Yi M1 followup

After having shot a lot with this camera and the panasonic 14mm, I have a fair idea of it's capabilities and the lack of as well.
The camera has the potential to be great if Yi develops some ambition but I think they are focusing (EXCUSE THE PUN) more on the casual shooter which is a pity.
The autofocus and shutter lag is a problem in street shooting situations and this persists in manual focus mode as well which is a pity.
I recently shot in JPEG mode and noticed a smearing in fine detail which is not there in DNG. My advice, stick to DNG.
The flash is single point with a sync speed of 1/125 so pretty much any flash will fire in manual mode.
If you put the camera in flash mode on, the shutter speed wont exceed 1/125 even if you turn the flash off (ROLLS EYES).
Yi hey guys..give us some joy.

My YiM1 set on Flickr.

24 hours with Yi M1 and the Lumix 14mm 2.5: street shooters perspective

So my ricoh Gr went for a toss and I did not want to go down the same path again.
So I got myself a Yi M1 and a Lumix 14 mm 2.5 lens off Aliexpress for about 32 K (along with the Mi kit lens that I have not used). I also used a the hand lanyard to make it a small package.
Initial thoughts, It is small and handy (not as small as Ricoh GR) but certainly not pocketable in the way the GR is. Fits into my jacket pocket. Grip is so-so and I have large hands.  
The package is good to hold. I also updated the firmware and it is now better.I shot some pictures on RAW(DNG) and the photo quality is pretty good.
The problems: Not as responsive as the GR, appreciable shutter lag that persists even when shooting in manual mode, may cause missed opportunities . A bit of a delay (around half a second, maybe less) between shots while in AF-S mode. I wish there was a way to turn off the screen to save battery life or make the camera even less obvious but that is not possible (maybe can be fixed up in a firmare update).
Auto WB and metering is pretty good. Battery life is decent.
Will update as I gain more experience.

Ricoh GR

Well I have a Ricoh GR and I love it. Seriously the most fun camera, never any dust on sensor stuff either. However I think there is one major flaw which is that of the retractable lens assembly. I think it is prone to break down. My camera gave up after less than 2 years. I switched it on one fine day and the lens opened up and just got stuck there. The camera switched off and would not autofocus. Fortunately the camera is in warranty. I sent it to Mumbai and am told that it will take a month or more to repair.
Meanwhile I trawled around the net and found that this is a pretty common complaint that the lens assembly just gives up.
So all potential buyers the GR is a fantastic camera but also prone to this problem.
The Fuji x70 with its non retractable lens assembly may be more robust that way.

Mcleodganj

I am back in mcleodganj after 2012 January. And the rot I think I noticed then is now infinitely more noticeable. Gone is the quiet charming place and in it's place is this concrete dusty warm dirty noisy place where there is no place to sit or stand or watch the world go by. In stead there are package tours and innumerable taxis. How did we let this happen? How did we not self regulate? Why do we not let secrets remain secret.

Viltrox JY 610 N II

Short review
So I got this small cheap flash off Aliexpress.com. This was mainly because it is TTL and has some nice specs and is pretty compact.
First the good news:

1. It is pretty compact. It is a  good fit on the Nikon D3200.
2. It does TTL well in my experience.
3. It is well finished, quality of plastics etc is pretty decent.
4. I tried it on my Ricoh Gr, works on Manual mode. Great!!
5. Has a pretty useful slave mode.

Bad news:

1. The battery compartment is bad, my rechargeable cells were too snugly fitting, once in they wouldn't come out without some cajoling.
2. Will have to find a solution to this problem.

Discovery

After a few experiments,I have come to the conclusion that the external flashes I have are not triggered by the flash on a mobile phone camera unit when in slave mode.

The lenovo yoga

So I got myself a Lenovo yoga 8 tablet with the 2 GB ram right after my Google Nexus went belly up.
I think this tablet is pretty good but the screen is not even a patch on the Nexus.

Anger is destructive

Anger is a trulydestructive emotion. I hope someday I can learn to harness it constructively.

From Earth to Sky: A photographic Journey on the Kalka-Shimla Railway

The book co-authored by Sanjay Kaushal and with a foreword by Sir Mark Tully is now available. Please email or leave a comment on this blog if you would like to have a copy.
Pages: 144
Size: 10"x10"
Hardbound

Buddhist travels

I am on my way back from a conference. In addition to conference'ing' , I visited the following-
Lumbini
Gotihawa
Niglihawa
Sagarhawa
Tilaurakot
Kudan
Tilaurakot
Ramagrama

Kushinagar

Piprahwa

Feeling satisfied