Well, I'm back I

- back in my comfort zone with a Pentax camera. No surprise there, but the trip was a strange one; I’ve had no Pentax digital SLR for several months now, but many lenses remained that had near-zero resale value. 

First off let me confess (again): I have owned so many camera bodies since 2010 that I’ve lost count. My best guess is K100d then K-7, whose sensor drove me to try G1 and GH1. Then I found the joys of owning a K-5. After that it gets hazy, and includes two K200d, every flavor of K-5, two each of K-r, K-s1 and k-01,  a silver K-3ii and at least two K50. We can also include EM10, EM5, ePM2 and ePL5/6/7, G7, GX7, GM1, GX1 and GF2 – not to mention a couple of Samsung NX300 bodies. And don’t bother asking about lenses!

The pattern that caused this amount of turnover repeated often, sometimes in the same year. Assemble a good kit for decent prices, then sell it cheap and step up. Immediately encounter a financial issue that requires a selloff (other things too but mostly easily-moved camera gear). Pick up a consolation prize soon after for cheap and repeat the cycle. Occasionally alternate between Pentax and Panasonic, just in case.

Our finances have been seriously strained for a while, so two GX1 and kit lenses were all we could manage. As things began to look up at last, I looked over what was missing in my kit. The major point to me was weather seals; I recall worrying about the GX1 as it sat on a glove surrounded by a foot of snow as we cruised past it on saucers. I could do better, and either system could make it happen. How best to address that on a budget, given that I owned no sealed lenses?

The bargain µ43 setup would be an EM5 and the Oly 12-50mm lens, which would be at least $350. The better options to my mind would be an EM1 or G85 paired with a Lumix 12-60mm - but that would be $700-950 to make that happen.

My other issue to be addressed is the hidden electronic manipulation of 4Thirds images. I’ve learned to live with focus-by-wire, but when images are autocorrected for distortion and color fringing I get.. nervous. Those corrections are optional in Pentax bodies but only by developing micro43 raw files with ‘non-conforming’ software can I see the untouched image. Results are still good – but it still feels uncomfortable.

I searched optimistically for a K-s2 but the budget suggested a lower price would be best, so I settled for a lightly used olive-green K50 with repaired aperture-control part that is prone to fail on mid-tier Pentax bodies. The 18-55WR and body came to less than $250, which no µ43 body can match!

And so my elder lenses have a natural home again. Sigmas 28-80 and 100-300 ‘slowpoke’, Rikenon 70-150 f/4 XR, and Pentax 18-250 (no autofocus), A50 and M100 can be used as before.

If I can trust my previous post (and the title says it all!), this is my fourth K-50.. ergo K-54?

If I start looking to acquire a higher-spec body I hope I remember writing this!

Here's the latest olivine camera and its stylish '70s strap!

For shame. Timeout.

I've just skimmed my past posts* and learned just how big a problem I have with holding on to camera gear. Several absurdly excellent kits were tossed back into the pool for pathetic reasons. I called myself out several times, and then excused my behavior as financially driven. That's only true because I overreached when I already owned really nice gear but wanted more - and that's entirely on me and my collecting/hoarding illness.

* Of course I don't read my own blog, I write all this for mythical others.. or so I've told myself.


Therefore read, and Learn!

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Could anything embarrass me more than this note from April 2015?

For a total of $118 I have two |k-r|bodies in like-new condition with a total of 130 shutter actuations.  

Well perhaps this from July of 2011?

The k-x became a k-r, and several lenses came swiftly. Some were bargains, others simply irresistible - but the result was too many lenses, especially considering that family health issues kept us from traveling to photogenic places. I took some great shots of the yard and my bike commutes to work.. but any camera could do such things justice.

Or even Nov 2010?

So why don't I just buy more Pentax stuff with that gift card? Fact is, I'm all out of 'needs' there.   I have modern lenses (16-45, 50-200 and 55-300) plus a half-dozen manual primes and intermediate zooms.  I have a nice tripod and a flash sufficient for my needs, and several SD cards.  Not only is that enough, it's too much - especially as I've been homebound and not able to use much of this.  
A smaller camera with decent IQ would provide just as much camera satisfaction and be a smaller cash drain.

