Fallen 3

TC-1

Bad composition. It completes the series anyway. Was it wind? Or did some people fight near it and knock it down by accident? I think neither was the case. It only wanted to grab my attention. It succeeded.

Fallen 2

TC-1

The bus stop has been abandoned for quite a long time. I don't know why the stop sign is still there. Maybe it knew it shouldn' t be there anymore. But it couldn't go away. All it could do is fall. It did. And still, no one cares...

Fallen 1

TC-1

It shouldn't be like that. Things don't mean to be fallen. Must be something has happened. Something was done to them. What's the something?

Losing

GR21

I like looking back through car window. All the things look like being pulled back. A feeling of separation. Separation that I can't help. All I can do is looking at all the things being separated farther and farther away. Lost in my memory.

Masculinity

TC-1

I'm fascinated by construction tools. They look overwhelming. It's not about size. It's about their characters. If they're used and worn out, they just look better. I have to take more pictures of them.

Dancing Through the Night

GR21

The band was on the stage. Music started. Dance shoes were ready. All the ladies and gentlemen came on the floor. Turned the clock back. Enjoyed the music, the dance and the old times.

Before the Night

GR21

We can find some places in Macao that can bring us back to the old days. Here is one of them. Inside the hotel, I feel like going back to the 1970s. In its restaurant here, I can smell the days even earlier. The dance was not there yet. Still waiting for the diners and dancers.

Kites in Line

Hexar

Before getting my hands on my Hexar, I know it's big. People say it's nearly as big as a Leica M6 but not as heavy. Although I don't know how big an M6 is, I guess it's really big. Yes, it's BIG, especially when compared with my TC-1. If we see Hexar as a point-and-shoot camera, Hexar must be one of the biggest p&s camera and TC-1 is the smallest. After using TC-1 for quite a while, I'm worried that I can't stand the bigger and heavier Hexar.

The size and weight of Hexar turn out not too much to me. It's acceptable because except my TC-1, I don't put my camera in my pocket. I usually wear my camera on my neck with a neck strap or carry it in my backpack. It's OK with Hexar this way. I would feel easier if it's lighter though. But then I may not hold the camera as steady. (Sometimes I do find TC-1 is too light to hold steady.) After all, it's still not as bulky and heavy as any SLR.

I feel good when holding my Hexar. Not as good as GR21 though. Many people don't like the button operations. Me too. But I don't even touch them often. I take my pictures mostly in P mode. All I need the most are fast AF, fast lens, wide range of shutter speed, good metering and big bright viewfinder. Hexar is great in all these aspects except for the shutter speed. The highest speed is only 1/250... Not flexible under bright sunny day. I know I can use ND filter but it's inconvenient.

I prefer the image quality of Hexar than GR21 and TC-1. The colours from Hexar is the most faithful among the 3 cameras. (Comparing with Hexar, GR21 is too cool while TC-1 is too warm.) The pictures are sharp but not razor sharp. Just like what I see in my eyes. Natural. And they look quite 3D to me.

The AF is real fast. So fast that I can take a picture in the speed that I can't get from other cameras I have used. Together with its low-profile look, it's a very good tool for street photography. And don't forget its stealth mode. I don't really need it yet. I tried it. I'm amazed.

The above is only my impression after shooting my first test roll. I do feel great and special on Hexar. No wonder it's been highly praised by many photographers. I look forward to more pictures from it. It's that good.

Hexar vs TC-1

Contrast & Sharpness:

Hexar

TC-1

Metering:

Colour Fringing:


Colour Fidelity:


The pictures by Hexar has more details. This is normal if we consider that TC-1 is 28mm and Hexar is 35mm.

Hexar is much bigger than TC-1. TC-1 is more portable.

Hexar and TC-1 have different good functions. For example, Hexar has a really good P mode (kind of programmed A mode) whilst TC-1 has the spot metering button.

The active IR AF of Hexar is very precise and can be done in darkness. The passive AF of TC-1 can go through glass (window).

