Windy

With the wind blowing and the sun shining I headed to the beach. When I got there the wind was more than blowing, it was almost gale force. Dry sand lashed across the shore and the kiteboarders were leaving the water one by one. The wind was so strong I struggled to hold the camera still enough to get sharp shots at over 1/2000th of a second. I gave up trying for any action shots as the few remaining 'boarders were out of range. So I made do with scenics and suchlike. Even that wasn't easy in the wind, and all the while trying to prevent the filter on the lens getting sandblasted.

I tried to get a picture that showed the blowing sand, a kiteboarder on the 'horizon' and a kite in the background all framed in a satisfying arrangement - and failed. The shot below came closest. It's a slight crop and not razor sharp thanks to the gale. The idea was there though.

Back at the car I swapped to my cheap'n'cheerful 28-105 and came away pleasantly surprised at the quality of the files it produces. Sharp enough and contrasty. Best of all it's lightweight and compact. However, it's not a snappy focuser and it lacks the instant auto-focus override I find myself using a lot these days. A very useable lens nonetheless. I might seek out a wider c'n'c zoom to complement it. My reasoning is that I like to travel as light as I can, so a c'n'c lens in a pocket or small non-camerabag-bag, provides an alternative to the lens I'm planning on using most if another opportunity arises or things change as they did today.

The picture below is another almost shot. The light is great, the composition is okay but the 'action' doesn't add much. Given the lack of a lens hood, and the UV filter, which are both supposed to create ubearable flare, the lens seems to have managed alright. Sure I did a fair bit of work with the fill slider and other adjustments, but it made for an acceptable (to me) picture. Full set of pictures here.

What is and isn't acceptable is entirely subjective. I've been looking at black and white photos from the 35mm film era recently in my collection of photo books. I'm sure digital has made us all too critical of what is acceptable and what is not. There are loads of classic photographs which when enlarged beyond postcard size reveal huge grain, and many of them are actually either blurred (through the film forcing a slow shutter speed) or simply not quite focused.

Makes you wonder if all that is needed for 99% of photographic applications really is a compact camera. Let's face it, it's easier to get sharp shots with little 'grain' in low light from the X10 than it ever was with my Pentax and Ilford HP5. Good as it is, and much as I like using it, I prefer the general handling (and the viewfinder) of an SLR. If only they could be made smaller. Have I mentioned that before?

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