The occasional great image I've taken in the intervening thirty months since I owned the K-r would certainly look no worse with that camera. Or a K200d and Sigma 18-200 (March 2011). Or the K100d, 16-45 and 55-200 Sigma (June 2010).

What cameras have I owned in the past five years? Let me gasp as I count them - and several were owned more than once..

• Pentax 200d/k-r/7/5/5ii/5iis/3ii/s1 
• mu43 pm2/pl5/pl6/em10/em5/g7/gm1/gx7/gx1 
• fuji f550, nikon-1, oly e500 and Samsung NX300 
• lenses: easily a few dozen in K mount, perhaps twenty µ43/4Thirds
• imaging-related tags in this blog: ~190

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What have I gained from all this? Precious little.

What I lost: time energy.. and now, self respect.

And with this fresh in my mind,

I shall walk away from 'gear talk' on this blog for a spell.

the Contestants

In the category of Most-useful Compact Camera with Interchangeable lenses in a Personal role, we now have three* possibilities.

the Big Little Three: EM5, ePL5, NX300 (clockwise from top). Image taken with K-01.

Samsung NX300. Largest sensor, most pixels (20M), a few great little lenses.. and a system whose future is in doubt. Samsung has gone totally silent, and no rumors suggest that another brand is picking up the tech.  Nobody wins with this: bad Samsung PR, poor user comfort even if they own great gear. They still have nice small primes (16, 30, 45, 60 macro), the compact 16-50 with optical stabilization and very few telephotos that are either massive (50-150/2.8) or the 50-200, a decent but not amazing lens.  So Samsung has chosen to take itself off the radar.. too bad as the NX300 is a really nice camera.

Olympus ePL5. The best micro4:3 sensor to date (this is the 16Mpix sensor, the new 20Mpx has not been reviewed much), NX size or a bit smaller, all necessary controls and an option to add a viewfinder. Very comparable to the NX300 but with a future that's more visible and reasonable.

Olympus em5. A bit larger than the ePL5 but same imaging pipeline (sensor, processing, options).  A bit taller since the eVF is built in, and weather seals too. Two control dials for easier adjustments while preparing to shoot. And at some point one might be able to see the 5-axis stabilization win out over the ePL5 and its lesser axes of correction. I don't plan to actively seek out the difference so I'm not greatly concerned.

*The fourth possibility is the Pentax K-01 that took these photos. Far larger than any, another great 16Mpix sensor but APSc / NX300 size. Also white like the NX300, curiously enough. It uses a bunch of lenses that I already own, has focus peaking (the Olympi do not) and can take decent movies.  Here's the K-01 and ePL5 matched up, the 28mm f/2 Kiron is on the K-01.



*Might as well include the fifth option, which is/was the Oly ePM2.  The red one I briefly owned was great fun and smaller then the PL5 but it has no tilt screen. The VF option is there though, and that does tilt - and images equal those from the em5 and PL5. So the PM2 is still a decent choice, really, and the bargain of the bunch. The shot at right compares the PM2 and NX300.

So how do they all compare in the real, non-laboratory world?

All are quite good at what they do, and any differences in image qualities would not impact me. I owned the Pentax and Samsung first so they are more familiar to operate, and in many ways do things in similar ways. I do wish Pentax could take over the NX technology but no news of that = no more time spent on that dream. The Olympus menus are a bit more dense than the others, but worse than that is their cryptic, non-traditional references to what is actually being adjusted.  Irritating, but ultimately one can adapt.

Having seen the various results I'd say the most recent Micro4:3 and APSc sensors are quite evenly matched - it took a few years to get there but with Sony making sensors for both sensor types that's not a great surprise.  No doubt shots above iso6400 will reveal differences, but one can fine-tune the camera before the shot and mess with images later with desktop software. Therefore the differences aren't sufficiently relevant to me that any of these cameras is rejected or required.

