I've read discussions about the 'Leica look' but I've never really figured out what it is. It seems to involve b&w and people in impromptu and not posed situations. I thought that BB's photo of her daughter sleeping had the look. It had a quality that moved it out of the snapshot or portrait categories. I've taken a few that might have it.






What do you think? Is there a Leica look?

In the great amount of reviewed cameras and 100% crops you would almost forget that these cameras are actually produced to take photographs. I mean, the family stuff, your vacations, personal projects (be it landscape, abstract, street, whatever), real world photographs. Sure, as a result of all the excitement of a new camera you might photograph more and feel your photography is improving. But you can do so too with your previous camera. Just shoot more. It is all about practising, learning, and improving.



I once heard National Geographics photographer Ira Block say in a video that the three ingredients for a great photograph are: Good composition, good light, and the moment. When you nailed all three you have a great photograph and when you get two things right you will get a good photograph. Your camera won't teach you this, not your current one or the replacement. No you have to learn this. It is your effort. Have fun!

Photograph by Wouter Brandsma

The Untold Story of One of the Greatest Printers in Photography



Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA, and Paris, France — You've probably seen his work.

But for many years, he remained in the shadows, a mysterious figure few people in photography knew much about. One heard rumors, murmurs...“Henri Cartier-Bresson has a darkroom guy in Paris who makes all his prints....” “Josef Koudelka is finally selling prints—they're being made by the same custom printer in Paris who a lot of the Magnum guys use.”

Today, Mike Johnston's The Online Photographer (TOP), a photography news and discussion website for photographers, has published a significant original article. It's a profile of Voja Mitrovic (“Voja” is pronounced “Voya”), the darkroom master who printed for Cartier-Bresson, Koudelka, Sebastiao Salgado, Werner Bischof, René Burri, Marc Riboud, Robert Doisneau, Edouard Boubat, Man Ray, Helmut Newton, Raymond Depardon, Bruno Barbey, Jean Gaumy, Frederic Brenner, Max Vadukul, and Peter Lindbergh to name a few.

The two-part post was written by the renowned photojournalist Peter Turnley. Peter and his twin brother David have been featured on CBS's “60 Minutes,” and Peter has 42 NEWSWEEK covers on his long list of publication credits. Peter is a dear and longtime friend of Voja Mitrovic, who has been his own printer for many years. Peter traveled to Paris specifically to interview Voja for this article.

A number of photographs are included, several never before seen.

Here is the permalink to Part I (Part II is linked at the bottom of Part I): The Online Photographer: Voja Mitrovic, Printer to the Greats (Part I)

Having compared the size of several different mirrorless interchangeable lens systems, we'll now take a look at how much detail relative to noise is captured at any given ISO by each of these systems.

Special thanks to B&H Photo for providing the following cameras used in this comparison: Panasonic G2, Olympus E-PL1, Olympus E-P2, Sony NEX5, Panasonic GF1. The Panasonic GH1 is mine.

If you're reading this on the blog main page with resized images, click here to view this post with all images at full size.

Design and Methods:

• The goal here was to show the relative potential of these systems, hence I will present only RAW conversions and not in-camera JPEGs. There are many sites with excellent in-camera JPEG comparisons.
• All images were made using Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic (14-45mm) kit zooms at f/5, which was chosen because it represents a setting of good center sharpness with adequate depth of field for all systems.
• All kit zooms were used at their widest setting, and the subject distance was constant. The Panasonic lens at 14mm actually has a slightly wider angle of view than the Sony/Samsung at 18mm, but the reverse is true after Lightroom correction of barrel distortion. For practical purposes, the diagonal angle of view was fixed.
• Since the purpose here was to look at sensor rather than lens performance, only center crops from the within sharp focus portion of the image were used for comparison.
• To present a valid comparison of detail relative to noise at any given ISO, exposure times were matched for all systems as follows: 1) ISO 100: 2s; 2) ISO 200: 1s; 3) ISO 400: 1/4s; 4) ISO 800: 1/4s; ISO 1600: 1/8s; ISO 3200: 1/15s; ISO 6400: 1/30s. Lighting sources were kept constant.
• Each shot was done in triplicate to ensure reproducibility.
• All system settings were image stabilization off, self-timer, sturdy tripod.

