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.

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..