Leica adventure: Chapter 1 New Orleans (Day 2)

I believe i'm the type that didn't really get jet lagged, my trick is to usually quickly adjust my time zone to my present location time zone, switch my watch and never think whether its night or day back home. and i believe it worked. I never had trouble sleeping or waking up in the middle of the night, i mean i always woke up in the middle of the night going to the restroom, that is just me, i drank a bottle of water before i sleep.

Anyway i woke up to this,

This is the view from my hotel

Sunrise, i'm a morning person of course i had to have coffee at this moment. I have work waiting for me at the Hilton hotel which is also where the RiverWalk Outlet mall is located. Sweet!

 This is the Cafe Du Monde in the mall i was talking about, i just had to have the beignets again.

 This is where the magic happens, the flour is shaped and deep fried to make beignets

 This is the moment where the M8 is not so discreet, the shutter is so loud, the lady just had to turned and look at me and of course i used the Zack Arias's skill looking the sign above her but honestly i did want to take a picture of the sign.... and the crowd below it. Composing was a guess, i think it was okay.

 I'm queuing for the order , might as well take snapshot

 I'm on my way back to the hotel. Too bad i couldn't find a higher ground to take this picture

As i reached my room, i was 'introduced' to this view, my room was dark only lit by this view, the window curtain was open and the sun sets, it was a beautiful scenery, it was orange and blue, i just had to get my M8 out and used the slowest shutter speed to avoid shake. I had to pushed this an extra stop in PP, and those are not banding on the upper left corner of this picture, its a reflection of the curtains. The sunset was just breathtaking. I'll never forget this view.

And then i had an idea of doing long exposures although i did not bring a tripod, i just placed my M8 besides the window. I switched off all the lights in the room and start shooting. I think the picture below is about 2 seconds long. This is to the right of the sunset pictured above. It wasnt a proper shot but i like it. It just shows the cityscapes of New Orleans. All the lights from buildings and cars make it nice, and the trailing white smoke caused by the jet add character to it.

I just had to have beignets again.

....the nights not over yet.... to be continued.....

Leica adventure: Chapter 1 New Orleans (Day 1)

I've been in an airplane for a total of 20 hours now, that's how long the journey is for me to reach America. This time its New Orleans. I could not get my eyes to open, i slept the whole time on my way to New Orleans from Seattle. I remember waking up and this lady looking out of the window, looking at all these white icy lands. I believe that is Colorado Springs. It was beautiful but i was sitting at the aisle, i didn't get a really good look of it but i was too sleepy as well to stay awake. Probably jet lag kicking in. I brought my Leica M8 that i acquired late last year for this trip. This is the start of my Leica adventure.

Upon landing New Orleans, it was already dark and it was cold about 7 degrees celsius, probably warm for some but me coming from an all day summer country, this is totally different. I forgot to bring my jacket which is annoying and only have a flannel shirt which is pretty much thin. I can see my breathe.

I've checked in at Loews hotel and i avoid myself going to sleep, it was just 7pm, i dont want to get jet lag, so i've decided to go to the nearest mall, the Riverwalk Outlet Mall. It was damn quiet. It was like nobody were there. As i explore the mall, there it was, the legendary Cafe Du Monde. Sweet! Its here in the mall. I thought i had to walk down to French Quarter which is 15 min walk from my hotel. Of course i had to get and try the famous Beignet.

And my first bite of the Beignet, i'm a believer. It was just out of the deep fryer , it's super hot and the butter melts inside. Combines with the powder icing sugar, it was amazing. Its best paired with coffee. At this moment i have yet taken out my Leica M8.

It was not until i reached Bourbon Street that i decided to get my M8 out of the bag and have a go. Bourbon street was similar to Vegas but less grander. Neon lights, long straight street, just like Downtown Vegas.

 M8 works well in black and white they say

 I think colors are fine too

 The 15mm is wide, i had to crop some pictures and still the M8 with its 10Mp is more than enough

 The M8 paired with the 15mm Voigtlander is sharp.

