India and the GXR

I spent last week in India, specifically Mumbai and Bangalore. I purchased the GXR and A12 28mm and 50mm just two weeks ago since my new Leica X1 was being replaced and I wouldn't have my replacement X1 in time for my trip. Here are some pictures from the GXR. Overall, the GXR performed well. Thanks for looking.

http://www.markleyimages.com/Portfolio/India-2011/15886173_FcpMD
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Dave

markleyimages.com

Great pics, thanks for posting. I like way you have a mixture of b & w and colour shots. I think "daily toil" is one of my favourites. Black and whites are very nice, did you pp them yourself? I like the nice natural colour from the GXR.

Very nice, thank you for posting these, the GXR did great.

I enjoyed your photos. You have certainly found the way to get the most of your GXR A12 - the shots are truly sharp and you have many really good compositions. I have a question - I would not have expected to see a Christian-faith altar in India, for some reason. Is there much presence of Christianity there?

About any religion under the sun, you will find in India.

In fact Christianity is one of the main religions.
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-- Denis.

Yes, I post process the pictures in Lightroom 3. Some of the B&W pics are post processed in Silver Efex as well. Thanks for the kind words.

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Dave

markleyimages.com

Thanks Joel.

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Dave

markleyimages.com

Thanks for the kind words. I was surprised to see this church in Mumbai, but I was told by my friend who lives there that you will find a wide variety of religions in India.
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Dave

markleyimages.com

Wonderful set. Thank you for taking us on your journey.

damcats said:

I spent last week in India, specifically Mumbai and Bangalore. I purchased the GXR and A12 28mm and 50mm just two weeks ago since my new Leica X1 was being replaced and I wouldn't have my replacement X1 in time for my trip. Here are some pictures from the GXR. Overall, the GXR performed well. Thanks for looking.

Click to expand...

May I enquire your reasons for choosing the GXR to replace your Leica X1 as it is a very different camera.

This is perhaps the best set of photo's I have seen on the Ricoh Forum since Mitch's Bangkok book, I like the juxtaposition of the monochrome and colour photos, though to be honest I think I prefer Mitch's grittier treatment of the B & W, which I think he took with a GRD I/3 and an M8/9.

The set shows up the huge gap that exists between those who have and those who have not both in terms of people and buildings.

As regards religion almost every religion that ever there was exists in India however, if I am correct I think it's the Buddhist one, which looks upon all other religions as different rivers leading to the same sea.
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CD

Thank you very much.
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Dave

markleyimages.com

Hi Chris. First, thank you for the very nice complement regarding my photo series. I haven't seen Mitch's Bankok book, but I will search for it. Secondly, by grittier treatment do you mean more contrasty/graining approach to B&W pictures?

Lastly, I purchased a new X1 about a month ago. I was having over-exposure issues and the dealer was kind enough to replace my unit with a brand new unit. Unfortunately, I knew my X1 replacement would not be in my hands by time I left for India and I wanted a smaller APS-C camera to take with me. After reading Steve Huff's review and having past experience with Ricoh, I decided I would purchase a GXR with 28mm and 50mm lens units to take on my trip.

I think the picture quality of both cameras is very close, but I think the X1 may have a slight edge in image quality (i.e. less noise at higher ISO). I prefer the operational aspects of the GXR and the solid feel and of course the ability to change lens units was a great advantage. I will use the X1 when I want to travel extremely light and use the Ricoh when I want more flexibility (I am hoping Ricoh will come out with a couple more fixed lens, a 24mm and a 80-100mm would be great).

I appreciate the comments and thanks for looking.

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Dave

markleyimages.com

damcats said:

Hi Chris. First, thank you for the very nice complement regarding my photo series. I haven't seen Mitch's Bankok book, but I will search for it. Secondly, by grittier treatment do you mean more contrasty/graining approach to B&W pictures?

Click to expand...

Yes, of course not every image is enhanced by this type of treatment but I think it certainly adds a bit of bite to certain types of compositions. Mostly the sort I would like to do but can never get right.

I was mentally comparing the scenes you took with some taken of my grandparents sometime between 1905 and 1916 when they were stationed in India, of course they are sepia toned and quite faded now but I get the impression that things haven't changed that much for the really poor.

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CD

Thanks for the posting, I put it into Slide Show mode, very enjoyable,
brings back memories of Bombay when I was posted there in 1945
and again in 1948, seems a lot cleaner now.

Thank you!
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Dave

markleyimages.com