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 danger of looking back

Aside from becoming a pillar of salt..

I was reviewing some older images (Pentax, of course) and to my horror it got me to thinking. The enjoyment of photography and the benefits of 24x18 sensors is valuable to me!

I've commented before on the distinct difference between dSLR imaging and modern mirrorless cameras. Here are some of them /the short version/.

• The EVF has benefits, but it is yet another screen to look at along with phone tablet computer and TV. I've had numerous issues this past week with all kinds of screens so I'm more vulnerable right now.
• The auto corrections for lenses is nice.. but having better lenses is my preference. When µ43 lenses are reviewed without corrections one sees just how hard the camera is working to reprocess images; the outer 1/3 of shots is reworked pretty hard.
• While µ43 depth of field is decent enough, it's not as impressive as aps-C shots.
• The GX1 is nearly as well known to me now as the K-5 was in the past; that's a good thing yet apparently makes subsequent bodies harder to enjoy. Yes, the complexity thing, again.
• Sensor specs, in-camera effects, yada yada²...

So off I went again, for the last time. Sure.

My first stop was shopgoodwill, where several Minolta A-mount deals were within reach for absurd prices. I bid on a Sony A100 and Maxxi 35-70/4 and 50/1.8 - for a total of about $50. Those were outbid, though amazingly not by much.

In the meantime I looked over various Pentax listings for a decent K-5, K-5ii or similar. I found a K200d in silver - I had no idea that they were made in silver!! - but it wasn't cheap compared to the black bodies. A seller had a K-5 available (black of course) and I sent along a note, which sat without response for a few days.

Then 'disaster' struck: a K-5 Silver Special edition for $220. Bingo! 

Now of course I need a silver lens. Maybe two.

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Oh yeah - this means the GX85 is leaving to fund this.. perhaps the 12-60 as well. Heck the 14-42 could also go if a 19mm Sigma shows up..

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Update: re-integrating the K-5 into my shooting

I'm surprised at what I remember, and what I don't. I used a K-50 most recently so it will take a bit of muscle retraining to get the buttons right again. At first blush I miss the touch-screen, love the optical view, and cannot tell the grip is different*. I do believe the shutter sound is slightly quieter than my non-Special K-5 bodies; it's a well-muffled click. Cool.

* and now I know why. According to PentaxForums the Silver Special was released twice: one with altered grip, and the next year with a silver DA40 xs lens (and apparently the standard grip). My grip is on the right here so not the super-special Special camera! I'm OK with this, but it's nice to know that a good reason exists for my not being able to tell the difference from my previous K-5 bodies.
Hm, I also just noticed my Silver body has the red/silver SR label not silver on black. Interesting!

Reunions

A new K5 team is coming together. First up is the 50-200 WR - in DAL form now, unlike the DA-only during the K-5's heyday. A copy of the DA not-L 18-55wr makes the team even more familiar, and wet-weather shooting is available again! Toss in the throwback Pentax 50 & 100mm primes, sigma 15/2.8 fisheye & the Q•ray 300/5.6 mirror-lens and we'll call things decently covered for K mount, at least for a while. Perhaps at some point the 18-55 will mutate to a *16-50 or HD16-85, but no hurry. Even more appealing would be to catch a DA21 and a 35 or 40!

The K-5 looks very good (was listed in E condition) but shows over 22k actuations! That makes its appearance even more impressive with that much use. I look forward to re-gaining experience with what has been my most-used (or longest-in-hand at least) Pentax body. Change may be a good thing, but going through a half-dozen bodies in two years is not.

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Another reunion came this week when I became reacquainted with a photo I took seven years ago. It was a dark and stormy afternoon, but the setting sun caught a line of storms as I walked across our local park. I took my Sony A200 home, broke out an early copy of PS Elements and removed some green tint and a few power lines. 

It's a nice memory- especially considering my wife was quite healthy in November 2009 when this was taken. Seven months later her health took an odd and frightening turn which even now has not been fully diagnosed or treated.  I've taken a few other good images since then, but seven years of our life together has passed that cannot be returned, and what comes definitely will never be the same as what could have been.