 I love taking pictures of alleys

 Huge Ass Beers!

 Another alley shot

Canal Street, edges of french quarter 

 There are lots of these guys, a dollar a block

Hop in a bar and enjoy some music

I think the M8 fared well in low light, most of the shots were in either 1/15s or 1/20s, the slowest i'd go was at 1/8s and i used max auto iso at iso 640. most of the pictures are pushed at an extra stop. Noisy sure as hell if you pixel peep but at normal view, it didn't really make the pictures unwatchable? Is that the word? Well what i'm trying to say is its fine. Print these at 4R 5R should come good. And these are at f4.5. A faster lens should perform well but then if you shoot wide open you had to deal with depth of field, which in my case, i did not have to worry as f4.5 is sharp by 1meter onwards. I used my M8 just like a point and shoot, i have to guess the composition as i dont have the external viewfinder, mostly shot at f4.5 and auto shutter.

Bourbon street is noisy and a tourist place, so people dont really mind me shooting away although i refrain myself from shooting a candid portrait as i dont want to cause a stir. This place is also full of hobos, they might not be comfortable of me taking their photos or at least they wanted me to tip them. Remember i said about New Orleans being dangerous and stuffs, forget what i said, this is just like any normal city, there will be trouble if you're looking for it otherwise you are safe. although a local did tell me not to stroll the city at night alone.

Leica M8 or M9? .... First chapter, New Orleans.

So New Orleans is in line, its job related but also a chance to start my Leica adventure. I wont have much free time, its dusk and dawn travelling but its once in a lifetime journey, i'll take my Leica chances. I only have the 15mm Voigtlander and most of my free time will be at night so crossed my fingers and hope the street lights will be enough for my Leica.

So the question is which Leica should i bring, my M8 or my M9? As of now i'm almost certain to bring my M8. Why? Because its the 'cheaper' Leica, its still expensive but the M9 is much more expensive. I'm talking about security. Ok, this is a negativity side part of me, i'm worried of being mugged! I am pretty much a "too much worry" person so its normal that i get too negative way much but thats a habit i try to lose. Upon hearing New Orleans, Katrina came up, a lil bit of googling, you come across words like warning, danger, shooting and murder, my negativity level just shot up the ceiling. But i try to calm myself, everywhere in the world there will be crimes and dangers, i've been to Washington and Vegas, both have its own crimes and dangers, its common sense, avoid dodgy places at all cost and follow all safety rules and tips. I'd be fine. Anyway, I'm with 2 other guys so we'll be fine.

One thing that planted in my head is i believe everyone knows what a Leica is and how expensive it is. That is of course false but its auto planted in my brain. So i have the tendency to leave my Leica in my bag because i dont want to be seen with a Leica. If i hang the camera over my neck, i feel like its screaming "LEICA!!!!!". I feel that the Leica is an attention seeker and as if i'm walking naked. I'm so over but yes thats how i feel. its my mindset. I need to lose that mindset. Its no good, it made my Leica useless. Why its my mindset because thats how i would react when i see someone with a Leica. I'd go "Wow a Leica". So my negative mindset also tells me that thieves would think just like what i'd think. "Wow a Leica, target acquired". Now i'd understand why people would gaffer tape the red dot, i'm sure a syndicate out there knows about the red dot.

Ok enough negativity, so M8 it is. First, its about the cost. At the moment, these Leicas are new to me, so i will baby them, trying not to scratch it etc, etc, so with the M8 i'm trying to be rough with it, (as a worry person, i care too much and it kills me). At the moment, i cant do that to my Leica M9. It is just so expensive. When i look back on Ebay, and seeing the M9 prices, i realised i cant afford it now but with the M8, its pretty much doable. M8 is getting cheaper and cheaper. in other words, if i want to buy an M8, i could, but not the M9, not now just yet. I cant justify spending another $3000 on my wish list all black M9-P.

