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.

for the last time..

The choice of standard zoom remains for me to select a winner. Lumix 14-42ii or 12-60? Miniature bulk or maximum versatility? What would I use more /miss less among the features?

Both these zooms receive generally good marks in online reviews. The larger lens has more range, weather seals and has not reached f/5.6 at 40mm so is a bit faster at the 14-42's long end. Adding hoods make them look similar in overall size but it's definitely not so - the 14-42 takes 46mm filters compared to 58mm on the 12-60. Weight isn't quite 2:1 but it's fairly close to that ratio. I like having 12mm but I can stitch two shots at 14mm when wide is a big deal.

So each has its values and drawbacks - no surprise there.

Here's the most valuable point of separation for me: close focus ability. Both get to nearly the same distance from an object but a 60mm closeup will out-scale a 42mm closeup every time in that circumstance. This is something I can see clearly, and that I will often use when I don't have my 10mm extension tube handy. I really don't need 1:1 closeup for my typical use (the 4Thirds 35/3.5 is for slide duplication more than general use) so flower shots and the occasional bug will do fine with the 12-60.

The last-body-ever hunt ended when a GX85 body was found for only slightly more than I expected to pay for a healthy GX7, so that's that. Complexity wins (as does updated shutter and better/dual IS!).

So here's where the kit stands now:
Body - GX85 (still holding GX1 and YI M1 w/kit lenses)
General-use lens: Lumix 12-60
Tiny telephoto: Lumix 45-150
Wide prime: Lumix 14/2.5
Bonus 4Thirds lenses:  ZD 35 macro & 70-300 tele

I'd love to spend a bit on more primes some day, and maybe the 35-100/2.8. Some day will not be any time soon, barring a massive financial windfall. Not much chance of that.

new record?

I still blush to look back at my kit in recent years, and the speed at which it mutated. I've really been reckless and I see very few times where the kit could be defined as a poor one. Many of those cameras barely had my finger-prints on them before heading out again.. and often at a small but ever-accumulating financial loss.

Given my lousy track record, it's noteworthy that I have now gone Four Months with no real kit changes!
OK that's not quite accurate - my October 9th post says a lens is on its way, and that one left again soon thereafter. The photo that I posted on that day is still my kit though :^/ - so near enough. Yes I also admit to a newer faster memory card - but given the speed of previous gear changes it's pretty good.

Of course being confronted with essentially zero budget for gear, perhaps pride is misplaced here.

ins & outs

As funds tighten again the GX7 and two primes departed, leaving the team photo a bit less full.

With the GX1 missing out on stabilization the primes become less useful despite their improved light-capture and overall IQ - so OIS lenses are more useful. A Sigma 19/2.8 is on its way though for 1-lens shooting days.

another gathering

I believe this will be my third copy of the Olympus 17mm f/2.8 that is coming soon. It always seemed so tiny - yet its specs are now matched by the 12-32mm Lumix zoom!  That's pretty amazing. In any case it completes my prime setup (for now): 17, 35 macro, 50 and 100. This time the 17/2.8 will come in black, which is handy for differentiating it from the zoom.

Also returned from the past is the Lumix 45-150mm compact zoom. Another non-speedy zoom, it reviews very well and maintains the µ43 penchant for keeping the overall kit small. I had planned to keep the Sigma 55-200 working as my telephoto of choice despite issues with slow focusing, but my lone bid at auction brings me this telezoom at a silly-good price. In fact the $90 in filters that comes with the lens is about the price I paid for the lens and filters! Several of the 45-150s have been offered for under $100 - at that price any user of µ43 cameras should own one. This lens looks cool in silver, but those were not going for the right price - so black will do nicely.

Now that I have a Panasonic camera in hand, it reduces my interest somewhat in an Olympus body for weather sealing. The Lumix line of sealed bodies is thin and expensive right now though (gx8 or g85) so I'm suspecting that an em5 Classic would be the better choice for the rest of 2017, after which a weather-resistant successor to the gx85 might come along. No proof of such things, yet that sounds like a reasonable next step (gx85+ seals+20Mpix sensor?). While the EM1 would allow my 4Thirds lens to come out and play more, I'm thinking that small is what I seek most with the micro setup - so the 45-150mm will pair up really well with the 12-60. The system offers no budget-type sealed telezooms right now, which is a bummer. Well OK the II-series 45-200 is now out, but at $449 I'll just say no.

the temporary trio

Interesting how the new Lumix lenses have contracted, compared to both earlier versions and the Olympus counterparts! It's decently smaller but still has OIS inbuilt. The 14-42/II shows the same reduced-cubic-inch design philosophy, and reports are great about improved IQ for both lenses.  Nice!
That 14-42/II will arrive early next week, racing the silver em10 to my door.