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Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
These vehicles were picking up a School group on Dover Seafront and this was a grab shot before the group boarded.
And be sure to check by my other acount: www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=77145939%40..., to see what else I saw Today in Dover!!
Yes I'm back again.
However due to my main computer on which I edit my work being struck down with a big bad virus, this picture and all the others I am uploading, were Unedited but have now been replaced with Edited versions. So enjoy and Thanks for your patience and understanding.
I do still hate everything about this shit that is new Flickr and always will, but an inability to find another outlet for my work that is as easy for me to use as the Old BETTER Flickr was, has forced me back to Flickr, even though it goes against everything I believe in.
I don't generally have an opinion on my own work, I prefer to leave that to other people and so based on the positive responses to my work from the various friends I had made on Flickr prior to the changes I have decided to upload some more of my work as an experiment and to see what happens.
So make the most of me before they delete my acount: www.flickr.com/photos/69558134@N05/?details=1, to stop me complaining!!
Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories, Portigal, Steve, 2016, New York: Rosenfeld Media
Els Pelegrins de les Useres és una tradició religiosa que té lloc cada any a Les Useres, (l'Alcalatén). Consisteix en una romeria de 35 km entre la població i el santuari de Sant Joan de Penyagolosa, situat a la muntanya del mateix nom.
Es tracta d'una tradició del segle XIV, que es repeteix el darrer divendres del mes d'abril. Els pelegrins preguen per aigua, collita i contra la pesta. Els actes que acompanyen al Camí (misses, parades, menjars...) pràcticament no han canviat des dels seus inicis. El silenci regna en la peregrinació, només trencat pels cantors d'antigues composicions medievals. La companyia està formada per 13 homes de la localitat.
Tot i això, la celebració és de procedència pagana, i l'Església e'n va apropiar posteriorment. Alguns veïns de Les Useres creuen que es tractava d'una cerimònia de celebració de l'edat adulta, on dotze joves s'acomiadaven dels progenitors i acompanyaven el Pare -com encara se li diu al guia- cap al Penyagolosa.
El recorregut entre Les Useres i el Penyagolosa té 35 km i un desnivell acumulat de més de 1.000 metres. Travessa els termes de les Useres, Llucena, Xodos i Vistabella del Maestrat.[2] Es tracta d'una via de comunicació comarcal d'una arrelada tradició, que uneix els pobles de la zona. Per això, la via passa junt a vies pequàries, ermites, masies, castells, fonts i peirons, entre d'altres. Tot això entre zones de gran riquesa mediambiental, amb matolls, carrasques i pins, la qual cosa ha convertit el Camí en un atractiu per al turisme rural.
El camí es fa en dues jornades. La primera és la pujada, on es para a Sant Miquel de les Torrocelles per escoltar missa, i s'arriba a Sant Joan, on es passa la nit; la segona jornada és la baixada fins al punt de partida. El dissabte de Trinitat, el Camí també es recorregut per les rogatives de Xodos a Sant Joan.
El Camí dels Peregrins de les Useres forma part de la ruta senderista GR-33.[3] Aquesta ruta, impulsada pel Centre Excursionista de Castelló, uneix el Penyagolosa, muntanya-símbol de les comarques del nord del País Valencià, amb la capital de La Plana, passant pel santuari de la Mare de déu del Lledó.
castellano:
Los Peregrinos de Useras (Els Pelegrins de les Useres en valenciano) es una fiesta de carácter religioso que se celebra anualmente en la localidad valenciana de Useras. Se trata de una peregrinación de 35 kilómetros con un desnivel de 1000 metros que se inicia a las 7 p.m. y finaliza en el santuario de San Juan de Peñagolosa.
Los peregrinos, vestidos con túnicas azules, deben recorrer esta senda tomándose unas pocas paradas para alimentarse y oír misa. Algunos tramos los realizan descalzos. Finalizando la peregrinación, que se realiza en silencio u orando, deben dormir en la cova dels Pelegrins y, al día siguiente, retornar al pueblo.
