A great set to tell a story.

I really like the tones in the wedding shoot. Snow isn't probably the first choice weather for a wedding but I bet the photos were the better for it.

Axel would have needed a 1.5x longer lens only with the same MP count sensor as his 24Mp. With a 36Mp sensor then that the same focal length would give the same result.

It is the photographer not just the camera. But the better comparison is to look at the work of those who have changed cameras. There are quite a few ex members of this forum who are displaying their ff results where they are permitted to do so. And there are now increasing examples of how Pentax lenses perform on a larger sensor. So everyone can now draw their own conclusions based on real results.

There is another large barrier to FF sensors in APSC or thereabouts sized bodies and that is the lenses. That is arguably a greater (strategic) barrier than any technical challenge.

Prices of ff are coming down towards top end APSC. I don't think there will be a significant difference in the cost of production. Therefore to maintain the future profitability of APSC it is therefore imperative to plan to sell the benefits of APSC over a similarly priced ff option. That is the challenge of Pentax, Nikon and Canon. Sony are rather less encumbered and that may be where their innovative but seemingly rather scattergun approach may turn out to their advantage. The A7s seem to be currently rather successful (although that is just guessing really without having seen any figures) despite the very limited range of dedicated lenses available. So they can design lenses with some confidence in their strategy. Olympus and Fuji are taking more compact system routes. I don't think that their will be room in a market constantly fighting the tide of mobile phones and similar for everyone. I wonder who will emerge the fittest.

An interesting discussion. I enjoyed seeing these images. They speak of place and time to me and not every photo has to be a wow shot to hang on a wall. I admit to being a paid up member of the flat light club and I find these more interesting than a sunny sixteen fit for a postcard pretty picture.

My favourites are 7 and 9 exactly for the gloominess, I feel they convey the right mood and invite me to share a moment.

I would agree that to elevate an image to a great image usually requires a touch of magic about the light. These don't possess that but I certainly find them worthwhile viewing, they have integrity. I'm not keen on the HDR ones though which really attempt to manufacture something not present.

Following other retrospective threads which I have enjoyed I thought I'd do a little review from my own year:

January




February




March




April




May




June




July




August




September




October




November




December




To 2014 and more landscape I hope.

A really interesting mix of top quality images, no surprise of course. I'm no particular steam train but but that steam train shot looks great to me, there's just something majestic about it.

Thanks for putting these together, a nice summary of your year and some cracking shots there too.

Very good indeed, the last is my favourite.

I do find them a little harsh, in that digital way. The transitions against the background just seem to make uncomfortable viewing to me. For example, the wing tips in the last. There is some moire there? Of course one never knows whether this is down to resizing, unwanted Flickr sharpening, etc and I expect these would look a whole heap better printed.

Great idea, a really good way to assess the year from a photographic point of view. And this is a retrospective of the highest quality, very pleasurable viewing. I expect your 2014 collection will be even better.

It was, but the WR version.

Thanks all. AP didn't ask for a write-up otherwise I would have given a plug for Pentax. I don't think it was the best image submitted but I did think more than most about how it would look as a mag cover and reprocessed the original (landscape) image to fit the brief.

Gareth, it was the DFA100 with the 1.7 converter and photographed outside when it was snowing and just as I found it - the blue comes from a bucket that I placed behind it. It was actually quite difficult to find a suitable crystal and photograph it before got squished by another. Plus me and the camera were getting snowed on all the time. Took a couple of hours to get the shot.