Pointless vanity project of the former Tabascokid

Another year, another Erotica exhibition at London’s Olympia centre.  Having covered this event four times, it’s actually become quite a challenge to get something that’s both different from previous years and is acceptable for publication on the news wire.

While horrible nastiness and the carnage from Middle Eastern suicide blasts often makes it’s way straight to the wire, porn and sex can cause real problems if the images crop up in a country that frowns on that sort of thing so the subject has to be approached in a manner that shows everything without showing anything.  Simple, eh?

As it happens, this year’s task was much easier to do due to the fact that the show was about one third of it’s usual size, despite tickets having sold out.  With 75,000 people expected to visit over three days, the exhibition space seemed very empty.  Rather than the usual stands full of models and porn-stars signing promotional posters and DVDs, the show was more focused on toys, clothes and “equipment”, as it were.  If this is down to the recession, it’s interesting that the adult industry is usually named as one area of business that would not be affected by the global financial crisis but it’s clearly beginning to catch up on all quarters.

The stage show also seemed to be very similar to previous years, but was saved by some very talented acrobats and performers. I guess that the show can’t feature the kind of thing that the stalls are selling so instead it goes along the burlesque route. One break from the routine came from the performer in photos #3 and #8 who displayed a hardcore exfoliation method by bouncing around in a bath of broken glass.  Nice.

You would think that the tabloids would be all over this like a hairy bear every year but the next day saw nothing in there from any photographer, never mind my shots.  My only hit from the play report of image usage around the world that I get to see was of photo #1 in an Indian newspaper.  Who’d have thought that the UK papers would avoid the chance to show some flesh?  It just goes to show that nothing is ever guaranteed when picture editors are involved!

With my fourth year now under my belt, I think it’s time for a break from the Erotica show for a few years.  While providing more interesting pictures than the usual stake-out in the rain, I think I may have reached my limit of shooting semi-naked pole-dancers. Now THERE’S a phrase I never thought I’d see myself write..

In full JFK-style, I became “ein Berliner” when I flew over to Germany last week to work with the Berlin bureau in the coverage of the celebrations and events surrounding the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Never having visited Berlin before, I had the usual mixture of anticipation and nerves with the combination of worrying about working under deadline in a new city mixing with the excitement of covering a big event and working in new locations.  Having done a handful of this kind of foreign assignment in the past, it always pays to remember that within a few hours, I’ll be up and running but with this job, I was out of the hotel within minutes.

In what I class as the perfect mixture in a brief, I was asked to assist Berlin staff photographer John MacDougall with the planned events but also to get out there and shoot as many features as I could find.  What better way to get to know a city than to be ordered to go out, explore and record what you see?  With Berlin, there was always going to be the niggling feeling in the back of my mind that the photographers out here have been taking pictures of an inanimate wall now for years so it was naive to think I’d come away with ground-breaking material.  Still, the Israel election assignment at the start of 2009 reminded me that a “tourist” can sometimes see things a little differently so I tried to avoid doing too much research on what had already been shot.

A fun start to the assignment was having the chance to join the Trabi Safari around Berlin, where tourists get to jump into their individual classic Trabant car and follow a convoy around the sights and memorable locations of the city, with my particular tour following the original route of the wall.

Now I realise that the Trabant is a cult classic but they really aren’t that comfortable.  As the German journalist who was driving my car for the first time, hit the brakes for the first time, I nearly went through the screen as it appears that the braking system is essentially a button ie they’re either off or fully engaged.  Smooooth.

After visiting the remains of the original wall on Bernauer Strabe (above), I headed further North to Mauer Park and found a real treat for anyone visiting Berlin.  In the main area, buskers, artists and entertainers line the paths while a mobile karaoke system was set up in the “Bearpit” area, gathering an audience of hundreds who laughed applauded and sang along with whoever got up.  Just above them on the hill, a stretch of wall has become a hub for graffiti artists who work away on their own sections throughout the day.  Back down towards the road, a man created massive bubbles for kids to chase after and behind him, a market selling home-cooked food, secondhand collectibles and handmade artwork wove it’s way around itself in a warren of stalls.  Crashing out in the corner of a coffee tent, I edited my pictures as the evening came on.  A great place that everyone should check out.

With Monday being the official twentieth anniversary date, it started with a nice moral boost as word came from London that one of my shots from the previous night, of a woman walking among the foam dominos in Berlin, had made the front page of The Guardian.  Hurrah!  As part of the official events, these rows of dominos had been painted by school children and were toppled by various dignitaries to symbolise how the fall of the wall in Berlin caused a chain reaction, bringing down political divides throughout Europe.  Take THAT, Communism!

So Monday’s first job had Mikhail Gorbachev attending the unveiling of a bust of himself and allowed me to get my first shots of the man himself.  Having looked decidedly unimpressed with the bust, he then proceeded to make his speech and immediately leave the building, refusing to shake hands or sign autographs for any of the smiling guests.

I guess you can change the world and still remain a grumpy chap, I guess but I’d hoped he’d be a little more approachable.  Still, wherever we went, the crowds were only chanting for one man.  Thankfully, Henry Kissinger was far more open to meeting the people and rightly so as he was thoroughly rested after sleeping through the whole ceremony on the front row.  Bravo.