Si bien los peregrinos son siempre en número de 13 y elegidos entre los vecinos del pueblo mediante un proceso de selección estricto, también pueden sumarse espontáneos, los cuales deben ir detrás de estos y en silencio.
Deputy Director, Policy & Strategic Communications for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN), JJ Miller, speaks at the National Space Council's Users' Advisory Group Meeting, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington DC. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
“Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws as well as contract laws.” www.flickr.com/photos/the_eye_of_the_moment
nrhodesphotos@yahoo.com
“The-Eye-of-the-Moment-Photos-by-Nolan-H.-Rhodes”
21-Feb-2020: 1. The crow
7-Mar-2020: 2. The last forever woman
Short film.
21-Mar-2020: 3. Mission: Impossible - Fallout
I quickly lost track of the plot (in which everyone tricks each other all the fucking time), but I was really only watching the movie for the Pulpit Rock scene anyway. :B I'VE BEEN THERE!
22-Mar-2020: 4. The odyssey (a.k.a. L'odyssée)
27-Mar-2020: 5. The Wolf of Wall Street
Jordan: "… I also gamble like a degenerate, I drink like a fish, I fuck hookers maybe 5-6 times a week. I have three different federal agencies looking to indict me. Oh yeah, and I love drugs. Yup, on a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my 'back pain', Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine, well, because it's awesome. But of all the drugs under God's blue heaven, there is one that is my absolute favorite. See, enough of this shit will make you invincible. Able to conquer the world and eviscerate your enemies." *snorts coke* "And I'm not talking about this... I'm talking about this." *holds up $100*
Jordan: "People say shit... I mean like, you married your cousin or some stupid shit. No?"
Donnie: "Yeah, my wife, yeah. My wife is my cousin or whatever, but it's not, like, what you think."
Jordan: "Is she, like, a first cousin, or is she…?"
Donnie: "Her… her father is the brother of my mom. Like, we grew up together, and she grew up hot, you know, she fucking grew up hot. And all my friends are trying to fuck her, you know, and I'm not gonna let one of these assholes fuck my cousin. So I used the cousin thing, as, like, an in with her. I'm not, like, gonna let someone else fuck my cousin, you know? If anyone's gonna fuck my cousin, it's gonna be me. Out of respect, you know."
28-Mar-2020: 6. Contagion
Apparently this became hugely popular because of corona... :B But I had actually eyed the DVD in a sales bin years earlier. *mumble* becausejudelaw. *mumble* In other news, I spent the entire movie assuming that Matt Damon was Mark Wahlberg. o_O
3-Apr-2020: 7. Bridesmaids
The food poisoning in the bridal gown shop was one of the funniest scenes. And convos such as:
Teenage customer in jewelry shop: "You're weird."
Annie: "I'm not weird. OK?"
Customer: "Yes, you are."
Annie: "No, I'm not! And you started it."
Customer: "No, you started it! Did you forget to take your Xanax this morning?"
Annie: "Oh, I feel bad for your parents."
Customer: "I feel bad for your face."
Annie: "OK... Well, call me when your boobs come in."
Customer: "You call me when yours come in."
Annie: "What do you have, four boyfriends?"
Customer: "Exactly."
Annie: "OK... Yeah, have fun having a baby at your prom."
Customer: "You look like an old mop."
Annie: "You know, you're not as popular as you think you are."
Customer: "I am very popular."
Annie: "Oh, I'm sure you are... very... popular." *mimics fellatio*
Customer: "Well, you're an old, single loser who's never going to have any friends."
Annie: "YOU'RE A LITTLE CUNT!"
Entire shop: *turns and stares*
Lillian: "You have managed to ruin every event in my wedding, thank you very much!"
Annie: "OK, well, thank YOU very much! It's all her fault, it is not mine! And you would know that if you got your beautiful-haired head out of your asshole. In fact, out of HER asshole, which I'm sure is perfectly bleached!"
