The camera waltz

Step forward, then to the side, slide both feet together.  Rotate while doing so to be sure that your path is nothing like a straight line and 'step forward' is always in a different direction.  Hmm, the waltz and my camera kit have much in common it seems!

 As soon as our recent cash crunch slowed, the 4k craze took me.  The G7 can do it all, obviously - hooray for micro4:3! Well, after going in for about $1k (and each buy a true bargain!) maybe micro4:3 isn't much of a bargain after all.  To see the miracle of 4k would also require a new monitor and probably a TV too.  OK.. so maybe we'll let that dream incubate for a bit.

Looking back a year it seems I had the Big kit / Little kit combo worked out nicely.  Pentax for best image quality and poorest weather, nx for compact size and video.  Budget crises removed all traces of both k200 And nx300 but the logic remains.. and the nx300 was a good fit with its tip-screen touchAF, very responsive controls and nice 20Mpxl sensor.

via camerasize.com/compare

In Samsung's world, the nx500 sings the 4k siren song too.   But that makes the talented but older nx300 even cheaper: for a G7 price I could afford to buy two nx300s (white for my wife, black or brown for me?) and make the Q worry about its place in the kit!

The best deals include the retractable 20-50 zoom; no stabilization but a camera that fits in a big pocket.  Like the G7 it has good tiny wide-angle lenses (NX 10mm FE or samyang 12/2). And the NX  can trickle-charge from my solar charger on long sunny walks or campouts in the wild, unlike most every camera out there!
Hmmm.. time for another dance?

three weeks with the G7

Hard to believe it's been three weeks.  The 3 busiest weeks of the year, and I choose to toss a camera tryout in the midst of it?  Not wise.

And it's not just because it's Christmas season: toss in a long-running home refinance, an appliance meltdown that filled the house with smoke at 11:30PM, fleas from our new kitten.. then add a new camera.

Now that I say this, I begin to understand why the G7 and I have not had the greatest of times - the times were crazy regardless of what camera I would have carried!

Anyway, I suspect the G7 will go back in the coming week for another to try.  Image quality was never scrutinized closely for dirty details, so I won't comment on that - nor will I rant about the inherent disability of a mic4:3 sensor compared to APSc or 36×24mm types.  My issues (those that I can tie to the camera) were more on the practical side.

First off let's say that I've been using Pentax dSLRs since 2010.  I've been very happy with their gear and grown used to how they work.  Many shots I take make use of Pentax post-capture processes that are easy to access and to use.  Given that comfort level the G7 is a tough swap for me: it can do similar work but it's just hard.  With everything else in life being hard, I guess I need my photography to be easy for a while.

As for G7 disappointments that don't fall into the merely-unfamiliar category.

1. white balance is more frequently off with the G7
2. while EV-4 is possible, even EV-1 is really slow to reach focus
3. I'm not happy putting NR settings in the photo profiles
4. PictBridge?  Really??

OK perhaps #3 is another basic-ergonomic setup.  On the K-50 I can menu dive once and set all NR by ISO bands, whereas Panasonic chooses to set it up by picture type (standard, monochrome &c each have a separate NR setting that applies to all ISOs).  I prefer the Pentax way that I'm used to - no surprise there.

The low-light AF should not have surprised me but it did.  The K-50 does not go nearly as low, but in the prism viewfinder I can see naturally and focus for myself.  The EVF option gets too grainy to be easy even with focus peaking in place.  No doubt I could train myself to get better with manual focus on the big screen, but once again: this is a lousy time to do new-camera things.

PictBridge is sooo 2008 - but when I plug my G7 into the computer to transfer files it doesn't go into photo-transfer mode.  It asks whether I want PC or PictBridge mode - and when my screen is facing in I don't know that it is waiting for a response.  So I either have to hold the cam to my eye to answer the unseen question or flip out the screen. That must be adjustable, but -- really.  PictBridge??

Finally to the WB.  Pentax has made great strides recently in tungsten-light corrections and AWB that includes tungsten.. and Lumix hasn't reached that point in my casual tests.  Bummer.

Let's point out the good stuff though.  
The G7 has many features that Pentax cameras may never see - especially video derived features:

• touchscreen AF + other functions on flippy screen
• 4k video mode with autofocus option
• 4k photo extract of 8Mpix still images
• multiple reprogrammable buttons on the camera body
• mirrorless / mic4:3 features such as lighter overall bodies & systems

That final one needs a caveat though.  If you want / need superfast lenses to compensate for the mic4:3 sensor 'equivalence' issues you will have similarly bulky lenses attached to a lighter body.  Unlike many small thin cameras the G7 has a truly excellent grip, so it won't be hurt as much as a GX Lumix, Oly Pen, samsung NX500 or any of Sony's NEX-type bodies.

Last and by no means least to me - weather resistance.

The reason I chose Pentax from 2010 on is their combination of in-body stabilization and weather seals to minimize fears in inclement weather.  In fact the weather at our new home is even more damp than my lifelong homes in Portland - annual rainfall is half again as much, and the past two months have combined for over 26 inches of rain - plus we've had over three inches of SNOW in the past four days!  Given all that, the Pentax WR is an even more vital feature.  Like other things around the house the weather has been very chaotic, in record-setting fashion - but I can actually choose a camera to lessen that bit of chaos.

So after three weeks of (minimal) learning, what shall I do?
My current plan is to revert to a Pentax K-50. The Amazin' Amazon warehouse has a Like-New red one And an HD 55-300WR, both in great "unwrap/rewrap/return" condition.. so it begins again. I can return the G7, or maybe just sell it if anyone reaches me really soon.

I'm not giving up completely on the mic4:3 concept however.  I just feel that the chaos is too great right now for me to give it a decent trial period.  Maybe in several months life will settle down and I can explore some possibilities.

a not-really-fun fact:

• this is a lousy time to learn new photo tricks.

My 30-day window for returning the G7 is up next week, and I will probably send it back.  No issues with the camera, the old line  'it's not you it's me' is definitely in play.

No, this dog is Not too old for such things.  I often look forward to doing things in new ways.  It's simply that I know the Pentax methods of doing what I do often, and I like them!  The G7's methods still work fine, it's just different - but different is hard right now in a home where nearly everything is a whirlwind of 'different'. Case in point: I did not realize just how often I shoot, replay & immediately adjust exposure and/or crop.  Those things are a simple down-arrow away in Pentax play mode, but I had to hunt to find 'cropping' and then zoom to crop instead of .. well anyway.  Different.

It's also been more expensive than I planned for a reasonable mic4:3 system; it's nearly at $1000 now, vs. about $300 for a K·50 and a WR lens or maybe two (plus what's still on my shelf).  I was falling victim to the usual concepts that elude me - a few excellent deals on individual lenses still adds up to several hundred dollars total.  I was just outbid on a $400 lens that was up for $225, and I feel good that I shall lose!

