ERIC KIM

Equipment

  • Why Is Image Quality Important?

    Dear friend, It seems that we as photographers have this overly-obsessive fascination and obsession with “image quality” — through how sharp our images are, how well “bokeh” renders, the depth-of-field or “3d-ness” of images, how much the colors “pop”, or things such as “micro-contrast” (not even sure what this is, but I hear it mentioned…

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  • Review of the Fujifilm X-Pro 2 For Street Photography

    Okay, I just got off a 16-hour direct flight from Dubai to San Francisco. Yeah, I am pretty jetlagged (slept last night at 7:30pm, woke up today at 1:30am). Anyways, I am starting to power up with a coffee at Philz in Berkeley, and wanted to share some (very brief) thoughts on the Fujifilm X-Pro…

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  • “Henri” Neck Strap (Mark II) & “Henri” Wrist Strap

    Dear streettogs, I am very excited to announce the new edition of the “Henri” Neck Strap (Mark II). This new version is made from a darker-leather, similar to the color of dark mahogany wood or a good cup of coffee. Buy the Henri Neck Strap (Amazon USA) >  Purchase the Henri Neck Strap (Etsy International)…

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  • More Megapixels, More Problems

    Dear friend, It is 7:20am in New Orleans, and I just downed a “Miss Tracy’s Addiction” (Double espresso, Cayenne pepper, Thai coconut milk) at Addiction Coffee and I’m feeling good. Had a nice chat with Dave, the barista here, and ready to do some writing to share with you some ideas. Just as a random…

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  • Disregard Differences, Notice Similarities

    I’m still afflicted with GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I want new shit all the time. I’m always dissatisfied with the technology I have (smartphone, tablet, laptop, camera, espresso machine) as well as my car, clothes, standard of living, quality of my food, etc. What causes this constant treadmill of dissatisfaction? There is a disease that…

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  • 2 Lessons Tennis Has Taught Me About Photography and Life

    Dear friend, I want to share a story with you. It is an important life lesson that I learned from Greg Lowe, my tennis coach from high school. Okay let’s start from the very beginning. I was a sophomore (or perhaps freshman) in high school (Castro valley high in California), and I heard that there…

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  • Review of the Harry Benz “B” Strap

    So I met Harry Benz when I was in Toronto. My buddy Adam Marelli (probably the most knowledgeable guy about composition and photography) introduced me to him. I shot Harry an email, and we met at a bar in Toronto in the evening, when I was teaching a workshop there. He came in, cool clear…

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  • Review of the Leica Q for Street Photography

    Leica has just released one of their most ambitious cameras yet, the new Leica Q. Long story short: full-frame sensor, 28mm f/1.7 uninterchangeable lens, macro functionality, compact body (slightly smaller than Leica M), electronic viewfinder, and 35mm and 50mm crop modes, and $4,250. Personally I think the camera is an engineering marvel. Solid, well-built, thoughtfully…

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  • Video Review of the Fujifilm X100T for Street Photography

    I recently put together a “real-world” review of the Fujifilm X100T for street photography (which you can read here). I also wanted to record a video of some of my thoughts of the X100T (I really like it), and some of the settings, functions, aesthetic differences of the camera. In my opinion it is the…

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  • Review of the Fujifilm X100T for Street Photography

    Disclaimer: I was given a free Fujifilm X100T for this review. It is a beautiful Sunday here in Dubai, and it is my day off “work”. I arrived last Wednesday from London after 2 weeks of teaching workshops, and I ended up doing a few workshops for Gulf Photo Plus (a photo organization in Dubai).…

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  • In Street Photography, The Smaller the Camera, the Better

    Recently for my trip to Stockholm, London, and Dubai I brought along my Hasselblad 501c and 80mm lens (and about 20 rolls of Kodak Portra 400 120 film). I had been shooting a lot of medium-format 6×6 photos back home, and I had the natural gut feeling to bring it to my trip and make…

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  • Review of the Fujifilm x100s for Street Photography

    Disclosure: Fujifilm gave me a Fuji x100s for this review. I haven’t been paid to write this review, and will try to make it as non-biased as possible. Also there are Amazon affiliate links included– so if you order the camera or any other product from my link, it will give me a small percentage.…

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  • Video Review of the Fujifilm X-T1 for Street Photography

    When I was here in Dubai for Gulf Photo Plus, the guys from Fujifilm were generous enough to give me a new Fujifilm X-T1, the Fujifilm 23mm f/1.4 (35mm full-frame equivalent), as well as the Fujifilm 27mm f/2.8 Lens (~40mm full-frame equivalent). I shot with it everyday for around a week. Overall I like the camera a lot and…

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  • Review of the Leica D-Lux 6 for Street Photography

    About two months ago (before I was going to embark on my Michigan to LA road trip), Chris Moore and Shirley DeSilva from the marketing division of Leica lent me a Leica D-Lux 6 to test out on the streets (thanks guys!). I have always been a huge fan of compact cameras– for their weight, size,…