For basic zooms the kit 14-42mm is much smaller than the Pentax 18-55, though Pentax now has a retractable 18-50 kit zoom which I have not tried. I've found that the NX 16-50 is pleasantly small and images with it are quite nice. As to primes, all three systems make excellent primes and the 'larger' Limited lenses from Pentax are easily as good as the others. So the wider end is not as big of a deal using any of these systems for lenses that I tend to choose; it's the telephotos that show the most difference.

The Olympus 40-150mm and Samsung NX or Pentax-DA 50-200s (all 80-300mme) do similar work, but the Oly is much less bulky and therefore more likely to come along. If one must have f/2.8 telezooms those lenses for all systems will be large, and I would want a large body to hold such lenses; however I am not interested in shooting at f/2.8 above 100mm so it's not relevant to me.

Given similar enough results and both lens sizes and Samsung's uncertain future, I feel that the micro4:3 gear will serve me/us best going forward. My wife and I can enjoy the ePL5 and em5 with pretty much identical results. The issues between them are small but could become nagging, as they use different batteries. I'm tempted to seek the em10 as a swap for the em5 - I would lose the weather seals but gain a match for power source and get a slightly smaller camera as well. We'll see about that. Or the ePM2 could make a return visit and go along with either of these. In any case images will be more than sufficiently excellent for my needs and uses, and I will dare to say for my wife as well.

retrenching a bit, and new thoughts

When the G7 failed to work out I let a lot of micro-43 gear go elsewhere.  Not everything left in a hurry so a few odds and ends are still here, like the 30mm f/2.8 Sigma and some extension tubes and adapters remain.   While negotiating sales on the last few µ43 items in my collection, I encountered other owners' sales of their Olympus E-PM2 bodies.

Wow, some of the smaller used bodies are cheap!  They should be cheaper than the NX300 since the sensor cannot keep up, I'd expect.. but checking online shows me the excellent Sony 4/3 sensor is in the ePM2, the same one that the EM5 and later models use.  The ePM2 is (slightly) smaller than the nx300 and takes telephoto lenses that are far smaller than the APSc sensors will allow.  Interesting.

Personally I've viewed Olympus Pen (really all their cameras) with a jaundiced eye (whatever that is, why does a yellow eye make a difference?) - my thoughts align well with this New Camera News post. How would I choose a P/PL/PMx (where x=1 to 5) and know which feature-set I had, or didn't have?  The EM5/10/?? feel the same way. Too many similar-looking cameras with discontinuous numbers and letters that fail to convey how things differ.  Ugh.

I have always entered the µ43 system through the Panasonic door, and never the Olympus. The Olys have in-body IS like the Pentax bodies, so you'd think I would have tried one by now.  The confusion above was one deterrent, the appeal of the Lumix bodies another.  But given the NX300 currently in hand why should the Olympus bodies be shunned?  My NX300 plus 20-50 lens has no IS at all, and to acquire an IS lens would cost more than the PM2.  Interesting again!

The PM2 is set up as the 'entry' Pen body, and with no mode dial it seems pretty crippled.  But it has a touchscreen and control panel similar to Pentax' Info-button screen (and the NX300 one too) which makes many functions easy. I'm liking what touch screens offer on cameras, both as an alternative to buttons & dials plus the ability to AF on demand to a specific location. So the leaner option is as good image-wise as the beloved OMD EM-5± and can take lenses that will fit better in a large pocket or small rucksack.  That's a good thing.

The down-scaling that comes with making a lens cover only the 4:3 sensor allows for a smaller 100mm lens, and it produces images that print like a 200mm (or a 150mm on APSc), so less actual telephoto mm yields bigger results. That's another good thing.. and add the really low price for 'strike three'.

I'm not planning to do a major dump/rebuild.. but I might dabble a bit. The price is low enough that, whatever the result, the 'rental' cost would be pretty low.

