South Africa Re-visited

[luxborealis]

Back in 2003 and 2004, my family and i made two, 3-week trips to the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Of all the travelling we have done as a family on four continents, those trips rank up there as two of the best. We rented a car in Cape Town, spent a few days there, then drove the Garden Route, Klein Karoo, the Winelands of Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek then out to the West Coast, staying in B&Bs throughout our time there. What a wonderful, magical place!

Just today, I sat down and went through the best of those image files, re-working them in LR6.1.1. What a marvellous and successful day's work. What surprises me most is how well those jpgs and MRW files hold up after 9 years. All of the 2004 shots were made with a Minolta DiMage 7i: 5mp with a built in 28-200 zoom - a wonderful camera. I've often thought of foregoing the D800E and associated zooms and lenses and going back to an all-in-one. The work I did today plus Michael's recent write-up in the Canon G3X and Sony's new RX-10II are beginning to convince me even more. Mmmmm...how much would I miss the exquisite detail and DR of the D800E?

Anyway - I hope you enjoy these...

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Thanks for sharing those, Terry. It's a great set.

Interestingly, for a recent trip to France with my wife in May I decided to bring my new Sony RX10 (before the new version was announced) instead of my Canon 5D2 with a bunch of lenses. With a very sharp 24-200 equivalent Zeiss lens and excellent IS it was great for the trip and I haven't picked up the Canon or my tripod ever since. I've come a long way from 8x10 days, but it's really fun to use a responsive camera that lets me keep my attention on the image rather than the equipment.

[Rajan Parrikar]

Terry, fine images. The monochrome one stands out though. If my count is right, it is 11, not 9 years :-).

[luxborealis]

Terry, fine images. The monochrome one stands out though. If my count is right, it is 11, not 9 years :-).

Thanks Eric and Rajan. My, but doesn't time fly! You're correct, Rajan, 11 years.

[nma]

Really like them all but #2 and 3 strike a special cord.  The monochrome has excellent structure, with well defined shapes and contrasting tones. In #3 the repetitive shapes, colors and textures are excellent.

[mbaginy]

Very fine images!  And I feel the same about an all-in-one camera and what I might miss.  sigh

[Paulo Bizarro]

Fine images. I remember the Minolta, came out at about the same time I bought my first digital camera, the Canon Powershot Pro1.

IMO, the Sony RX10 is truly a successor of those fine cameras, a highly viable all in one solution.

[stamper]

Well worth the time to re-work them, something I should try my self. #2 &#3 works best for me.