24 November 2015

still sorting the options

A while back I mentioned having cooperative systems rather than competing ones.  That can mean many things depending on where one stands and how one squints!  I still like the Pentax / Lumix pairing but in a few ways the K50 and G7 are very similar devices.  But here's another angle..

The things I admire most about the G7:
  1. more compact lenses/system
  2. 4k video and stills therefrom
  3. goodly 4:3 sensor
  4. flippy touchscreen interface
trimmed image from pentaxforums.com
Another way to get most of these things in a similar but less-overlapping format is via the compact, rave-reviewed  Lumix LX100!
  1. same 4/3 sensor as GX7
  2. also same EVF, though no tilting
  3. old-school lens controls for zoom/focus and aperture settings
  4. big-pocket size with fast 24-7omme zoom
So all of steps 1-3 above except no lens changes.  If I want telephoto it's all up to Pentax, when compact size or top-notch video are big the LX100 takes over.  Less tromping on each other's turf as it were: Good!

No system has every feature - more precisely it's a fortunate shooter who finds a camera with their needs and wishes met entirely by one camera.

I would miss the tilting-touchscreen+AF but other than that the LX100 would be a great option.  I could bring the tip-touchscreen NX500 back into play.. but there I go again, unleashing two swap-lens systems to battle for my time.  No good!

So it's another item that I shall watch as the pre-Christmas specials go on display.  And probably in silver, though I prefer the dark-pewter G7 coloring myself.  As of right before Thanksgiving the G7 is actually $100 less, with slower lens but all those other nice features.. time will tell if the numbers slip a bit further in the coming weeks.

Speaking of options - My wife would really, really like a pink Q-s1 camera!  I could find her a closeout body, maybe find a body+06 tele somewhere for me & let the Q-classic bodies and any spare 02 zooms go.  No way this fills in for the LX100 though, other than choice 1 the Q cannot match up.
But maybe, just maybe she'll like the not-so-pink LX100 when it arrives.. or a pink GF7 and silver G7 team?