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On the Pentax side, I'm letting the HD55-300mm WR lens go. Crazy again, but that's the 4th time I've done that so it's not a huge surprise.  I own both the Quantaray 100-300 and a Spiratone 300mm mirror lens, and all three around 300mm look interchangeably similar.  So I'm swapping the HD for a WR 50-200mm, which is much smaller and takes smaller filters.  This will clarify when to carry which big lens, since I had so much overlap above 200mm. It also brings cash back into the system, which can be used for the 'dabbling' above!

more K-1 camera comparisons

http://camerasize.com/compare/#659,462 - | - http://camerasize.com/compare/#462,394

The mirrorless camera evolution is about many things, but size is a big one (ha?) Putting a 24×18 or 36×24 sensor into a smaller body with less moving parts saves cubic inches, grams and potential breakdowns. And presumably costs are lower, but of course that's not easy to prove.

However: the size factor breaks down somewhat since lens size still has to match up with the camera sensor lest the corners of all your images go dark.  Smaller sensors like 4:3 helps shrink the lenses - but then owners crave really fast glass to compensate for the smaller sensor size.. The 24×18 crowd want fast zooms with lots of great optics.  The 36×24 say "where is my fast gear?" The lenses are only a bit smaller for mirrorless than for dSLR for the same sensor since the lens must send light to the entire sensor regardless of body type.  And so smaller cameras (with small gripping areas) begin to spout large, unwieldy lenses requested by the users, especially at the telephoto end.  

My NX300 is great for short zooms at the wide end or for fairly wide primes.  My K-50 won't fit in any reasonable pocket even with a pancake prime.  Step up to the K-1 and you must accept the bulk whatever lens you choose - it's half again the weight of the K-50 but the cubic inches will also be significant! 

Looking at my current set of K-mount lenses, I am well covered in both 'FF' and APSc formats. So if the lottery funds flow our way it could be managed optically.  As to physically, it would be a shock - but the NX300 could be the easy-shot camera when it came to distinctions.

• 36×24 "FF" primes = 28, 50, 135, 300, 400mm
• 36×24 "FF" zooms = 15-17mm fisheye*, 35-105/3.2-4, 80-200mm f/3.5, 100-300 (15-400mm)
• 24×18 APSc = 10-17 fisheye, 18-55WR, 55-300WR plus all the above (15-450mme + 600mme prime)

*10-17mm fisheye >15mm as shown on K-1 demo pages!

I swear I'm not actually planning to buy a K-1 any time in the future - but its features are enough to make me consider the benefits of strapping a massive camera to my chest.  I honestly did not expect that, as even the K-3ii seems like a lot of camera.  But everything that APSc flagship camera can do, the K-1 does better - and more features besides, many of which I find.. intriguing.

Below is a link to the specs, and a subset that highlights all the gee-whiz new-to-me features and improvements that my K-50 lacks.

http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/k-1/spec/index.html

CMOS. Size: 35.9 x 24.0 (mm)  Effective Pixels Approx. 36.40 megapixels
Dust Removal Image sensor cleaning using ultrasonic vibrations "DR II"
Sensitivity  ISO AUTO/100 to 204800 (EV steps can be set to 1EV, 1/2EV or 1/3EV)
Image Stabilizer Sensor-shift shake reduction (SR II : Shake Reduction)(5-axis)
File Formats File format RAW (14-bit PEF/DNG), JPEG
Dual SD slot Sequential Use, Save to Both, Separate RAW / JPEG, Image copy between slots possible
Viewfinder Overlay AF Points, Grid Display, Electronic Level, AF Frame, Spot Metering Frame, Crop
LCD Outdoor View Setting Adjustable ±2 step
Focus Sensor SAFOX 12, 33 point (25 cross type focus points in the center)
Metering Type TTL open aperture metering using 86K pixel RGB sensor, Multi-segment, Center-weighted and Spot metering
Metering Range EV-3 to 20 (ISO100 at 50mm F1.4)
EV Compensation ±5EV (1/2EV steps or 1/3EV steps can be selected)
Multi-Exposure Composite Mode (Additive/Average/Bright)Number of Shots(2 to 2000 images)
Capture Settings Custom Image includes Flat
Clarity 'Adjustable ±4
Skin Tone Type1/Type2
Pixel Shift Resolution Available, Motion Correction ON/OFF
GPS GPS Logging (Logging Interval, Logging Duration, Memory Card Options), GPS Time Sync
Customization USER Modes Up to 5 settings can be saved
Button Customization Fx1 Button, Fx2 Button (One Push File Format, Outdoor View Setting, Flash Mode, Pixel Shift Resolution, Shake Reduction, Horizon Correction, Electronic Level) AF Button (AF1/ AF2/ Cancel AF) separate AF and AE buttons
Hold AF Status: OFF, Low, Medium, High
Power Supply Battery Type Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery D-LI90P
Wireless LAN Standards IEEE 802.11b/g/n
Weight Approx. 1010g (Including dedicated battery and SD Memory Card),Approx. 925g (body only)