Second, the crop factor of the M8 made the 15mm to almost 21mm. and i prefer the 21mm. I dont have to deal with Cornerfix as i like the slight cool vignette.

Third, the RAW files will be smaller. but this is not an issue as i bring along my laptop, i can just transfer the files at the hotel.

Basically, its about survival.

Will my M8 survive? I'm willing and ready. but not with my M9 yet.

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So what's in New Orleans?

These are the list that i have in mind.

1) Cafe Du Monde
2) Bourbon Street
3) French Quarters
4) Preservation Hall
5) Beignet
6) Jazz
7) Riverwalk Outlet Mall
8) Famous Cat Meow Karaoke
9) And if i'm lucky girls flashing their boobs!

That is so far i have in mind.

My first few minutes with my Leica M8 in 2015

Ok, to be honest. its been hours now. If you remember what i wrote in my previous post, i was being a little bit biased towards the M9 as it is full frame, younger, a better version of the M8. I even had the thought of selling the M8 as i already own the M9, not even testing it. But now after testing and using the M8, i just cant let it go.

First, aesthetically, the silver is much more sexier and retro looking. It looked like a toy camera. Film camera? definitely! The 15mm Voigtlander is much better on the crop sensor of the M8. It converts to around 21mm, pretty wide but not so wide like on the full frame M9. I didn't even had to deal with the cyan corners issues. There's a slight vignetting and darken bluish corners but it did not really bothers me up to the level of fixing it in CornerFix program. The exposure of the M8 is pretty much spot on. a bit on the overexposed side but not so much, i find that i need to lower the exposure during post processing in Lightroom. like i said not so much, maybe around -0.2. And somehow this made the LCD looked much better than the one i had on the M9. Now i feel like i made a fool of myself. On previous post i really bashed that LCD on the M9, its still bad on the M8, still a low quality LCD, but i can see my composition and exposure better. On the M9 it was underexposed so much that i pretty much cant see a thing. Like a dimly lit screen. I need to try it again on the M9. See if overexposing brightens up the LCD or maybe it was a lens coding setting issue. But thats the thing, i didnt even code it on the M8, i did not use a UV/IR Cut filter and i dont think i need it. But of course there's the problem with black clothing. i dont need to go on details, pretty much a M8 issue.

I used Auto ISO max on 640 like i did on my M9. Its a bit grainy, the M9 is cleaner but again not so much. ISO640 is usable. I think its enough for normal indoor lighting in most situations. I find it amusing that my Fujifilms used higher ISO in the same indoor lighting albeit at fast shutter speeds. The M8 and the M9 uses shutter speed at 1/8 - 1/15 at ISO 640 and amazingly can capture sharp pictures at those speed, not on the X100S. And again, remind you its at f4.5 on the Voigtlander 15mm, on faster lens probably on a much faster shutter.

Didn't really notice the difference in shutter speed sound, probably a bit louder than the M9 but honestly, unnoticeable. I didn't do a side by side comparison though. But that Leica's shutter sound serenades me. It felt good to press the shutter and hearing the sound it made. It mimics those film days, at least thats how it sounded to me. It makes me want to take more pictures. I've tried the discreet feature, while it's nice the shutter rewinds? or recock after you release the button but the initial click sound is loud to be discreet me thinks, unless its a loud place. My M8 had the Leica grip on it which improves on the handling. At first i'm not really into those with grips look but now it grows on me. i keep on glancing the M8. Wow she's a beauty, just like lady in red!

And i got this baby only at 1196 shutter actuations!

Wide? Yes. Distort? Of course. Slight Vignetting? Definitely.

As seen on the above picture, slight bluish/greenish vignetting can be seen. but like i said it didn't bother me that much. I'm not into accurate colours and what not, i'd love false colour!

On occasion, there are times when the bluish vignette is more obvious like the one pictured below.

So here comes CornerFix to rescue things!

Perfect! Fix the bluish vignetting. Comparing them side by side in lightroom, the fixed picture looked like it had white vignetting put on. It also corrects the overall bluish look to a more neutral slash natural look! But i prefer the darken vignetting picture. Individual taste i suppose.