And of course - nothing that I have purchased has any weather resistance.  That would require a different body, different lenses.  Yet again - different.

We'll see in a day or two how this pans out.  Stay tuned.. or don't!

thanks kitties!

The Christmas gifts under our tree included two AF-able extension tubes from Duncan and Zuzu.  This is the one method of shooting close that I had yet to try: screw-on diopter lenses, Vivitar's 2xTC with 'macro' adjustment, true macros and tight cropping really did not 'take' with me.  It's curious that I had never tried tubes so it should prove interesting to see how often I bring them along.  For m4:3 just two tubes are common, 10mm and 16mm.

My first tests were using the 12-32 zoom; it's handy that these tubes include AF contacts, since no manual mode exists for this tiny zoom.  And wow are these closeups close!  I quickly backed off from the 16mm to the 10 in order to reveal a bit more context in the shots.  This image is of another gift (Carolans Irish Cream that came boxed with two glasses) and only a tiny part of the bottle can be seen!  That is fruit juice in the glass, BTW - not a creamy alcoholic mix..

I've yet to try them with the 45-150 (nor the incoming Sigma 30/2.8) so the results from additional tests will be informative.

the little kit takes shape

The miniscule Lumix 12-32mm retractable lens has arrived, so a team photo is in order.  That's an ordinary die for scale.. well maybe not.

The 45-175 and 12-32 square off here while the Bower 7.5 fisheye watches.  The new Tamrac Jazz 36 can handle all of this.  The shot was taken using the 14-42² that is most likely expendable with the 12-32 in town.

Other than the high level of noise reduction I'm seeing in shots like this, the G7 is doing quite well.  I really must get into the manual and see if that can be adjusted; smeary NR sucks.

In Pentax news, the K-50 and kit lenses just left - well it would have were the roads in fact passable.  An impressive windstorm hit the Longview-Portland corridor (further south too I'm sure) and getting around is pretty difficult right now.  It goes out tomorrow for sure!

why stop at ordinary Micro 4:3?

One of the main allures of the micro-4:3 systems is their compact size.  More typical sensors (36x24, 24x18) designed the mount and lens system to be the right size to fill their sensor but not go beyond.  The (17x13ish) Four Thirds sensor does the same but can scale down substantially more compared to either of those.  So small is a big deal for this system.  So that means smaller is even better then.. right?

Part of why it works is that a given lens' focal length means something different to a smaller sensor.  The 200mm lens that was a decent telephoto lens on film now yields a different scale on the smaller sensor.  My Pentax sees a 200mm lens as 300mme (mm effective) when the same shot is enlarged, and the still-smaller Four Thirds sensor would give an enlargement with 400mme.  So the same lens gives more telephoto punch on the micro4:3, or a 100mm lens can match the film-era 200mm when images are enlarged to the same print size.

Back in the film days 20mm was an exotic, absurdly-wide angle lens.  Now I'm about to receive a 7.5mm lens for the G7 (15mme) and it gets five-star ratings from several testing sites.  Technology has definitely changed how the imaging game is done!  I briefly owned an 8mm fisheye for Pentax; it was great fun but compared to this 7.5mm it's a big lens.  Designing for a smaller sensor has advantages at the wide end too, not just by using 150mm lenses to shoot 300mme images!

Even more tech has resulted in collapsible lens designs; bring a tiny lens along but "unscrew" it before shooting and it becomes a more typical size.  Pentax now has its  18-50mm RE kit lens that does this - but micro4:3 has been doing it for a while now.  My G7 came with a well-designed 14-42mm lens that does not collapse yet is still much smaller than their original version.
But wait, there's less!

For their smallest m4:3 cameras Panasonic designed the 12-32mm collapsing kit lens.  It's flat as a pancake in imsge-speak as the pancake-style prime lenses are about the size of this zoom when retracted.  Not only is it tiny but it has earned remarkable praise for what it can do.  Its 24-64mme range goes just enough wider than my 28-84mme kit lens to cover more situations, and many have claimed its images are really hard to beat by any kit lens from any manufacturer.
So..

image via photographyblog

A silver copy of the 12-32mm is coming here soon.  I was outbid recently on a copy but immediately bid on another, and that one came through!

Review sites do point out a few shortcomings of the tiny zoom.  Most notably is that it cannot be focused manually!  That could be a problem, we shall see - but for most wide images the depth of field will be a larger focusing issue than the specific point in focus.  Stopping at 64mme could be an issue for me also, especially since the 7.5mm fisheye can take up any slack when the 14-42 won't do. And finally the 14-42 and 45-175 zooms take the same filter size, which is handy; however, a step ring can turn the 12-32 into a match and double as a minimal hood!

Comparing  images taken with the 12-32 and 14-42 will not be a huge priority to me, but if the baby retractable zoom is worthy it makes the micro4:3 kit just that much smaller.  And as is so often the case, small is a big deal: just ask anyone who chooses their cell phone for imaging!

yet another bag

I swear I have nearly a dozen camera bags. Some were claimed from my dad's supply, but many are my very own.  Like so many purchases we all make, each made sense at the time.  And now another is coming?

from huntsphotoandvideo.com

Any micro:43 kit is relatively tiny and does not need a 'normal' sized camera bag to rattle around in.  I saw a great little Tamrac Jazz 52 on sale and almost bought it - then noticed that $hipping charge was nearly as much as the bag itself!  Err no thanks.  I then sought it elsewhere on the web but found something even slightly smaller: a  brand-new new Jazz 36 bag was available (last one!) for a slightly lower purchase price + Free Shipping.  Much better, both for price and volume; I can just toss under the tree, let my lovely spouse know of it & then forget about it for a few weeks.  The way my memory misfires have increased, that part will be easy.

As illustrated, this bag barely holds a standard DSLR plus one lens and flash.  In other words it will be very nice fit for a G7 with two zooms plus + a 7.5mm prime* perhaps? The Jazz 36 will definitely serve the purpose that I have in mind - and like no current bag can manage.

As to the G7 itself: so far so good, but wow it's complex!  And with several function buttons and a dozen or two possible settings for each one, it could take a month or more before the camera is functionally set to use.  I hadn't really thought about that!  And I've just installed v2.0 firmware so it's even more complex - Panasonic added the focus-stack-to-video option where you can choose which frame ahs the point in focus that you wanted most & save that shot as an 8Mpx still.  And if you like several planes of focus for the image, go ahead and extract/save them too!  What a clever way to play with 4k video.