Lillian: "You know what? It is! And you know how I know? Because I went to the fucking salon with her, and I got my asshole bleached, too! AND I LOVE MY NEW ASSHOLE!"
(And the love interest ate the cake after the raccoons had been at it so now he may have rabies and he kisses the heroine and infects her too)
4-Apr-2020: 8. Angus, thongs and perfect snogging
6-Apr-2020: 9. The emperor's new groove
10-Apr-2020: 10. Aniara
Lifehack: When you barf up your booze, barf in a plastic crate so that you can dip your glass into it and re-use the booze
11-Apr-2020: 11. Mortal engines
16-Apr-2020: 12. Coco
17-Apr-2020: 13. Fantastic beasts: The crimes of Grindelwald
25-Apr-2020: 14. Abortion: Stories women tell
Fave! Docu. A fucking IUD costs $800 in the US?! Mine cost €110, insertion included... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. And one of the abortions in the docu cost $525. AFAIK, it would be about €20 here. I wish I'd had one. Then I would namedrop it constantly and be shamefree, to support people getting abortions and to annoy anti-abortionists. WELL, I suppose the next best thing I can do is get one of those "ABORTION SENDS BABIES TO GOD FASTER" shirts. :D
26-Apr-2020: 15. Outside the bubble: On the road with Alexandra Pelosi
Docu.
27-Apr-2020: 16. Alternate endings: Six new ways to die in America
Fave! Docu. The 6 ways described are memorial reefs, living wakes, green burials, space burials, medical aid in dying (YES PLEASE), and celebrations of life.
30-Apr-2020: 17. Still Alice
1-May-2020: 18. Stuart: A life backwards
2-May-2020: 19. You don't know Jack
Biopic about Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who helped people euthanize themselves. :)
Jack: "It's emotionalism. You know, when heart transplants first started... there was the same prevalent feeling, I mean, even among doctors... that it was wrong, it was contrary to God's will, contrary to nature. Isn't it ghoulish to rip a person's chest open and take out a heart? Or a bypass operation? Ether is the same thing. You have ether, been around for centuries, it wasn't used. Not till 1846. It was discovered in 1543... and before that, everybody was being operated on while they were awake. Surgeons were cutting them open while they were awake. ... And you know why it was banned? Because of religious dogma. Because of the foolish notion... that there's a God Almighty who wills us to suffer."
3-May-2020: 20. The number on great-grandpa's arm
Short docu.
4-May-2020: 21. What happened on September 11
Short docu. FTR, the kid who says "The world I'm growing up in is more dangerous than the one my parents grew up in!!!!111!!!!!1" is wrong, and the risk of being killed by terrorists is negligible. *throws steven pinker books at you*
5-May-2020: 22. Share
6-May-2020: 23. Dirty war
WELL, corona >>>>>>>>>>>>>> nukes!
9-May-2020: 24. And then we danced
22-May-2020: 25. The Golden Glove (a.k.a. Der Goldene Handschuh)
Black German comedy :B or... something... o_O Its Swedish title translates (simply and aptly) to "The vile Herr Honka". And it's hilarious that the main actor looks like some kind of model IRL. xD
23-May-2020: 26. Linas kvällsbok (a.k.a. Bitter sweetheart)
24-May-2020: 27. Mid90s
Scored by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross! "The start of things" is a beautiful piece. ^_^
25-May-2020: 28. Precious
26-May-2020: 29. John Wick
When mob boy murders ur puppy and u go apeshit and slaughter 77 people in ur quest for revenge. I approve of this. :D Also, the music is cool, and this John Wick pitch meeting is hilarious. xD
27-May-2020: 30. Hard candy
MY NERVES o_O
(The take-home message is that you have to tie your pedos up real good)
28-May-2020: 31. Intermission
29-May-2020: 32. Justice League
30-May-2020: 33. I went down
8-Jun-2020: 34. Togo
Fave! D'x Charismatic doggos and exceptional cinematography! I half expected it to be some 100% vanilla Disney shit trying and failing to be "The call of the wild". :p Various fun facts:
- The canine actor is a descendant of the real Togo, 14 generations on or something!