So is the M8 still worth it in 2015? You bet! Sure it has its quirks and weaknesses but no camera is perfect. It all depends on the user.

Inferior? Never. It compliments the M9 very well.

The only question begs how long will the shutter last me?

First few hours with my Leica M9 in 2015

I'm pumped up! Finally my Voigtlander lens is here. But bummer its not the 40mm because i like bokeh in my pictures, anyway its the 15mm super wide heliar, enough for testing both of my newly acquired Leicas. I've been waiting for these lenses for weeks now. My Leicas are there on the desk, sitting and waiting for the lens. Its odd that my 40mm has not yet arrived since thats the first lens i bought. These HK mail is weird. I hope its not lost though! To be honest i haven't tested my Leica M8, somehow i'm more excited with the Leica M9, maybe because it's younger and supposedly better than the M8 IQ wise but everyone said its the same except for the crop factor of the M8.

I bought the 15mm for my M8 because its the first Leica i bought so that it'll convert to 21mm or 24mm, i love a wide angle lens. i didn't expect to win the bid for my M9, if i knew i was crazy enough back then to get the M9, i should have not bought the M8. Oh well, its water under the bridge now. 24mm is wide enough for me, i never thought to go 15mm wide, but now with the full frame M9, i have a 15mm super wide angle lens.

With this tiny lens to go with the M9, it looks super awesome. For me the size is just right for the Leica M9. If only all Leica M mount lenses are this small. And this is the first time i brought the M9 out into the sunshine. Man, this thing is more sexier under the sun!

Holding the M9 feels solid. like a brick made of metal. Its unlike the Fuji X-Pro1, which kinda feel hollow. like theres a hole inside the body. but with that its lighter. The M9 is heavy but it's solid heavy, if you get what i mean. You hit someone on the head with a Fuji X-pro1, boom! concussion. You hit someone on the head with the M9, boom! dead!

Everyone on the internet cringed at the LCD screen of the Leica M9. That LCD is a joke. I couldn't agree more. It was so bad that it reminded me of the old school Nokia symbian phones of the early 2000s. It didn't serve the M9 justice. It is so bad that it cannot be use for chimping, previewing or checking for focus or camera shake, so bad that its better to just switch off the LCD or dont use it for review thus saving battery power. You have to treat the M9 just like you treat a film camera. Know you got it right after it is developed. The LCD is so poor it doesn't belong on a what used to be a $7000 camera. And it still doesnt belong now! You cant see the great IQ of the M9 on its LCD, you have to look it on your computer. Unlike Fuji X100S, what's on its LCD is what you probably get on your computer screen. Every time i took a shot with the M9 and i'm so used to chimping, i probably think i didn't nail the shot. Ok, it was that bad. Enough of the LCD. Lets talk about something else.

I have to say i got a great deal on the M9. I just check the shutter actuations and it was only 386 shutter count. I mean this camera is seldomly used. Probably a collector's camera. Dont know why it got sold but i believe in "your gain, my loss" kinda phrase. If you wanna check your M9 shutter actuations you have to check your EXIF data, maybe using the free EXIF Viewer for Mac, and check the imageuniqueid number. I could not get it using the built-in "get info" via Mac. Its in Base16, there'll be a lot of zeros, you have to convert it to Base10, just google for the converter, and then you'll got your shutter actuations. This is a link which i find useful on checking your shutter actuations. http://diglloyd.com/blog/2013/20130809_1-EXIF-info-shutter-actuations.html 

The shutter sound is awesome. It reminded me of film days. Like i said, i'm gonna treat the M9 just like a film camera. No chimping. Manual focus. Those are the days. The shutter is not so loud, not so quiet. But i think it's not so discreet though. If you try candidly taking a picture of the guy within 2 meters , i think he can hear you. unless it's a loud street or environment. That is why i really like the X100 series, it is silent.

