Is Sony now the best?

Night, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Field, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Crossing, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I wrote here of having the Sony NEX-5 in my hands, thanks to a colleague who bought one because of the excellent low-light capabilities.

Well, today I had a couple of minutes to try the Sony A33 which is another potentially revolutionary camera design. This one was bought by another colleague. Sony seems to be doing rather well nowadays in cameras.

The A33 was nice to handle, just the right size, and quite responsive. The 18-70 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens made the combo quite large, but it was also versatile, and when using 70 mm one could focus close enough for excellent closeups.

Of course, when using such a lens the relative benefit of the bigger sensor - less noise at high ISO - isn't such a big one compared to the f/2.0 lens of the LX3 or LX5. But of course the A33 beats the LX3 or LX5 easily in image quality. On the other hand, it is no way pocketable.

It is interesting to see Sony suddenly becoming such a common choice of camera. And there are benefits, for example backward compatibility of lenses. I have the impression that one could use even the old Minolta MD Rokkor lenses with these cameras - manual focus only of course. Am I mistaken?

... to night

Sunset, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Street, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Yard, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Autumn night, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Here is the second posting from today, photographs taken at about sunset, which however wasn't all that visible because of the cloud cover. Quite a change from the morning.

I had today the Sony NEX-5 in my hand, thanks to a colleague who demonstrated it. Really, really small. But the lens of course makes the camera much bigger. Somehow the body of the camera feels actually too small - some of the buttons are easy to press by mistake. However, these are things which you will learn to avoid when using the camera.

The NEX-5 is quite tempting, I must admit, except for the size of the lenses. I like to have a lens which can take closeup photographs, and with that kind of lens the combo becomes quite large to carry aroung.

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Have a nice weekend!

Sell the LX3 and buy the Sony NEX-5?

Stump, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Green, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I discussed cameras with a colleague, who also has a Panasonic LX3. He told that he is planning to sell the LX3, and buy a bigger-sensor camera, maybe the Sony NEX-5. Certainly not the LX5, which is not much different from the LX3.

I pointed out that the Sony NEX-5 has got a lot of negative criticism in camera reviews, due to the hard-to-use interface.

For example, DCRP Review writes: "Poorly designed, menu-centric user interface makes using the camera way more difficult than it should be." And PDN Camera Review writes: "So what’s not to like? Well, for starters, while consumers might enjoy the camera’s menu-based interface which includes lots of photographic handholding, pros likely won’t."

My colleague pointed out that the LX3 is also quite a complex camera, and in practical use the NEX-5 wouldn't probably be any worse. You could learn to live with it in time.

I have been thinking about this since, and I must admit there is some truth to this. With practice you can learn to cope with almost anything.

But I disagree about the complexity of the LX3. Yes, I admit that the camera is quite complex overall, but in those functions which I actually use, it couldn't be much simpler and easier to use. So, while it took some time to learn the LX3, since the initial learning curve it has been rather easy to use.

But - and this is a bit but - I can easily see camera interfaces which drive you crazy even when you become familiar with them. And from the reviews I have seen this may be the case with the NEX-5. Image quality is usually praised, but the usability gets bad marks from the experienced reviewers.

And no, I'm not planning to sell the LX3 or to buy the NEX-5. The basic reason is laziness - why fix something that works - and another is the availability of lenses for the NEX-5. Also, with a set of lenses capable of the same as the LX3, the NEX-5 wouldn't be pockatable any more, far from it.

Update: I have posted a photograph of the same subject as in the second photograph previously. This photograph is different enough so I decided to post it as well.

Hot and wet

Growth, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Drops on tent, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I has been hot, 26 to 28 °C. Today we went twice swimming with the daughters, and that helped. Late in the afternoon we got some unanticipated rain, and that helped even more. Next few days, it is forecasted that dry 26 to 27 °C weather will continue. It starts to be a bit tiring.

DC Resource has published their review of the Sony NEX-5 mirrorless camera. The review mirrors (ahem) previous reviews: "Ultimately, I grew to have a love-hate relationship with the NEX-5. It's an extremely capable camera, held back by a user interface that drove me (and nearly all other reviewers) nuts. I love the NEX's photo quality, live view implementation, the Auto HDR and Sweep Panorama features, and the Full HD movie mode, but users shouldn't have to jump through hoops to enjoy them."

Thus, the NEX-5 is a good camera shot down by an awful user interface.

And speaking of cameras, there are new rumours about the Panasonic LX5, successor to the LX3. Might this be the ultimate pocketable serious camera?

Walking at Tremanskärr marsh

Ferns, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Geranium, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today was a wet day once again, and a cold one, but we went for a walk anyway, to the Tremanskärr marsh area nearby. Here are two photographs taken there, showing both the lack of bright light, and the deep colors due to the wetness. There were a lot of mosquitoes, and thanks to the wetness, we will probably get even more of them.

Update: Dpreview has made their evaluation of the Sony NEX-5, recommended reading. My previous doubts about the camera seems to be confirmed: "... its small, sleek, well built body contains one of the strangest interfaces we've encountered in a long time. The images are up with the best in its class but the user experience is disappointing."

On the other hand, Luminous Landscape gives the Samsung EX1 (TL500) a quite positive review. (They misspell the name as EX-1 occasionally, though.) It seems that this is a camera worth checking out. Maybe not an LX3 killer, however.

On the usability of cameras (NEX-5, LX3)

Little Parliament, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Today I made a short talk in a TUTKAS seminar, audience consisting of Finnish researchers and Members of the Parliament (MPs). Didn't have much time for photography, except when walking from the parking hall to the "new wing" of the parliament. Then I had a little bit of time before the seminar started. The photograph shows a reflection of the parliament main building from the glass wall of the new wing building (or "Little Parliament").