- And he's named Diesel… So is my coworker's dog. :B *rrrrrreeeeeeach*
- The movie is set in Alaska, but was apparently filmed in Alberta – only the most beautiful place on earth. ^_^
- I watched the movie because of Michael McElhatton, who plays some Norwegian guy named Jafet Lindeberg, whose dad was from Norrbotten, Sweden… And… my dad is from Norrbotten too! :O It's a rather small and sparsely populated region... JUST SAYIN'! *brainsplode*
Bonus points because the fur clothes looked fake. :D
10-Jun-2020: 35. The siege of Jadotville
14-Jun-2020: 36. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
21-Jun-2020: 37. Inside Llewyn Davis
28-Jun-2020: 38. Dallas Buyers Club
5-Jul-2020: 39. The strange history of don't ask, don't tell
Fave! Docu.
12-Jul-2020: 40. Chocolat (2016)
25-Jul-2020: 41. Brexit: The uncivil war
9-Aug-2020: 42. A hidden life
Based on a true story. I watched it over 2 evenings, as it was long. But it turned out that the day I started watching it was the anniversary of the hero's execution! :O
2-Sep-2020: 43. Sex and the city: The movie
I had just finished watching the TV show in its entirety for the first time. FTR, Samantha is my fave character. xD
5-Sep-2020: 44. Sex and the city 2
11-Sep-2020: 45. After truth: Disinformation and the cost of fake news
Fave! Docu.
Journalist Kara Swisher: "White men – younger – run Silicon Valley. If you don't ever feel unsafe in your life, you do not understand lack of safety. You do not build that in. I had someone at Twitter talk to me about… They'd gotten attacked online. First time it happened. And they were like 'Oh, that was pretty bad.' And I'm like 'Welcome to the world of women. Welcome to the world of people of colour. Welcome to the world of marginalized people.' This is what it's like every day. If you could think of a really awful thing that could happen with your product, you need to figure out ways that it doesn't have as much damage. They have not spent enough time doing that."
Mark Zuckerberg: "The principles that we have on what we remove from the service are… If it's going to result in in harm – real physical harm – or if you're attacking individuals, then that content shouldn't be on the platform. But then there is broad debate, and –"
Kara Swisher: "OK… 'Sandy Hook didn't happen' is not a debate. It is false. You can't just take that down?"
Zuckerberg: "I agree that it is false. But overall, I mean, let's take this a little closer to home, right. So, I'm Jewish, and there's a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened, right? I find that deeply offensive. But I don't believe that our platform should take that down, because I think that there are things that different people get wrong. Either… I don't think that they're intentionally getting it wrong, but I think that they –"
Swisher: "In the case of the Holocaust deniers, they might be, but go ahead."
Zuckerberg: "Um –"
Swisher, post-interview: "'Holocaust deniers don't mean to lie.' And I was like, 'But they do.' So that, to me, was sort of like, 'Oh, you're not even sophisticated enough to understand that they mean to lie, that's the whole point.' If someone who is running the biggest communication system in the history of the world – someone who cannot be fired, someone who has complete control over that system – does not understand what he just said, it's… It really struck me as… It was a big uh-oh moment for me. The implication that they aren't malevolent. He knows they're malevolent. Come on. You can take them off. Like, it's OK. He's gonna get flak for it, but he gets paid the big bucks, right?"
PS. I don't think I'd ever heard the real Zuckerberg speak before, but listening to the voiceover in the docu, I pretty much recognized his way of speaking… from "The social network" movie. :B
12-Sep-2020: 46. Handsome devil
It was like a mashup between "Dead Poets' Society", "Fucking Åmål", and "Bend it like Beckham".