Before taking the pictures, TC-1 (w/o P mode) was set as close as Hexar in P mode. All the pictures were taken on Fujicolor Superia Xtra 400 with AF and centre-weighted metering, processed by the same developer and scanned by the same scanner with the same settings. Except for cropping and re-sizing, no post-processing was done to the pictures.

These are the most obvious pictures to show the differences. As the tests were roughly done, they're only for reference.

The differences between TC-1 and Hexar are plenty. I just put some here. Will share my thoughts and feelings on the cameras tomorrow.

Konica Hexar

GR Digital

After falling in love with Ricoh GR Digital, I got quite a unique Ricoh GR21 to further explore the GR world. I didn't expect I'd like to take pictures with film rather than digital format. But the GR21 just started my passion towards film. The camera is great but I didn't find it as great as I'd expected. So I was looking for a better compact film camera. After extensive researches, I just wanted to try 2 cameras. Minolta TC-1 is the first one I tried. It's the smallest 135 film camera I've ever seen. Its image quality and functions are superb. Now I've got another one: Konica Hexar.

The Hexar is usually called Hexar AF in order to distinguish from Hexar RF released later. Hexar AF has been released in different versions. My Hexar is the first version. It's in black with rubber grip. It looks the best to me and is good for avoiding arousing people's attention.

I'm the second owner of the very Hexar. Except for the wiping cloth, everything originally came with the camera and the optional camera pouch are included. I don't mind the lens cap is broken (This is common as the cap is too flimsy.) and the strap is worn out. What is the most important is the condition of the camera and its flash. Their cosmetic condition is very good. They both seem to work very well too. (According to the original owner, only about 10 rolls of film were used in the camera.)

Well, enough talk. How does the Hexar perform? Comparing with TC-1, which one is the best to me? The answers will follow...

(The picture shows my Hexar with a Hoya UV(0) filter.)

Hexar

GR Digital

Started with GR21. Excited with TC-1. Speechless with Hexar.

Konica

Hexar

The Old Man and the Road

GR21

The old man walked pretty fast. I had to ran a little to catch him in the right place in the picture. It's quite dark. He walked quite fast. I couldn't hold my camera steadily. The picture turned out quite blurry. But it's still acceptable. A ghostly look.

The Suspect

GR21

Everything we do can be suspicious to different people. A street photographer can be taken as suspicious by the police. It's all about what is inside of us rather than what the "suspects" do.

Black and White

GR21

After my secondary school days, I wore no white shoes. But I still wear black shoes now. White shoes only belong to the past to me. Black is my colour.

Eaves

TC-1

Except for blocking rubbish thrown from above, the eaves were not quite useful when I took this picture. It's dull and grey. No rain. No sunshine. The eaves were waiting for sunshine. I was waiting for sunshine.

The Wall

GR21

New buildings are boring. No character at all. As time goes by, they may look better. In Macao, I can find many walls of old buildings full of different characters. Some looked very old and worn out with great textures whilst some others are coated with interesting layers of colours and lines. Like this one. All the paint lost its glory. Different colours overlap each other. Another natural art by human and time.

Skyscrapers

TC-1

Macao used to have low-rise buildings. As the town started to go for the big city way, more and more high-rise buildings have been built. Many old folks here take this as a sad fact. The ugly tall concrete blocks just block many nice views. Together with the ordinary lives, Macao is going to the wrong way, they believe. I second their belief.

On the Road

GR21

The vignetting is from GR21. It's pretty serious. I like it.

Work in Progress

TC-1

I remember I've dropped a turtle in the pond. The turtle was bought as a companion to my turtle. But the turtle didn't like the new member. He kept biting its feet. Finally, all the toes were gone. I didn't want it to be bit further. So I took it to the pond. Set it free. Free from my turtle. Hoped it's fine. I didn't know its news afterwards.

The garden is nice. Often found with many babies and children. Now the pond is under refurbishment. No water. No turtle. Only workers sweat with their hard work and with curious people around.

KFC

GR21

I'm not a fan of fast food. I don't feel sad that the local KFC can't earn many customers. It's popular in HK. I don't know why people here don't like it as much as McDonald's. With all the delivery scooters parking downstairs and not many people up there, I'm curious how they have been surviving.

