Flat on my back, speculating..

The ePM2 has impressed me quite a bit, and though my budget is in contraction mode my mind is free to wander. It is under the influence of both a nasty illness and big medicine, so its wanderings may be a bit more free than usual!

So anyway: if I wanted more than the PM2 provides, where would I go? The em5 adds tip screen and weather seals, two very nice features.. but uses a different battery.  (The P5 also uses the em5 battery, and I really don't want to play that game!) The em10 has more features and the same PM2 battery but no seals! Apparently the pl5/6 also has the same imaging feature-set (sensor + processor) so that could be a small but worthy step up. And the mark-II em bodies upgrades many features too - likely to ensure the entry model em10 wouldn't the best-featured body of the bunch!

So there.  Time for another nap!  And now I can read my own 'blog to remind myself that it's the em10 not em5 that uses my current batteries!

kit evolution / devolution

My wife went into the hospital for two nights with double pneumonia, and soon after arriving home one of my teeth broke into pieces.  Needless to say the budget for other items just contracted big time!

So much for the conversion to Lumix lenses when I am already covered by M.Zuiko.

In fact my shots with the 35-100 were not showing its best side.  That could well be a conflict of IS protocols or a firmware issue (what an odd thing to say about optics..) - but shots with the 40-150 Oly were just a pinch better in the same range. Since my caregiving and dental task-list is pretty full right now I'm going to send the lens back and hope the next person can make good use of it.  I really like the size when retracted - well it's nice when extended too! - and I still prefer the zoom direction of the Lumix lenses.  I shall manage with the reverse rotation while scraping up my loose change for the medical folks, and in a few months I can (hopefully?) consider my options from a better position.

Hmmm I thought that last month too, didn't I?  I do wish life could be a bit less hectic, just for a decade or so..

more gear shifting

The former owner of the ePM2 also had a few other lenses to sell, so I relieved him of those this week.  The home equity loan went through, so while things aren't fantastic financially at least they are more clear!  With that last bit of gear I'm ready to stop for a while, since the missing piece in my mind (Samyang's 12mm f/2) is not on supersale now anywhere and it's too new for owners to let go of their copies.

Left to lower right: Sigma 30 and Oly 40-150r, Oly 17/2.8, BCL9 body-cap fisheye, and 14-42rII on the ePM2.
This 18-300mme kit can fit in a lunchbox, and I can choose primes or the 14-42 for the wide range!

While I find the Samyang 7.5mm fisheye appealing (as I did with the G7) the bargain BCL9 is a 9mm f/8 fisheye that will stand in just fine for most applications. I had figured on 7.5/14/20/30 as the primal set but I've had a soft spot for the 17/2.8 for several years, so its return makes the 12mm a better fit.

On the Pentax side the kit has slipped away.  I still have the 10-17 fisheye which hopefully will find a new home soon.  The micro4:3 replacement set has taken most of the Pentax funds so taxes and medical bills still await - but some improvement has taken place with the gear swaps. I still have the 28, 50 and 135mm primes also; the 28 isn't needed for the Oly kit but fast 50 and small 135 could see some time there.  The 300mm mirror lens might be quite fun as well!