Rangefinder focusing takes a little bit of getting used to but its fun. I love the experience. I love the simplicity or "i'm in charge" old school kinda thing, although i'm still slow at it. I'm super slow to be honest. Just now i'd try to take a picture of my friend while she posed, i think she posed for more than the comfortable posing time LOL. I was so focus trying to align the rangefinder square patch. I wish there was an autofocus button that i could use so that she dont have to pose that long haha. i'm still learning the system. pardon me lol.

The M9 looks awesome under the sun, i just wanna fondle it all day and all night long.

I'm a JPEG shooter and with the Leica M9 i try to shoot RAW. I've been shooting with both format DNG + Jpg fine, i'm trying to see if the JPG is good enough for me, i know RAW will be great but there's something in the JPG look that i just cant replicate with the RAW file. I know its my limited knowledge of processing RAW and using Lightroom. But after looking at both format, i think i'll stick with DNG (RAW). It preserved the shadow detail better. With the JPG, its kinda darker, more contrast but losing the shadow detail. shadow turns to black. and a little bit greenish too. but that could depend on the lens's coding. I've used the 16-18-21 coding for the 15mm voigtlander. I read around and 21mm elmarit 11134 was recommended. I've yet to try it.

Let's see some pictures right? I only used the M9 for few hours and there's only a few pictures that are worth showing, the others are just snapshots, testing exposures and such. Shooting with the M9 i found that it underexposed a bit. and again i'm not sure maybe its the coding of the lens. I was shooting outside under the sun and it underexposed. I had to bump the exposure in PP to a full stop. I'm still in testing phase and getting to know the camera, i might not get the exposure right yet. The metering i have to be honest is tricky, i'm so used to auto everything in Fujifilm and with its great metering i get most exposure right. But with the M9, if i shoot directly at a light source, of course everything turns dark except for the light itself. Its like spot metering but i honestly dont know what's the metering on the Leica but it feels like spot. so sensitive to bright light. but then again, i'm still getting familiar with the camera. Trying to take a picture of my kid with a bright window behind her, boom! Dark face, bright window. This is a manual camera, just like film. Prepare your Sunny 16 app.

So what its like shooting 15mm on a full frame?

So far my maths is Leica M9 + 15mm Voigtlander = Cyan corners + vignetting. 

This is RAW. Processed in Lightroom.

I don't mind so much of the vignetting. but the cyan corners on the left is worst.

and this is OOC. See how underexposed it is. Probably the lens coding. or maybe it's just the way it does exposure.

There's a program that can fix or reduce this cyan corners. Its called CornerFix. I haven't create my own profile (just take a picture of a white wall and let the program try to fix the cyan and vignetting).

That profile is used as a reference to fix all your cyan pictures. I found a 15mm profile online by someone in the leica forum and used it, here's the result.

Well, it didn't really fix mine, so i guess i need to create my own profile. It did remove the cyan but instead giving a yellow corners instead. I'll post the result of my own profile on another post. But if you search cornerfix on google, it did help a lot of users! Good for you CornerFix!

I've used auto ISO max at 640 and auto shutter, so i'm on aperture priority. Composing with the 15mm is way off. I had to guess the composition. There's no way to compose using the M9's viewfinder, i need a 15mm external viewfinder to compose correctly. The widest the Leica M9 viewfinder can go is 28mm. I set my photo review for 1s, just for checking composition. Thats the only use of the LCD although i felt disgust looking at the quality of the LCD. i was like eeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkk! I mean i can go on spilling out my hate of the LCD but you have to tried it yourself. Beat yourself in the head if you say "The LCD's alright".

The menu is simple on the M9. Its brilliant. No mumbos jumbos to deal with. Just set it once and forget. Set and forget. Forget about it!...(imitate Robert DeNiro slang). 

One thing Leica did to the digital Ms is that they staying true to their traiditions, taking out the battery and SD card is like taking out the film in Leica film days. You have to unscrew the bottom plate of the Leica and take it off, its unlike modern digital cameras where there is a flip door for battery and SD card. I didn't mind Leica did this but some are irritated by it.