I've been testing its low-light abilities first, seeing how close to EV-4 it can focus, how iso 6400/12800 look and how OIS does at such stupid-low exposure levels.  No surprise that details are smudged at such high settings, but very good results in the worst of circumstances.  I'm more than satisfied with these, so I doubt that iso200 shots will be troublesome.  I will check on that too, someday soon. Now to find a website that determines EV levels for a given shutter/aperture/ISO combo!

* Done deal!  I offered below someone's auction price but did not hear back, then found another one ending soon for cheaper.

done and .. slightly un-Done

Papers signed, funds to flow soon.  The home refinance feels good!
However, I had planned to invest a bit more of the surplus funds into lenses.  That plan fails because of those silly fees that added up without being fully factored into my planning worksheets, which converted a pleasant excess into a small check that has several other important uses.  So any other items will wait for January, when no house payment is needed and a bit of excess from our former escrow account will flow back to us.  That money also has places to go, but a pinch of expense for that 7.5mm fisheye can probably be worked in!  It's available for $50 off right now, and hopefully a few buyers won't like fisheyes and drop a copy into my happy hands.  Or maybe an inventory excess sale?  We'll see if it works out.

This lens took a rare 5-star award from photozone, so the secret is out.
Its all-manual functionality and fishy output just aren't for everyone though, regardless of stars!

image via lenstip.com

It should be noted that Olympus sells their 'body-cap' 9mm fisheye for quite a bit less.  It isn't awful and it's a whole 30 grams - but at a fixed f/8 it will not be astronomy-friendly as this f/3.5 model.  With a bit more budget I could squeeze out a Samyang 12mm f/2 which gets rave reviews from astro-types.  It's $100ish more than the 7.5 though, for now I'll Just Say No.

the New Kid

I picked up the New Kid a day early, rescued from the delivery warehouse before it sat too long.  

The Kid looks like new but it was a demo baby for all of 280 clicks.  

The Pentax caught it napping while the battery received a boost.

I'll give the camera some tests later for speed accuracy handling and such. First off it sure is light and compact - no surprise yet always surprising! It's a very nice fit for hands my size. Looks sharp, and the 45-175 silver is reasonably close to the G7 shade, a warmer shade of silver. This camera has many programmable buttons and two control wheels, so just setting it up for use could take a day or so. At some point I'll even explore the images I guess.. 'twas nice of Samys to leave the 4GB memory card inside!

fine-tuning two systems

With Pentax and Lumix now shaping up as thin but complete systems, the chance to improve on optics becomes complex.  The best choices for good glass would be one that fit well into both systems rather than just one.  So with that in mind, here goes!

The first step comes at around 30-40mm.  Several nice Pentax options are available, but micro43 prefers to fill space just above 40mm and the Pentax 50/1.7 does just fine above that.  My 14-42mm would be f/5.6 at the long end, and the 45-175 sits at f/4 - so a faster prime would be very nice to have!  I see two options for sale right now: an older 35mm f/2 and a Limited 40/2.8.  That latter lens would have modern coatings and be auto-everything on the K50, but the 35's aperture ring is handy on the G7.  Since I've ordered an adapter that can adjust the aperture on K-mount lenses the DA40 is the better choice.. but really closer to the 50/1.7 than I would prefer.  More consideration coming..

Another space in m43 is at the wider end.  Many lenses are 14-xx and Lumix has a 14 prime - but what else?  Samyang has stepped in with several fun choices, and the 7.5mm fisheye is a good call as is the 12mm f/2 for sky imaging.  On the other hand, the 12-32mm zoom is tiny but well liked by owners and reviewers.  It's another of those f/3.5-5.6 types which is a bummer.. but getting to 12mm (24mme) is a nice option to have.  I see deals on that as well, so perhaps that will be wide enough - especially since the G7 has a panorama mode for times when wide-angle lenses just won't do.  Good luck using that mode with a fisheye lens, it would be interesting to see how the camera handles such a request!

the Orphan with the red X

It came a day or two ahead of its body, and now it must wait.

The race was close though - one reached Portland, the other Troutdale. Another two hours and they could have traveled together!

So the silver G7 will spend the weekend in the Big City awaiting the Monday delivery cycle.  Ah well, that will be a fine commemoration: it will be mine the same day we sign papers on the refinance of our home.  A great date to celebrate!

And another day of waiting to see how the two silver items match up.

two ways to 300

Both of my recent Pentax telephoto deals have now arrived, so comparing the two will be interesting!

First came the Spiratone 300mm mirror lens.  I have been curious about this type of lens but never won a bid until last week.  At f/5.6 this one has a better chance of AF systems working with it, compared to the slightly slower f/6.3 Tokina.  That lens is micro43 only, while this is conceivably film-friendly  - and arrived PK adapted and stabilized on the K·50!

My first shots with it were surprisingly contrasty and pretty well focused.  These lenses are often criticized for low contrast so that was a nice surprise.  More tests are needed, and the 'donut bokeh' has yet to be featured in the few shots I've taken with it.

Today the Sigma 100-300 arrived.  This is my fourth copy I believe so it's very familiar to me!  AF speed is really fast, telephoto optical speed is dreadful at f/6.7 - this is why the Pentax 55-300 and this lens alternate in my bag.  The other good side is price; the 55-300 is an excellent deal at $100ish, while the Sigma came for $9.99 plus shipping and handling (about $22 all told).  The Pentax is a bit more crisp and contrasty for the most part, but really with minimal retouch the results are very nice with either lens.

I have a PK-m43 adapter coming, but perhaps a T-m43 would also be useful.  That 600mme closeup should be fun to pull off in good light!  In the meanwhile though, the 45-175 should arrive soon to take the mic43 system to greater lengths, even though the internal-zoom lens won't get any longer!

ding!

Time's up.

Samy's camera went with others on the sub-$600 deal for a new G7 with 14-42 lens.  By doing so it forced a still lower price for their demo model (in silver) with ~280 shutter count.  Well below, like $470ish!  This was lower than buying a new one elsewhere with $100 credit, so this was hard to overlook.. so I didn't.  Yes those deals included bundles with additional lenses, but not lenses I was seeking.  I could settle for a 25/1.7 .. but I didn't.

They also threw in $10 speed shipping, not free but quite good for a 'used' item. Thanks folks!

For a brief time I worried that the 14-42 lens was type-I not type-II; that was not true though.  The newer lens does not say II on the nose, but it says HD and .2m-infinity on the focus range, definitely type-II parameters.  Yaay!

For the future I'll seek a spare battery and that 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye*.  First things first though: I have thirty days to be certain this is a camera I can enjoy and make use of for my kind of shots, both old-school and newfangled 4k types.  Should be fun, and a joy to carry such little weight.

* another thought is the 12-32mm retractable zoom; that lens gets very high marks for its image quality and silly-small size.  Even if I stop at 24mm or so it might be worth having!