4-Oct-2020: 47. De kallar oss mods (a.k.a. They call us misfits)
Ancient Swedish docu.
28-Oct-2020: 48. Joker
31-Oct-2020: 49. Spin the bottle
Fave!
20-Nov-2020: 50. Brassed off
Whew. That was some intense coal-hugging. o_O
It was a bit like "The full monty", but with a brass band instead of a strip group.
And a bit like "Blow dry", which was also a Yorkshire movie about a competition in an obscure discipline.
And a bit like "Gentleman Jack", in that the heroes thought coal pits were the best shit ever. :B
Er. I'll stahp now.
But anyway:
Gloria: "Do you want to come up for a coffee?"
Andy: "I don't drink coffee."
Gloria: "I haven't got any."
Someone: "Coal is history, Miss Mullins."
Ratexla: "He's right, you know." *sips tea* ^_^
4-Dec-2020: 51. Blackout
11-Dec-2020: 52. The Darkling
24-Dec-2020: 53. Borat subsequent moviefilm
Fave! xD
27-Dec-2020: 54. The Christmas stallion
I facepalmed repeatedly
31-Dec-2020: 55. The actors
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Vegan FAQ! :)
The Web Site the Meat Industry Doesn't Want You to See.
Please watch Earthlings.
Posting a few photos from 2018 and 2019 made during my flickr meetups with former flickr user Rod. Even though Rod decided to leave flickr, we are still in touch and have been meeting up at least once a year.
At the Whitby GO Station, this rather fancy looking mobile toilet trailer appeared to be for the exclusive use for Durham Region Transit staff.
Sony RX1 User Report.
I hesitate to write about gear. Tools are tools and the bitter truth is that a great craftsman rises above his tools to create a masterpiece whereas most of us try to improve our abominations by buying better or faster hammers to hit the same nails at the same awkward angles.
The internet is fairly flooded with reviews of this tiny marvel, and it isn’t my intention to compete with those articles. If you’re looking for a full-scale review of every feature or a down-to-Earth accounting of the RX1’s strengths and weaknesses, I recommend starting here.
Instead, I’d like to provide you with a flavor of how I’ve used the camera over the last six months. In short, this is a user report. To save yourself a few thousand words: I love the thing. As we go through this article, you’ll see this is a purpose built camera. The RX1 is not for everyone, but we will get to that and on the way, I’ll share a handful of images that I made with the camera.
It should be obvious to anyone reading this that I write this independently and have absolutely no relationship with Sony (other than having exchanged a large pile of cash for this camera at a retail outlet).
Before we get to anything else, I want to clear the air about two things: Price and Features
The Price
First things first: the price. The $2800+ cost of this camera is the elephant in the room and, given I purchased the thing, you may consider me a poor critic. That in mind, I want to offer you three thoughts:
Consumer goods cost what they cost, in the absence of a competitor (the Fuji X100s being the only one worth mention) there is no comparison and you simply have to decide for yourself if you are willing to pay or not.
Normalize the price per sensor area for all 35mm f/2 lens and camera alternatives and you’ll find the RX1 is an amazing value.
You are paying for the ability to take photographs, plain and simple. Ask yourself, “what are these photographs worth to me?”
In my case, #3 is very important. I have used the RX1 to take hundreds of photographs of my family that are immensely important to me. Moreover, I have made photographs (many appearing on this page) that are moving or beautiful and only happened because I had the RX1 in my bag or my pocket. Yes, of course I could have made these or very similar photographs with another camera, but that is immaterial.
35mm by 24mm by 35mm f/2
The killer feature of this camera is simple: it is a wafer of silicon 35mm by 24mm paired to a brilliantly, ridiculously, undeniably sharp, contrasty and bokehlicious 35mm f/2 Carl Zeiss lens. Image quality is king here and all other things take a back seat. This means the following: image quality is as good or better than your DSLR, but battery life, focus speed, and responsiveness are likely not as good as your DSLR. I say likely because, if you have an entry-level DSLR, the RX1 is comparable on these dimensions. If you want to change lenses, if you want an integrated viewfinder, if you want blindingly fast phase-detect autofocus then shoot with a DSLR. If you want the absolute best image quality in the smallest size possible, you’ve got it in the RX1.