I've set my max iso at 640 because i read somewhere that its the best ISO to bump up in low light. I could have use ISO1250 but i chose not to. Its about something how sensor meters the light bla bla bla, there's a chart that go with it, i'm not going into the technical stuff or the science of it, i just wanna take pictures. i never understand it anyways and i didn't even try. Here's the science though if you're interested http://blog.kasson.com/?p=2724 . I didn't bother to read the whole thing, i just need to know that i just need to use ISO640, and bump it up in PP (post processing). By the way, thanks Jim Kasson for your research. I just realised there's like 16 part for that one particular topic.

The Voigtlander 15mm center is sharp. I'll post more pictures soon. I love wide angle. I dont have to take that many steps backward to get the whole picture. Although it will get distorted towards the edges. But thats the signature of wide angle.

I can take sharp images at 1/8sec with the M9. Its pretty incredible. No OIS and everything but the Leica M9 still take sharp pictures at slow shutter. Its amazing. The body is so rock solid that it's kinda stable and hard to shake. Of course your hands need to be extra steady. My friend used to say my hands are like a tripod or monopod because i can glide his GoPro videos like it was using a steadicam. So far indoor low light with max ISO640 is sufficient for me. I could pushed it in PP and i still get decent quality. 

So far i'm loving the IQ of this Leica M9. I am probably still in my honeymoon mode with the Leica, so everything is beautiful. Our Love is still blooming. Except for that LCD.

Finally my Voigtlander is here! Unboxing kinda.

I was hoping for the 40mm 1.4 because thats the first lens i bought but the super wide heliar 15mm came in the mail. Uh Oh, so what happen to the 40mm? The thing with our post office is that they kept missent the delivery card (which is needed to collect the item). I hope my 40mm will reach me ASAP!

So here's the unboxing kinda pictures.

its really a small lens! its perfect size on the M9. Too bad the lens hood is not detachable. if only all the leica M mount lenses are this tiny. Sample images will be post soon.

28, 35 or 50mm? and the Zeiss effect?

The more i read and research about the Zeiss lenses, i became intrigued and overly GAS. I chose Voigtlander before because of price. Its the cheapest Leica M lenses and the Zeiss is in the middle between Voigtlander and Leica. To be honest, Zeiss ZM lenses are kinda expensive to me, it trending at US$800 - $1100 price wise but Leica is even pricier. But a lot of the reviews on the internet said Zeiss has similar or better performances than the Leica's, depends on which lens vs which, and that Zeiss 3d effect! its not just bokeh, the subject of isolation just pops and there it is 3d effect. there are tons of samples online and i am a belieber! Never say never! OMG why am i spitting out Justin Bieber?

I'm a believer. I'm on GAS mode and i want those Zeiss lenses. The only con i found is the size of the lenses. Most of them are bigger in size than their counterparts. Voigtlander is smaller so too Leica's. I really want my lenses as small as pancake but with fast apertures. To be honest i want it to be like Fujifilm X100S! Sometimes i pity myself for going all out spending on Leicas just to get it to be like Fujifilm X100S. I should have just get the X100T. But i just have to experience the M. i'll see if i like it as SOON AS I RECEIVED MY LENS! its been a while. Man, these Hong Kong post is so slow. I thought the guy is using EMS. but apparently not!

Anyway, i'm looking for the all rounder lens. I used to be and i think i still am a wide angle guy. i bought a lumix lx3 for its 24mm, the Sony Rx100iii for its 24mm, and i was out of my comfort zone when i bought the x100s for its 35mm but combine with its fast lens. i was psyched! but still i bought the wide converter lens which turn it into 28mm. and i still wish it could convert to 24mm. I guess i found my answer but still i want and trying to get out of my comfort zone. i'm thinking about the 50mm. I really am GASing for the Zeiss 50mm planar. but i also want the 35mm Biogon f2 and the 28mm f2.8 zm. If i'm rich i'd buy all 3. I want my Leica M9 to just have one ultimate lens and i'm thinking of the 50mm. but i'm  worried that its kinda limiting since i'm a wide angle guy. But i wanna get out of my comfort zone or maybe that is just GAS talking. I've seen 50mm samples and its fine. I knew i want the 35mm but my heart said 50mm. i dont want to bring lenses around, i just want the one. I'm about to set foot on a Leica adventure. and i need the one and only lens. or i should just stick with my Sony Rx100iii for now.

