A month with the Pentax Q10. The smallest interchangeable lens camera ever made.

Now I'm a self confessed camera geek!

I see a camera and I think "I want that!"

And more often not it's not even a good camera, I've got good cameras I don't need anymore (as of yet), so it usually ends up being some quirky thing that just looks like fun.

I'd seen the Pentax Q range before and thought it looked cool.

Early March, I was watching a Youtube video and see a Pentax Q on the shelf and that was it, the eBay search begun.

These cameras and lenses are not cheap!

Yeah they're not extortionate but after all they are over 10 years old and they're not great either.

So let's just say they hold their money well.

I didn't know what to expect when mine arrived in the post.

This little bad boy is tiny! I haven't got massive hands at all but the camera and  lens fits easily in the palm of my hand.

So what can you expect from such a small camera?

Autofocus; Yeah it's got autofocus but it's not going to set any records. In fact make sure you've got plenty of time.

Battery; the battery is tiny so therefore the battery life is awful!

Image quality; nothing special. I think I'm right in saying that a modern mobile like an iPhone has a similar sized or  even a larger sensor. So you could be better off just getting your phone out to take a photo.

The rear screen; oh god it's bad, good luck with seeing anything in the daylight. I did try turning the brightness up which did work a bit but that drains the battery even quicker.

But!

Did I mention that this camera is cool already?

It's a challenge. 

It's tiny!

With the Pentax Q10 body I purchased 2 lenses; SMC Pentax-Q 02 Standard Zoom 5-15mm F2.8-4.5 & Pentax Q 15-45mm f/2.8 06 Telephoto Zoom.

The 02 standard lens combined with the small sensor; image quality is terrible, I've only used it twice starting with a photo walk in the park.

Shooting the flowers; pointing the camera towards the sun with a crap autofocus and a rubbish rear screen was a little trial & error. And because these were some of the 1st photos taken with the camera I didn't know how the images were going to stand up with regards to highlight and shadow detail. So I erred on the side of caution and went for a darker look.

The next time I used the 02 standard lens was during some street photography in Wisbech.

I used to shoot a lot of street photography in Wisbech and it was great to be back again documenting local life; the good, the bad & the ugly.

It was like a trail of bread leading me to a photo opportunity.

I love a bit of lens flare and the 02 standard lens flares like mad.

As always it was a difficulty composing using the rear screen and getting the focus right.

The next challenge; the Pentax Q10 is no athlete. When you press the shutter button there's a delay whilst it thinks about it. So I admit that shooting people I'm using the continues shooting mode hoping that one of the images will capture the people before they disappear.

And usually I've pre focused because I haven't got time to wait for the camera to try and do that again!

All of the below images are taken with the 06 telephoto zoom.

The image quality is better than the 02 but don't go zooming in and pixel peeping because it's not that great.

Being more than a little rusty at street photography, I'm not so confident at getting up in peoples faces anymore. So using a zoom lens has been a nice easy way of getting back into it. 

Plus I'm usually pushing Florence in a stroller so I can stand a little further back with her and stay as inconspicuous as possible.

Street photography in Spalding; playing with light and documenting details.

So let's see where my journey with the Pentax Q10 leads.

Until next time.

Thanks for reading and keep shooting.

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Same place. Different person. Wisbech.

If you stand in one spot and wait, things will eventually happen. 

Just pre focus, set the exposure and wait. 

And if your really lucky, well not that lucky because the majority did, people will look at you and give you that 'ugh!?' face.

A Kodak moment in Wisbech

This roll of Kodak Color Plus has got to be the best roll of 35mm I've ever shot.

Or at least its the best roll thats ever come out. For all i know those fails, when the film wasn't winding on or when the camera back opened, now they might of been epic.
Emphasis on the might of been, probably less on the epic.

I enjoy using the EOS 600 SLR. It cost me about a tenner, its electronic, i already had a battery that fit it, its simple to use; years of DSLR use means its a doddle to pick up and alter the exposure. My collection of EF lenses from fisheye to 70-200 means i can grab a lens and go.

Autofocus; the photographers best friend. Ive got camera & lens combos that are manual focus only, with a bit of patience you'll get the shot. But having autofocus, despite it being only in the centre is a welcome feature.

Back over to my favourite photography haunt; Wisbech.
Im always there. Ive shot it a million times but i will continue, although i admit its getting a little boring. The same roads, the same alleys, the same shadows, the same faces.

But different camera, different lenses, different medium.

I tried and tried to get the purple tone out of this image.

Peekaboo 

Yes please.

Standing in the same spot, using the same exposure, you can get a different photo every time.
Zoom, crouch, focus.

The street at night. A return to digital.

Its been 3 months since my last post.

Time flies.

I guess I've been busy. In second thoughts, i have been busy.


Film, lots of film.

Shooting, developing, scanning.

Ive been on holiday to Turkey. Originally, a pack light on camera gear occasion but in the end it involved two camera bodies, a light meter and a bag of different films to play with.

I need to blog about my film exploits and i will, i just need to get round to it.


As always, i shoot when ever the opportunity arises. I make opportunities a photography opportunity.
There's always a camera in my pocket, bag or car at all times.
Thats the beauty of smaller camera systems.

Being a multi manufacturer owner, it can take are a while to get round to using different equipment but they all have their uses and their time.
Client work is generally shot on my 'big' canons with their big lenses, although the Fuji's sit in the bag screaming to be used. On accessions I've thrown the wide angle adapter on the X100T and have shot some of my favourite portraits with it.

