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Check out these slim fast images:

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: south hangar panorama, including De Havilland-Canada DHC-1A Chipmunk Pennzoil Special, Monocoupe 110 Special, Boeing 307, among others
slim fast
Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Monocoupe 110 Special:

Air show pilot and aerobatic champion W. W. "Woody" Edmondson thrilled audiences with his Monocoupe 110 Special throughout the 1940s. Edmondson, who named the airplane Little Butch for its bulldog-like appearance, placed second to "Bevo" Howard and his Bücker Jungmeister in the 1946 and ’47 American Aerobatic Championships, but he won the first International Aerobatic Championship in 1948.

The Monocoupe 110 Special was a clipped-wing version of the 110, part of a line that began with Don Luscombe’s Mono 22 and continued with the 70, 90, and 110 models. The sport coupes of the 1930s, these fast and maneuverable aircraft were ideal for racers Phoebe Omlie and Johnny Livingston. Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Virginia, restored Little Butch prior to its donation to the Smithsonian.

Gift of John J. McCulloch

Manufacturer:
Monocoupe Airplane Co.

Date:
1941

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 6.9 m (23 ft.)
Length: 6.2 m (20 ft. 4 in.)
Height: 2.1 m (6 ft. 11 in.)
Weight, empty: 449 kg (991 lbs.)
Weight, gross: 730 kg (1,611 lbs.)
Top speed: 313 km/h (195 mph)
Engine: Warner 185, 200 hp

Materials:
Fuselage: steel tube with fabric cover Physical Description:High-wing, 2-seat, 1940’s monoplane. Warner Super Scarab 185, 200hp engine. Red with white trim. Clipped wings.

• • • • •

Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | De Havilland-Canada DHC-1A Chipmunk, Pennzoil Special:

De Havilland originally designed the Chipmunk after World War II as a primary trainer to replace the venerable Tiger Moth. Among the tens of thousands of pilots who trained in or flew the Chipmunk for pleasure was veteran aerobatic and movie pilot Art Scholl. He flew his Pennzoil Special at air shows throughout the 1970s and early ’80s, thrilling audiences with his skill and showmanship and proving that the design was a top-notch aerobatic aircraft.

Art Scholl purchased the DHC-1A in 1968. He modified it to a single-seat airplane with a shorter wingspan and larger vertical fin and rudder, and made other changes to improve its performance. Scholl was a three-time member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, an air racer, and a movie and television stunt pilot. At air shows, he often flew with his dog Aileron on his shoulder or taxied with him standing on the wing.

Gift of the Estate of Arthur E. Scholl

Manufacturer:
De Havilland Canada Ltd.

Pilot:
Art Scholl

Date:
1946

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 9.4 m (31 ft)
Length: 7.9 m (26 ft)
Height: 2.1 m (7 ft 1 in)
Weight, empty: 717 kg (1,583 lb)
Weight, gross: 906 kg (2,000 lb)
Top speed: 265 km/h (165 mph)
Engine: Lycoming GO-435, 260 hp

Materials:
Overall: Aluminum Monocoque Physical Description:Single-engine monoplane. Lycoming GO-435, 260 hp engine.

• • • • •

Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Press Release: National Air and Space Museum Receives Boeing S-307 Stratoliner for Display at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, the Museum’s New Companion Facility at Dulles Airport:

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum welcomed today (Aug. 6) the sole surviving Boeing S-307 Stratoliner to its new home when the silver pioneering airliner arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia for display at the museum’s new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The museum’s companion facility, adjacent to the airport, opens to the public Dec. 15.

The luxuriously appointed Stratoliner, built in the late 1930s, was the world’s first passenger airplane to be pressurized, allowing it to avoid rough weather by flying at unprecedented altitudes (20,000 feet) for transports of the era.

The airplane has been in the museum’s collection since 1972 but because of its size and weight could not be displayed at the museum’s flagship building on the National Mall. A team of volunteers and Boeing staff performed extensive restoration work on the airplane in Seattle.

"Visitors to the Udvar-Hazy Center will take one look at this airplane and be transported back to a glamorous age when the world became smaller for the traveler who required speed and luxury," said Gen. J.R. "Jack" Dailey, director of the National Air and Space Museum. "We are indebted to the Boeing restoration team for turning back the clock on this beautiful aircraft."

The Stratoliner arrived in Northern Virginia following an appearance at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisc. The airplane flew from Allegheny County Airport near Pittsburgh, where it landed August 5th because of bad weather.

With a wingspan of 107 feet and a cabin nearly 12 feet wide, the Clipper Flying Cloud will be exhibited at ground level in the Udvar-Hazy (pronounced OOD-var HAH-zee) Center aviation hangar.