At the Bornholmer Strabe bridge, one of the official events of the day was the symbolic bridge crossing by old happy chops himself Gorby, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Walesa.  Following their crossing, they would make their speeches before continuing on their way to the other side.

In a rather shocking example of German inefficiency (yes, INefficiency), the planned clear area was soon swamped with punters with pocket cameras, ruining the lovely clear planned shot.  Fighting my way to the front, I managed to get a shot of all three of them holding a photo of people crossing the bridge on the night itself, twenty years previously.  After scrambling, fighting and pushing my way in the crowds, the VIPs were whisked away, leaving a large crowd of photographer looking at each other with bewildered looks on their faces.  Worse still, one photographer managed to have a 300mm f2.8 lens stolen by the celebrating masses.  Grrr…

As the evening arrived, the official ceremony began and I ended up shooting official arrivals of the leaders in the French embassy (which could have been good but proved to be a waste of time) and found myself shooting the Brandenburg Gate events. Unfortunately this was from the wrong side due to the other position being taken by the local staff photographer.  As the rain continued to come and go, the spectators watched the official celebrations, speeches and fireworks but by the time the end came, the crowds had already thinned.  While the weather had claimed a percentage of them, there was also a real feeling that the celebrations hadn’t been focused enough on the people.

While dignitaries, leaders and celebrities congratulated each other on their success in ending Communism, the public were kept at a safe distance, behind twin layers of security barriers.  While I totally understand the need for this during the speeches by Sarkozy, Merkel, Medvedev and the rest of the political heavyweights, once they were tucked up in their bunkers again, the public should have been allowed in to celebrate in their own way, under the famous gates.  As is the way with nearly all of this kind of event in current times, the whole evening left the feeling that it was created to be enjoyed at home on tv, with the spectators that did make the effort used as a backdrop for the cameras.  I think it might be time for another revolution.

As anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis may know, I generally tend to avoid doing reviews of cameras and equipment partly due to lack of time but mainly due to the abundance of websites available such as dpreview that offer incredibly in-depth, fast and dependable advice on which route to take when buying new gear.

However, I’ve decided to post my thoughts on the new Panasonic Lumix GF-1 camera.  Having previously used a Canon Powershot S70 and a Canon G7, I knew that the time was getting closer when I’d need to upgrade and despite copious research, I was unable to find a pocket-sized camera that’s output didn’t fall to pieces over 400 ISO.  Nikon just seem to be a no-go for some reason when it comes to sureshots and I don’t know anyone that uses one for some reason.  Canon’s S90 looks promising but the new Powershot G11 features the same fiddly body that I’ve never been able to get my head around.  While my Sister and Mother both still use G7 cameras and get great results, I’ve never been able to really “connect” with the design, if that makes sense.  A camera needs to feel invisible in your hands.  If at any point, you’re thinking about what your fingers are doing or where a certain button is, you’ll often see the moment that you hoped to capture pass out of the corner of your eye.

With Olympus releasing the micro 4/3 lens-based EP-1 “Pen” camera in Summer, I was tempted to see what it could do but then I heard about Panasonic’s offering.  After plenty of time spent on camera review sites, I managed to get my hands on one thanks to a colleague who’d been unable to resist.  Two minutes later and I was trying to work out how to justify the cost!  Anyway, on with a bit of technical gubbins;

• 12.1 megapixel Live MOS sensor
• interchangeable micro 4/3 lens system
• HD Movie in “AVCHD Lite” format and Motion Picture P Mode
• LUMIX G 20mm/F1.7 lens as one of the standard options
• 3 frames a second
• built-in dust-removal system
• RAW capture (through Panasonic’s .rw2 format)
• AE lock
• ISO range up to 3200
• built-in pop-up TTL flash
• 3.0″ screen

So that’s the main specs in a very dry format so I guess I should explain all that in real world terms.

With the big camera manufacturers having thankfully realised that more megapixels doesn’t necessarily mean better quality, the GF1 has what I think is an optimal resolution of 12 megapixels.  The 4/3 sensor means that the lens size is half what it would be on a 35mm full-frame camera so the 20mm lens is effectively a 40mm lens in traditional focal terms.  The whole chip size issue is going to be one of those things that takes a long time to be properly scrubbed from the general public’s mind.  With most people believing that the higher the pixel count, the better the camera, manufacturers will continue to try bringing out 16 megapixel phone cameras.  I believe the phrase is, “Never mind the size, look at the quality”..

While the majority of people wanting to buy a new pocket camera will be looking for an all-in-one unit that has an 8-600mm zoom on it, the GF1 uses the micro 4/3 system.  The 4/3 system was announced in 2006 as a joint initiative between a group of companies ranging from consumer manufacturer Sanyo through to legendary optic manufacturer Leica and aimed to create a standardised fitting for lenses so that they could be swapped and changed between bodies, opening up the market for the customer. The micro 4/3 system was a development of this, pioneered by Olympus and Panasonic for their new range of hybrid units.  The downside is that, like an SLR, you’ll find yourself looking to buy more lenses as you get to use the camera more.  The upside is that the quality of the lenses will safely be of a higher quality than that found in a standard zoom sureshot.

