Cameras and coffee

click photo to enlarge
I've been idly thinking of replacing my Lumix LX3. Recent compact cameras, notably the Sony RX100, offer a much improved feature set in a similar sized body. In particular, the low light performance is considerably better, as is the video. Those are characteristics that would give me greater success in my evening photography in London and elsewhere, and with the photography I do with my grand-daughter.

However, though I could open my wallet and buy that particular camera, or another model that gave me better image quality, I won't at the moment. Why? Well, first of all there's the relative price. I judge the newer offerings to be too expensive. I'm sure others will disagree, but when it comes to spending my money then it's mainly about me! The manufacturers set the opening price of new cameras high, and they almost always fall, sometimes by an enormous amount. The Sony's price has dropped significantly already, and will, I'm sure keep going down. If it approaches my mental "guide price" I will consider it. Of course, the other thing holding me back is the fact that I know that while the surface qualities of low light shots from a new camera would be better than I get from the LX3, the more important photographic qualities will be no different. In other words, a new camera won't make me a better photographer. And lastly, while my old (in digital terms) camera produces shots like today's, this one, or this, that satisfy me greatly, then why bother.

I apply this kind of thinking to lots of things I buy. I have a guide price for coffee, for example, and won't pay what I think is the ridiculous amount asked by the bigger chains such as Costa, Caffé Nero, Starbucks etc (Starbucks' attitude to paying UK corporation tax is another reason to stay away from them.) As a consequence our coffee drinking is done in locally run shops and cafés such as the one above in Spalding, Lincolnshire. I took today's shot there as we ascended the stairs. The low viewpoint accentuated the coffered, concrete ceiling, and the single diner - others are out of shot - added the human interest I wanted in the photograph.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 12.8mm (60mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: 2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/160
 ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On 

A shop and bull story

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Anyone who frequents photography websites cannot fail to have come across the oft repeated aphorism, "the best camera is the one you have with you." And, like most home-spun wisdom it contains an element of truth, for, if you come upon a potential photograph and are carrying even a modest camera you'll return home with an image. But, if you have the latest whizz-bang, high tech, zillion megapixel marvel at home but no camera with you then the potential image becomes like the fisherman's "one that got away": a photograph that was missed but which becomes ever more marvellous in every re-telling of the tale.

It's no surprise therefore that as well as selling DSLR cameras most manufacturers market one or more "enthusiast" or "professional" compact cameras, one purpose of which is to accompany the enthusiast or pro when the main camera can't be available. My Lumix LX3 has fulfilled this role for a few years and it was with me on the morning that I took today's photograph. We weren't out on a photographic expedition but doing our weekly shopping. After a cup of coffee we set off through the market and came upon a lorry from which, under a canopy at the side, meat was being sold. The back of the trailer featured a beautifully executed trompe l'oeil image of a black bull in a wooden enclosure, standing there in all its imperious might, eyes fixed on the passing public. One of the best touches of the artwork was the metal shutters and catch at the top that made it look like the back had been rolled up. The photographic possibilities of this striking image were immediately obvious and I started taking shots, trying to include a person to the left, right or passing in front. I got several and we went on our way. But, after a few minutes I decided that a person standing in front and looking up at the bull might make a good composition so we went back and my wife became that person.

When I reviewed my shots on the computer at home it became obvious that the first shot I took was the best. Another aphorism (of my invention) had clearly come into play, namely that "usually the best shot that you take of a subject is either the first or second, and subsequent attempts rarely match up to these." This has been the case with me for a long time. Perhaps I've photographed sufficiently frequently for intuition, my subconscious or my accumulated experience over more than forty years picture taking, to enable me to see shots quickly. Whatever the reason it has happened often enough for me to notice the phenomenon, though clearly not enough for me to learn the lesson and desist after my initial exposures!

For a couple more of my trompe l'oeil photographs see here and here.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 11.1mm (52mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f4
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 80
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

In praise of small sensor cameras

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Those who use digital SLRs often have no time for small sensor cameras. Not only do they lament the lack of control that compacts offer, they also bemoan their low-light abilities, the image quality and the difficulty in producing out of focus backgrounds - what is today called "bokeh". I use both a DSLR and a compact digital camera, just as for a couple of decades I used a 35mm SLR and a compact rangefinder camera. Why did I then - and why do I now - accept the limitations of a small camera? The answer is simple: convenience, and because usually what it produces is good enough.

Take the LX3 that I use. It has what many see as a woefully short zoom (24mm-60mm in 35mm terms), but that's a range that covers about 80% of my photography. Moreover, the limitation is actually liberating, and interestingly I find myself using 24mm much of the time and ignoring the rest of the zoom. Additionally, with most of my shots I'm aiming to maximise the depth of field, so for me the "disadvantage" of the small sensor becomes an advantage. The maximum aperture of the LX3 is f2. In the days of SLRs that wasn't anything special, with 50mm f1.8 lenses being two a penny, and f1.4 and f1.2 being not too uncommon. Today though, f2 is wider than probably 90% of DSLR lenses. Then there's the image quality, noise, etc. The LX3 output isn't as good as a DSLR: that much is obvious if you view images on screen at 100%. However, that's not the way I look at photographs. At the usual screen size I see no difference, and in prints up to A3+ I struggle to see a difference, so the output, for my purposes, is clearly good enough. Where the LX3 really scores is in its pocketability - it can go everywhere I go with no inconvenience. But there's also the quality of the straight out-of-the-camera JPEGs and the very effective iA (Intelligent Auto) mode. Because it's an enthusiast's compact the user control and the ability to customise the set up are at the level of many DSLRs. All told its a good little camera that is, yes, good enough. Having said that, I couldn't see myself with a wide-angle compact such as this as my only camera: but as camera that is complementary to the DSLR it works well.

Today's shot exemplifies some of its virtues. I set the dial to Intelligent Auto, overrode it only to the extent of dialling in -0.66EV to control the highlights, and, in a church on a dark January day, ended up with this sharp, hand-held image. The background is sufficiently out of focus to emphasise the chandelier above me, but the roof timbers and wooden angels staring down are still discernible, largely because it opened up the lens to the maximum of f2. When I compared this shot to the version I took using Aperture Priority mode it was certainly no worse.

photograph & text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Intelligent Auto
Focal Length: 5.1mm (24mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2
Shutter Speed: 1/30
ISO: 200
Exposure Compensation: -0.66 EV
Image Stabilisation: On