BlackFriday decisions

Looking at the first wave of pre-Christmas deals was enough to make the call between the G7 and LX100.

Sales on both cameras are in play - and the G7 is still almost $100 less.  Today's G7 Genuine Deal is an impressive one: $200 off + $100 store credit and bundle-now&save deals all at once!  So that's the current buying plan: silver G7 plus 14-42 II and maybe $50 more for the 25/1.7 'normal' lens bundle. The credit can go for a microphone ± spare battery or something else.   For a similar price one can have a "$250 value" stereo microphone in lieu of $100 gift card, which is also a great deal.
Sorry LX100 - the G7 price & features are too good to ignore.

Friday also featured a used-gear shop with lenses going for 30% off  and a Lumix 45-175 was available.  Two copies in fact, and thank goodness: I tried to buy the black one but no purchase button appeared, and when I returned to the lens page it was gone - apparently it sold 10 seconds before I could reach it!  So I selected the silver copy instead.  It won't quite match the G7 silver-grey shade, I suspect, but I'll survive.  A deal on the 7.5mm fisheye will expire Tuesday, so that will have to come later.

The G7 will go from 28-350mme stabilized in-lens, plus an adapter can let the Pentax lenses play on it out to 600mme with the Spiratone 300/5.6 and 800mm with the 400/6.3 Hanimar.  The original plan was to buy 14-42, 45-175, 300 Tokina and 7.5 fish-eye, plus maybe a prime in the 14-20mm range; so far so good with the first two plus a 300mm in Pentax mount.

Speaking of Pentax the DAL 50-200wr arrived today. The K·50 is now weather sealed from 27-300mme and sensor-stabilized.  This 50-200 seems sharper than previous copies and it's a nice tight fit; too bad it doesn't come in red!  The silver band and lack of focus distance scale mark it as DAL and not DA.

O what fun!

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?

Double dealing (plus 1)

*1*

The best surprise is one that you give up on (some times).
My list of micro4:3 items includes the Tokina 300mm f/6.3 mirror lens. I've wanted a lens like this for a long time in Pentax mount but they are very rare and bids were too high. This Tokina is tiny and cheap ($90ish refurbished) so even if I don't like mirror lenses in the end it's not a big investment.

 Today I was buzzing through eBay to check on the status of a refund. My mind and mouse wandered a bit.. and here's a Spiratone 300mm f/5.6 in K mount for a very similar price. It's a T-mount lens so K and m4:3 can each adapt to work with it. The Tokina is an all-manual lens anyway so why not get the K/T/m43 all at once? This will be 450 mmme on the K-50 (and stabilized!), 600 mme on the G7: watch out birds here I come! The speed difference is small but many focus sensors begin to fail above f/5.6 so that's another point in the old lens' favor.

In fact all 300mm mirror lenses  are small for the amount of telephoto they offer, so this will be full-frame-film compatible with a bit of a bulk penalty.  I was happy to seek it a few months ago without success, so forsaking the smaller Tokina won't be a major bummer.  Now to learn if I can tolerate 'donut bokeh' in my images!

*2*

The SD/Flucard sold this afternoon, and now interest in the 55-300 is growing. The general idea is to get a WR replacement for it at some point. What to do in the meantime though? Prices are decent on both the 50-200 & 55-300wr but the budget is.. about what I got for the Flucard. Anything else?

 Yep. 
Shopgoodwill was dumping a Sigma 100-300 with no bids and 4 minutes left. PK mount yes, so Sold!

Yes, it's that lens again.  It always battles the 55-300 for a spot in my bag since it focuses far faster.  The range of the Pentax and brighter telephoto keep the seesaw in motion.  This has always been my favorite $35 telephoto option, but this time it's my $10 option! OK add $22 shipping and handling.. Still a silly/good deal that is sufficient for filling in the tele space right now.

 So along with the 300mm Spiratone that's two fine deals today on 36×24 telephotos!

*3*

Make it three deals: I just won a dirt-cheap bid on a DAL 50-200wr.  
I'd prefer the 55-300 but again, the budget cannot do that just now.
Now the rain can return.. and of course it will do so, in about 10 hours...

why do they bother?

Yet another shipping misfire - this time with camera battery & charger.
Why do companies bother posting this stuff?

USPS assured me on Monday that they would deliver the battery/charger on Thursday.  When the mail came, no package was evident.  I went online with my phone and the mobile site was now saying Saturday delivery.  Tonight I see it's in Portland, so it will likely arrive on Friday - but the computer website still says it's coming today. At 9 PM I'm willing to say NO WAY.

In the meantime UPS is shipping the camera itself.  It was nice to hear on Monday that it would arrive on Friday, after the battery had a day to charge - well, so much for that.  Their website has no updates in two days, when it left Illinois.  They still believe it will arrive tomorrow, so at least they've been consistent.  But do I have any evidence that it's getting close?  Nope.

 Get it right or get these wild semi-educated guesses off the web, folks!

Update: the race is on
Both packages are at the nearby delivery sites, so both could arrive today.  Which one first, we wonders?

Update II - camera beat the power supply by about an hour!

moving up and settling down

I owned a K-50 last year, but only briefly.  I was shifting from the K-5 setup to a newer but less complex body style, and I missed the K-5 features that I could control on the body (e.g. metering mode).  While the Info screen makes it a pretty easy change I couldn't get comfortable.. and soon I moved on.


This time around I'm coming off a few months of K-r and K-s1 experience before picking up a red-hot K-50.  The K-s1 is definitely a step ahead for many features, but the ergonomics are no improvement.  Its selling point is compactness - and less buttons is generally good when you have fewer places to put them!

The K-r was a classic K-5 feature set in a body with fewer external controls - and really so is the K-50.  So this time I'm moving forward in the same 'enthusiast' category instead of down from a higher grade of body.  Therefore it's no surprise it feels like I'm taking a step forward in pretty much every way.  I have my weather seals back, and an AFs / AFc setting on the body - a feature I really liked even though the latest Pentax bodies have removed it!

It's funny how the same camera can feel so very different depending on where you've been in the recent past! And oh my is it red.  Curiously that depends very much on the image one sees, and the settings used on the camera that shot it.  White balance, exposure, Custom Image setting all do their part, so online images show everything from an orange-red to a deep crimson.  If it looks like the image above, I'll be quite pleased.. but please don't be orange-red!

out with the black, in with the red

The latest postal estimates say the red K-50 should arrive this weekend, along with batteries and charger (in this case, sold separately).  I bumped into a Wanted post online for a K-r or newer camera - hmmm just what was I going to do with that black K-r body once the K-50 arrives?  After a few quick messages the K-r is off to Canada!  It was an amazing deal when I bought it, so the savings went along as well.  Everybody wins!