A few details about the RAW conversions:

• RAW files were processed in Lightroom 3.2 RC, which supports all of the cameras tested.
• Custom white balance was applied during RAW conversion, and each RAW file was white balanced off of the gray paper in the image. Due to my imprecise white balance matching and differences in the LR 3.2 color profiles for each camera, I could not match colors perfectly. The colors on the GH1 crops are particularly off and do not represent a sensor problem but rather a limitation of my testing methodology.
• Some of these cameras differ in image brightness (in Lightroom) given the same nominal ISO, f-number, and shutter speed. In order to present as controlled a comparison as possible, "Auto tone" was used in Lightroom to more closely match the final brightness of each image.
• Sharpening settings were Lightroom default (same for all cameras), and both luminance and color noise reduction were disabled entirely.
• In order to provide as fair a comparison as possible, the Sony and Samsung images were downsized during export from Lightroom such that their diagonal image dimension would match that of the Micro 4/3 cameras. Showing all images at their native size would have penalized the Sony and Samsung for using more megapixels, while the chosen method is akin to comparing equal-sized prints from each camera.
• RAW files provided for download have been converted to DNG for the sake of conserving storage/bandwidth.

Here is the test scene with yellow rectangles indicating the selections shown in the crop comparisons which follow:




ISO 100 crops (NEX 5 not shown since it has no ISO 100 setting):








ISO 100 RAW files:

• G2-1.dng
• E-PL1-1.dng
• NX10-1.dng
• GH1-1.dng
• E-P2-1.dng
• GF1-1.dng

ISO 200 crops:








ISO 200 RAW files:

• E-PL1-2.dng
• G2-2.dng
• NEX5-2.dng
• E-P2-2.dng
• GH1-2.dng
• NX10-2.dng
• GF1-2.dng

Originally Posted by John Nack

Lightroom 3.2 and Camera Raw 6.2 are now available as Release Candidates on Adobe Labs. Lightroom adds direct publish functionality to Facebook, and both releases add new camera support

Source: John Nack on Adobe : Lightroom 3.2, Camera Raw 6.2 available on Labs

The new supported compact and mirrorless cameras are:

• Casio EXILIM EX-FH100 (DNG*)
• Panasonic DMC-FZ100
• Panasonic DMC-FZ40 (FZ45)
• Panasonic DMC-LX5
• Samsung NX10
• Samsung TL500 (EX1)
• Sony Alpha NEX-3
• Sony Alpha NEX-5

The LX5 is not even available. However, when it will be available, you will be able to download versions of Lightroom and ACR which support it.

I first met Don Springer, AKA Streetshooter, pretty quickly after my initial questioning posts on mu-43.com, where he's an Administrator. Don made me feel comfortable right away and offered his help as a guide, giving me reassurance when I became overwhelmed by the complexity of digital photography. And then I saw his photographs.

Don's friend Paul McGuirk, a fellow photographer, has written a much better introduction for Don's work, than I ever could so I'll let him do the talking:

Some people feel that intensity of perception is about seeing something as if for the first time. Don Springer feels life should be viewed as if you're seeing it for the last time. I'm with Don on this one.

If photography serves reality, why be naive? A photographer's encounter with experience is to acknowledge the subject before them. The photograph seals that moment past.

It's a funny thing, though, if your subject doesn't look out, you can't look in. Don can look in to his subjects even when they don't realize they are looking out.

For Don the photograph is his last act. He is happy, and so am I, that he repeats that recognition over and over again.

- Paul McGuirk, Paul McGuirk Photography

Here are three that will give you a taste of Streetshooter's views of what is right there, in front of him.


When I first saw this photograph, the soldier being helped, almost carried, photographed from behind and below, I stopped and stared. To me, seeing the need of that man, who is clearly either wounded or distraught, being helped by what I believe are two from his squad, with the dove flying in the sky... I immediately recognized the dove as the universal sign of peace, though some might even see this dove as the Christian sign of The Holy Spirit...

The way Don has framed this image, the helpless being saved, his head turned to the left, supported looking upwards, the swooping dove, and the reaching controlling nature, on either side, of those tall buildings, I was immediately pulled in. That giant skyscraper looming in from the left, with one darkened window...the slanted shadows cutting across the buildings that gird both the left and right, with their repetitive "window armor" everywhere we look ...could make one panic. The scene, for me, is held in check, and tethered to the earth thanks to that vapor trail holding back the sky on the top right, and the bright reflection in the lower left, mirror-like window - and from there we are brought right back down to the centerpiece of people helping one another.






