Six by Six

One of the cameras I shot along side the RX1 last week was a medium format beauty I borrowed from a friend: the Fuji GF670. The GF670 is a modern, professional grade film camera with a very bright rangefinder, an 80mm lens that folds into the body, and the ability to shoot in either 6×6 or 6×7 using 120 or 220 film. I loaded some expired Provia 400 in the camera and very carefully worked through each frame. Hey, you only get twelve 6×6 shots per roll of 120, so you gotta take your time with this thing!

I think this Fuji would be near the top of my list of medium format cameras to purchase when the time comes. It’s extremely well made, is dead simple to load and operate, and the included Fujinon 80mm is excellent. I had a blast with this thing.

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Fuji GF670 | Kodak Provia 400 (expired)

Small Camera, Huge Sensor

Logged more time with Sony’s powerhouse of a compact camera this weekend. This thing is a serious imaging machine!

Do I love it? Yes. The image quality is absolutely stunning, as expected, and the camera’s build quality is top notch. But I only borrowed this thing to keep me occupied while I waited for my rangefinder to come out of repair. Once I get my M3 back, I doubt I’ll miss the RX1. =)

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All Images: Sony Cybershot DSC-RX1

Sony RX1

 Sony RX1 | ¹/30 sec, f/2, ISO 6400

Got my hands on a brand spanking new Sony RX1 this evening! Despite the high price and the little time I’ve actually spent with this camera so far, I can already tell the RX1 is going to make some waves. It’s basically a point and shoot, and in practice it operates just like you’d expect a compact camera to operate. The fact that it’s packing a 35mm film-sized sensor, however, is just crazy considering how incredibly small the camera actually is.

 Sony RX1 | ¹/50 sec, f/2, ISO 800

Built into the RX1 is a nice chunk of Zeiss glass, a 35mm f/2 Sonnar. You won’t be swapping lenses with this thing, which actually doesn’t bother me too much since I’ve been shooting with my fixed-lens Fuji x100 for such a long time.  What does bother me is that the RX1 costs more than double what I paid for the x100. Ouch.

Sony RX1 | ¹/80 sec, f/2, ISO 3200

 Sony RX1 | ¹/40 sec, f/2, ISO 6400

I’ll need to wait until Adobe releases RAW support for the RX1′s files before I can post process the camera’s output myself. For now, the images in this post are all camera-processed JPEGs.

These images where shot hand-held at very high ISO. Pretty impressive performance low-light performance, which is not too surprising considering the big fat sensor Sony stuffed into this thing. More impressions to come on the RX1 as I evaluate it over the next week. Stay tuned!

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The Happy Dog

Chasing Suki around at the beach with a telephoto lens during the last few minutes of sunset reminded me of what a happy dog she is. No matter how much negativity I encounter in the world, I can always count on her positive energy and her uplifting spirit.

Taken by the wife with her cell phone. Hah!

Dogs are absolute treasures. Never take them for granted.

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