While we are on the subject of interchangeable lenses and viewfinders...
I have an interchangeable lens DSLR and I love the thing. It’s basically a medium format camera in a 35mm camera body. It’s a powerhouse and it is the first camera I reach for when the goal is photography. For a long time, however, I’ve found myself in situations where photography was not the first goal, but where I nevertheless wanted to have a camera. I’m around the table with friends or at the park with my son and the DSLR is too big, too bulky, too intimidating. It comes between you and life. In this realm, mirrorless, interchangeable lens cameras seem to be king, but they have a major flaw: they are, for all intents and purposes, just little DSLRs.
As I mentioned above, I have an interchangeable lens system, why would I want another, smaller one? Clearly, I am not alone in feeling this way, as the market has produced a number of what I would call “professional point and shoots.” Here we are talking about the Fuji X100/X100s, Sigma DPm-series and the RX100 and RX1.
Design is about making choices
When the Fuji X100 came out, I was intrigued. Here was a cheap(er), baby Leica M. Quiet, small, unobtrusive. Had I waited to buy until the X100s had come out, perhaps this would be a different report. Perhaps, but probably not. I remember thinking to myself as I was looking at the X100, “I wish there was a digital Rollei 35, something with a fixed 28mm or 35mm lens that would fit in a coat pocket or a small bag.” Now of course, there is.
So, for those of you who said, “I would buy the RX1 if it had interchangeable lenses or an integrated viewfinder or faster autofocus,” I say the following: This is a purpose built camera. You would not want it as an interchangeable system, it can’t compete with DSLR speed. A viewfinder would make the thing bigger and ruin the magic ratio of body to sensor size—further, there is a 3-inch LCD viewfinder on the back! Autofocus is super fast, you just don’t realize it because the bar has been raised impossibly high by ultra-sonic magnet focusing rings on professional DSLR lenses. There’s a fantastic balance at work here between image quality and size—great tools are about the total experience, not about one or the other specification.
In short, design is about making choices. I think Sony has made some good ones with the RX1.
In use
So I’ve just written 1,000 words of a user report without, you know, reporting on use. In many ways the images on the page are my user report. These photographs, more than my words, should give you a flavor of what the RX1 is about. But, for the sake of variety, I intend to tell you a bit about the how and the why of shooting with the RX1.
Snapshots
As a beginning enthusiast, I often sneered at the idea of a snapshot. As I’ve matured, I’ve come to appreciate what a pocket camera and a snapshot can offer. The RX1 is the ultimate photographer’s snapshot camera.
I’ll pause here to properly define snapshot as a photograph taken quickly with a handheld camera.
To quote Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” So it is with photography. Beautiful photographs happen at the decisive moment—and to paraphrase Henri Cartier-Bresson further—the world is newly made and falling to pieces every instant. I think it is no coincidence that each revolution in the steady march of photography from the tortuously slow chemistry of tin-type and daguerreotype through 120 and 35mm formats to the hyper-sensitive CMOS of today has engendered new categories and concepts of photography.
Photography is a reflexive, reactionary activity. I see beautiful light or the unusual in an every day event and my reaction is a desire to make a photograph. It’s a bit like breathing and has been since I was a kid.
Rather than sneer at snapshots, nowadays I seek them out; and when I seek them out, I do so with the Sony RX1 in my hand.
How I shoot with the RX1
Despite much bluster from commenters on other reviews as to the price point and the purpose-built nature of this camera (see above), the RX1 is incredibly flexible. Have a peek at some of the linked reviews and you’ll see handheld portraits, long exposures, images taken with off-camera flash, etc.