Video capability in cameras is one of the current dividers among professional photographers with some drawn to it and enjoying expanding their knowledge while others find it a threat on the original concept of photography that could see the skill diluted.  I fall into the former camp, having been shooting video on my Nikon D90 for a few months now so the inclusion of video on the GF1 is a bonus.  The ease that you can switch between stills and video is seamless and I’ve found myself splitting my shooting 50/50 since getting it.  The quality is exceedingly good for something of this size and combined with the 20mm f1.7 lens, strong focal effects can easily be achieved.  Obviously, a camera of this size is not going to be a match for a dedicated video camera but for video notes, webclips and breaking news, I think it’s perfectly acceptable.  On the downside, the bizarre video format (AVCHD) may leave you scratching your head as you try to work out what the hell a .mts file is and how to play one.  The answer comes in VLC for playback and Handbrake for conversion on a mac.  Not using my pc to edit, I can’t say how good the supplied software is if you’re in the Windows clan.

As I’ve just mentioned, I opted for the 20mm f1.7 lens with my camera and I have to say that it is truly exceptional.  For those not up to scratch on lens issues, the lower the f number, the more light can be allowed through the lens, making it perfect for darker conditions or for getting the effect of a shallow depth of field.  For more details, check this site out.  For a start, getting such a fast lens as an f1.7 on a pocket camera is a rarity but by combining it with a good sensor, the results have been astounding.  Shooting in manual focus has really given me a spark for shooting again and I’m pulling it out of my bag as I walk between jobs, just to shoot anything that I see.  The only downside to the 20mm is that all vibration reduction is in-lens rather than in-camera and it is one of the lenses in the range that doesn’t include it.  This is fine for stills but for video, it can prove a little frustrating.  The other option in the pre-packaged kits is a 14-45mm lens that does feature stabilisation.  If you are planning on doing a lot of video, this could be a wiser choice but for stills, go 20mm!

The dust removal is such a vital thing for any camera with interchangeable lenses (do you hear me, Nikon D3!?) so it’s reassuring to see that Panasonic didn’t scrimp on this necessary feature.

I’ve been shooting on RAW exclusively now for around four months so it’s been a pleasure to be able to continue this with my “off-duty” camera too.  The only downside being that the exclusive .rw2 format used by Panasonic is incompatible with any version of Photoshop before CS4.  As the software that comes with the camera for Mac is laughable, I’m currently editing them using the new beta of Lightroom, available here.

In the second paragraph, I wrote of needing to connect to the camera in a natural way so it’s good to see that I can assign the AE lock button on the rear to act in the same way as I have my Nikon system set up.

On previous pocket cameras, the images have crumbled and died if I dared to go up to 400 ISO so to be able to shoot confidently at 400, get good results at 800 and even get usable (in an emergency) shots at 1600 is unheard of.  The shot below of a colleague in Downing Street is straight out of the camera aside from a bit of resizing and touch of sharpening for web and was taken at 800ISO.  Against a full frame D3, there is obviously a quality dip but for a pocket-sized sureshot, I’m pretty chuffed.

The main difference that sets this ahead of the Olympus EP-1 is the inclusion of the neatest little pop-up flash in existence.  Now I know that a grown man shouldn’t be impressed by the mechanism of a flash but you’ll just have to forgive me.  If you own one of these, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  As I try to avoid flash where possible, I’ve only had a few opportunities to use it but the output on these occasions was smooth and full with no overblown highlights.

A camera can be very easily shot down by a poor screen.  When Canon released the 1Dmk3, if the screen was compared to the Nikon D3, it felt as though you were looking through Vaseline.  Well maybe not quite that bad but you were never truly positive that the frame was sharp from the display on the rear.  (Canon have now solved this issue since their 5dmk2 screen)  Thankfully, the GF1 screen is another strong point with 460,000 pixels and a full 100% representation of the frame.

As is the way with every good toy, Panasonic have created a whole batch of ways to get more money out of the GF-1 user including the digital optical viewfinder that slots onto the hotshoe (and has received mixed reviews), a whole range of lenses, custom designed cases and remote triggers. Ahh, to have spare funds.

So that just leaves my general thoughts and as you’ve very probably guessed, I love this little thing.  While I know that I haven’t covered many aspects of the unit, I can only tell you about what I’ve experienced in daily use.  One issue that I hope Panasonic address with future firmware is the fact that when shooting in “auto ISO” setting on aperture priority, the shutter speed defaults to 1/30th of a second rather than increasing the ISO.  If this was set a little higher to, say, 125th/sec, the “auto ISO” feature would be able to kick in more and the feature would become worthwhile.  This really shouldn’t take too much to remedy so hopefully it will be looked into. Despite this small issue, that fact that the GF-1 is capable of producing images of a level that are easily high enough to be used for my work means that it’s already become a vital bit of my kit.  Bravo, design bods.

With a retail price of £799, I bought mine from Photo Express Lakeland for a bargain £659.  Thanks for the great service and price, guys!