My Fuji's are my 'go to' if I'm travelling and for any occasion that i think "I'm gonna take my camera" and as i put above, i take a camera everywhere so it does mean that i shoot Fujifilm the majority of the time.

Having a couple of months of full on film shooting, I've not used a digital camera much. My heart just wasn't in it. I'd lost my motivation and inspiration. Shooting film was my excuse to just shoot, because you never know, i might mess the developing up and not get anything out of it, so why worry.
Its been a buzz. Like when i 1st got interested in photography. Some things worked, some things didn't.


The X100T is a great camera but eventually I'm always drawn back to the X-pro 1. It's a classic. Such a pretty box of wires. It works for me, the buttons are where i want them to be.

Ive not always got time to visit the city. I'm a village boy. I have to make do with whats around me, so i need to make it a new challenge every time. Challenge is good, challenge is motivating. Motivation means i pick my camera up.

Win!

So night time street photography is this blog's challenge.

High ISO, large apertures, shallow DOF.

More deleters than keepers but why bother keeping the photos that are not good enough anyway. They'll just sit on your hard drive and gather dust. I've started deleting images i know i will never use again, or those images where i once liked both of them but now a fresh set of eyes can see that one really is the better. Plus, i shoot raw, i could always edit it differently.


Its good to offload this photography blabbering, to share my (probably not) wisdom and judgement.



Night 1. A Thursday night.
The slow to focus but sharp as 35mm F1.4.
When i look at these images and compare them to the night 2 images i relise i must make the effort to use it more. In the dark, you have no chance to focus quickly, off the cuff style and so i need to be more covert when this lens is attached.
The slightly longer focal length gives me further reach so i can stand back a little bit and be less noticeable as I'm waiting for the lens to hunt back and forth before focusing. Or because ensuring sharp images at F1.4-F2 when manually focusing takes me a few seconds.

But look at the images they are sharp and much brighter than the next set.

Again and again. I always come back to here.

Treat life like an open door (and wait for someone to look at you)

What would people do without their phones. Conversation is dead.

Night 2.

A post work Friday walk around Wisbech town waiting for Laura to finish work so we can do the food shopping together. As i said earlier, use the opportunities to shoot.

27mm F2.8.

A more usable lens with a more usable focal length for ensuring focus.

A more friendly 'pre focus at 1.5mm and walk in closer to make the subject sharp' type lens.

It soon got too dark for F2.8 though. ISO2500 and a little noise reduction in Lightroom saved the day.

Always time for a smoke

I pushed myself to get as close as possible to this lady on the phone. 

The top image was 1st and was the test of strength. That look!

The 2nd was on the way back down the street as was my 'safe' shot.

I waited and waited for someone to walk by.

I say it often, Challenge yourself. 

But do what makes you happy.

Finding the light in Wisbech

I'd like to start with; i know where the Light cinema is in Wisbech. 

Thats not the light i was looking for.

Light and shadows. 

The golden light in the evening and the shadows that stretch along the pavement creating abstract shapes; dividing expanses of space with lines.

Photography is described by Wikipedia as;

Photography is the science, art and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film.

So whenever you have a camera in your hand your chasing the light, i do it intentionally.

Said many times, Wisbech is a great place for street photography. 

A quick drive after work on a friday evening, racing the sun, ideas in my mind, please don't turn cloudy.

 I'm stood in my usual places waiting for people to walk out of the shadow.

Sometimes they run from the shadow.

Sometimes they stare into the darkness.

Detritus.

The divine light?

Walking away.

The working man.

The window.

The window pt 2

Wisbech Urbex, Despair

Urban exploring is something i don't do often anymore.

I've been focusing on weddings, photoshoots and street photography.

A little frustrated with myself too, I've not enjoyed exploring like i have have in the past. Perhaps i expect too much, or I'm lacking the creativity too make something out of nothing.

I'll continue to explore when the opportunity arises, perhaps enjoying more what i see with my eyes rather than what i see through a camera. 

As a total opposite from what i written in the above sentences, what i did enjoy about this explore was that it wasn't alone....ive made a new friend.

The internet, it's made the world grow inwards towards the self, for once though its been used to meet new people. 

Through an instagram follow I met up with Jack Smyth, a photographer from March, Cambridgeshire. Sunday morning, 8am, Wisbech, the site; an empty factory/warehouse that has been stripped and left abandoned.

Access was easy enough.

The site comprises of a large warehouse building which is segregated into 4/5 separate rooms that resemble coldstores or chillers, an office section and a number of smaller chiller units.

Inside, wiring has been dismantled and sold for scrap, all thats left is a pile of copper-less wire and a few desks, with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure. 

Guard cat

Work free office

From what?

Desperate place for a desperate measure

The waters been left on and so theres pools of water throughout.
Trusty waterproof boots.

Danger.

Bazaar things happen

Darkness

This was the most interesting thing found for me until moments later.

Dizzying heights

The main building is vast; a black hole.

I had to shoot something to make use of having a companion.
What can you do when theres harsh light and deep shadows, use both and create a silhouette.

A sobering thought to end with:

Imagine being homeless.

Alone.

Cold.

Where would you go?

This is a stark reality, that may never cross your mind, for some though they live this despair everyday.

I felt awkward and ashamed for invading this persons space.

Everyone's got their own demons.
Some physical, some mental.

Its easy to judge but whats their story?