Mike's Day Out

Taken with the Sony RX100.

I went down to Chicago yesterday to imbibe some art. Ctein was in town for a convention and tacked a few extra days on to the end of his trip, and Ken Tanaka gave Ctein and his friend Bayla Fine a tour of the Art Institute of Chicago. I tagged along.

First of all let me just say that every time Ken takes me around that Museum I see something new. This time it was the Japanese galleries, which are stunning.

At the start of the day Ken handed me his Sony RX100 and told me he'd give me the card at the end of the afternoon. So I have for you a definitive, one-word, three-letter verdict on this camera: F-U-N. On his, Ken had a wonderful little aftermarket grip made by Richard Franiec, which I must say is much more beautifully made than many aftermarket bits tend to be—hard to believe it wasn't engineered with the camera from the start. Makes the tiny camera very nice to hold.

I spent quite a bit of time staring at a lovely old 19th-century picture in the permanent galleries, only to learn later that it's one of the Photography Department's latest prized acquisitions, and that what they had to pay for it would buy you a very nice house in most parts of the country. Worth it, I say, as long as it's not my money. A bewitchingly beautiful print. (I didn't take a snap of it—sorry. Maybe Ken can provide a link*.)

This is something I don't think I've ever seen before. It's a paper negative, by one Gustave de Beaucorps, c. 1859—but the display is beautifully back-illuminated using cool, non-destructive LED light. Really lets you see the subtle quality of the negative. Ken told me the display was a huge headache for the conservators to create, which I can believe. But their efforts were certainly successful. (That's Ken in the reflection.)

Sensors are getting better all the time, I know, but from what little I can tell after a few hours of happy snapping with it, it seems like the sensor in the RX100 is a particularly talented one. The results (see top pic) are sort of lush, luscious, and rich. Digital is starting to look less digital, it seems, which is a good thing.

Mike

*Ken adds: Hey, I enjoyed the day too, Mike! How can we not enjoy a day at a place like the AIC?!

Re: the 19th century piece you enjoyed so much (and you're not alone!), it's an albumen titled "The Day's Orders" by Camille Léon Louis Silvy. Even though it's a very staged image it is considered the first true work of photojournalism. It's a richly storied image of a type and condition that almost never become available for purchase. Matthew Witkovsky, the photography department's curator and chair, managed to track this down and strike a good deal to get it accessioned in 2011.

The Gustave de Beaucorps image is also a real wonder and something you'll not see every day (or probably in a typical life). It's a wax paper negative. Unfortunately it's not yet viewable online but SFMoMA has one online of a very similar size to ours. You can also see (and buy) a print from one of de Beaucorps's wax paper negatives at iPhoto Central.

For those planning a visit to Art Institute of Chicago both of these gems from the permanent collection are currently on display in Gallery 10 just outside the main photography galleries.

A further addendum: Ctein, for his part, managed to put himself into one of the world-famous Thorne miniatures:

Did you spot the Lilliputian photographer?

Taken with an OM-D, 14–42mm, ISO 3200.

(For those who've never heard of the Thorne miniatures, they are a whole series of exquisitely rendered three-dimensional miniature "dollhouse" rooms behind glass, showing period-accurate interior spaces in 1/12 scale—mostly (but not entirely) European, mostly (but not entirely) upper-class. The room Ctein photographed is not more that a couple of feet wide, high, and deep.

Narcissa Niblack Thorne was a socialite who essentially ran her own atelier in the 1930s to create the 68 model rooms, employing workers ranging from a real architect to design the spaces to a specialist trained to needlepoint tiny rugs and fabrics. The level of detail—and of attention to detail, not quite the same thing—is astonishing, and has been delighting museumgoers in Chicago for decades.)

Send this post to a friend

Please help support TOP by patronizing our sponsors B&H Photo and Amazon

Note: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. More...
Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Will: "I feel that this isn't the first time you've written of a trip to The Art Institute of Chicago, and every time you do mention going, I'm flooded with longing to return. As a former Chicagoan now living in New York, I should want for very little in the way of museums. Still, there's something magical about that place and its collections, and I'd trade it for any two NYC museums in a heartbeat."

