A new way to work

 I spent part of the day with my S5, changing button- and Q-menu settings. After recording the current settings on a spreadsheet, I looked closer at this:

.. and there were pretty much all the settings I use in one place! And even a couple more, like HLG and flash adjustments. Better still, the control panel and EVF are separate - so having it on the big screen doesn't limit my shooting through the eyepiece! 

Maybe I don't need to program the joystick to control additional Fn buttons after all .. 

I spent some time attempting to shoot birds with the S 70-300mm. Nearly all were grounded for no particular reason, but I shot in af-c anyway. I tried disconnecting AF from the shutter button but that didn't go well today. I'm still learning the camera and stumbling over whether ISO or white balance is in the middle position, and where that video button is hiding.

Practice, and practice more:  that's what I need to do!!

Battle of the White Cams!

I got two great deals on a prospective second camera companion for the S5. 

First came a K-01, aka the mirrorless Pentax. Nearly universally panned for style and a few awkward details, it's a fine example of bad timing to market.* With a bargain 18-50re lens (also white), it's fairly quiet and has the sweet-16Mpx aps/c sensor that made the K5 and D7000 famous.

I was almost immediately caught by an online  discount offer for a white Oly e-p5. With Sony's 16Mpx μ43 sensor that propelled the eM5 to glory, but in a smaller body crammed with features. Sadly, no white lenses are available.. 

White body but silver top on the e-P5. Each has its normal lens attached: smc-A 50/2 and TTartisan 23/1.4.

As I put them against each other, neither has a viewfinder; the e-P5 does have a hotshoe evf available bit it isn't .. pretty. Both have a flash, unlike the S5, and the K-01 can use an external microphone.

Each has its special feature mix, and each has its awkward moments: Pentax put lipstick on a brick but previous Pentax users like me adjust fine, while Olympus menus are challenging to anyone who didn't practice with an eM5 first. 

Both have sensor stabilized bodies, neither has wx seals. The e-P5 has two control dials, the K-01 just one. The Oly autofocus was speedy in its day, with years of mirrorless practice over Pentax, but neither is great when light levels drop. And both are lightly used: the k-01 has just over 10k clicks, the e-P5 under 2600!

As a former user of both systems, I have more comfort with the Pentax environment. My best-liked cameras were the K-5ii and e-M1. It's a tough call at first blush, but I don't feel rushed.

As to lenses in hand, 

• I have 27-300eq in two Pentax AF zooms, plus their fine DA40xs, 70/2.4 Limited and 35/2.8 macro primes - and a few K-mount oldies (28, 50, 85, 135 and manual zooms).
•  For μ43 I have 20-600eq in a Laowa 10mm, Lumix 12-32 + 14-140 and four-thirds Oly 70-300. Also, the Pentax gear can be adapted, but with no electronic contacts. A few fast native primes with no contacts rounds out that kit.

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Second blush - among the lenses I listed was one important omission. I have two native K-mount macros, the 35/2.8 Limited and Sigma 50/2.8 in manual focus. These can both be adapted to the Pen, but only the 35 Limited can autofocus and expose. Since I have many slides and negatives to copy, that could prove important. Also worth noting is a K-01 effect to reverse all colors in an image, handy for color negatives. It also has 3-shot HDR for difficult high-contrast shots.. which means Kodachrome slides. While the eP5 has great extras including stabilized video, those points might be overwhelming.

Sigma 50 and Pentax DA35 Limited, plus PK-L adapter

On the other hand, the Sigma 50/2.8 is also useable on the S5. The 35 Limited is almost so, with only mild vignetting when shooting 4:3 aspect images; at 3:2 native ratio the aps-c macro has distinctly black corners.

So the best image should come with the S5 then K-01 whichever lens is used. But.. most people duplicating slides and negatives this way claim that 14-16Mpx is plenty good enough to resolve the grain of most old film images. More resolution and detail doesn't really help the image in that case! To settle it for myself, I'll need to shoot a couple of sample slides with the K-01 and S5, decently focused and similarly lit, and see what I see. I might as well test drive the eP5 while the setup is there. 

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* It was too large (2025 models are larger), retained the K mount (genius to some), and CDAF was too slow (true) - but a K-02 could easily be made with sensor PDAF, a viewfinder, and the KAF4 mount with electronic aperture control.

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kit

Looking ahead, not back

1 Feb 2025

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The Lumix S5 kit is ready for 2025! 

The newest addition is a used Lumix-S 85/1.8. So much for my perpetual search for the Pentax-M 85/2 that's been ongoing for about six months! The plan was finding a 35mm first, but a Pentax 40xs will do fine.. for now.

The Pentax set is reborn!

A white K-01 is coming along with an 18-50re kit lens. This will be quickly introduced to the many K-mount lenses on hand. I've also ordered a Q-ray 28-90 1:2 zoom, which performed very well with earlier versions of this kit. Update: a 50-200wr is also coming. Most people select the 55-300 and it's a great lens, but for this kit the 50-200 will be enough reach.

The sample below looks great in my album!

sure why not

I made a straight trade, essentially: eM1 and a couple of lenses for K-01 and 18-50re (both white!).

What I lose:

• weather+chill sealed body
• some compactness
• a complex menu structure
• PDAF focusing

Do I gain? I believe I did!

