the small camera kit..er kits

I like my camera gear to be small. Cheap and incredibly talented is nice too.. but let's not get greedy. Well one can be greedy.. with the right gear.

My K-5 with the 18-50re is really compact for aps.c, and now the compact 50-200wr has arrived. That's a nice 27-300mm∙e kit that can go out in the rain and shoot quietly from 27-75mm∙e.

Maybe I meant the GX1 kit? With 14/2.5, 30/2.8 and 45-150mm zoom it stays small & does many things well. The 4:3 sensor does not show off to K-5 level but it's a fine 16Mpxl sensor. Its video specs definitely outperform the Pentax; it was hacked to produce 36MB/sec video with better audio too.  It could be set higher still, but then the camera cannot play back the video :(

Hm, how were these two small-kit pictures taken? That was done with the YI.M1. Yes it's also my small kit: with 12-40mm XiaoYi and 45-150 Lumix it can manage 24-300mme. It can go to 4k with its video specs and has a nice 20Mpx sensor. It does not 'do' stabilization with my current lenses but is still a talented little camera!


Any of these kits can be made larger with current lenses  (e.g. Lumix 12-60 or K-mount 100-300 or fast primes) but for small gear I'm in a good place.. and when more is better I'm good there too!

P.S. it should be noted that my wife's GF2 plus 12-32mm Lumix out-smalls all my kits!
It uses older tech but raw images are very nice and for size it is hard to beat.

just saved a bunch of money..

And it has nothing to do with car insurance :^|

My plan was to pick up a gap lens between the 18-50 and 100-300 zooms. The clear choice would be a DA70/2.4, which would be $200 (used, black) at best. Silver would be nice.. oh that's $375 if I am a lucky bidder. Well, no hurry.

No hurry became no need, as I found a bargain DA∙L 50-200wr lens. Now weather seals extend from 18 to 200mm, no gaps and about $150 less spent than on the Limited 70. Sure I'd still love to have one.. but that is for another day.

I've used numerous copies of the 50-200 - in fact I believe my first copy came as a swap for my first copy of the 55-300mm lens. I've tried both DA and DA∙L copies, both WR - and strangely enough the L version (composite mount, no quick-shift focus) has provided consistently preferable images! In any case I have preferred the overall results from the 50-200 over the 55-300, whose slower focus and less-consistent bokeh are drawbacks. OK I also admit to greatly preferring the shorter lens' bulk.

The image here is with an early copy of the DA 50-200wr on a K-7. I dropped the exposure deliberately, because it's my photo and I can do what I choose with it.

plus 3

using center-point autofocus

That seems to be a good bias for the K-5 autofocus system with my recently-(re)acquired Sigma 100-300 'slowpoke' tele-zoom.

A reasonable color match!

Yes I own one of those again - but this time in silver to match the K-5 Special. A few quick tests and application of +3 AF adjustment for this lens only, and results look better than before. Yay!

Speaking of Sigma - today they announced their first L-mount body. It's tiny, cubic and using a Bayer RGB filter array (i.e. Not Foveon) so it's an unusual Sigma camera in many respects. We shall see how it fares once price and performance are fully set.

the DA∙L 18-50 RE∙tractable

The weather-sealed K-5 demands at least one WR lens for foul weather. On a kit-lens budget that has always meant an 18-55 or 50-200mm as a staple; later the 55-300mm caught up with a HD/WR version. All of them have performed well for me at one time or another.

In the last couple of years the higher-grade 20-40 Limited and 18-50 RE have also been introduced. I owned and liked the 20-40mm, but its price is not available to me right now. The 18-50RE replaced the 18-55 as the basic wide-to-normal kit lens. and retracts almost to Limited-prime size. While I was seeking a deal on the 18-55 I stumbled upon an "as-is" copy of the 18-50RE at an excellent price. Wow: why not?

Initial gear reviewers emphasized the flimsiness of the RE design. Too much 'plastic', wobble in the front-element extension, and so on. Just the sort of things that can go wrong with an "as-is" lens? As it traveled toward me here on the wrong coast I chose to look at user reviews ..and I was surprised by its rating, which was on average comfortably higher than the 18-55. People really do like this version - users not reviewers - and my hopes went up that my incoming copy would be better than 'as-is'.

Well it's here - and it's great!

That 'as-is' disclaimer was quite pessimistic; I expected issues with AF, zoom/retraction mechanism or ..well, something. I have found no issues that limit its full capabilities. Hooray!

So I have a silent-focus WR lens that fits snugly against an equally-WR body. Nice! That saves me plenty of concern about the short end of the focal range (no 17-50 or 17-70 types need apply). It does make the 70 Limited more useful than a DA21, and beyond that the smc-M 100mm and 200mm can take over when the slowpoke Sigma 100-300 isn't the right choice. Sure the 18-50 is pretty slow in the aperture dept. but if that's its only 'issue' I can live with it.

Too bad it doesn't come in silver..