So after months of fretting over whether I can warrant blowing £400+ on a new camera, I got the welcome surprise of a tax return which enabled me to go cray-cray and splash out on what, for want of a better description, is a pretty nifty very-poor-man's-Leica compact/rangefinder. 

Whilst the 'sensor' of this thing is pretty much 'half the size of a digital SLR' - or so the sales guy trying to upsell me to a Sony RX100 kept saying - I really couldn't care less. This thing looks fucking amazing, is extremely discreet and has a great ISO range which is everything you could possibly want for documentary pretensions. Online forums that go nuts over sensor size, AF points and general gimmickry in their comparisons really just miss the point of what makes a good camera. 

Below are some photographs I've taken in the past couple of days whilst playing around with this little number...

Ben watching TV, Reading

Self-portrait with new cam-cam, Reading

View of the Thames from my cycle to work, Reading

Beached boat that's been converted into a hippy flower haven across the Thames, Reading

Synchronized morning swans, Reading

The Talbotype Establishment At Reading - 1844-1847

I finally got my hands on the above article by VF Snow and DB Thomas which is a great resource for finding out more about Fox Talbot's Reading Establishment. I photographed each page which I'll aim to transcribe here for people pursuing this subject on the cyberweb, as aside from Reading Library's Local History section and the Science Museum, London, this doesn't seem to be available anywhere.