Morning Observations

This morning we went for a really early (predawn departure) morning photowalk through Munich's Olympiapark.

After a few hours of walking, we stopped at Woerner's for a nice filling weisswurst breakfast. Munich at 8am on a weekend is pretty wonderful - there is some movement, but most people are still in bed and it's a peaceful time. It's also early enough to get prime seats in some of the restaurants and cafes!

As their outside tables weren't out yet, we secured a prime table by an open window overlooking Marienplatz (Woerner's cafe is a level up).

You'll always see some strange things if you watch the people on Marienplatz long enough. This morning, it was a man with a small trailer behind his bike. From our distant view, the trailer looked like a glass display case with a statue of Jesus.  He then parked his bike and trailer in front of the Rathaus, set up a video camera and began recieving guests.

Luckily Herr J had his 600mm effective lens and we could spy on the proceedings down below. Definitely not Jesus, but we're still at a loss for why this guy was towing around a glass cases with a sawdust statue of a woman in it.  He seemed to have several friends meet him out there, so there must have been some significance and interesting back story...

What we did realize was how handy Herr J's stealth lens is....Since he's using the  micro 4/3 standard, his 600mm lens weighs in at 1 lb and a tiny fraction of the price of the 11 lb, $10,000 behemoth lens Nikon offers for my camera. Plus, it fits easily in the man purse!

Choosing a Camera...does it fit in my purse?

(Note: this article is supposed to be a summary of the decision process and complexities for buying a new camera.  But then I asked Herr J to "look it over" and, well, you see what happened...  Apologies to anyone who does not have an engineering PhD or permanent pocket protector!)

There are some pretty interesting technological developments today in digital cameras: mirrorless interchangeable-lens designs (the Panasonic / Olympus micro four-thirds standard, and APS-C models from Sony and Samsung), translucent mirrors in DSLRs, and even Phase One's over the top 30 megapixel medium format imaging sensor... now being replaced by an 80 megapixel version!  (For around $44,000 you could buy a car instead.)

 Alternative sensor techologies have been developed too, but are not making significant headway yet.  Fuji has a "reconfigurable" sensor, and Foveon a multi-layer sensor.  Ricoh went further out into left field, and has the GRX system which is a compact camera shell that uses interchangable units combining sensor and lens together! (pretty smart, out of the box thinking!)

Plus, there are increasingly good plain old point-and-shoot models.  The new Olympus XZ-1 has the "fastest" lens ever on a compact digital camera (at 28mm is f1.8!) and the Canon SX30IS has the largest focal range of any fixed lens camera ever made (35x, from 24-840mm!).  As always, there are a slew of proven APS-C and full-frame DSLRs that are the bread and butter of pros worldwide.

There are even innovations in accessories, such as a 3-D lens (for use on 3-D televisions!), wireless hot shoe attachments that send photos to any bluetooth device, and alien-looking lights for macro photography.  But in the end it all boils down to your camera/system working in your lifestyle & budget.

I'm a Nikon person... I love, love, LOVE my D700. It can't be beat for it's color rendition and low-light capabilities.  I'm not the only one -- one husband made a D700 birthday cake for his wife! And it's red velvet, too!!!

http://www.kenrockwell.com and http://www.woohome.com/food-drink/a-wifes-birthday-cake-nikon-d700/1984

I know many will call it heresy, but I also love my Panasonic LX3. Though the Nikon does fit in my larger purses even with a decently large lens, I just can't lug it around all the time. The LX3, however, is tiny (but built like a tank) and takes really great pictures, especially in low light.  (In fact, the LX3 actually changed the market in this regard.  All major players were forced to make a competing model in order to stay relevant: Canon S90/S95, Nikon P7000, Olympus XZ-1, and Panasonic's upgrade, the LX5). I also love my LX3 because of the awesome 10 Bar underwater housing that Herr J and my friends in TX gave me for my last birthday. Best Present Ever! It's a great set up for diving - I'd considered keeping my old D40 as an underwater camera, but the housings for those start around $2,000 and require different fronts for different lenses!!!  The 10 Bar and LX3 combo is so great that I've recently bought another (slightly used) LX3 to replace it when the camera wears out. I started diving with a Sony Cybershot circa 2001, and sadly the camera stopped working long before the housing. We did have a good 10 years together, but it just won't hold more than 15 or 30 minutes of charge anymore.

