tech burnout

How many ways can one acquire technical fatigue?

Here's a few:

• dumping more gear and holding on to older, less-advanced models -again
• gear chat that leads nowhere and repeats long-settled issues
• glowing reports of gear I cannot afford taking photos of places I cannot afford to visit
• ad-friendly web advancements like turning off mute when autoplaying junk video, and loading ads before actual site content
• insert your gripe here

As a result of these issues and more it's time to declare a moratorium. Comments to gear threads must stop, even if I have a reasonable comment. Too often my unreasonable comments take precedent, whether silly or snarky; a waste of bandwidth and both the writer's and reader's time.

Wish me luck, I shall definitely need it.

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The Sigma 19mm has arrived. It's a fine lens for my use, determined after a day of tests which included a quick tour of Laurelhurst park in Portland. 

The GX7, Lumix 14 and Sigma 30 departed for evaluation and purchase. My best hope is that they overpay for the first two and send back the 30mm, so I can have a matched set of EX DN lenses!

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.

small change

I've been looking over the fisheye options for the GX system. My recent preference was the 7Artisans f/2.8 model, but someone sold their nameless C-class option at a further discount. Given recent news on the dental-expense front, I figured it was now (barely), or never to buy the lowest-cost option.
So here it is!

It arrived today just as I was heading to town. Smoke was drifting near the sun as the east wind blew smoke out of the Eagle Creek fire in the Columbia Gorge - a fine time for this lens to arrive and capture it. Hopefully the weekend rains will give that fire a serious dousing as the terrain is very difficult for fire-fighting.

reconnecting with GX7

The GX7 has found its way back into my kit.

taken with GX1 and Sigma 30/2.8

Having done the GX7-GX1-GX7 return loop, I now understand better what an improvement the Seven really is. The rather primitive GX1 touchscreen took a major step forward in usability, using stabilized primes is wonderful, and internal features like time-lapse and EV-4 focus are not always needed but really great to have.

I've been rereading the books and e-books about using the GX7 and re-watching videos about the feature set. It sure was a well-liked camera when it came out! Although the silver/chrome combo with the 14-42 is a poor match in good light, I do like the camera's satin chrome finish over the all-black that I had before.

aftermath of the Shadow's passing

cropped and re-leveled but not really processed.. yet!

Since the eclipse on 21.August, several changes have occurred in many types of gear.

• Our largest telescope has sold, 
• an eyepiece and the Canon A720is sold at the star-party swap meet - and 
• the K-5 that took the photo above (and many others) has moved to Carolina.

In some ways this was ideal! I got to use the 'scope before it sold and the K-5 was the superior imaging system to have on-site. The GX1 isn't bad by any means, but the K-5 has the better sensor for dynamic range and pixel size - so no complaints here.

and I have the silver 14-42mm lens!
from imaging-resource.com review

These changes allowed me to pick up another bargain GX7. The GX85 and GX8 are tempting in different ways, and I even considered the current deal on the YI-M1 + 12-40mm lens - but for now the familiar and lower-priced GX7 will serve very nicely while other debts are paid down. I enjoyed the GX7 in black but prefer the look of the silver model.

What next for my µ43 kit?
I'd like the set of 7.5/14/20/30 for primes, meaning that a 7.5mm fisheye and 20mm f/1.7 Lumix might be sought in the near future. I've learned of the 7Artisans f/2.8 fisheye which is competitive with the Samyang in many ways for a somewhat lower price, so when the time comes we'll see what prices look like. Also there's no denying the appeal of the 60mm Sigma and even the 100-300 Lumix.. but the 45-150 is both talented and tiny so it will be sufficient for now. I still have a K-mount copy of the Quantaray 100-300, which is less convenient than the Lumix version but somewhat stabilized on the GX7 so that's fine too.
Also: focus peaking is back, how nice!

Busted :¬(

I am forced to admit that Pentax gear brings out the hoarder in me.
I cannot explain it.

With my Sony gear I did my share of swapping lenses, to a lesser degree - but that's not really a surprise since I've used Pentax gear far longer. The latest K-5 purchase spun up an amazing kit in a hurry, at great prices - yet once again it was more kit than I could really afford. The acquisitive feelings are still with me in the micro43 world, but I have managed to be a bit more resistant.
Is that from years of practice, the system itself, or something else entirely?
Hard to say.

I really want to just love one system that does everything - but without more funding that's just not possible. And Pentax is such a good fit for me, thanks both to their design philosophy and my spending enough time in the system to make it work well for me.

I suspect that a some amount of gear should go pretty soon. Again.
Will I choose wisely this time? Hope so!

Reconstructions

After some consideration, and the arrival of the 18-50, I decoded to unmake the 18-55wr and remake the 50-200wr. This frees up the 55-300 to become cash like it was supposed to be and that we can make use of in non-photo categories.

Sometimes reassembly of a Pentax lens takes five minutes..this time it was a bit over an hour. Resetting the six gold data-transmission pins takes time, then in this case the wr gasket must be right, then setting the mount gently so the data pins poke through without bending or springing out - everything just right or start over!

I started over about a dozen times. The pins fell out, then they were right but the AF drive pin had fallen out. More pin issues ensued but it was finally assembled - however, the lens was not sending data. Sure enough a pin had slipped out, so a few more attempts (and re-seating the wr gasket twice) finally produced a functional 50-200mm lens. AF works, metering works, focal length is reported to stabilizer and to image file. All is well.* Again!

add 100-300 Sigma 'slowpoke' when range is needed

With this decision made, the kit clears up a bit. 
I have cast the kit upon KEH' buying department, I'd like to keep the 17-28, 18-50 & 50-200wr and send off the rest. That plus the K-5 is a 1.5kg kit of small lenses and decent range. Good enough for my purposes - and the 100-300 can stay too for longer (eclipse?) shots.

If KEH would offer more for the 17-28 I would tolerate the extra 200 grams and keep the Tamron 10-24mm in its place. And if they offer a decent number for all things Pentax.. so be it.

*Except for the 18-55 of course, which is now mount-less. Again!!

Update - a new/used Lumix 14-42ii is on its way, so my 'need' for the Sigma 19 (or any 17-20mm prime) has been lowered.. theoretically! This one will be black, so we can more easily tell our cameras apart - as if my spouse's pink neck strap was insufficient.

Today's Thinking

My ideal kit is now here. I may not recognize it yet but it's still true.. probably. Sure it would be much different with a $2k budget, but that is not coming about soon.

Part of my kit problem is that some of this should not be here. The 55-300 was supposed to be a check, the 17-28 fisheye would not be here if the 10-24 deal did not fall apart for 10 days, and in fact the K-5 was supposed to be a GM1! Go figure. On the other hand, the E500 and 4Thirds gear became much more useable as the 17-28 and some of these lenses can still become cash.. inevitably.

So here is today's Favorite Kit. *
F17-28, because small is beautiful
S18-50 for silence and a pinch more speed
DA50-200wr, see 17-28 + wr protection
S100-300 fast focus and decent IQ
S28-200 to pair up with 17-28 now and then

* Tomorrow is another day; I shall worry about that kit tomorrow. (Katie Scarlett O'Hara)

Honestly, I really like the other lenses. Nobody really dislikes results from the 55-300 in any of its many forms..but oh that pokey focus. And going to 10mm is amazing..now and then. The 18-55wr is small and talented and wr, and anyway I can't sell it with a non-wr lens mount. Guess it stays too, in the closet.