Featured Comment by John King: "Wonderful to spend a day at such a fine museum and with a knowledgeable friend as guide. You probably know that DxOMark just published its Sony RX100 sensor test, giving it an overall rating of 66. This rating puts the little Sony sensor in the company of many DSLR scores. Of course there's more to a camera than a sensor rating but it's nice to finally have a second camera that can perform this well."

Comments

[Mike]

The first shot in this post is super. Do you find you miss the viewfinder or is that sentiment becoming outdated?

[Will]

I've had the RX100 for about a month now and really like it a lot. Still waiting for the release (versus candidate) update to Lightroom to play with the raw files, though. What the jpegs are showing me has made me rethink pocketable point and shoots for serious work...

[Bill Mitchell]

I went to AIC several years ago just to see an Edward Weston exhibit.
The lighting was so dim on that (and all other photgraphy) that I should have borrowed a seeing-eye dog to sniff them out.

[Kevin Purcell]

Apropos of "the sensor in the RX100 is a particularly talented one" the DxOMark results are out today for the RX100.

The numbers back up the comments. It bests the Nikon 1 and some 4/3 cameras. It's comparable with my E-PL1 (except in sensitivity). And of course knocks my Canon S95 into a cocked hat.

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Publications/DxOMark-Reviews/Sony-Cyber-shot-DSC-RX100/Comparisons

Very impressive.

[ctein]

Dear Mike and Ken,

What especially struck me about "The Days Orders"aside from its beauty, is that it is the only print I've seen from that period (1859) that, so far as I can tell, is in original, pristine condition. I say so far as I can tell, because I've never seen anything close to that good that's older than about 1900, so the materials in 1860 might be considerably different. That said, the "blacks" have exactly the depth and richness of tone I'd expect of an albumen print made last week. The very slight base yellowing *might* be deterioration, or it might be the natural color of the paper and emulsion of the period, it's that slight.

People say a well-made monochrome darkroom print should be able to last centuries, but this is the only one I've ever seen in "like new" condition from the 1800's.

It's a remarkable and possible unique acquisition.

pax / Ctein

[ctein]

Dear Folks,

Regarding the miniature, this one was about 18" wide and the detail is amazing. I strongly recommend clicking the in-column illo to see the 800 px version. The impression of reality is startling. The 14-42 at 14mm and f/5.6 seems to be just the right combination of field of view and depth of field to photograph these-- I look at the frame fullscreen on my laptop and it's hard to believe I'm not looking at a full-sized room.

It helps that the level of detail truly is amazing. In the full-res photo, I can see a miniature needle with thread hanging from it poked into the stamp-sized sampler on the work frame in the right half of the photo.

I could spend all day looking at those rooms.

And, because someone will ask, the camera was the OMD and the RAW files have been left essentially unmassaged, 'cause I'm on vacation and don't have time.

pax / Ctein
==========================================
-- Ctein's Online Gallery http://ctein.com
-- Digital Restorations http://photo-repair.com
==========================================

[Andy Kowalczyk]

If the dollhouse stuff interests you, the other museum in town also has a longtime exhibit:

http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/

[Jeffrey Goggin]

Regarding the Thorne miniatures, the Phoenix Art Museum has a substantial collection of them as well: http://www.phxart.org/collection/thorneroomsmain.php

[Hugh Crawford]

http://imdb.com/title/tt2319474/

How'd I get there ?
iPhone and big thumbs I guess.

[Sven W]

Following John King's tip, I went over to the DXO site to check the comparisons for the Sony RX100. I previously used the Canon S95, so I know first-hand the RX100 has better IQ.

However, the Canon raw converter is nicer to use than the Sony one, so I decided to give the DXO Optics Pro 7.5 converter a go (I don't have ACR). I downloaded the trial version and tried a few images ... nice. Worth a look if your current converter is giving you the pips.

[Garrett Bernstein]

No doubt you passed Ferris, Sloane, and Cameron in those same halls.

[Will Whitaker]

Love the de Beaucorps paper negative and appreciate its inclusion here.

"...the display is beautifully back-illuminated using cool, non-destructive LED light. Really lets you see the subtle quality of the negative."

You'd make Fred Picker proud!