Street portrait - the reader

[ionian]

I'm using a Panasonic GX7 with a 20mm f1.7 pancake for these shots. It's a tiny package but obviously a compromise on sensor size, especially compared to the A7. A lot of people rave about the 20mm f1.7 lens in the M43 world but I've always struggled with it - having come from apsc cameras, I find it's wider than I'm used to and I struggle to contain my compositions without adding a load of distracting detail. Still, it seems to suit this sort of stuff and I've no complaints about its performance.

[Shanghai Steve]

The camera I have spent most time with and felt most attached to in my short time as a photographer was the GX1. I thought long and hard between the 20/1.7 and 25/1.4 and eventually went for the Leica. It worked well. As you say, few members of the public think of the GX line as "real cameras" so you tend to get a bit of leeway. Also, the shuttersound was kind of cute. I remember one person helpfully suggesting I turn the shutersound off. She looked really embarassed when I told her I couldn't do that as it was the sound of an actual shutter. But the AF was very good, even better than my A6000. I remember shooting a concert at my last school and one of my colleagues brought in a 70D with big zoom, which a third colleague was given to use as the owner freely admitted he knew nothing about photography. Afterwards I showed him my shots with the A6K and he said "These came from that dinky little camera?"
In the mind of most non-specialists, size is still linked with capability. Visit any popular tourist attraction in China and you see tens of self-important guys with massive zooms on massive DSLRs taking shots in Auto mode with the flash up in eye-searing light then looking at their LCD in confusion. Mirrorless doesn't seem to have made many inroads, although I don't know why you don't see them on the street as everywhere sells them. When I visited Luban Lu for the first time in over a year, the increase in Sony outlets was very noticeable. That's not to say that there aren't loads of great photographers here. The wedding business is eye-opening and the albums that are produced are stunning. I have seen a couple of female colleague's wedding book and the skill and subtlety with which they apply Photoshop is quite amazing.
I have to say, I feel Louise Topp's plight. One of the reasons I moved to SH was the fact that you can get almost anything you want here, if it is available in China, from a 1.5 yuan Baozi to a McLaren sportscar....or McLaren Hi Fi. For some strange reason, real shaving supplies are banned. Luban Lu is heaven for a photographer with about.....oh I don't know....100 different shops specialising in specific brands, or selling e.g. only Billingham bags or whatever. I seem to remember there is one floor dedicated to shops which only sell tripods and cases. It is lovely to go there, but I usually leave feeling very poor.