the same body and very similar control layout). Unfortunately I cannot name the reason for — it’s somehow a feeling only. Compared to a Contax 139 or even more a Contax 159, it simply does not feel like it fits in the hand.
Flaws … maybe some.
It has no on/off switch, which always makes it possible to release the shutter accidentally when cocked. A second one, it’s meter cannot be switched off. It shuts off after some seconds automatically (15s if I remember right), but when touching the shutter button (even by accident), it starts again — which might drain the battery. You have to switch the aperture to “B” or the emergency manual “1/60”, this deactivates all electronics, just to be sure when placing it in the bag. However this also makes it not a quick startup camera out of the bag.
I think I will have to use it a little bit longer, as the whole world praises the OM-line and so it must be me.
The Ricoh GRII is a whole different story.
I use it more frequently as my everyday camera and so I get used to it more and more. Besides the fact that I felt immediately familiar with it from the first day, it impresses me every time I use it. I’ll I add some pictures from the Ricoh GRII in my Frankfurt trip album on Flickr.
Here too, a colour version and a b&w version exist.
This time I also tried some street shots using the snap-focus, where the AF gets prefocused on a defined distance. This avoids having to focus when hitting the shutter button and you can hold the camera with one hand on arm length without looking on the monitor. Totally unobtrusive. All pictures were crappy and … I have still to practice that way of shooting.
In case you’d like to comment, it’s appreciated … and maybe, you want to visit my website or my flickr page too.
In spring 2016 I travelled to Northern Spain, visiting the Basque Country, Cantabria, Aragon and Castile and Leon. Flying to Bilbao and heading to our first location in San Sebastian, we made a stopover in Zumaia. The little town is nice … but more famous is its rock formation — The Flysch. The landscape is stunning and so we stayed some hours before going to San Sebastian.
The workhorse was — again — the Olympus OM‑D E‑M1 with its M.Zuiko 12–40mm PRO lens, completed by an iPhone 5s. So this was again a pure digital journey. This time I’ll try staying at B&W only, knowing that the colours here were wonderful too.
Over the next weeks I’ll post more of this trip — here on my blog, but also on my flickr page.
In case you’d like to comment, it’s appreciated … and maybe, you want to check out my website too!