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  • Small is Beautiful: Review of the ONA Bowery Bag

    Christine from ONA was generous enough to give me the Bowery Bag to test out and review during some of my travels the last few months. I put it through the rounds, and find it to be an ideal situation for street photographers who want a smaller bag to hold their Fuji, Leica, Micro 4/3rds,…

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  • How to Be Grateful For What You Have

    We are always tempted by what’s new. We want the newest cameras, the newest cars, the newest computers, the newest smartphones, the newest tablets, and more. When does all this madness end? In this article I share some of my experiences succumbing to “G.A.S.” (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and some techniques I have learned from the…

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  • Review of the Ricoh GR for Street Photography

    Disclaimer: I have been provided a Ricoh GRD V (no strings attached) from Pentax-Ricoh. However I will try to keep this review as un-biased as possible. Update: The new Ricoh GRD V (Version Number 2) is out, which is essentially the same camera with Wifi and some other minor changes. If you’re interested in the…

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  • Street Photography Camera Game-Changer: The Ricoh GRD V

    There are a few cameras that make me excited. The Ricoh GR-series are one of them. Ricoh has an almost cult-like following in Japan (and all around the world) for its compact size and versatile functionality. In-fact, Daido Moriyama (one of Japan’s most famous photographer) uses the GR-series cameras exclusively (he used to shoot black…

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  • What to Consider When Buying a New Camera for Street Photography

    On my flight from Dubai back to the states I just finished an excellent book by psychologist Barry Schwartz titled: “The Paradox of Choice.” In the book, Schwartz addresses the following question in Western society: Why is it that people are getting more miserable when the amount of choices we are given goes up? I…

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  • My Personal Thoughts on the New Leica M, Leica M-E & Sony RX-1

    Leica recently has released a range of new cameras at Photokina, including the Leica M, Leica M-E, Leica S3, Dlux-6, and V-lux 4. As a street photographer, the two cameras that were interesting to me were the new Leica M and Leica M-E. Here are some of my thoughts of these new cameras as well…

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  • Review of the Leica M-Monochrom for Street Photography

    Eric’s Note: This review of the pre-production model of the Leica M Monochrom isn’t going to be a technical review, but rather a practical one for street photographers who may be interested in the camera.  I’ll start off my preview of the Leica M-Monochrom with a story. I was ecstatic when I got in my…

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  • Review of the CSLR Glide Strap for Street Photography

    (Above image: my Leica MP and CSLR Glide Strap) In my 6 years of shooting street photography, I have experimented with lots of different straps. I tried neck straps, wrist straps, hand straps, and even no straps. Finding an ideal camera strap for street photography is very difficult. You need a strap that is discrete,…

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  • Introduction to Hasselblad Medium Format Cameras by Jeroen Helmink

    An introduction to using Hasselblad Medium Format Cameras by Jeroen Helmink, Dutch street photographer. Check out Jeroen’s work on his website or on Flickr! Also if you are interested in getting a Hasselblad, email Jeroen at jeroen.helmink@gmail.com Got any questions about Hasselblads or shooting medium-format film? Leave a comment below! 

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  • Mini Review of the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 by Mijonju

    My good friend Mijonju from Tokyo recently got his hands on the new Fujifilm X-Pro 1 in Tokyo and made this little mini-review on it. Hope you find it entertaining and helpful! Make sure to subscribe to him on YouTube and follow him on Twitter. More info: X mount to M mount adapter http://www.petapixel.com/2012/02/09/fujifilm-showing-off-leica-m-mount-adapte… All…

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  • Review of the Olympus OM-D EM-5 For Street Photography

    Recently when I was in Kuala Lumpur, I had the great pleasure of meeting Robin Wong, a passionate local street photographer. He was also lucky enough to get a test-unit of the new Olympus OM-D EM-5 directly from Olympus, and tested it extensively the past few days. As mentioned in my last post, you don’t…

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  • 10 Tips on How to Cure Yourself of GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

    We are all gear-heads at heart. We love hearing about the newest and greatest camera out there, and we love seeing comparisons with different lenses, at different apertures, and the sharpness and “characteristics” of each lens. I think it is fine to think and discuss about gear in photography, but when discussed about in excess–…

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  • The “Best Settings” and How to Use The Leica M9 for Street Photography

    After traveling and having done many workshops on street photography, I have met many Leica M9/rangefinder users who have had difficulty configuring their camera for shooting on the streets. There are lots of misconceptions out there, which make things confusing for people. Therefore here is some advice I have for Leica m9 users (or Fuji…

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  • The QL17 Love Affair and My Newly Adressed Obsession With Gear

    Eric’s Note: If you are wondering what all those crazy things coming out of Ollie’s head are, check out his last blog post. Ollie Gapper: I was recently lucky enough to pick up a Canonet QL17 rangefinder off of eBay for a steal at £30 with postage, a camera I had been after for quite…

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