The healthy DAL 18-55 will travel with the camera, and the white one with broken mount should probably be disposed of.  Just maybe though.. some parts might be worth keeping in case of trouble.

Other sales (of things that I was actually trying to sell!) have been slow.  The K24 has departed but the M100/2.8 remains.*  I won a bid I don't remember placing on an smc.A50/1.7 with 2x teleconverter for about $16, and the lens is in great shape.  Some day I'll get around to trying the TC as well..

* no sooner said then gone: the M100 sale is imminent SOLD!
Today's gear = Q, A50, DAL55-300 and a few manual-focus zooms.
Coming soon = K50, 18-55wr
Coming later = G7, 14-42 then Sam7.5, Tok300 and a Lumix telezoom.

Red, hot K-50 deal

I found a fine price for a cheerful, red K-50 with WR kit lens (yes, it's red too).  Its price with lens was very low due to having no battery or charger; I never liked the Pentax charger anyway so yippee!  And in case of  any other issues the 14-day return policy is a good thing to have.  Two generic batteries and charger were about $17 so this didn't hurt much.. sure hope it tests out well.

Here's the grip, which I always found 

to make a fairly happy face!

And yet I still make plans..

Plans of all sorts have failed on multiple levels in the recent past, but I continue to make them anyway.  Here is what I hope to acquire in the coming six weeks..

I will be watching for deals on Pentax' K-s2 with the 18-50re lens and the Lumix G7 in several possible kits with the 14-42 II.  Depending on what deal works best I shall make my move.

• The easy choice is to stay with Pentax and whatever lenses remain in hand.  If the 55-300 goes I would add the WR version and be in fine shape.  If a few primes don't sell so much the better!
• If the G7 deal is irresistible it would likely include the 14-42ii and the 45-150mm.  I would then add the Samyang 7.5 and Tokina 300/6.3 baby mirror lens.  If the best deal has only the 14-42 then I will add a PK adapter for the 55-300 for now, and save for the 35-100.  Maybe at some point I would add the 100-300.. but the 300 cat is still a tiny convenience.

Either way I will have a fine new camera and a few great lenses!

image from petapixel

First Revision: rather than have competing systems how about I go with complementary ones?  
With that in mind I find myself inclined to grab the last K-50 off the shelf for wet-weather imaging, and go with the G7 as the clear tech champion.  I can find the body only or 18-55wr kit (even the 50-200 kit if that price is amazing) which frees up more money for a more complete Lumix kit.  Just, maybe.

Still bleeding Pentax red

As delays continue to plague our refi, the last easy options for generating cash have begun to play out.  I now have nearly every piece of my Pentax gear for sale - and not for lack of interest or enjoyment.  So it must be; I accept and move on.  Ironically I shall be picking up my newish A50/1.7 on Tuesday, so if everything sells that is curently posted, I will own K-r, 50mm and an 18-55 kit zoom.

It is not explicitly a sign but I will move forward with a Lumix G7 kit when the financial ice finally melts.  I foresee an ultimate kit consisting of the 14-42, manual primes of 7.5 fisheye and 300, and either the 45-150 or preferably 35-100 f/2.8 depending on the best sale I can find.  In mme* that's 28-200(300) with zooms plus 15 and 600 via primes.. and such cute little primes they are!  Tokina's 300mm mirror lens is a fraction of the Samyang 500's size and reviews are better too.  The Samyang fisheye also gathers fine praise - and both are real bargains.

* By the way, mme is mm equivalent focal length with 35mm film.  Pentax 200mm = four/thirds 150mm = 300mme.

critical mass for K-gear

An interesting challenge has come with my most recent lens sales.

My Pentax gear has reached a new minimum - three primes, three zooms - with great plans to update once our home-refi package is complete.  However, this situation also allows other brands to make a case for their gear with its different set of strengths and weaknesses; since I'm less deeply into Pentax it would be easier to make a transition.

I hadn't really thought about that!
Samsung and their NX300 made a strong run at my Pentax kit early in the year, and the NX500 sounded ideal.  Once it arrived and the complainers chipped in their tuppence I shook free of the spell and stuck with my K-r bargain purchase, and reloaded with more nice lenses. But now they are gone.

image from adorama.com

This time it's Lumix (Panasonic) and their G7 working on me.   
Wow: it's really pretty in charcoal! 

Ah, but what does it do?? How does it compare to the small K-s2 that was in the plans?

On the down-ish side, it uses a smaller 16Mpx 4:3 sensor.  A bit less resolution, a pinch more potential noise, and it's not free of the low-pass "AA" filter like recent Pentax models.  It's also nearly the same size as the K-s2 in len×wid×height specs.  The lenses focus with fly-by-wire imprecision compared to what I'm used to (though the Q does too and I manage).  Also, weather seals are absent.

Now for the upside, as I see it -

• 4k video and its many benefits*, with autofocus available in all video modes
• focus to EV-4 (K-s2 is stupid-good at -3, I didn't know -4 existed!)
• much less overall weight despite similar size
• far less bulk lens-wise, thanks to the smaller sensor
• quiet operation (I've never heard a K-s2 to compare)
• different technology but with very good results
• easy in-cam panoramas and can shoot at 16:9, 1:1
• prior Lumix experience (LC40 compact and G1, GH1, GF2) & raves from my brother about his G3

* 4k videos are sharper overall even on most HD televisions, and the G7 allows you to extract an 8Mpxl still image from anywhere within the video - so it can be used as a burst mode at 24-30 frames per second but with reduced image size.  That's both cool and convenient.  Full HD is 2Mpxl (1980x1024), 4k is twice those dimensions so four times the area.  The result is 8Mpxl but 4k description - go figure.  Oh I just did!

The Lumix has a touchscreen for many of its features but buttons/menus that can do the same, which is a feature I really liked on the the NX300.  I used its touch-focus ability often for both still shots and video.  I also liked the sweep-panorama mode which can make a longer lens pretend to be more wide-angle - and that's on the G7 too.  This one has both flip-out screen and the EVF where the NX300 had tip screen and no VF.  I'd prefer tip and VF myself but catering to just me is not common (though the NX1 has this).

On the nearly-a-draw side, both have flippy screens with good resolution, and both have some form of viewfinder.  I prefer optical VF generally but I've heard the newer EVFs are mighty good.  It hasn't received its sensor performance ranking at DxO but 4:3 sensors tend to score below most current APSc models, but very similar to the K-r.. and I have always liked results from that sensor!!  This is only as relevant to images as you decide how useful the DxO system is, in any case.

I hope to be shopping at holiday time for bargains, so the estimated expense looks like this:
Pentax: K-s2 (or higher) body, HD16-85 zoom, and a prime/macro ~$1200?
Lumix: right now (no pre-holiday deal) I can get a body + 2 lenses = $895!  + a free boom microphone
Note - the Lumix deal has ended.. ah well.

