KJ Vogelius

This is a rolling article. The latest update was October 10.

Since getting my Panasonic GF1 I’ve been convinced that mirrorless cameras are the future for most photography. Advantages such as smaller size, better focus accuracy and compatibility with almost any lens spell big trouble for traditional camera form factors such as the SLR or rangefinder.

The Sony NEX-7

The mirrorless systems have matured quickly. Initial problems such as slow auto focus speed and wonky handling were mostly corrected already by the second generation. But still, some problems remained.

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Yesterday social media giant Facebook bought the up and coming social photography app Instagram for a staggering $1 billion. I find this both awesome and scary at the same time.

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After spending the summer shooting the GF1 almost exclusively, I felt I should probably use my 5D Mk II for a bit. It’s a very nice camera after all, and using it only while traveling seemed like a bit of a waste.

I decided to set myself a challenge. To use the Canon 5D Mk II, with the ZE 35/2, every day for 5 weeks. Then select and upload one picture every day, resulting in a collection of 35 photos.

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Could it be? A digital Leica facsimile for the everyman? Image quality without compromise in a small, light and well handling package at a reasonable price? The perfect everyday camera?

Compactness, handling and image quality are each others enemies when it comes to camera design. You can’t really have one without compromising the other. In the digital realm it’s been even more evident. You’ve only had the choice of extremes – small, with dubious handling and image quality – or – good handling and image quality in a huge body. A sweet spot between the three haven’t really existed since the analog era.

The GF1 is the first digital camera to arrive at that sweet spot, and does so in a fantastic manner turning it into something of a modern classic.

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Having moved to Stockholm as an adult, never spending much time here before then, I very much appriciate how beautiful the city is. It definitely lives up to it’s nickname – Venice of the North. I doubt I’ll ever tire of the view from Västerbron, Monteliusvägen or Stadsgårdsleden.

These are taken while walking the dog in Liljeholmen and from the bridge to Södermalm – Liljeholmsbron. I’m still super impressed with the high ISO performance of the 5D Mk II. It’s very freeing to be able to shoot handheld in almost complete darkness, especially this time of year when it’s really dark up here.

Went to see Tintin with some friends from work. The movie was great, capturing the Tintin spirit splendidly. Ate at Pizzahatt before the movie – possibly the best pizza in town. Great evening all around.

Went to Orsa Bear Park today, for a project at work. Met this fuzzy fellow.

My mind boggles on how something so fit for cuteoverload can be one of the deadliest predators to walk the earth.

Stockholm has rarely been blessed with noticeable architecture in the last few decades. But things are looking up. Sven Harrys Art Museum is the latest in a series of interesting new buildings in central Stockholm, and it might just be my favorite yet.

Sven Harrys Art Museum is a privatly held museum and apartment building by the park Vasaparken in Stockholm. It was designed by Wingårdhs arkitekter and constructed 2009-2011.

I walked by the Art Museum on my way home from work today and snapped this panorama of it. It’s five frames from the 5D Mk II and ZE 35/2 stitched in Photoshop. It’s very much autumn here now. Which means that it’s getting darker. It was only around 5:30 PM, but even by then I had to go up to ISO 400 to get sufficiently fast shutter speed without tripod. Thankfully the ZE 35/2 is sharp already wide open, so I only stopped down to 2.8 to get slightly more depth of field.

Spent the day in Nackaresarvatet. Such a nice day with amazing color, mostly impossible to do justice through photos.

It wasn’t until after the sun had almost set until I found this subject – something that could look as nice on screen as in person. It’s almost like the ZE Distagon 35/2 was made specifically for this kind of photos – medium to short range, loads of fine detail and subtle color variations.

One of my recent favorite blogs is The Burning House. Based on user participation the blog asks visitors to upload photos of what they would bring with them from their home if it was on fire.

I find it very interesting. Which belongings are worth risking a few more seconds in a burning house not to loose forever? Blog founder – Foster Huntington – puts it like this:

It’s a conflict between what’s practical, valuable and sentimental.

I decided to participate, see my full contribution on The Burning House or beyond the Read link.

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