In my presentation, I used one of my old photographs, namely in the final slide I showed a photograph which I had taken at Anjalankoski. The chair of the seminar, MP Kimmo Kiljunen, complimented on the nice photo which contained such clean-looking landscape.

The topic of the seminar was research infrastructure, and my talk discussed how we can build such things in a sustainable manner, especially related to the use of biological research data. The MP Sirpa Liisa Asko-Seljavaara asked in her comment, whether people really would like to live forever, in case all illnesses can be cured. Well, that was not quite what I meant by sustainability.

Well, back to photography (and gear of course).

The competent review of the Sony NEX-5 at Luminous Landscape contains the collowing remarkable observation: "The NEX-5's user interface may well be one of the most frustrating that I have ever encountered."

Given the common usability issues with digital cameras, this is really quite something. Of course, often you manage to cope with the problems, some of which may in fact turn out to be "features", but in this case it seems that the problems are such that it is quite hard to do much anything with the camera. Which is a pity because technology-wise the camera seems to be a competent one, producing good images in such a small package.

When I bought the Panasonic LX3, I was used to a Canon point-and-shoot (Digital IXUS 400), and it took a while until I learned how to use the LX3 properly. And it took much longer to really know what is good in the camera - what works and what doesn't.

Currently, there is very little that I change in my custom settings, except for exposure compensation, which I put at +2/3 when there is snow and at -2/3 when it is summer. I may change the auto-ISO setting once in a while, but not permanently. (Usually I leave ISO at 100.) The differences in the three custom settings are minor: one has b&w mode switched on ("Dynamic b&w") and another has the square aspect ratio. Otherwise, everything stays as it is good to have it.

Some say that you should read the manual when you get a new camera. Well, perhaps, at least it may not hurt much. But I feel the best is to approach the camera with an attitude of rationality: find out those things which help to do what you want the camera to do (storing custom settings etc.) and try one thing at a time until you get it right.

1000 postings - using a camera that looks both ways

Windows, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Wood, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

This is the 1000th posting at this blog, in a little bit less than two years. And - so they say - as the camera looks both ways, I must have revealed something about myself here. Or perhaps even learned a little bit of photography.

Since September 2008 I have taken over 93,000 photographs with my Panasonic LX3, quite a feat which I didn't aim for, it just happened. And I have written quite a few words to complement the photographs in the blog postings. On the average, I have taken about 100 photographs for each blog posting here, so only a small subset of the photographs survive this far.

Of course, I'm just a beginner compared to many others, such as Andreas Manessinger, who has well over 1300 postings as of this writing.

Originally I was planning to write a longer posting to celebrate the occasion, but what the hell, is 1000 any more special than, say 1587?

On the other hand, I can't help speculating about new cameras. There is a nice overview of the new Sony cameras, titled 24 Hours with Sony's NEX-3 & NEX-5. Based on the overview, it seems that these mirrorless cameras are quite nice, although there are user interface problems which spoil the fun in more demanding use. But I guess Sony may be able to improve the interface to the point when the cameras are tempting indeed.

One thing I didn't know about Sony cameras were the Sweep Panorama and Twilight Hand-held modes, both of which basically use a kind of stiching techology to generate either a much larger or a better-quality image. The Sweep Panorama mode joins in-camera up to 60 images while you slowly move the camera across the landscape. And in the Twilight Hand-held mode the camera captures six images in succession, layering the best parts into an optimized image file. These sound interesting technologies indeed, and probably will appear elsewhere.

But at least for now I'm very pleased with my LX3. It allows all kinds of experiments in photography. What I have learned is that there are endless paths to explore, and I feel that I know less about photography the more I take photographs. Of course, it would be bad the other way around, so no complaints.

Busy-ness (and thoughts on Nokia, mirrorless cameras, Antti Hyry)

Red wall, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Helsinki street view, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Bug, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Sunlight, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

This has been a busy week, lots of things happening. Meetings at work, and at home we had some work done in the garden (cutting trees etc.).

Today I was in Helsinki early in the morning, and took some photographs while walking to a meeting. And when I was returning to home from work, there was an extreme case of a traffic jam. It two two hours to get home. (Usually it takes 30-45 minutes by car.)

Here are some random bits I thought at some point doing this busy week.

About Anssi Vanjoki's comments on camera phones killing off DSLRs: Vanjoki seems to be the strongest candidate for next CEO of Nokia, and the term "Vanjoking" seems to be taking off. He likes to provoke.

I haven't had time to look into the details of Sony's new mirrorless cameras NEX-5 and NEX-3, but they do seem promising. Of course, lens selection is really limited at the moment. But the cameras are small, and it seems that Sony has learned a lesson or two from the Olympus and Panasonic micro 4/3 cameras. Competition is heating up. But we need lenses - especially pancake lenses - and a good macro lens. Please, please.

A colleague in Germany (thanks, Jarno!) sent in some links about the Finnish author Antti Hyry, whom I have pondered here a couple of times. This information is in Finnish. First, a radio program at YLE Areena, which will be available for a few weeks, also available from abroad. And an interview of Hyry at Suomen Kuvalehti. Very short, very typical, entertaining in a Hyry-like way (you need to read between the lines).

Update: Canon news as well: SD 4000/IXUS 300 HS is a new premium compact with (some) manual controls. ISO 3200 (whatever that means) and 28-104 mm f/2.0 lens. May not be too bad at all. Well, and I was thinking just a while ago that there are no new interesting cameras, and now we do have some from Sony and Canon.