People say girls mature early after consuming many of their chicken. I don't know.

Flowers

TC-1

I don't like taking pictures of flowers. I'm also not good at it. Many photographers especially those with dslr like to take pictures of flowers. All the flower pictures I've seen are pretty boring to me. Technically they may be very good. Their compositions look "standard" though. Absolutely not inspiring. I believe taking pictures of flowers is a good way for tests or learning. Artistically, it's hard to be brilliant.

I don't have any dslr and I don't want one. But I can take a boring flower picture like this one. Techinically, it's nothing too. Under the many overcast days these days, when I saw the colourful flowers, I couldn't help but take a picture of them. Hope it'll be sunny with a lovely blue sky soon.

Working Among the Lines

GR21

A boring job. No doubt. How can he stand sitting there for hours? All he can do is watching the cars in and out and people walking by. It's definitely not what he wants. It's what he has to do. To survive is never easy. Comparing with other lousy jobs, he's a lucky one.

Walking on the Pebble Path

TC-1

We can find such pebble paths in many gardens in Macao, Hong Kong and China. People said it's good for our health by massaging our feet. Researches told us it may not. I think if we don't walk on it very frequently, it should be fine. Anyway, it's still fun to walk on the pebbles.

The lady walking on the path is my dearest mom. Now she's back to Hong Kong. I missed her.

When I look at the pictures, I'm touched deeply. I don't know why. Maybe it's the hidden messages brought from her walking on the pebble path.

TC-1

TC-1 vs GR21 - Long Exposure

GR21

TC-1

This is probably my last boring comparison between TC-1 and GR21. The exposure is not really long. The result surprises me that the colours of the GR21 photo look warmer than the TC-1 one...

For taking pictures of long exposure, the Time Exposure Mode of GR21 is really very useful. I don't think it's useful in my use though.

The Photographer & the Clock

GR21

I successfully took a picture of a photographer taking pictures here. He had been taking pictures around (probably on the clock tower) while sitting in the bench. The clock tower was new to me. I didn't know when it was erected. It looked nice. No wonder people might take pictures of it.

When I took my GR21 out, the man in the bench didn't notice me. When I pointed my GR21 to him, he pointed his camera back to me. A shoot-out!

Mannequin Family

TC-1

I guess here is the biggest mannequin shop in Macao.

Centre

GR21

After work, I often walked across these busy roads in the town centre. I have some night pictures in my mind that I'd like to take there. Apart from following my feeling at some very moment, it's another kind of stimulus that drives me to like pictures. I believe many photographers also have such pictures in their mind at certain locations.

However, this is not one of the pictures in my mind. The photographer standing in the centre made me to do it. The photo can't show him taking pictures unfortunately. But I like this picture.

By the way, I like to take pictures of people taking pictures. Maybe I can take it as my project. Should be interesting.

Trio II

TC-1

I have a picture called Trio in my PhotoBlog. Here is another Trio. The Trios are different. All the three people in the old one facing me whilst I shot this picture with the backs of three people.

Transmac

GR21

Bus is my main way to commute in Macao. The fare is very low. Much lower than Hong Kong. But the service is sadly also much lower than HK. Recently I found it had been improved. I don't know whether people in Macao is not as many as before now or the bus company has realised the importance of service. Macao has 2 bus companies. Why did I mention only one? Transmac is the one I found improved. Not the other one.

I hope they can get even better as their improvement has yet met the standard of HK.

I took this picture at a bus terminal. The teminal serves for the two bus companies. I happened to see all of the Transmac buses in front of me while sitting at the front seat of the bus of another company... The composition is not good. But I felt like taking it. Kind of expressing my hope for the better.

TC-1 vs GR21 - f3.5

OK. Another comparison. Now let's look at the performances of TC-1 and GR21 with indoor shots and aperture wide open at f3.5.

TC-1

GR21

The TC-1 picture looks a little bit brighter. The colours are a little bit more vibrant. More details too. I'm impressed by the defocussed background of the TC-1 photo. The fruits stand out better than the GR21 one.