Herr J is in the market for a new camera, though he's been "in the market" as long as I've known him! It's a pretty big step when investing in a camera system. Whereas I'm already committed to a lifetime of Nikon (except for fixed lens compact cameras), he's still able to make a radical choice and go with newer systems and standards.  Is it better to invest in new models & lens mounts -- with the risk that they don't have longevity, or just stick with today's DSLRs?

Or perhaps one chooses a system based on available high-quality lenses and just gets a cheap body to start.  For example, I have some "good glass" that will last decades and I can reuse on any future camera bodies that have the same Nikon interchangeable lens mount, e.g., if I ever have/want to replace my D700.

What about the portability factor, like with my LX3 vs D700 -- should Herr J get a compact AND a large sensor camera, or just one mirrorless in-between size?  And what about the cost of getting an underwater housing for the camera as part of the total investment?  Housings can cost more than the cameras themselves!  (He loved our vacation photos with the LX3 + 10 Bar housing.)

We've had some good debates about the camera market, and enjoy playing around with different models in the local electronics store.  The current hot topic is "who buys into the micro four-thirds system?"  Ostensibly, micro four-thirds is "better quality than a compact, smaller than a DSLR".  It's an interesting concept and I'm curious to know if it ends up being a long-term market segment or just a brief stop on the way to something new. Obviously it appeals to early adopters who want the latest technology... and those who want better image quality than fixed lens compact cameras. But that's the irony...once you put a lens on it, it's not truly "small" anymore.

Here's the Panasonic LX3 compared to Panasonic's smallest mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, the GF1. The GF1 has a "pancake" lens attached:

The GF1 is little taller and deeper (front to back) and might fit in large pockets -- very portable in any case.  But the LX3 has a 3x zoom capability, whereas the GF1 "pancake" has no zoom -- and most people will miss this.  Well... although the LX3 has a fixed lens, we can changes lenses on the GF1.  So, let's put a lens on the GF1 that is equivalent to the 3x zoom on the LX3.  In this case, we'll substitute Canon's G11-- a direct competitor of the LX3 and similar size (a bit bigger, actually).  Here's what we get:

Whoa.  We just added a good 2-3 inches to the depth of the camera with that lens.  It's not fitting in anyone's pocket, but still fits in purses/bags.  That's the price you pay for getting an improvement in image quality.  The GF1's sensor is 6x larger than the sensor in the LX3 or G11 -- it needs a bigger lens to cover the sensor, but puts out better photos.  Is this worth the decrease in portability?  Hmm....

On the flip side, "m4/3" cameras are somewhat smaller & lighter than a typical DSLR because of the lack of mirror & prism, a smaller sensor & matching lenses.   Here's the Olympus m4/3 camera vs. one of the smallest DSLRs on the market (also from Olympus).   

   
There is definitely a reduction in size -- both heigth and depth, plus weight.  However, with the current market offerings, the small DSLR costs the same or less and delivers higher performance (faster shooting, less noise at high ISO, and greater dynamic range.  Plus the DSLR has a viewfinder and much better external controls for those that manual control of the camera (rather than leaving it in Automatic mode)  We definitely lose performance with the m4/3, but did the reduction in size really give us more portability?  Remember, neither camera will fit in a pocket, so we have to transport it differently.  So where's the right place on the size/quality/price curve?

Lots to think about here.  But maybe it won't be decided on technical metrit.
I pointed out these issues to Herr J, but he laughed and then said, "But most importantly, will it fit in my man purse better?"

Man Purses Driving Luxury Brands' Growth?

So, Herr J apparently is on the forefront of a trend...at least for American men...his fashionable Asian and European counterparts have been onto the male accessories bandwagon for quite some time now.  But still, I'll call him a trendsetter among his peers.

It shouldn't be much of a surprise that the women's segment of the fashion market is fairly saturated. Spending will continue to grow as the Chinese and other economies grow and consume more overall, but that can't grow exponentially forever. The real opportunity for growth is in creating a new consumer group - men.

The headlines are starting to pop up.... Forget the It bag: Male satchels boosts Burberry's sales by 27% and Coach is actively targeting the growing mens sector...

...men, the future of the world economy is in your hands - start spending!

