“When my photo’s fail it isn’t because they’re blurry or too grainy, it’s because they’re boring”. That’s real food for thought. Great video, great words. Thank you.
When I was earning my living with photography ..... for 27 years, much of my 35mm and medium-format work was done with Tri-X and the grain was intrinisic to the image, sometimes I even over-heated the developer to reticulate the image .... this curious obsession with "quality" measured in the number of pixels runs completely counter to much of the best photography, by the best practitioners, from the first 100 years of the trade. I look at the over-processed, contrast and filter blasted images that we're meant to admire and I recoil, this fascination with "bokeh" a word I'd never heard until a few years ago ..... we used to call it "background" when it was just a distraction from the subject of the picture ..... everything is upside down, the tail is wagging the dog .... concentrate on getting the best possible image with the best composition and the technical "deficiencies" should cease to matter. Progress isn't necessarily an improvement as your work shows ..... bravo !!
Great comments. I agree, photos are so easy to "take" with a phone or digital camera, so 99% of the images we see on Instagram, Facebook, and the like are shot without a thought to storytelling, composition, lighting, etc. And who has time to shoot with film anymore; what, wait 2 weeks to get my pictures back? This is the fast food economy and everyone wants everything now. It's sadly disappointing.
@@johnnyc.5979 Thank you ....but it would be a shame to consign film to the dustbin of history completely, you can easily process your own black and white film, it takes well under an hour and an enlarger, lens and other bits and bobs can be picked up really cheaply .... you can select images to work on from a contact sheet ..... and learn from the ones you don't use
@@petermach8635 I was shooting black and white Ilford, and developing it with R3 monobath, which takes only maybe 10 minutes depending on the ambient temperature, and then you rinse and hang the negatives. Then I would scan them. I enjoyed the process, but it is more expensive to do, and I have to pay to have the chemical disposed of properly since it's considered hazardous waste due to the silver content. So kind of a pain to do. I'll still shoot film, but will send it off to thedarkroom for them to process and scan.
@@petermach8635i'm shooting one or two rolls of film in a month. Shooting film is incomparable. So much joy. Right now i'm shooting a Konica Autoreflex T3 with a Konica Hexanon 35mmf2.8 lens and each single shot is a little pleasure.
Bokeh is the aesthetical appreciation of something that was considered, as you somehow infer, counterintuitive to the pursuit of quality. Not that different from your liking of grain.
Very good and important video ! I have the Canon G16 and i will never sell it. You can do almost all photographic work with it. The layout and handling is professional.
Great photos. Totally agree with you. There was a sweet spot of good premium small sensor compacts. Good lenses, fast apertures, manual controls (Fuji X30, Ricoh GRD IV, Lumic LX7, etc).
I couldn't agree more with you Juan! The sweet spot you mention is very real, and inherent to the scale and scope of the sensor technology at the point in time it was developed. I say similar things regarding 35mm feature film stock and the unrealistic and false equivalences made with 4k and 8k negative scans and the more recent sensors. I've been considering the G15 for a little while, but you have shown me it's RAW capabilities like a champion. I'm very glad to have found your channel. Thank you.
Beautiful video and amazing photography!! You make excellent points!! This video just popped up in my feed, and I’m so glad! I just subscribed, because I can’t wait to see what else you’re sharing!! Thank you!!!
Hahaha aww! I love Matthias' channel and it's definitely been an inspiration to start this. He's a video pro and I'm using this channel to teach myself how to produce these things, so I still have a long way to go...
I miss that we do not get new normal compact digital cameras much now (apart form the high end ones with bigger sensors). I would always rather use a camera than a phone. i do not enjoy taking photo with a phone at all really.
Agreed. There are some compacts still, but that category has been pretty much erased by phone cameras. I suppose those ~12MP compacts were the golden age of that format.
I recently got an Olympus xz-1 and this little ball of fun has kickstarted a love for CCD sensors and inherent interest in super small cameras, I find it insane how I completely disregarded high end compact cameras when I was initially looking at getting myself an actual camera. My main shooter will always be my Fuji X-Pro 2 but I have fallen in love with the competency of a decade old camera, despite its quirks such as its annoyingly intrusive computing and need/want to always be in control of its own settings I will always love it for enlightening me and showing me that photography doesn't need to be on a hefty camera with big expensive lenses, I can get equally good and sometimes better images in a baby of a camera!
