April 2023 – Andy's Photography blog

The new (but old) addition

In my last post, I mentioned that I had been awaiting delivery of my latest older camera acquisition, the original Sony RX100, so today’s musing is centered around my first shoot with this little compact.

The RX100 was first released in 2012 and while I did look at the reviews and various videos, it was not something I would consider at this time, I was too obsessed with seeking my holy grail of photography, ‘full frame’.

How times and mindsets change, the RX100 now fits well into my criteria for an older camera, I was looking forward to taking it out for its first shoot, to the East Devon seaside town, Budleigh Salterton.

Having only just picked the camera up from the Royal mail parcel collection office half an our previously, this was going to be very much shooting with an unfamiliar camera and customising on the hoof, rather than doing so in the comfort of home as I normally would.

Fortunately, the menus of the RX100 are laid out in a similar way to other Sony cameras, so I was not a total stranger to the settings so was able to get taking photos in no time.

If I am being honest, I was not sure how much I would like the RX100, one of my first dalliances into full frame was a Sony A7, of which the image quality was stellar but felt a very sterile experience to use, it was rarely the first camera I chose to shoot with for my own personal use but very reliable and capable for any paid work I was doing at that time.

The same cannot be said for the RX100, it is an absolute joy to use and will find a regular place on future outing for certain.

Out with the Canon S100

I would have been out for my normal early Saturday photo walk today but was looking forward to receiving another bargain ‘older’ camera for my slowly increasing collection, however the postman decided to ignore the polite note I had put on the door asking him (or her) to knock loudly, instead giving me one of those annoying red cards to tell me I wasn’t in!’

With rain forecast for most of the rest of today, I decided to head into town, not something I normally do on a Saturday but I wanted to get out for some fresh air and to stretch the legs.

Deciding on just the S100 and a spare battery, it was good to have just the minimal gear, as it turned out, having the smaller camera was just perfect for what turned out to be a really fun shoot.

Approaching the city centre, it was clear that some sort of event was happening, as a small crowd had gathered, encircling a group of Morris dancers, as they performed.

With no huge camera around my neck, the small S100 went unnoticed as I milled around the gaps in the crowds taking pictures of the colourful costumes and dance routines.

As I made my way around the city, other groups in varying costumes were also performing, this was a great little spontaneous shoot!

As the dancers had come to the end of their shows, I was able to catch groups of them heading to other parts of the city, this is when the predicted rain began to fall, even better for some moody street scenes.

In the space of less than an hour, I had taken a good number of shots, I was pleasantly surprised at just how well the S100 had performed in dull light conditions.

A reawakening

It has been a while since my last blog entry, those never ending grey days of March had left me somewhat disinclined to write, my literary creativity suspended in a state of belated hibernation.

Perhaps it was last weeks return to British summer time and the thoughts of longer hours of daylight that triggered a more positive mindset and a desire to write about today’s photo walk.

Even though today was yet another overcast day, I was keen to embrace whatever hand the weather gods had dealt me, it was a metaphorical reawakening.

My ongoing ‘project’ of shooting with older cameras continues, however I have sold the Leica X1 and DLux-6, for a healthy profit and invested in a Lumix LX100, which is finding a regular place in my bag alongside my LX5.

More and more, I have found that I like to use the LX5 for monochrome images, I like the way the CCD sensor renders the image, so I have also saved a custom setting on the LX100 to shoot monochrome which I tried out for the first time today, I was not to be disappointed.

As with the LX5, the LX100 has a dedicated aspect ratio dial, this is something I use regularly, perhaps because of it not being a feature hidden away in the depths of numerous menus.