My 50/2 and 100/2.8 would do well on the G7 with a $30 adapter, other Pentax lenses too with a more expensive one.

As to brand-name loyalty and legacy: I began both film and digital days with Kodak before moving up.  In 1973 I went from Sears/Kodak 126 box camera to a screw-mount SLR and then to Pentax about ten years later.  In digital my first post-Kodak camera was the talented 4Mpx Lumix LC-40.  Therefore both brands have a claim and good vibes in their not-quite-separate eras!

We'll see where this dreaming goes - but clearly it's drawn some rather serious research so it's not a fast-passing fancy!  The holiday prices could make a difference.. I saw on mu43.com that the G7 was once $599 so that's a good base to work from.

a happy tech post!

About time, it seems..

Since my ASUS 7HD died I sought out options rather hastily.  I liked the more squarish aspect ratio of the first one but it wasn't quite what I hoped for.  My second try though is a winner.

The Lenovo A8-5500 is an 8-inch tablet that is the proverbial 'just right' size.  The 7" screen of the 7HD was a bit crowded, and the 10" Transformer was too big for me to use as a tablet (just fine as a laptop replacement when hooked to its keyboard though).  This 8" screen has the same resolution of the 7HD so it's plenty bright and clear, and performance (for what I do at least) is just great.

Once it was set up the tablet updated itself to 4.4.2 Android so it's quite up to date.  However it's clear that many devices can run the same Android yet look quite a bit different!  ASUS implements their own system enhancements (even more so now with the Zen UI).  Most reviewers like ASUS mods but clearly Lenovo won't be using it - they have their own though, in the pop-sideways panel of settings and most-used programs.  Nicely done, but I already have my most-used stuff in the bottom part of the screen, and I cannot reclaim that area by removing them, so the popout is a bit redundant.  Perhaps I'll find ways to use it better but for now: not really handy.

Lenovo also crowds the main screen with icons like iDevices and unlike ASUS.  I've dumped most of the icons into a folder or two, which makes screen space available for widgets.  I admit it: I LIKE WIDGETS - which often include shortcuts of their own (ugh: triple redundancy with side-panel and screen-bottom icons).

Battery life is very good, and I've thrown some switches that imply even more savings.  I like 10-hour charges for tablets, a feature which very few tech devices manage.  I've reloaded a few common games and my astronomy apps so it's pretty much a duplicate of the HD7 now.  Once I've added in an office suite it will be closer; it appears that Lenovo has added one I know little about but I'll give it a try before filling more memory with a new version.  Google Sheet is sufficient for most of my dabbling on the tablet.

we do as we must

As October winds down we should be signing papers to refinance our home and crush some debt, which in the future would allow a new WR body to drop in.  However we have not yet been invited to sign, and life's expenses continue.. so with more than a bit of reluctance, a few favorite lenses have been put on the block.

First to go is the DFA 50 macro.  I really like this lens.  I've tried Sigmas 50 and 105, Tamron 90, Promaster 100/3.5 over the years and the DFA is my easy favorite.  I got this at a really good price, so maybe it will return.  Sadly though, 50mm is such an easy spot to fill that it's not ideal for a refill.

I've often said that I've tried every macro but the DFA 100 and Sigma's 70mm.  Yet again my blind spot is in play: I have not tried the Limited 35mm and it's much loved despite the absurd distance from front element to subject to shoot 1:1 closeups.  It's something to think about though.  The concept of obtaining DA21 + 35 macro to go with my A50 f/2 and M100/2.8 would be a good primal setup.

The other lens on the block is the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8-4.5.  I don't want to let this go either, but again my price was excellent so I can find one again.  Better still: get the HD 16-85 and call my zoom set complete (along with 55-300).  Maybe some day I'll get the 150-450.. or maybe not!

We'll see where this leads in the end, but my path is reasonably straight on this -- for now!
Update - looks like both may be on the move tonight.

The 'dream kit' (all I ever do is dreeeeaam..)
zooms: HD-WR 16-85, DA∙L 55-300mm (maybe a HD-WR later)
primes: Ltd DA21, Ltd DA35 1:1 macro, smc.A50, smc.M100
Bodies: K-r for now, we shall see in the K-3ii vs K-s2 contest!

seeking a missing mind (+ tech rants)

As I began to pack up the now-sold K-s1 camera this weekend, I felt it was going to be an easy process.  When the camera arrived I deliberately removed the camera and battery, and nothing else.  I had a charger and a spare battery from the K-r already available, and I hadn't read a Pentax manual in years.  How convenient to keep everything in its place where it would be easy to find, or re-pack!

.. and then, apparently, I blacked out.

So I pulled down the as-new K-S1 box, opened it and - it's pretty much empty.  No charger, no manual, not even the strap.  Why would this be?!?  Looking back on it I strongly suspect that the manual was packed with other tech gear for the Oregon Star Party.  So I toured the big garage, the travel trailer, and every known box with astronomy or photo gear I could find.  I even went to the other garage to look in the computer section, just in case.  Nothing, neither clue nor trail.  Inside the house I opened every camera bag, every sports bag, every suitcase - again, no sign at all.  The fact that we didn't make the star-party trip (for the sixth straight year) did not help, as everything sat in boxes for a while before being emptied; I don't even recall what I had packed my camera gear into (box, bag or camera pack) so the trail was old, and cold.  Even if the original Pentax charger was packed to come along (unlikely) and the manual added for light daytime reading: why is the strap missing?  Also curious is the missing Pentax original battery; all I have now is two generic ones.  I'm frustrated beyond words, and even gestures aren't helping.

And I shall barely mention the Android tablet, now missing for two weeks (cheap replacement coming), the 3-month-old Windows tabputer that suddenly cannot do WiFi, or the fact that Android phones that had such strong signals in the house now cannot reliably make a call from anywhere on our property!
Tech sucks.

So out the door goes my spare batteries, my best charger - and out the window go a few more brain cells which I won't even miss.  The K-s2 just got a bit more expensive since much of that will need replacing at some point.  Drat.

mind flash!  I suspect the K-s1 charger went out with the K-r that I sold last month!
this would not explain the strap or owners guide though..


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10/12 update
While my mind went blank on camera gear, other tech items have also been quite decisively frustrating in the recent two weeks.

Tablet #1: I've been using an ASUS 7HD for a year or two with fine success.  Until recently of course, when it began to reboot or lock up quite frequently.  That's too bad as for the most part I really like the little thing for the basics: web, e-reading, quick updates to small spreadsheets and e-mail.  Given all its hiccups I wiped and restored it, then set about re-adding most of the apps.  For a week or two it was happy, then for two weeks or so it was rebooting again.  And now, for the past 10 days it is AWOL.  I know it was going out to the car to provide data for something, but it's not in the car, or the house, or anywhere I can think of.  Sure it's vanished for a day or two before but this is frustrating..

