Digicam Vibes from the Saddle – An Olympus TG-310 in South Korea

I’m writing this one week into a three-week holiday in South Korea; my first time here. I confess I did not know much about its history beyond the obvious north/south conflict but am working to remedy that as we travel. It’s perhaps not surprising that being here and getting a feel for the proximity of the two Koreas to China, Japan and Russia makes the history of the place and its whole geopolitical situation come alive. Certainly the proximity – both temporally and spacially – of the War is highly conspicuous. I’m looking forward to learning much more of the deeper history and culture as we continue our trip.

The week has been spent on an organized cycle tour that we’ve just finished. I’d call it “sightseeing on a bike” rather than “cycle touring” because we travelled by bus and train from one interesting place to another, and then we’d ride for 40 or so kilometers a day taking in the sights and culture.

Of course I took photos. I decided to use my Olympus TG-310 – a 14MP compact waterproof digicam from 2011 – rather than use my iPhone, because I wanted something a bit more personal than a phone would give me. This has highlighted (as if it needed to be said) just how remarkable smart-phone cameras have become in the way they can process images to always give well exposed shots with great colour and detail across a remarkable range of brightness. I guess I wanted something a bit more personal; to step back about 10-15 years when cameras like this were not a retro novelty – they would have been the norm on a trip like this. I also wanted a bit more of a memento of the experience, so I wanted to take photos without stopping the bike while I was riding.

I strung the Oly on a lanyard round my neck and tucked it in to the front pocket of my jersey so I could pop it out and shoot it one-handed while still having a hand to steady the bike as I rode. Of course, I could have done the same thing with my phone and a lanyard/case and got photos that were much better technically.

I was not disappointed by my shots; my method and equipment were a deliberate choice, but I am well aware that if I’d used my phone the technical quality of the shots would have been much higher.

I’ve tweaked the curves a bit to get something more to my taste, but it’s true that you can’t polish a turd. As I say though; it was my choice to use this camera and it was partly for the express purpose of getting shots like these. I think it’s about being reminded that whatever medium we use for photography comes with its own set of limitations, or characteristics if you prefer, and we can easily forget those when they become the norm. To restate the main take-away for me: fifteen years ago this camera was not a quirky anachronism, it was standard issue for a trip like this, and so the act of making and appraising these images allows me to reassess both these images and the ones my iPhone now gives me.

This little camera will now go back in the bag for a while. I also brought my Nikonos III with me and yesterday I bought the last two of rolls of Kodak Colorplus 200 that were sitting in a Seoul department store, so I’ll see what I can get with those. I’m also looking forward to hunting down somewhere to get that processed while I’m here, so stay tuned…

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