[…]

The Clipper Flying Cloud was delivered to Pan American Airways with two others in 1940. The aircraft carried 33 passengers and a crew of five. The Pan American Airways airplane was reconfigured to seat 45 passengers. Stratoliners included space for berths for overnight travel; paneling in the cabin and lavatory; wall fabric featuring the Pan Am logo, world map and exotic animals; and eight divans.

The Clipper Flying Cloud began service flying Caribbean routes for two years. During World War II, it flew in South America under the direction of the U.S. Army Air Forces. In 1946, it made daily runs between New York and Bermuda. Throughout the next two decades it passed through the hands of several owners, and once served as a presidential plane for the notorious Haitian leader "Papa Doc" Duvalier. After its Haitian sojourn, the Clipper Flying Cloud landed in Arizona.

In 1969, a visiting National Air and Space Museum curator spotted the airplane in Arizona and immediately recognized its historic significance, even while its then-owner planned to convert it into a fire bomber. The Smithsonian subsequently acquired the aircraft and later made arrangements with the Boeing Company for the restoration, dubbed "Operation Flying Cloud," at the Seattle plant where the Stratoliner was originally built.

Boeing technicians and former Pan American employees voluntarily spent six years completely restoring the Stratoliner before it made an emergency landing in Elliott Bay in 2002. Since then, the restoration team has performed additional work so that visitors to the Udvar-Hazy Center will have the opportunity to view the aircraft as it looked the day it rolled off the assembly line more than 60 years ago.

Old Mercedes, Mountain View, CA—Sony RX1
slim fast
Image by kern.justin
thegoldensieve.com

A good thing continues

Some six months ago, I posted almost 100 images and a few thoughts I felt were missing from the many existing RX1 reviews. The outpouring of support and interest in that article was very gratifying. When I published, I had used the camera for six full months, enough time to come to a view of its strengths and weaknesses and to produce a small portfolio of good images, but not enough time to see the full picture (pun intended). In the following six months, I have used the camera at least as frequently as in the first six and have produced another small set of good images. It should be noted that my usage of the RX1 in the last six (and especially in the last 3) months has involved less travel and more time with the family and around the house; I will share relatively few of these images but will spend some time sharing my impressions of its functionality for family snapshots as I am sure there is some interest. And let it be said here: one of the primary motivations to purchase the camera was to take more photos with the family, and after one full year I can confidently say: money well spent.
The A7/r game-changer?

In the past six months, Sony have announced and released two full-frame, interchangeable lens cameras that clearly take design cues from the RX1: the A7 and the A7r. These cameras are innovative and highly capable and, as such, are in the midst of taking the photography world by storm. I think they are compelling enough cameras that I wonder whether Sony is wasting its energy continuing to develop further A-mount cameras. Sony deserve credit for a bold strategy—many companies would have been content to allow the success of the the RX1 (and RX1R) generate further sales before pushing further into the white space left unexplored by camera makers with less ambition.This is not the place to detail the relative advantages and disadvantages of the RX1 versus the A7/r except to make the following point. I currently use a Nikon D800 and an RX1: were I to sell both and purchase the A7r + 35mm f/2.8 I would in many ways lose nothing by way of imaging capability or lens compatibility but would pocket the surplus 50-1750. Indeed this loyal Nikon owner thought long and hard about doing so, which speaks to the strategic importance of these cameras for a company trying to make inroads into a highly concentrated market.Ultimately, I opted to hang onto the two cameras I have (although this decision is one that I revisit time and time again) and continue to use them as I have for the past year. Let me give you a quick flavor of why.
The RX1 is smaller and more discrete

This is a small a point, but my gut reaction to the A7/r was: much smaller than the D800, not as small as the RX1. The EVF atop the A7/r and the larger profile of interchangeable mount lenses means that I would not be able to slip the A7/r into a pocket the way I can the RX1. Further, by virtue of using the EVF and its loud mechanical shutter, the A7/r just isn’t as stealthy as the RX1. Finally, f/2 beats the pants off of f/2.8 at the same or smaller size.At this point, some of you may be saying, “Future Sony releases will allow you to get a body without an EVF and get an f/2 lens that has a slimmer profile, etc, etc.” And that’s just the point: to oversimplify things, the reason I am keeping my RX1 is that Sony currently offers something close to an A7 body without a built-in EVF and with a slimmer profile 35mm f/2.
The D800 has important functional advantages

