Tire-phoons

A double-typhoon last week has summed up quite a tiresome October. The strong wind coupled with the opening of the heavens, along with a few other factors, has meant that we've spent most of the week, and weekend indoors. 

View fullsize

Bike parking

It's been a week since I last posted, and we've had two typhoons in that time. That's more than "normal"  for this time of year.

View fullsize

Of note, I made a slight change to the way in which I operate my camera.  All of my cameras to date, including my current phone, activate autofocus upon the half-depression of the shutter button. This means that if the autofocus point is set to the middle of the frame (as it typically is) then I have to keep the focus button depressed if I want to slightly reframe the image (e.g. move the focal-point/focus of the image slightly out of centre). No problem; it's what I'm used to.

View fullsize

View fullsize

The change I've made is to have my camera always in manual focus mode, but with the AEL (Auto-Exposure Lock) button set to Autofocus (toggle/hold). This means that I can manually turn the focus ring, and fire off a shot... or I can have autofocus as the press of a button. A side effect of this setup is that if I take multiple shots of the same object, e.g. a car moving through the frame as it drives past me, the camera will not reset its focus position (and I will not have to worry about half-depressing the shutter). The result is that photographs can be fired off much faster, without hunting autofocus. It takes some getting used to, but it's been an enjoyable change so far.

View fullsize

An all-time favourite of mine, the R34 Skyline GT-R

The internet is full of chatter regarding the upcoming Sony A7(R) cameras. I have updated my "camera musings" page on the gear section of my website, with some recent thoughts on the matter.

The weather seems to have improved, and this marks the end to this tedious and tiresome tyranny of typhoons.

Not on schedule

After a large typhoon hit Tokyo last night, the trains are uncharacteristically not on schedule. That usually means that trains are running, but they may be between 1-5 minutes behind their allotted time - but if you were to just stand on a platform you'd be waiting no more than 5 minutes at any rate.

I snapped this on the way into work this morning, as it's a rare sight indeed (usually this TV displays adverts or "everything is fine" messages. My camera is always with me in my bag, as it's so small. Its size and image quality were its main points of attraction. Today, Sony are expected to announce two new cameras - the A7 and A7r. They are 24 and 36MP full-frame mirrorless cameras, with the interchangeable Sony E-mount (the same mount used by the NEX series). The bodies are rumoured to cost around $2000, which is much less than say a full-frame Nikon D800/E. However, you'll need a lens to go with that shiny new camera, and the lenses are most likely going to cost north of $1000 a piece. I would love one of these new cameras, and the no doubt very nice lenses, but owning one is unlikely to improve my photography skills or output by any considerable margin. Furthermore, it's unlikely (to me) that the new cameras and 35mm lens will outperform the Sony RX1, which is a bespoke marriage of lens and sensor, in a near-pocketable body.

I'm not really in the market for a new camera, but I have always loved technology and the latest and greatest gadgets. My NEX-7 is essentially "as new", with no signs of wear and tear, and still gives me very pleasing results. Since owning the RX1, I have managed to avoid buying lens after lens for my NEX-7 and now have a good spread of high quality optics. The A7/r is something I would certainly consider in the future, depending on my needs at the time.

But for now, I've still got a lot to learn about photography, and I've just reached the point where I no-longer need to think about how to operate the cameras and rather what I want to get out of them.

EDIT: I've since expanded on some of the thoughts shared in this post, in the "Reviews/Gear" section.

Every cloud...

Every cloud... | NEX-7 & SEL18200LE | 115mm, f/8, ISO 100, 1/2000, RAW

...has a silver lining. Saturday was a complete wash-out. We knew it would be; our phones told us. At its peak, I think the rain reached 40mm/hour... which is a lot. However, Tokyo is basically prepared for such events. Luckily, the Government has poured its money (no pun intended) into colossal drainage systems, ensuring floods are a rarity. Sure, such spending has put japan further into debt, but these days, my very understanding of money is being challenged.

Anyway, we went out drinking with friends on Friday night, with no intention of moving from bed until Saturday afternoon. We ventured out, I had my haircut, and then we stocked up on wine, beer, cheese, biscuits, and enough food for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was spent watching films, playing computer games, drinking good wine, and eating lots of cheese. I also had a couple of white russians. Not bad, really!

We'd been told that Sunday was to have extremely high winds, and sure enough, bikes were being blown down the street (along with everything else), and the wind was howling at around 70-100 kph. A little blustery! One decent side-effect of the strong wind was the removal of the rain clouds, leaving behind fast-moving, but much more photogenic, cumulous clouds. We went for a late-afternoon walk just before sunset, and I took this shot from just outside our front door. The temperature is around 20°C right now, and I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of the cold northerly winds. I've put my big coats away, and I'm trying to remember how I usually dress in the spring.