Samstag, 27. August 2011

Finally Settled

 Man, I'm tired. But so happy! Got the train to Trier this morning, 5:41am, wasn't very nice, but now I'm back in my new/old home town Trier, I've moved in with Wille, kind of, and most important of all: I am finally united with my very own Sony Nex 5, which Wille bought for me in Berlin. The combination with the Leitz C-Summicron 40mm looks simply stunning and I just can't get the smile off my face. Finally a compact high quality digital camera with a "real" lens - a combination which is not only for the picture quality, but for the shooting experience and the heart. The only thing missing is a viewfinder, but I'm not missing it very much yet.


 So this is it. It really exceeds everything I have hoped for! We upgraded the firmware to version 4 with Wille right away and without its benefits the camera wouldn't have been the same. Most of all I love these 3 changes: (1) the addition of the new "focus peaking" feature introduced with the Nex C3, which makes manual focusing a joy even on a LCD screen, (2) tons of art filters for fun shots and most importantly (3) the ability to customise various buttons, virtually more than I actually need! I now have full manual control over exposure lock, white balance, ISO, metering mode and either dynamic range optimisation, art filters, shooting mode or digital magnification for even more betterer focusing, I haven't decided yet. The camera is ultra-responsive and just intelligently laid out - I cannot imagine anybody having problems with the handling (given they are not retarded and have thumbs). Even professional photographers a couple of decades ago would have killed for this device with its sleek and unintrusive design, simple and reduced controlls, superb build quality and waist-level viewfinder.

 I was surprised how the camera worked in every shooting mode, from iAuto to full Manual mode, always with a balanced exposure. For about 520€ you get better picture quality for stills and full HD movies than in most DSLRs (I mean - Sony's second best Exmor sensor in addition to actual Leica glass) in a package that is just the right amount of small - neither as fiddly or dwarfish as most digital compact cameras (therefore unfortunately not actually pocketable), nor as bulky, intimidating or salient as modern DSLRs. In other words: half of the price of the Fuji X100, but makes me thrice as happy! Not to mention the unique advantages of using old manual lenses (like manual aperture control in videos, a buttery smooth manual focusing ring - also amazing for video and online depth of field preview, which makes a dof-preview button redundant), which are not without their drawbacks, though (no autofocus, no aperture recording in the files and virtually no zoom lenses - but who would actually use a zoom lens on a Nex? The guys from Panasonic are the right people for that, they do an excellent job in that respect, even although it is not for me).

 It may sound weird and I am surprised myself, but this camera is the first camera I really love like a young girl. I married my a55 a short while ago and I am happy with her - she serves all my needs, but has her airs and graces. I found a fascinating and challenging muse in the Leica CL, but I have too much respect for her to actually be in love - ah this reminds me, I should upload some photographs I took with her. The Samsung ST70 is my little crack whore, she does the dirty jobs like parties and bad weather photography and she does them as well as a camera of that size can do them. But then, the Nex 5 with the C-Summicron is my young lover, the one I want to always have around, play with and explore, show proudly to my friends and literally have at my heart wherever I go.

 My highest photographic needs are finally met, which doesn't mean I wouldn't still need a flash gun and proper tripod which are among the most rudimentary pieces of photo equipment, but right now I am just too broke :D ttyl, enjoy the pictures

zu Deutsch: Schachtsucher (waist-level viewfinder
 - a street photographer's dream)

size matters: the Nex isn't pocketable (but which camera with
good IQ is?), but neither bigger than the analogue Leica


 As promised, some scans of the Leica pictures. Horrible quality unfortunately (the film's expiry date was in 1997 - no kidding!), but I hope you get the feel for the theoretically amazing "film look" and the typical Leica transitions from in to out of focus areas.

have you ever seen a goat with horns like these?

my brother with his new NX100


















 My nagytata at his 84th birthday almost two weeks ago and his wife, my Oma, which died this summer, while I was in Cambridge.

2 Kommentare:

  1. Nx100 rulzz!! But you have copyright probs!
    Schön, dass du gut angekommen bist!

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  2. nx100 rulzz indeed! but where would i have copyright probs? just cos ure on one pic? or because the samsung is? ;) sorry for not asking for permission, but it's just my favourite picture from the roll.

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