SiJ 2017 - reflections on the middle third.

For all the bother, I admit this is one of my favorite and most productive photographic exercises. It stretches my aesthetic sense and really gives me a chance to become familiar with a camera and a lens. It's also part of a group so I can see the work of others and get some feedback on my own. It would be interesting to try this during another month with different weather.
 
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To be honest I find it a chore. I realise that I post the same old same old pictures and this is largely because my cameras are not the kind to be taken walkies. My back up, back up hard drive is now bleating about being full once again and to be honest I should probably delete 50 percent of my thousands of pictures. I've changed from the Leica M to the A7RII, first with the original Summilux but latterly with the old favourite Contax G 45mm that I find a much easier combo. If anything this leads me to think that I really should be bidding a fond farewell to the Leica since I rarely use it and if I do find myself using it outside the house, it inevitably freezes and I have to remove the batter to get it going again... hardly cool. Twice I have sent this camera away only to retrieve it at the 11th hour but it may be be time to take stock.
 
I do realize that I favor small cameras and lenses of the "travel" variety even for everyday use. I'm not the sort go out for a day of landscapes with my tripod, a lovely but very lonely Oben affair. My approach is usually to grab and go for a walk or a car/motorcycle ride, which is perfect for this kind of challenge. This explains my preference for mu43 and the smaller Fuji bodies like the X-T10.
 
Interesting how we all differ. Heading out by myself for a day with my camera gear to some remote canyon to photograph waterfalls, or a long ride along a river on my bike with my camera gear in a small pack is my idea of bliss. I've always liked smaller cameras and lenses, too, but MFT was just a bit too small for me, despite the IQ. I'm thinking I'm going to build up a set of small XF primes for the X-T1, beginning with the 23mm WR as soon as I can sell some of the tiny camera stash I still have left.
 
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For SiJ and everyday carry, I've shrunk down my XT-10 to fit in a Lowepro TLZ 20, one of the smallest bags the maker has. Fotasy grip - mostly for the forehand projection, but eventually I will benefit from the Arca-Swiss plate, an EF-20 flash (which works amazingly well at close ranges) and one of the lenses that will fit in it. Still heavier than I like, but compared to the years of equipment I've come and gone, it's about as small as it's ever been. Debating a used X70, but I can't live without an eye-level viewfinder.

SiJ is a good exercise without too many constraints, which is just as well. 60 hour workweeks since just before the holiday break and an endless string of real-life demands seem to be piling up. I plan my shooting around the AM going into work, it's just too dark by the time I get out, and too dangerous given road conditions, to be wandering about to bag a drive-by shot.
 
I always enjoy shooting photographs with a Ricoh (first the GRDIII, then the GXR [still got it christilou] and now the GR). Its size, capability and simplicity, for me, makes it perfect for picture a day challenges such as the SiJ.

Before starting the SiJ this year I had wondered if the Ricoh would be satisfying enough to use for travel photography as my sole camera. I have a two week trip planned later this year where I am minimising my luggage to just a single, small (tiny really) rucksack as I'm going to be jumping from one location to the next across the length of Italy so I want to keep the load on my back as light as possible. I don't want to find myself using up half my "luggage" space to accommodate a big camera, lenses, batteries and charger. The GR is small, I'd barely know it was there. But having shot with the Ricoh GR in and around Edinburgh over the last three weeks I think the Ricoh (either of the three) would leave me wanting in travel photography. No reach and I don't like depending on the LCD screen. I kinda feel like I am guessing the picture rather than making a decisive shot.

So after the SiJ has ended my search is on to find a different camera that is both up to the task and has a small footprint. This isn't an excuse for GAS. I don't have any. But I have suffered badly in the past. Never one for selling the cameras I so long lusted after in the past I now have quite a few to choose from. Some well used and appreciated - primed for action. Others gathering dust on the shelf - neglected and separated from their batteries and chargers, wondering if they will ever get their shot. So once SiJ is over I'm gonna shake the dust off the cameras and give them all a decent test drive as the sole camera to find the one that fits the bill. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
 
I'm the same. DSLR, Nikon 1, superzooms, serious compacts, its all there. The trouble is, I can find a use for all of them. Just not very often!. I really should reduce my gear. What I have discovered this time around with SiJ, is that I really like the LX100, so I will likely dispense with my previously beloved TZ60 and (*shock*) my Olympus XZ-1+VF2, and my Pentax DSLR gear and lenses.
 
I hate to say, but I am out. It's the first time I have not completed and I'm quite irritated. I know a poor workman blames his tools, but that's exactly what I'm doing. I chose to use my Panasonic CM1 both to bond with it and to learn it's strengths and weaknesses and I have certainly done that. I have realised that portable telephone photography for anything approximating image capture with serious intent is simply not for me. I am hugely frustrated by the compromises inherent in using a "converged" device and simply can't carry on with, in photographic terms, one hand and both legs tied behind my back.
 
Quite frankly, I've actually enjoyed it although I would be the first to admit that on some mornings I groaned under my breath a bit. For 40 years while I was still teaching full-time I emphasized the importance of taking on a challenge and giving it your all. Now retired, this was given me a somewhat unexpected opportunity to practice what I preached.
Groan now, gloat later. ;-) Good Luck!
'Just thinking out loud here.
. . . David
 
I hate to say, but I am out. It's the first time I have not completed and I'm quite irritated. I know a poor workman blames his tools, but that's exactly what I'm doing. I chose to use my Panasonic CM1 both to bond with it and to learn it's strengths and weaknesses and I have certainly done that. I have realised that portable telephone photography for anything approximating image capture with serious intent is simply not for me. I am hugely frustrated by the compromises inherent in using a "converged" device and simply can't carry on with, in photographic terms, one hand and both legs tied behind my back.
Sad to hear about your frustations, but fully with you as far as your decision goes - if it's not at least somewhat rewarding, there's no point in carrying on. You've found out the hard way what I accepted a while ago: Smartphones are smartphones, cameras are cameras. Yes, smartphones can take pictures. But to take pictures, I don't choose a smartphone. I just don't work that way. That said, the Google Pixel is the first phone that actually almost reacts like a camera in terms of speed and accuracy. Almost. But that's it. You tried "better" phones (I read about it on Macfilos) - still, no joy. "Revealing" is what I'd call that ...

Quite frankly, I've actually enjoyed it although I would be the first to admit that on some mornings I groaned under my breath a bit. For 40 years while I was still teaching full-time I emphasized the importance of taking on a challenge and giving it your all. Now retired, this was given me a somewhat unexpected opportunity to practice what I preached.
Groan now, gloat later. ;-) Good Luck!
'Just thinking out loud here.
. . . David

David, I'm still doing the job, and I can relate to everything you say; I'd go even further and state that it does you good to switch sides now and then (though I'm a bad example of a student - I actually still enjoy learning :p). Personal challenges, to my mind, are the best kind, because all things considered, you really can't lose since you'll come away with some worthwhile insight or result anyway ... That doesn't mean it won't hurt at times, mind.

M.
 
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