Portraits, any camera, any color, any subject

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The new mob boss ...
 
Manila - flower seller, street barbeque, butcher, store owners.

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Seeing the Sari-Sari (Convenience/Variety) store in the back makes me smile. Then there's the new-to-me Automatic Coffee vending machine behind them. Things have certainly changed in the mother country...
 
Normally I would never consider shooting the X2 at 1/5 second handheld, given that the X2 does not have a true optical VR/IS. But when I'm in a hurry and snapping more-or-less spontaneously, I sometimes do that and just accept that I might lose the images to blur, if it's not critically important to get the shot. This image was selected from 2 bursts of 8 each - 16 total, and it was the sharpest, plus I helped it along a little in post processing.

Leica X2 Paul Smith edition, f5.6, 1/5 sec. handheld, ISO 400.
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I had a unique experience with Mahmood of the Charleston Center for Photography, in that he took my photo with a medium format film camera using a Polaroid back, with very old B&W film donated by an industry insider. So I snapped this one. The Leica X2 sensor must be a very old generation, as the noise and image quality at ISO 800 are much worse than what I'd expect for an APS-C sensor and a great lens.

Leica X2 Paul Smith edition, f2.8, 1/200 sec. handheld, ISO 800.
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Amazing how noise eats into moderate low-light shots that could probably be done just as well with an iPhone. And this camera's sensor is an APS-C.

Leica X2 Paul Smith edition, f2.8, 1/40 sec. handheld, ISO 800.
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Although on this particular image it's not at all unpleasant.

And that is a big thing to consider in low light sensor performance. I find the ISO 3200/6400 noise in the EM1 very organic and low on color noise, more on luminence noise. This can make for a great black and white conversion, which is favorable to me and what/how I shoot. I find my 135 Nikon's, while very good at high ISO, have a much more pronounced color noise issue I need to deal with.
 
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