Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japan. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Get Outta Town With Panasonic Lumix GX-7


We sometimes poo poo the programs that major Japanese manufacturers put into their consumer-oriented cameras. You know - the miniature effect or the star filters or the forced HDR. Kid stuff, Mum and Dad concepts, nowhere near as sophisticated as we hot shot iconic international superstar mentor legends can be before breakfast. Poo. Poo.

Well, I have decided to keep my poo to myself in the future. I was given a Panasonic Lumix GX-7 camera to use for a recent trip to Japan - also courtesy of the Panasonic people. We went up on a Wednesday evening to the top of the Roppongi Hills Tower to see Tokyo at sunset. Fortunately it was clear - heavy weather set in the next day and the heading image shot would have been impossible.

The windows are big - wide and tall - and crowded with tourists looking to see that last flash of sun and the "blue moment" just as it sets. They are packed all along the windows of the observation deck. Fortunately they are small people and I am tall. And I have long arms. So it was easy to swing out the LCD screen from the back of the GX-7, angle it down, and raise it way high up over the rest of the shooters.

The camera was set on one of the special art settings - called "dramatic" or something like that. It was dead set easy to shoot and the picture you see here is just a jpeg straight out of the box. No big computer time. No colour changing by me.

Okay. Perfect setup and timing, luck of the draw. Good special program for this sort of thing. Whatever did it, I am happy  with the result and can readily recommend the camera to anyone. It was a delight to use.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Baka Gain


I am home again, and not permanently damaged. There was a point on the flight via Japan Airlines when I wondered if I would be able to unfold myself and walk again but the crisis passed. The trip taught me a great deal:

1. I shall be tolerant of those who do not speak my language. They were of me, and we managed well.

2. Bad language, entitlement, impatience, and greed have no place on either side of the sales counter.

3. Karaoke is the name of a volcano that exploded in the 1880's...

4. There are only 6 Suzuki Swift motor cars in Japan. All the rest are in Australia.

5. Camera store prices in Japan are no cheaper than they are here.

6. You can screen print Hello Kitty on anything.

7. No fish-flavoured drink is ever good. Cocktail or smoothie, it is just wrong...

8. When in doubt, smile. When in trouble, run.

9. Piety does not equal holiness does not equal morality.

10. Beer vending machines in the street do not make for drunken public orgies. The potential for bad behaviour is in the purchaser, not the vendor.

11. Japanese dogs do not bark. They are too polite for that. They raise their eyebrows at you...

12. It is not necessary to duck under hotel door lintels in Japan, but ship's deckheads and hatch coamings are another matter.

13. Follow the tour guide with the flag, lantern, or fish. Follow your own tour guide.