On the other side of the spectrum, the AF speed of the A7/r just isn’t going to match the D800, especially when the former is equipped with a Nikon lens and F-mount adapter. EVFs cannot yet match the experience of looking through the prism and the lens (I expect they will match soon, but aren’t there yet). What’s more, I have made such an investment in Nikon glass that I can’t yet justify purchasing an adapter for a Sony mount or selling them all for Sony’s offerings (many of which aren’t to market yet).Now, all of these are minor points and I think all of them disappear with an A8r, but they add up to something major: I have two cameras very well suited to two different types of shooting, and I ask myself if I gain or lose by getting something in between—something that wasn’t quite a pocket shooter and something that was quite a DSLR? You can imagine, however, that if I were coming to the market without a D800 and an RX1, that my decision would be far different: dollar for dollar, the A7/r would be a no-brainer.During the moments when I consider selling to grab an A7r, I keep coming back to a thought I had a month or so before the RX1 was announced. At that time I was considering something like the NEX cameras with a ZM 21mm f/2.8 and I said in my head, “I wish someone would make a carry-around camera with a full frame sensor and a fixed 35mm f/2.8 or f/2.” Now you understand how attractive the RX1 is to me and what a ridiculously high bar exists for another camera system to reach.
Okay, so what is different from the last review?

For one, I had an issue with the camera’s AF motor failing to engage and giving me an E61:00 error. I had to send it out to Sony for repairs (via extended warranty and service plan). I detailed my experience with Sony Service here [insert link] and I write to you as a very satisfied customer. That is to say, I have 3 years left on a 4 year + accidental damage warranty and I feel confident enough in that coverage to say that I will have this beauty in working order for at least another 3 years.For two, I’ve spent significantly less time thinking of this camera as a DSLR replacement and have instead started to develop a very different way of shooting with it. The activation barrier to taking a shot with my D800 is quite high. Beyond having to bring a large camera wherever you go and have it in hand, a proper camera takes two hands and full attention to produce an image. I shoot slowly and methodically and often from a tripod with the D800. In contrast, I can pull the RX1 out, pop off the lens cap, line up and take a shot with one hand (often with a toddler in the other). This fosters a totally different type of photography.
My “be-there” camera

The have-everywhere camera that gives DSLR type controls to one-handed shooting lets me pursue images that happen very quickly or images that might not normally meet the standards of “drag-the-DSLR-out-of-the-bag.” Many of those images you’ll see on this post. A full year of shooting and I can say this with great confidence: the RX1 is a terrific mash-up of point-and-shoot and DSLR not just in image quality and features, but primarily in the product it helps me create. To take this thinking a bit further: I find myself even processing images from the RX1 differently than I would from my DSLR. So much so that I have strongly considered starting a tumblr and posting JPEGs directly from the RX1 via my phone or an iPad rather than running the bulk of them through Lightroom, onto Flickr and then on the blog (really this is just a matter of time, stay tuned, and those readers who have experience with tumblr, cloud image storage and editing, etc, etc, please contact me, I want to pick your brain).Put simply, I capture more spontaneous and beautiful “moments” than I might have otherwise. Photography is very much an exercise in “f/8 and be there,” and the RX1 is my go-to “be there” camera.
The family camera

I mentioned earlier that I justified the purchase of the RX1 partly as a camera to be used to document the family moments into which a DSLR doesn’t neatly fit. Over the past year I’ve collected thousands and thousands of family images with the RX1. The cold hard truth is that many of those photos could be better if I’d taken a full DSLR kit with me to the park or the beach or the grocery store each time. The RX1 is a difficult camera to use on a toddler (or any moving subject for that matter); autofocus isn’t as fast as a professional DSLR, it’s difficult to perfectly compose via an LCD (especially in bright sunlight), but despite these shortcomings, it’s been an incredibly useful family camera. There are simply so many beautiful moments where I had the RX1 over my shoulder, ready to go that whatever difficulties exist relative to a DSLR, those pale in comparison to the power of it’s convenience. The best camera is the one in your hand.
Where to go from here.

So what is the value of these RX1 going forward, especially in a world of the A7/r and it’s yet-to-be-born siblings without an EVF and a pancake lens? Frankly, at its current price (which is quite fair when you consider the value of the the body and the lens) I see precious little room for an independent offering versus a mirrorless, interchangeable lens system with the same image quality in a package just as small. That doesn’t mean Sony won’t make an RX2 or an RX1 Mark II (have a look at it’s other product lines to see how many SKUs are maintained despite low demand). Instead, I see the RX1 as a bridge that needed to exist for engineers, managers, and the market to make it to the A7/r and it’s descendants.A Facebook friend recently paid me a great compliment; he said something like, “Justin, via your blog, you’ve sold a ton of RX1 cameras.” Indeed, despite my efforts not to be a salesman, I think he’s right: I have and would continue to recommend this camera.The true value of the RX1 going forward is for those of us who have the thing on our shoulders; and yes, if you have an investment in and a love for a DSLR system, there’s still tremendous value in getting one, slinging it over your shoulder, and heading out into the wide, bright world; A7/r or no, this is just an unbelievably capable camera.

Fast Ride?
slim fast
Image by AndyWilson
Another Vivitar shot for my "1066 with a £5 camera" set

 
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