Yet, I mentioned earlier that I reach for the D800 when photography is the primary goal and so the RX1 has become for me a handheld camera—something I use almost exclusively at f/2 (people, objects, shallow DoF) or f/8 (landscapes in abundant light, abstracts). The Auto-ISO setting allows the camera to choose in the range from ISO 50 and 6400 to reach a proper exposure at a given aperture with a 1/80 s shutter speed. I have found this shutter speed ensures a sharp image every time (although photographers with more jittery grips may wish there was the ability to select a different default shutter speed). This strategy works because the RX1 has a delightfully clicky exposure compensation dial just under your right thumb—allowing for fine adjustment to the camera’s metering decision.
So then, if you find me out with the RX1, you’re likely to see me on aperture priority, f/2 and auto ISO. Indeed, many of the photographs on this page were taken in that mode (including lots of the landscape shots!).
Working within constraints.
The RX1 is a wonderful camera to have when you have to work within constraints. When I say this, I mean it is great for photography within two different classes of constraints: 1) physical constraints of time and space and 2) intellectual/artistic constraints.
To speak to the first, as I said earlier, many of the photographs on this page were made possible by having a camera with me at a time that I otherwise would not have been lugging around a camera. For example, some of the images from the Grand Canyon you see were made in a pinch on my way to a Christmas dinner with my family. I didn’t have the larger camera with me and I just had a minute to make the image. Truth be told, these images could have been made with my cell phone, but that I could wring such great image quality out of something not much larger than my cell phone is just gravy. Be it jacket pocket, small bag, bike bag, saddle bag, even fannie pack—you have space for this camera anywhere you go.
Earlier I alluded to the obtrusiveness of a large camera. If you want to travel lightly and make photographs without announcing your presence, it’s easier to use a smaller camera. Here the RX1 excels. Moreover, the camera’s leaf shutter is virtually silent, so you can snap away without announcing your intention. In every sense, this camera is meant to work within physical constraints.
I cut my photographic teeth on film and I will always have an affection for it. There is a sense that one is playing within the rules when he uses film. That same feeling is here in the RX1. I never thought I’d say this about a camera, but I often like the JPEG images this thing produces more than I like what I can push with a RAW. Don’t get me wrong, for a landscape or a cityscape, the RAW processed carefully is FAR, FAR better than a JPEG.
But when I am taking snapshots or photos of friends and family, I find the JPEGs the camera produces (I’m shooting in RAW + JPEG) so beautiful. The camera’s computer corrects for the lens distortion and provides the perfect balance of contrast and saturation. The JPEG engine can be further tweaked to increase the amount of contrast, saturation or dynamic range optimization (shadow boost) used in writing those files. Add in the ability to rapidly compensate exposure or activate various creative modes and you’ve got this feeling you’re shooting film again. Instant, ultra-sensitive and customizable film.
Pro Tip: Focusing
Almost all cameras come shipped with what I consider to be the worst of the worst focus configurations. Even the Nikon D800 came to my hands set to focus when the shutter button was halfway depressed. This mode will ruin almost any photograph. Why? Because it requires you to perform legerdemain to place the autofocus point, depress the shutter halfway, recompose and press the shutter fully. In addition to the chance of accidentally refocusing after composing or missing the shot—this method absolutely ensures that one must focus before every single photograph. Absolutely impossible for action or portraiture.
Sensibly, most professional or prosumer cameras come with an AF-ON button near where the shooter’s right thumb rests. This separates the task of focusing and exposing, allowing the photographer to quickly focus and to capture the image even if focus is slightly off at the focus point. For portraits, kids, action, etc the camera has to have a hair-trigger. It has to be responsive. Manufacturer’s: stop shipping your cameras with this ham-fisted autofocus arrangement.