Clearly these cameras suit very well your photographic style. In my case I recently sold a Sony RX100 MkII (slightly bigger sensor) because I didn't use it too often and for just 'informal' pictures the smartphone can be enough in most cases. When I really care about the final result I find that I need to look through a viewfinder to feel 'inside' the picture and be able to make the composition that I want. And old compact cameras normally don't have viewfinders or they are just a hole to look through. However, I admit that a tilting LCD can allow you to be more unnoticeable and faster when doing street photography if you are able to compose properly with it. The sensor size helps to nail focus and grain is not a problem in your b&w pictures !
I used to be all about viewfinders, and still am to some degree. However, some people can frame a shot without looking, to a high degree of accuracy. It's a talent that can be learned, just like focusing on a rangefinder--some people say a Leica "slows them down," while for others focusing one is faster than any AF system. I'm pretty good at RF focusing, still practicing the composition thing. So with a wide enough lens, it is possible to arrange things in the frame as you want them, without looking through a VF. Cameras like the Ricoh GR make this super easy because you can operate everything with one hand.
I bought an old Lumix LX5 for $50 recently and couldn't be happier! It has a slight trace of fungus but it really doesn't affect the photos so I'll have it cleaned when I have the time.
Great video and well said! I visited your website and love it! Great examples of content always beats specs. I love small cameras too for all the reasons you mentioned. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing compositions and editing. The photography skill you possess is just outstanding. All these photos shown are great! BTW, this is the 5th time I have watched this video :)
I couldn't agree with you more Juan. I primarily shoot candid street portraits, similar to your work. I love the size and depth of field of small sensor cameras. Another plus is I can go into somewhat dicey neighborhoods and not attract unwanted attention with fancy gear. Really simple cameras make me look like a tourist and people loosen up. I don't feel the need to shoot raw. Black and White conversion with Nik Silver Efex gives great results.
Hi Juan. I tend to agree with what you are saying. I had a Canon S-120 that I used extensively. Some of my favourite photos came from that camera. One other plus is that they are just so much fun to use!
Thanks for an interesting perspective. I typically shoot FF DSLR but recently bought a used Fuji x70. Your video inspired me to do more street photography.
I should add that I did pro work with a Pentax Optio 3.5 Mp! 20x30cm prints! Love the color of Pentax. Minolta has super BW. Friends and clients convinced I used film.
Interesting remark. I saw a cute camera on eBay but wondered if the 7 megapixels was enough. How big can I reasonably print with a 7-megapixel camera without it looking like dots?
Love this, and your pictures are excellent. Do you have any recent compact camera/point and shoot models to recommend with a small sensor, not the 1 inch sensor types? I too enjoy the look but am reluctant to buy too many secondhand old digital cameras. Would be good to find something newer and more reliable. Cheers!
I recently took out my old Fuji X10 and agree with everything you said. Lots of DoF, and good results in Raw, especially mono. I replaced it for general use with a m43 Lumix GX80, which offers most of the compact advantages, similar results up to 1600 ISO, and isn't much bigger. The disadvantage of small sensor cameras was buffer speed and a lack of viewfinder, though some small sensor cameras, like Fuji, had finders. Time has moved on and in a market obsessed with technical quality over other aesthetics, we probably won't see quality cameras with small sensors again.
Agreed! I'd love a premium compact with new technology and a small, say 12-16MP sensor. I've been wanting a Fuji X30, imagine if they refreshed that line with an X40...
Hi Juan This is the first time I've watched one of your video's and it was a very well thought out and informative video!! I've been wanting to downsize my cameras and look for smaller compact cameras. Again a great video!! Best of luck in your photography journey!! Duane McClun
@@JuanBuhler Thanks for the reply! Not too many youtube channels ever reply to the comments so that was a class act on your part! I think the hardest part in using a compact camera, is with so many of them, is choosing one! Best Duane
Juan I'm interested when you're using a small sensor camera like the Canon A470 how are you able to stop motion? It seems the small sensor cameras are slow in taking the shot. Best wishes Duane
The smartphone killed that segment... Also I think there was a race to try to make the smallest cameras possible when mirrorless was starting out, nowadays it feels like a rebound from that.
Just subscribed.. Great content 👍 Please review the K10D with the CCD colors. I saw that you own one in another video but most of the photos were in B&W
Thanks for the sub! Ha! that's a good one--being mostly a B&W photographer kind of gets in the way, as I really think I suck at color, in general. But I might try!
I’ve recently bought an old canon S95 from 2010. It’s about the same size as a pack of cards and has great manual controls. As it easily fits in your jeans pocket it means you can always take it with you. I also take it on my trail runs. I’m having a hoot using it no have got some great images from it. I think we are too obsessed with pixels, dynamic range, iso etc. I used to shoot slide film so had very little leeway in comparison.