attempting a slow-but-steady path

For once my new-years imaging resolution is to use the same cameras throughout 2016! 
If that comes true it might be the hardest thing I've ever done.. not quite, but very true photographically.  Since 2010 I've switched cameras/bodies at least fifteen times - several were due to finances but many were just frivolous adventures.  Finances have stabilized now so it's time to become a photographer again for my main hobby, instead of gear-swapper! 

After the quick and over-eager attempt to make mic4:3 my system of choice, I found the drain in funds to be alarming. Even with great bargains the adventure was becoming a large cash drain.  After more thinking and less rationalizing I returned the camera and sold off a couple of lenses. . and prepared to restore my Pentax collection, which had not quite vanished.

 A 'used' red Pentax  K-50 + 18-55wr kit and a 'like new' HD55-300wr lens arrived soon after - in the K-50 case 'used' meant a shutter count of TWO including the one I took to check the shutter count!  Neither 18-55 nor 55-300 has ever let me down in a way I could attribute to them, and both are weather ready but with greater range than my previous kit. 

I've also picked up a bargain 10-17mm fisheye for max versatility in K mount.  The fisheye zoom has often interested but never joined me; until now I've been a prime ultrawide user, having tried the DA15 and both Sigma 15mm and classic Pentax SMC 17mm fisheyes.  Oh I did have the F 17-28 fisheye briefly, come to think of it.

So I'm set at 10-300mm, and weather resistant above 17mm.
I've never had such a full focal-length range at my disposal!

On the small side of things, I've reverted to Samsung's NX300 rather than going micro4:3. The nx500 has pushed this model aside with its newfangled sensor and 4k video, but my time with the 300 last year left me quite impressed.  The one is white, and will be for my wife; I will add a darker one for myself later.¹ In the meantime I'll be thoroughly testing it out for her with shots like the K50 image above, and hopefully a few more creative offerings. It's been a while since I used a date-stamp camera - more precisely I did not know my previous NX300 had that feature!

I also snatched up a bargain copy of the well-liked 16-50 with OIS for it, so the kit is really small and image stabilized! It boasts a talented 20Mpx APSc sensor and many cool features that I managed to pick up quickly (unlike the G7, sadly).  The white 20-50mm lens came with the camera; it gets fine reviews but its lack of IS makes it less useful compared to the smaller, wider 16-50.  This bargain copy came in black but is available in white; assuming my wife likes this camera, the black lens will be mine & a white 16-50 will come soon for hers!

We'll have no native NX telephoto option right now - but telephoto isn't a good fit anyway for a kit that's buile to be tiny; a PK>NX adapter will do for non-stabilized telephoto shots with good light and/or a tripod.  Maybe later we shall do something about this - but Samsung has implied by its silence that its NX lineup is being phased out, so maybe not?

  I suppose my Q should be worried; the nx is a bit larger but the sensor difference is massive.

¹stay tuned - I found a second white body at an even better sub-$200 price, plus something to make them distinctive :^)  If I can pull this off my wife will be quite impressed with her anniversary gift!

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?