Now, the RX1 does not have an AF-ON button, but it does have an AEL button whose function can be changed to “MF/AF Control Hold” in the menu. Further, other buttons on the rear of the camera can also be programmed to toggle between AF and MF modes. What this all means is that you can work around the RX1’s buttons to make it’s focus work like a DSLR’s. (For those of you who are RX1 shooters, set the front switch to MF, the right control wheel button to MF/AF Toggle and the AEL button to MF/AF Control Hold and voila!) The end result is that, when powered on the camera is in manual focus mode, but the autofocus can be activated by pressing AEL, no matter what, however, the shutter is tripped by the shutter release. Want to switch to AF mode? Just push a button and you’re back to the standard modality.
Carrying.
I keep mine in a small, neoprene pouch with a semi-hard LCD cover and a circular polarizing filter on the front—perfect for buttoning up and throwing into a bag on my way out of the house. I have a soft release screwed into the threaded shutter release and a custom, red twill strap to replace the horrible plastic strap Sony provided. I plan to gaffer tape the top and the orange ring around the lens. Who knows, I may find an old Voigtlander optical viewfinder in future as well.
Bottom edge of a copy of one of the software manuals I write. As we produce them in relatively small volume, they usually come straight off the printer and are bound with plastic combs, or put into ring binders. I am a technical writer for a sofware company and produce user manuals, training manuals, online help, as well as any other marketing materials that need words.
Taken with iPhone 4S with the magnetic snap-on macro lens.
Entry for Macro Monday 31st October 2011: "My Work".
SRS Recovery Act Update: K Cooling Tower is imploded on May 26, 2010 as part of the SRS Recovery Act Project.
One of the most visual milestones of cleanup projects underway within the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management was the demolition of the K-Reactor Cooling Tower at the Savannah River Site (SRS).
Now, this American Recovery and Reinvestment Act project has been completed one month ahead of schedule, with debris from the implosion safely hauled away and deposited in an on-site landfill. With project completion, a great safety
To complete the project, more than 800 tons of reinforced steel from the structure were sent to a local scrap metal recycler. This recycling effort also helped to stimulate the local economy beyond the SRS Recovery Act Project.
The video of the May 2010 controlled implosion has been viewed more than 335,000 times on YouTube.
Visit YouTube for the latest video on the cooling tower project: www.youtube.com/user/SRSNews?feature=mhsn#p/a/u/0/MaKFLVN...
Petra, Jordan
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Travel Blog: NADIA + CASEY : Adventures In Travel Photography
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Photography: - Travel - Urban - Architecture - Rural - People - Mono
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Another shot courtesy of Flickr user m20wc51, this one taken by Lt. Martin Small, sometime between 1951-53. These are two fellow Lieutenants, and the background looks like some kind of troop transport, with the foreground figures at least in full packs and gear, so perhaps they are on their way to the front lines.
The original shot can be found here, for purposes of comparison. This one was in reasonable shape, except for being originally a bit under-exposed, and having faded towards purple for that reason. I've tried to restore some of the colour and contrast to it, but otherwise done very little. There were a lot of small specks on the slide, but because it is so dark, these mostly disappear into the shadows, and into the grain of the shot.
Quick sketch over coffee considering a different approach to displaying user research...
©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
These photographs are presented here for viewing purposes ONLY. They are NOT royalty free images and may not be used for commercial or private use. Any such use of these images is strictly prohibited. Specifically, these images may not be copied, manipulated, be reproduced by any other means nor sold without prior written consent by the author.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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The magnificent, grand interior of User Hall in Edinburgh, taken with a fish eye lens. I was lucky enough to be allowed to take some photos inside the hall as well as the beautiful spiral staircase. Next time I visit Edinburgh i'd love to see a performance at this venue!
Three frames taken during the FPP London 2012 meetup using the Pentax Auto 110 camera that I previously used in week 46 of my 52 film cameras in 52 weeks project:
The first 2 years of the project are covered in this book:
www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/detail/2869629
Expired (2001) Kodacolor Gold film, developed in Tetenal C41 chemistry.
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