Don, Streetshooter, has a gift. Thankfully he's decided to share this gift with us, so that we can see what he sees. His photographs reside in both public and private collections. I look forward to experiencing Don's work in real life one day soon, however for now I'm very pleased he shares it with us here at Serious Compacts, at mu-43.com and on his website Don Springer Photography where you can and should spend your time.

Spotlight is a regular feature here at Serious Compacts, where we feature some of the remarkable work being done with smaller cameras. Don Springer has used a variety of compact cameras, most recently favoring Olympus Pen cameras.

Thanks to B&H Photo, I have several mirrorless cameras on hand for comparison and thought it may be helpful to present some size comparisons. Feel free to embed these images on other sites, but please do not remove the watermark.

If you're reading this on the blog main page with resized images, click here to view this post with all images at full size.

We'll start with the standard zoom lenses:


Above (left to right): Olympus mZD 14-42mm lens (kit zoom for Olympus Micro 4/3 cameras, shown collapsed), Sony NEX 18-55mm lens (kit zoom for Sony NEX cameras), Panasonic 14-45mm lens (kit zoom for Panasonic G1 and GF1), Panasonic 14-42mm lens (kit zoom for Panasonic G2 and G10), Samsung NX 18-55 (kit zoom for Samsung NX10)

The same lenses en face:



Now to take a look at three of the available "pancake lenses":


Above (left to right): Sony NEX 16mm f/2.8, Samsung 30mm f/2, Panasonic 20mm f/1.7.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the diminuitive Olympus 17mm f/2.8 on hand.


Above (left to right): Panasonic GF1 with Lumix 20mm f/1.7, Samsung NX10 with Samsung 30mm f/2, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8


Above (left to right): Olympus E-P2 with Lumix 20mm f/1.7, Samsung NX10 with Samsun 30mm f/2, Panasonic G2 with Lumix 20mm f/1.7


Above (left to right): Panasonic GF1 with Lumix 20mm f/1.7, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8, Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7


Above (left to right): Panasonic GF1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8, Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7


Above (left to right): Olympus E-PL1 with Olympus mZD 14-42 (collapsed), Sony NEX5 with Sony 18-55, Panasonic GF1 with Panasonic 14-42 (Sorry, wrong kit lens pictured; should have been the 14-45, which is slightly smaller as shown in the first image in this post)


Above (left to right): Samsung NX10 with Samsung 30mm f/2, Panasonic G2 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8


Above (left to right): Samsung NX10 with Samsung 18-55, Panasonic G2 with Panasonic 14-42, Olympus E-P2 with 14-42 (shown collapsed)


Above (left to right): Panasonic GF1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Samsung NX10 with Samsung 30mm f/2, Panasonic G2 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7


Above (left to right): Panasonic GF1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8, Olympus E-PL1 with Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

Here is the NEX5 compared with two fixed-lens, small sensor cameras:


Above (left to right): Samsung EX1/TL500, Sony NEX5 with Sony 16mm f/2.8, Panasonic LX3

Please register a free member account or login with your Facebook credentials (via the blue "f Connect" button at the top of the screen) to join the discussion.

If you find these comparisons helpful, please click the following link to visit B&H for your next camera, lens, or accessory purchase: B&H Photo-Video. Your purchases made after clicking that link give B&H a reason to continue to provide gear for testing here at Serious Compacts.

Direct links to check pricing and availability at B&H:

• Sony NEX (all kits)
• Samsung NX (all kits)
• Panasonic G2 (all kits)
• Panasonic GF1 (all kits)
• Olympus E-P2 (all kits)
• Olympus E-PL1 (all kits)

Charcutería Dorita


Diego Sanz is a photographer working in the design studio www.vudumedia.com in Bilbao, Spain.

You can see more of Diego's work on his Flickr page, where he goes by the name karramarro.


Spotlight is a regular feature here at Serious Compacts, where we feature some of the remarkable work being done with smaller cameras. The photo above was taken using a Sigma DP1.

DPR has an interesting technical discussion of Fuji's phase detection autofocus. It sounds very promising.

Props to Fuji for continuing their tradition of innovation. Now give us a successor to the F200EXR with a 1/1.7" or larger sensor, RAW, and a faster lens!

Some of the gear to be tested in our upcoming mirrorless interchangeable lens shootout:



Not pictured (but included in the shootout): Panasonic GH1, 14-140, and 20/1.7

Thanks to our partner B&H Photo-Video for making this possible.