| 29 |
Friday
September |
I picked up a second hand
Voigtlander Super-Wide Heliar 15mm f/4.5 lens
from my friendly
local Leica shop and, as the British Museum
was right outside I popped in to try it out. It'll
take some getting used to (it's not Rangefinder
coupled, so focussing has to done by estimating
distance), but I'm very pleased with how much
you can cram into the frame.
As with many wide angle lenses,
some people find the vignetting a problem, but
I'm personally quite fond of the lomo-esque look.
| 27 |
Wednesday
September |
Back in June
last year I mentioned the Epson RD-1. Until
this month's launch of the Leica M8 (which is going
to retail at around £3,200), the RD-1 was
the world's only digital Rangefinder camera. Despite
the fact there were only 10,000 RD-1s manufactured,
now - just over a year since launch, they are available
for around £1,200. I picked one up yesterday,
along with a Leica f/2.0 50mm Summicron lens, fumbled
around on the train with the instruction book and
finally figured out how to turn it on.
"Would you like stuffing with that?
Oooof Pardon!..." |
The pictures
below were taken on my walk home. The focusing
took a bit of getting used to, but the camera
has a great feel, is reasonably intuitive, and
is the kind of the object you want to put on the
coffee table and stare at, admiringly.
As well as the genuinely smart
retro outward look of the camera, the settings
allow you to take complete control to take pictures
that resemble those you would get from a traditional
Rangefinder film camera - so whack on a bit of
saturation and contrast, and you have a digital
Lomo in your hand. The colours came out vivid
and rich and the tonality of the black and white
shots easily beat all digital SLR cameras I've
encountered.
If you do a google for anything
related to the RD-1, all
you'll find is praise along with criticism
of the price. It can be argued it's overpriced
but it's obviously a great camera, and things
can only get better - with the launch of the M8
and the forthcoming RD-2, prices are bound to
fall dramatically.
The last picture is my friend
Sam patiently sat on my window box as I wrestle
with the Rangefinder focusing.
I can hardly contain my excitement
at the thought of comparing and contrasting the
pictures taken by the Leica Digilux 2 with those
taken using the the RD-1. Ooof.
| 21 |
Thursday
September |
Just back from a sunny week
in Spain. Lots of sunbathing, drinking sangria and
laughing at juvenile innuendos spilling from the
mouth of an outrageous homosexual waiter we encountered:
"Coq au vin, ooo I wouldn't say no to a bit
of that . Oooof pardon!" 
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