• a very familiar Pentax operating system
• a camera that can use Very small DA lenses (DA40+70 on hand) with no adapter!
• a 'casual' body that looks silly not serious
• flash available at a button press

And the similarities are good ones:

• decent image stabilization inside
• acceptable HD video with optional mic input
• spare batteries on hand

The loss of weather protection is covered by the S5, so one camera it another can compensate. 

Once again, my keeping Pentax lenses around drags a PK body back into my kit. I looked at a K200d, but the K-01 also has happy memories, and a more up-to-date sensor means nice results and simple video. Nothing magical by modern standards, I grant you, but still respectable dXo test results - far higher than the eM1 could manage with its smaller scale.

Should be a fun team. 

And most of the Pentax lenses will serve time on the S5 in "classic" manual or A-priority modes.

the Snow Month looms

 Well, it's almost February - our historically snowiest month on the hill-top. January has mostly been dry, cold and clear, with about 1/3 of normal precipitation. The pattern change is right on schedule!

I have surgery scheduled for mid-March based on our February snow history; looks like it was a good idea.

It's still about a week away, so no doubt the numbers will dance a while before the event unfolds.

Update: a respectable forecast! We had 2" in the 2nd, melted half of it then added two more! Quiet on the 4th but more showers on the 5th. No big dump (which was not predicted) and it was gone below 400'.

My First Sensor Bath

Until now I've been able to dislodge dust with a squeeze blower. Last week I took many images at the local park/lake and after further review, I saw spots! 

When I saw the images I knew just what to do - until I saw the spots. These were not dusty bits holding on to the sensor glass by electrostatic magic, they were once-liquid blobs. Like rain on a windshield. I dabbed at them gently but they were not persuaded to leave, and once I applied a touch more pressure I had a smear. 

It was clearly time for a wet cleaning!

I was not afraid of the process, but it hadn't been necessary until now. I learned that newer designs like rakes are common now, and my kit arrived in a short time.

The kit was simple, just a cleaning solution and a dozen or so long-handled rake/trowel thingies each wrapped individually. Two drops on each side, a swipe back and forth at a rather shallow angle (no poking!), and .. done!

I'm not sure if the camera came to me that way; I should think I looked at the sensor last month when the S⁵ first arrived but I'm not certain. And I don't know what the firm liquid was: I remember the Nikon D600 and its oil issues, but I'd expect the odds of oil spatter is much greater on an SLR than a mirror-free design.

But what do I know about it? Can't believe everything I read in the virtual world. Not even my own work, especially when I claim to own the perfect kit and will shop no more. Oopz.

I shall be watching my sensor more closely now!

Plumbing day. Again?

Our master shower has been running cold lately. It occurred to me that our other shower would do fine. 

I was wrong. The push-pull hot-cold part didn't provide any water of any temperature.

While looking into the magic cartridge that controls such taps I leaned that a lack of heat or cold is a possible sign of failure. How nice: they both need replacing!

I tried to visualize what the correct part would be on the local store's parts shelf, but clearly the best option was to bring a part with me - both parts, in case they differed.

The main bath cartridge didn't want to yield at first, but the master tap cartridge let go without trouble. I went back and did the same on the other and finally extracted a much smaller and incomplete part :√(

Exhibit A: 1½ cartridges

Off to the repair store again - this time with a samples! As I'd suspected the Moen 1200 was the right choice, and the specialist agreed that they were probably both the same despite what I carried. Once home I used a big drill bit and some pliers to yank out the remaining cartridge bits. Everything went smoothly after that! 

- Until I visited the water heater, where one more task waited me. While putting a light amount of pressure on the outlet post on top, the one task became two:

Exhibit B: outlet hose failure 

Off again to the store, and I decided to grab two hoses. I'm tired of digging into this closet to change out fittings!! I needed threads on one side and a slip-on clamp for the other, and it went together pretty well. All done?

Oh no - not yet. I'd totally forgotten the original reason for visiting the water heater, and it took full advantage of my forgetfulness when I restored the water pressure. All the hose work I performed had caused the suspect part to fail - so off with the water supply, again.

The problem was another fitting I had put in a year ago. The cold-water pipe had failed lower down, but a slip-on clamp solved the problem; parts for the hot side were in hand but it hadn't been updated. I knew it was a matter of time.. and that time had now come. The hard way.

After inspection I decided this last problem was in fact two, or perhaps more: two suspicious connectors (one showing it had failed, the other waiting its turn) plus poor routing of my new hoses from the water heater. One final store visit brought home a longer pipe, another slip-clamp connector and the right tools (locking pliers and pipe cutter) to see things done right.

I rerouted the heater hoses, shortened them a bit and replaced the old tubing and two connectors with a solid piece. I also marked the pipes to ensure the slip clamps were fully inserted, as a few drops along one hose weren't reassuring.

So my two-plus days of shopping drilling cutting and yanking are done, and everything is currently holding! Both showers have hot water again, toilets and dishwasher are functioning, and a bunch of wet towels are off the ground and in the laundry.

Oof.

Later - wow that was a hot shower! Perhaps the heater can be turned down a notch..

Also later - I found my pipe-cutting tool right after returning home with a new one. I look forward to all my missing lock pliers coming out of their hiding places soon!