I use tiny sensors and often are thought of as larger sensor and in some cases actual film! Minolta CCD with kodak sensor fools mos! I love the portability and the amateur status
Hi Juan! Amazing video as always! What’s your thoughts on the Grii compared to the Pentax mx I’m looking for a pocketable camera for travel and wanted to get your input! Thanks man
Hi Aaron! Between the MX1 and the Ricoh GR ii, I would choose the GR ii most of the time. That is, the 16MP, APS-C GR ii from 2015, and not the GR digital ii, which was 10MP on a small sensor. But that is just me, the GR works better for the way I take photos. That said, I still own the MX1 and love it a lot. In terms of image quality, I suppose the Ricoh has the edge, although with the MX1 you get a zoom so if you want that flexibility for travel you might end up with better images than if you just used the GR and cropped. It's funny you ask about these two cameras, as some of the photos with the MX1 on this video are from a trip to Paris where the MX1 and the GRii were my two main cameras. I would switch based on mood basically--the Ricoh lends itself to a very fluid shooting style, I use it with snap focus at 1 or 1.5m and carry on my hand near my face, not necessarily looking at the LCD but pointing it from there. The MX1 is a more paused experience, because it is a bit slower overall, and I'd usually give it time to autofocus. I'd also compose the photos more carefully, just because the flow is different. Hope that helps, I'd get the Ricoh myself if I had to choose just one of them, but it depends on what images you want to make!
@@JuanBuhler Juan thank you very much man! I was leaning torwards the Ricoh Gr ii and this seals the deal. I really appreciate you responding and listing the reasoning of which camera you prefer. keep posting these amazing videos! thanks again!
For me, the sweet spot is the one inch, 20mp sensor in my RX100Va. There are some advantages over the smaller sensors: -When using a software like DXO Pure Raw or Photo Lab, noise is no problem at all. You can even use those files for a double-sided magazine shot. - The JPG's are good enough most of the time - autofocus is better than in the smaller cameras - the 24-70 f1.8 lens is quite good - and you can use the full potential of the sensor. A smaller sensor at f5.6 or f8 will always show you the effects of diffraction. -the RX100 has a collapsible viewfinder -...and a small TILTABLE flash - point it to the ceiling and you'll get quite naturally looking pictures indoors. And it's nice to have for backlit portraits, as well.
What a great video, and everything you say is so true. Many websites look at small sensor cameras as toys, which they aren't. Anything below full frame, to them, is awful. I used TriX film for many years and everyone seemed to love the grain. Now with digital, even the smallest noise is seen as unacceptable. The content of the image doesn't matter, to many people, as long as the image has no noise. Oh, and large depth of field is a fault for them, not a quality. Hmmmm!
The MX-1 is a more modern camera, and it shows. I only have the GR digital IV, not the II, so I am not totally sure of this, but comparing for example with the Caplio, which I have, I'd pick the MX-1 first.
The MX-1 is a great camera. For me it is about the way it feels in the hand, and the image quality in RAW. Of course, it's an old camera with a small sensor, but if you keep that in mind, you can get excellent results from it. I am not sure what I review from me would add to the videos made by Mattias Burling and Snappiness on it though!
Good video. And I think you are right. Arresting photography does not, and never did, depend on razor sharpness, anyway. We all have better cameras now than what the pros were using a generation or two ago. In the end it depends on the eye and the willingness to explore the world. And the criterion for exhibiting photos has changed also: most photos are being viewed today on something no larger than an iPad screen.
Exactly right. Those of us who used to shoot Tri-X, basically guessing exposure values, focusing by hand and all that, know that a 12MP image, even from a smallish sensor can be way sharper. I am totally serious when I say that my photos are more often boring than they are blurry!
You can't call any of these cameras as small sensors. Some of these compact cameras are 20MP and above. Only Micro four thirds can qualify as a small sensor camera while the rest are equivalent to super 35.
Cell Phones with Cameras are doing to Small Sensor Cameras, what Digital did to Film.. At one point in time, sales with Full Frame Cameras will Peak, and start to Drop, because not everyone will want to buy a Bulky Camera. Main Manufacturers will have to get back in re-designing smaller, more convenient, and more affordable Cameras! It's just a matter of time!
The fact that you're wrong about the sensor size of that Ricoh can be fixed if you just google the camera model and read a bit. No big deal. Your attitude toward random people on the internet, that might be harder to fix. Good luck though!
In the video the photo is labeled as Ricoh GR IV, which refers to Ricoh GR DIGITAL IV (1/1.7-inch CCD). Ricoh GR III is APS-C. In future Ricoh may release a new model of their compact APS-C series called GR IV. Until then, the label "Ricoh GR IV" is unabmigious.
