South Korean camera goes to North Korea

I recently went on a trip to the DPRK, better known as North Korea, as part of a tour. I've put some photos online on google plus. There's a selection here: on google plus  and lots more if you click on Albums . When I get a chance I'll post some thoughts on a blog, but for now I thought the photos might be of interest.

Some photographic notes:

I took the Samsung NX20, with the 12-24mm, 16mm, and 30mm, but took almost all my photos with the 12-24mm. I'm really happy with this lens, for me it's the perfect compromise between size, cost, zoom range, and quality. I'd intended to use the 16mm and 30mm inside in museums and such like, but as it turned out photography was forbidden in almost all the museums we went to, so they didn't get much use.

I was slightly concerned about taking a Samsung camera to the North, but I needn't have worried, at one point we were at the DMZ, meters from the border with South Korea, surrounded by soldiers, and the guide asked for one camera to take a group photo. I handed over mine and when he saw it was a Samsung, he laughed. I think one of the soldiers even cracked a smile too!

To cover the long range, and as a backup camera, I borrowed my girlfriend's MFT Panasonic G3 and 14-140mm. I was actually very impressed with this camera, given it's not the newest, and was never top of the range, and I think the 14-140mm is sharper than the equivalent Samsung 18-200, although I haven't done a strict comparison. The G3 really made me realize how slow the NX20 can be at times, the G3 was generally much faster shot to shot, and never locked up or flashed up irritating mode transition pictures! I was surprised I was the only person on the tour (10 in our group and 11 in a parallel tour) taking taking 2 cameras: there were some much better photographers toting expensive gear, but they all preferred to switch lenses. I found carrying two cameras easier, but did get some strange looks from the locals.

The DPRK is not exactly photography friendly, so it would have been good if one of the cameras had a silent shutter - not something I've ever missed in the past. There were plenty of restrictions on what we could take - the "no photos of soldiers" rule was only to be expected, the "not cutting off the head of Kim Il Sung's statue" rule I could understand, but the "no photos of building sites" was a bit random. (Apparently, they are worried that photos will end up in the western media with captions implying the North Koreans can't finish buildings. Or something like that.) Where possible, I've tried to take "street" photos showing people going about their daily life, but we obviously only saw a limited part of the country and I'm not very experienced in street photography at the best of times!

Any photographic feedback welcome, but please keep in mind conditions were not ideal and time limited! Lots of photos are through the window of a moving bus, because that was the only opportunity I had to get the shot. (Should probably have brought a polarising filter, I realised on the first day.) Be as harsh as you like with any post-processing feedback, however, I know I can improve here and the G3 and NX20 produced quite different RAW files.

Defending the Leader

A guide at the entrance to the Museum of the Construction of the Metro. Photographs within the Museum proper were banned...

...except for this one, we were allowed to photograph a massive diorama showing Kim Il Sung inspiring the workers. The light was so dim I was amazed this came out. There's a stitched panorama showing more detail on google plus

Downtown Pyongyang.

A poster in a school

Street in Kaesong, near the DMZ. Taken from the hotel gate, we weren't allowed to cross the road.

Within the DMZ. The big building is in South Korea.