Tablet #2: While the 7" screen of tablet #1 has been nice, there were times it wasn't quite nice enough.  I bought an early model ASUS TransformerBook on clearance in town and I wanted to see how it would do as replacement for both tablet and laptop .  It came with Windows 8.1 which I bumped up to Win 10, and added Office 2010 to it - and the thing performs just fine. 
Well, it did for a while.
First off it's too big as a tablet.  The back is too smooth to hold easily, and covers for the T100 model are almost impossible to find.  Once snapped on to its keyboard it's a viable option, but definitely not a clean exchange for the 7HD.
And now it's dead too.  Not literally, just the WiFi part - so indeed pretty much literally.  It wavered a time or two but rebooting would bring the connection back up.. but those days passed about the same time the 7HD disappeared.  
Clearly a tech dark cloud has descended on our household (more on that later).

Cell phones #1-4: We are now both running iPhone 4s bodies.  My wife really likes the concept but has not done much executing, so that's a clear victory.  For myself though I prefer the Android ways of doing things.  Yes I'm up to iOS 9.0.x on my copy and it does fine, but some features just bug me since I know how easy they are on the 'droids.  So over the past two weeks I've been popping between my 4s, the 4.5" Android I had bought (and liked) for myself, and even the 5" galaxy-clone that I'd picked up for my wife before we had the iTalk.
That should have resulted in two happy people, not in lock-step with our phones but each doing what they like a phone to do best.  Only mine doesn't actually make calls any more.  That's odd since our Androids had a very good signal a year ago when we moved here, and before the iInvasion I could make a call from any room but one or two.  Now they are all flaky, even the porch outside gives me no clear signal.  Yes, that tech cloud again - somehow wreaking havoc with cell signals and WiFi tablet signals.  Bizarre.

And so here's our status:

• Two iPhone 4s are in action: for now I surrender on this front!

• I'll be calling ASUS about the Transformer soon, to see what can be done there.  In the end though,

  

  from tabletmonkeys site - cool name!

  neither is quite the answer I had quite hoped for.  Like Goldilocks I have ordered the 'just right' middle option: a new/other Lenovo 8" Android tablet.  My mind apparently is more compatible with Android than Win 10 or iOS 9, and the extra bit of real estate will help with reading, the size of my virtual keyboard and general visiblilty - while still keeping battery life pretty high.  I still like ASUS products but one reboots and one broke down, so trying another company isn't a bad idea.  Furthermore ASUS now has their ZEN UI that is obviously amazing - another layer of stuff atop Android may not be me-compatible though so I shall just say no.  I had considered (even ordered) a lower-spec bargain but these are old enough to be a low price with decent screen and chipset, so it will arrive in a few days to try out.

As always, WSS about how this turns out.  Hopefully I'll like my porridge, bed and 8-inch tablet!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10/14 update

Yet another bizarre turn or two in my tech world! 

• On Tuesday while dropping by my mailbox I encountered no mail - but my 7" tablet was resting atop the box in a large ziploc bag.  I know of no one in my neighborhood that knew this to be mine - but somehow it has returned.  However, it refuses to power up and removing the gel cover revealed plenty of water.  Something tells me it sat outside during our recent ¼-inch rainstorm.  It's been missing for over a week, so a heavy dew-fall or two would have done similar damage.  So the tablet is visible, but dead: long live the next tablet!  

•  Closely related topic: USPS site says the 8" tablet arrives Thursday, but eBay says Monday - so I expect it will arrive neither day, and probably Saturday.*  Why have online ship estimates been getting worse recently?  It's been a while since a package reached me 'on time', but the disagreement is four USPS work days!  Yet another reason to wonder why I spend so much time at the computer pretending that I will learn something useful.

• And now the iPhone is being stubborn about making calls in our home, just like the recent Androids!  the 4s is also more annoying when a call fails, beeping thrice loudly in my headset. It seems pretty clear that a cell tower has moved, or several trees have grown just enough to be troublesome.  And so I return to the 4.5" Android with all its little eccentricities that I prefer over Apple's little eccentricities..

* Wonder of wonders - the USPS site was correct, and the 8" tablet is Out For Delivery.  Impressive 1-day flight from Florida to Portland, guess they weren't served drinks!

And then, this -

Clearly this ongoing chat about tech could happen to anyone, and a daily update on tech woes isn't my plan for this place.  I am therfore crushing the last three posts into one to avoid cluttering the blog with such talk.

Cameras are up next - honest!

the wheels turn

I accepted a decent offer for the K-s1 yesterday.  This bonus cash will tide us over until the home loan is in place, and it frees me up to pursue a WR camera body when the $ time is right (late November, perhaps?).  I still expect the next camera to be a K-s2 with all its fine features, but K-3 prices are falling fast so we shall see.  An 18-55WR is coming soon so I can just go body only and still be ready for wet times without forcing myself to grab a 20-40 or a 16-85 ASAP.

Now to find the K-s1 owners manual.
 This is the second or third time that I've lost a manual while selling a camera - why does this keep happening?!?

http://camerasize.com/compare/#610,619

The debate continues on the two camera bodies.  The K-s2 is smaller with flip screen (I'd prefer tip over flip though), Wifi (not of great interest) and 20Mpx sensor like the K-s1 (nice!).  The K-3 has longer shutter life, more AF sensors, switches for items like metering area, and a few more pixels.  Since I've seldom passed 3000 on a shutter in my digital career that's probably not vital, but those switches are nice.  The INFO button brings up all items on both cameras anyway so what's the switch worth?  Most other items are a wash with common abilities (interval still/movie with composite settings, two dials, Flucard in hand for Wifi on the K-3).  The 'clarity' option on the K-s2 sounds interesting, but it wouldn't be a strong swing vote.

So all in all the K-s2 fits me best.  

If the K-3 price crashes though, the equations change!

news and confuse

Given our timing on several fronts, I let go of some lenses this past week.  Timing is personal (soon but not-yet home refinance = 1 more month of bills) and camera-specific (the 36×34 'full frame' nonsense will make people forget DA lenses, for a while, and old coatings are getting to me).

So farewell to the not-quite-mind-controlling DA15, the large and unused JCPenney 80-200; perhaps the 24, 100 and 180 will follow but no strong bites yet.  When I need small the K-s1 and 18-55 will cover the bases, with 55-300 for long shots and the Sigma 18-50 for lowest light and video (its internal OS works better than digital stuff in Pentax cameras  for video).  For more bulk the K-r is still here, though I've also had a nibble on that.  Doing that deal would force my hand more quickly on the next body.

