Some (lots of) first shots from my X20

[Jon Schick]

Late to the party with this one but as the prices have gone down I took the plunge recently. Very enjoyable little camera to use, although JPEG files aren't too pretty at pixel peeping levels (frankly, my Pentax MX-1 with a smaller sensor does better). I can squeeze more from raw, even at base ISO, but there are occasions when things like film simulations and the pro low light mode (which seems to be the best way of dealing with low light unless you have a moving subject) will make JPEG a nice option. A few early images, mostly taken around London this weekend, processed with a combination of Lightroom and OnOne Perfect Effects:




Early shot from the morning dog walk around Brockwell Park (Herne Hill)






Looking through the kitchen window of a restaurant near Tower Bridge






I remember when the NatWest Tower and Swiss RE (Gherkin) were pretty much the only tall buildings around here...






Busy Borough Market with the Shard in the background






Taken this view or something similar many times - but can't walk past without trying again






Under the Millenium (aka wobbly) Bridge






The Millenium Bridge and two new additions to our rapidly changing skyline






A quick candid from the banks of the River Thames






Lovely Bank Holiday weekend weather - we're not used to this!






I was impressed at how quickly the X20 focused - a big improvement on earlier generations of compacts






Delicious smells from a Malaysian food festival on the South Bank






National Theatre and The Shed - taken whilst waiting for the 68 Bus home






A crop of an image already taken with intelligent digital zoom - I really wished I had an articulated LCD for this one as I'd probably have managed to get closer.

Cheers,

Jon

--

jonschick

From setting up a school darkroom to spending more time than I should in Photoshop, photography has been an important part of my life for (ahem) longer than I care to admit. I'm stricly an amateur but occasionally get the odd shot right amidst many others where I think "if only...". These...

jonschick.smugmug.com

 

[Midwest]

I'll start by saying that I'm not keen on the scenic or water view photos but most of the others, I like quite well. You've captured some interesting compositions, my favorites probably being the kitchen window shot and the under the Millenium shot. Photos such as those are good enough that the viewer will remember them afterwards. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jimr]

Jon,

No doubt the Pentax is a great buy.

Thank you for bringing our attention to it!

Tried some more comparison shots tonight in manual mode with same settings on both cameras, with all DR enhancements switched off. JimR is right. The Pentax is consistently under exposing by one stop compared to the Fuji. It still handles colour at high ISOs better, but taking the difference in exposures into consideration, the noise comparison between the two indicates that they are not far apart. Certainly not at normal viewing sizes.

--
http://jonschick.smugmug.com/