Crap!

Some random crap

Ok, let me just crap on this blog without even showing pictures. "why?" you said... "why not?" i said. There'll be random crap that i'll be posting that's not even photography and what not. Just like the piece i wrote "Dreams" below. I imagine i like to write. I always imagine being a writer. But i always gets the writer's block and with my limitation of the english language, i might not be successful at it, that's why i appreciate this blog, i can just write whatever i want, however the grammar is. i'd imagine i'm Hank Moody. But i dont really read books. my imagination is limited. i'd prefer watching a movie. But i have all these weird dreams and if i was able to turn it into a movie, it rivals Christopher Nolan's Inception. That is why i like to write the fantasies that happened in my dreams. So dont be surprised there's a new piece called "dreams" in this blog. Its short. i'll never be good at expanding it. and hopefully someone pick it up and turned it into a movie or a longer book version. it will be pretty interesting, a starting movie credits that say "Based on oobist's dreams" instead of based on a novel written by bla bla bla.

Oh well i guess i better stop crapping.

Dreams

i had a dream. i dreamt that i was back with my ex-girlfriend. i felt alive, free, and thrill, i guess that was what i felt back then, so much younger, nothing to worry, just feeling alive. But then, i saw my youngest daughter at a distant. She's running around, playful, just like she is today. I put my arms forward as if i'm about to hug her, but she didn't see me, i was invisible, i realised i was not able to meet her, play or talk to her, i seem to not exist, all this life i knew, i took for granted, is now gone. I was terrified. I'd give my life to be back with my family. I knew what's going on between me and my ex are just flings. I realised i took this life for granted. i was devastated.

And then i woke up. I was next to my wife and my daughters.

I've never been so grateful in my life.

AVCHD fail!

I hate AVCHD. it sucks! not the format or qualities, just the file structure. I hate the fact that i had to copy the whole "private" folder so my Final Cut Pro will be able to preview the file. or read the file. its unlike VGA or MPG file, where i can just copy just like how i copy jpegs. I just format my SD card, assuming i copied everything because i already imported all those JPGs into lightroom. I was on auto pilot, and i dont know what happen to me that day but my fingers just easily formatted the SD card, very confident that i copied everything (because i already imported all into lightroom). Wrong! usually i'm not the type to delete or format everything quickly, even the SD cards that i used for my italy trip which was 7 months back, has yet to be formatted but that day.... just with a flick of a finger, format the Singapore trip's SD card. take some new pictures and get on with life. and then i realised that i havent copy the "private" folder. i have all the JPGs but not the videos, the AVCHD videos, if only i was recording in MPGs then my ass is saved but no...its AVCHD and its gone forever. i guess its meant to be. why would i format the card? im not that type. i guess its meant to be. I know its human error. Everything in life is human errors. but still the file structure is inconvenient. I love my Sony Rx100iii but that inconvenient avchd file structure just make me feel like selling it! like i said, i should just get the iphone6plus where i wont be accidentally formatting everything. yes yes yes its human error, im the dumb one. not sony's fault, its my fault but still inconvenient is inconvenient. i guess its meant to be gone. Gone are the videos i took for my Singapore trip. i'm not so much of a video guy. but still a lost is a lost. I've tried all the recovery files program out there and i'm out of luck. The best of the bunch i guess is photorec. Even that cant saved my ass. I believe its gone because i've used the SD card to take some new pictures, its overwriting the header and stuff... thats too technical. Well.... i guess time will heal my wounds.