Coming next in lenses: ..well probably not the 16-85mm that the last post implied.  Maybe and maybe not.  The 20-40 LimiZoom has pushed its way back to the forefront as its 55mm filters step up easily to 58, which is the 55-300's filter size.  Handy!  And its size is quite nice too especially on a smaller body.

The confusion comes from letting the DA15 go in that case - but it brought in a decent infusion of cash to get us through the refinance month so I won't weep openly on its departure.  In fact the Rokinon 16mm f/2 or 10mm f/2.8 would be better for stargazing, although prices for those are DA15-ish right now and overall they are far bulkier.  That brings the F17-28FE back into play, as it's available for around $200 now.  We'll see about that.

And as to the next body?  No surprise, the body and lens decisions are connected. The K-s2 would prefer the Limited zoom but the larger K-3 types would make the 16-85mm feel less front-heavy.   Deals on the K-3 are quite impressive now, and if I do jump more into interval shooting the 200k-rated  shutter life is a real plus.  It can use the Flucard from my K-s1 so WiFi and sensors are similarly excellent.

Even more clear to me is the jump to the K-3 II model though, with an extra stop of stabilization and the chance to pixel-shift some images.  Not a frequent use, perhaps, but I've now seen examples of what it can do.. and it is quite the real improvement.  Pentax was quoted as strongly implying that the pixel shift system could be sent back into firmware for recent models.. like the K-s1 most likely!  Well OK .. to be more precise, during a chat about pixel-shift tech (with imaging-resource.com) they said this:

• "But Ricoh believes in taking care of their customers" - and encouraged me to quote him on that. :-) 

So that might say pixel shift is coming to other bodies, or perhaps something else entirely.. camera shows are fun and all that, but they are not always the Ultimate Source of Truth about future intentions.

So here we sit: fewer (though seldom-used) lenses in hand, two different plans for post-home-refi kit improvement - and a current setup that does just fine even if those two plans don't happen for a while!  The fact that the holiday sales are a month or so away could make for excellent timing though..

Perhaps I should say something to that effect at the Fall Camera Gathering in some famous faraway city?

walking the fine line

I'm quite happy with my gear right now.  If anything were to change it would be the K24mm, which has shown me the value of modern coatings. If it were replaced with a DA21 the problem would become the gap between 21 and 50mm, which a DA35 would fill nicely.  So that is the question that I must ask myself, again: for what I shoot, does the abundance of primes become more of a problem than a really good zoom?

I've always tried to limit any lens to a weight below 500g.  If anything beyond that limit is in my gear, I find ways to leave it behind.  The DA* 50-135 is an excellent lens, but the 410g 55-300 is good enough and substantially lighter.  No 120mm f/2.8 shot with that lens of course.. but I seldom shoot those anyway since I never had any practice before!  In a similar vein I've noted before that my 18-50mm Sigma covers the 21-50mm gap very well, and at around f/4 most of the time.

As the wet season approaches I feel the lack of a WR kit more keenly.  I do enjoy getting the in-storm images of water droplets and fierce weather, and the K-s1 and 18-50 would not be the best choice.  I also found during the lunar eclipse that the lack of interval timing/video troubles me, as it did receive some use at important times in the past.  The K-r did that for me during the eclipse so it's not a big deal - but I have two DSLR camera bodies and neither is foul-weather friendly.  That's sad.

image from Pentaxforums.com

Once the home refinance is complete and a few other items are taken care of, I will give this more thought.  I had once planned to pick up the 20-40mm Limited zoom as part of a future WR kit, but the Sigma 18-50 can replicate 20-40 and with the same aperture range and silent focus.  No WR like the Limited though.  On the other hand the DA 16-85 can do a few things I'm not able to do: all the good things of the 18-50 but with WR and Pentax' quiet focus motor, and that extra bit of range (on both ends!) that I use a lot.  To keep the 55-300 from being overly prominent this would be a good choice.  But it's near my 500g limit.

On yet another hand, my DA15/K24/DFA50 triplet is a clean 100g heavier than the 16-85.  Going with my lightest trio (the 50A non-macro) I am just about smack on the 500g barrier.  So with primes I can shoot with a lighter lens on the camera but the overall pack weighs the same or more!  And as for price.. well if I sold the Sigma and DA15 (gasp!), the K24  and perhaps the smc-M 100/2.8 .. the switch would be self-financing.  That puts me back near prime-free mode but it cuts way back on the feeling that I should have carried another lens or two.  The two DA zooms will manage 16-300mm, and the DFA50 can come along for closeups.. I'd be OK with that.

One more problem relates to video, and Pentax' fake (digital) stabilization instead of SR.  The 18-50 Sigma has internal OS so it can stabilize in a better manner than the camera.  Back in the K-r days the SR system did stabilize the video but those days have passed, for some unclear reasons..

The other big WR piece then needs to be addressed.  K-s2 or K-3?  While the K-s2 would address nearly every need I have, I'm not prepared to speak with certainty on this one.  Both weigh more than the comfy little K-s1, but the absence of a few big features (e.g. interval shooting of stills/video and custom settings on the mode dial) is being felt.  I'd be fine holding out a while on that decision and let the WR lens be on the K-s1 despite its relative nose-heavy feel.  Baby steps are OK for now.

And perhaps the next APSc Pentax will be a much better fit for my style, as it could incorporate the SAFOX XI AF system with the new Clarity function, and toss in the 200k shutter life. As always - we shall see!

and then I remembered!

oh if you just got here you missed the good part...

I'll start over:
Several months ago, after picking up two K-r bodies, I remembered just what using a penta-mirror viewfinder was like. (Hint: not good.) I sought options that would enable me to see well enough to focus manually, as at the time I owned several manual primes.  This was also the time when KatzEye bright focusing screens disappeared as the company dealt with financial issues, so the best-known option was unavailable.

So off I went to the search engines, seeking bargain alternatives.  I found a mystery auction dealer that sold one-fits-all Pentax screens for under $20 and ordered a split screen fresnel collared screen.  It took a while to get here but i jumped in when it reached me.

only to find it didn't fit!
The screen was labeled for K-7 only but I was pretty sure it was not so exclusive.  The K-r swap was new to me though, and clearly it wasn't working - so I sought to return the screen for a refund.

only I never sent it back!
So here's where you came in: today I remembered it had not left my shelf.  I still have several manual focus lenses.. but now a K-s1 body makes use of them.  Could it be possible that the old cheap screen would fit the new camera?

yes it can.
So now the K-s1 has focus peaking And a more precise focus screen.  Test images show that it aligns just fine.
Overkill perhaps, but the screen is here anyway.. so why not?