Yup, I like my man purse

I had a suspision that this might happen:  Frau A got me a man purse for Christmas.  She explained,  "You thought you wanted one, and I knew it would take you forever to take the plunge yourself."  She was right, of course.  The concept of a man purse seemed to be functionally a perfect item for me, but there were too many style options to select one.  It required an expert to avoid disaster.  (Note:  after seeing her operate in Sephora in New York City, I now fully appreciate how years of training allow women to survive and flourish in what is effectively the most perfect testosterone vacuum ever created by science and choose from endless arrays of products.)

I was pretty sure a black one would go with a business suit and casual clothes, and that I would prefer something with minimal flair/decorations/etc.  I "tried on" a few in stores, but was never really sure.  Frau A was there for the man purse expeditions, and thought one of them was right for me -- turned out to be a good choice.  Here it is:

For me, function is more important than fashion, and on this level it's great.  The bag is structured like a satchel (similar to Indiana Jones and Jack Bauer, of course), with just a flap to close rather than a zipper.  I like fast access to the stuff inside.  Maybe I need an extra gun clip and a whip too.

Internally, a separator creates two areas.  The area closest to the body has small, soft pockets for things like a cell phone/iPod, plus a zippered pocket where I keep my wallet (feels more secure).  It also has a long key leash that makes it easy to find keys right away.

The area that lies away from the body has no internal pockets, and is perfect for a paperback, compact camera, gloves, and even a tote-sized umbrella.  It would fit an iPad no problem, and could temporarily carry a laptop too (except the largest ones).

I like the look too.  Nice, thick black leather with just a small adornment on the front.  The leather is starting to break in already, and feels strong but soft.  It's great to get something that I'll use every day.  Thanks, Santa. 

Man Purse Math

Herr J is still manpurse-less.

To be honest, we haven't really focused our efforts on the issue. Too many other things to do...vacation, vacation photos, job search (me), german class (again, me), enjoying the wonderful Christmas season in Germany, Christmas shopping, etc.

Though, with winter, a man purse has even greater utility. It's really cold here - cold enough that even I am choosing function over form. yes, cold has brought me insanity and I wear gloves and hats and try to wear warm, flat boots. The point being that now guys also have to carry around gloves, hats, umbrellas, and extra weather-related necessities...greatly weighing down the pockets of the man with no manpurse.

I've been keeping an eye out for good bags for Herr J. The ones I've seen and liked brought up some interesting questions:

• Should a guy have a more expensive bag than his girlfriend?
• Is it OK for a guy to have more bags than his girlfriend? (In most cases, I'm going to vote no on that one!)
• Is there some Maximum Man Purse Ratio? i.e, what's the maximum acceptable ratio of how many bags a guy has to how many his girlfriend has? Is it 1/2, 1/3, 1/4???
• In terms of contents of your bag, is it ok for the guy to have more in there than the girl? (I'd say it depends what's in there....electronic gadgets good, hair care products not so good)
• What's the minimum ratio of electronics to other goods that need to be in there to keep the bag manly?

 This is so much more complicated than we thought

Man Purses - Part 2

Herr J is beginning to understand female logic.  

Herr J:   I can’t figure out what man purse goes with suits at work and also with jeans/shorts on the weekend

Me:       Well, of course not. That’s why no one has just one purse!

Herr J:   Wow, I understand now!.....umm, I’m afraid.

It was a very proud moment. I didn’t want to scare him, so I kept to myself that the minimum really is 3 bags…both brown and black to match his shoes and belt at work, plus a casual bag.  

Man Purses (or Why Gucci and Prada Should Thank Steve Jobs)

My boyfriend wants a man purse. Let me start by clarifying that he’s a meat-eating, college football-playing, stands-up-to-pee, redblooded American male…nothing girly about him, not even metrosexual.  And he’s decided he needs a purse.  

Despite my initial giggle, his logic makes sense.  Men like gadgets but always carrying a computer bag or a briefcase is a pain.  And their pockets get pretty heavy after adding a wallet, at least one phone, and a camera. Not to mention books, umbrella, ipod, etc…  

Enter the iPad:  This is the game changer.  It may replace your Kindle, your phone, and potentially your camera. But it won’t fit in your pocket. And the smart guys out there will realize they can use an iPad bag to carry the other items normally weighting down their pockets.  Of course since it’s designed to house the latest technological innovation, it’s still manly.

So far, I’m mostly seeing iPad sleeves or mini-computer bags. But the man purses are coming…cleverly disguised as iPad bags!