farewell October

 And so October 21 exits, with a few sunny days! That ends tonight (yes true, that happens every night) as November storms are lined up to get us through the wettest month of the year.

Interesting to see that three of our last four Octobers have been very similar in total rainfall. Note that November has generally been below the 30-year average (purple column at left) so calling it our wettest month has an asterisk. In fact January has been consistently above average over the last six years, so its average observed of 10.2" is our wettest month, with February close behind; Novembers have been the driest of the Oct-Feb period! Note that 20" October in 2017 though - the wettest of Any month here on the hill-top!

This should be sorted out soon, perhaps. The new 30-year averages will be out, and we'll see how adding 2010-20 (and dropping 1981-90) skews the averages. Sounds like I'll need to make a new tab in my Excel sheet!

The new PRISM data should be available in the next few months.

Our new 'lawn' has been challenged by the late-month deluge. We received over five inches of rain from the 20th through the 29th, and of course the sun angle has lessened substantially. Guess I need some gro-lights (or SAD lights?) for that dark corner of our yard! It is a sun-and-shade seed mix, but a pinch of daylight has become precious. Hopefully it will hang out and spring will rekindle its enthusiasm!

Why a ks|2? What changed?

 The K-5.ii series was my ideal camera at the time. At that time dSLRs ruled, it was the adolescent years for µ43, Sony renamed the NEX system as αlphα thereby abusing its own A-mount users, and Fujifilm was introducing the X system. Not to mention. . . . -Oops: start again-

The K-5.ii /.iiS was my ideal camera at the time. The K-5 was quite amazing, but the II series added an AF system with accuracy to EV-3 and 'stickiness' to AF point selection in continuous AF. The gapless screen on the back really improved the view. The AstroTracer on the K-5 bodies was also quite cool! And for what it's worth, the dXo score of 82 is the highest Pentax aps/c mark yet (though the K3/3 will probably claim that crown soon).

Future developments brought the K-3: it was a bit larger, annoyed purists with the "RICOH" logo on the back, and bumped up resolution.  A few cool features dropped in like composite modes (and later PixelShift in the 3.ii model). The AF switch became a switch and button, but no massive changes to its workings.

Developments also brought the K-S1: it was tiny, with a 'tweener 20Mpx chip - and dropped most everything Pentax dSLRs were known for (weather seals, two control dials.. even auto image rotation!). I bought one (OK maybe two) but could not manage the differences. I sure wanted to like it though, as the 20Mpx sensor impressed me and the new multi-WB feature sounded intriguing.

The K-3 series continues to this day, but the KS series made one more move (the KS|2) before restoring Pentax numerical tradition with the K70 (rendering the KS bodies as K∙60 stand-ins). Pentax referred to the S series as special/experimental/tech demo - so consider the K70 as the fruit of the KS labors.

Now - what makes the K70 a bump from the K62 -er KS|2? It got the 24Mpx sensor, more memory for image buffer and fps boost, and added a couple of features like the red night-view screen & an extra (unuseable but available) stop to iso 102400. Ah, it has 14-bit raw* instead of mere 12-bit depth on the K62.. important but not a deal-break for such as me. AF, VF, battery and battery life - all the same.

So is the K62 a loser? 

Not at all - it's the only NFC-enabled Pentax, for one. And the only 20Mpx with wx seals - claimed as the smallest and lightest sealed dSLR, though the K70 isn't behind by much there. And the earliest K-body with clarity adjustment in-camera!

In other words: it's the full* K-5iis imaging feature-set plus newer-tech composites and components. and a flip screen. It uses the smaller Li-109 battery not the Li90 so a second battery will be needed. Sounds good enough for me.

If it can be tarred with any brush, that would be for the cheap capacitor used for aperture actuation. Since failure of that part has been an issue with every K# body from 30 to 70 it's the biggest stain in Pentax' collection and shared by many. When the time comes, my soldering iron will be ready.

take a deep breath..

 now let it out.. slowly..

OK all better. Let's review!

Fuji has great possibilities, all of which can come once the budget is not what it is now. While I love the 15-45mm lens in theory, I am not convinced in practice except at 15mm. That's too bad, as it leaves too much space before the 35mm TTArtisan and then the Pentax trio of 50/85/135 come into play. Looking at optical benchmark sites I see a serious trend in the mirrorless game: a whole bunch of uncorrected lenses are achieving greatness through in-camera reprocessing for distortion. All of the Fuji mid-wide to mid-tele 'kit' lenses have 5% distortion at the wide end, often more. Processing for that much leaves marks, and opticallimits calls them out. Vignetting also, and occasionally chromatism. Really primes are the way to go - and while Fuji handles that space very well, it comes at a massive and currently unobtainable cost.

So for now Fuji is out, but on the futures watchlist.

I have the excellent eM1 and a couple of very nice lenses, so I'm OK with it.

But I'm left with a taste of APS-c goodness, and a sour taste for mirrorless. After all many of the µ43 'kit' lenses are massively corrected in-camera as well. I've always disliked that about the mirrorless game, but other cool features have kept me in place.

Really, where else could I go? Two answers: Nikon or ..Pentax. Again! 

• F mount: 17/50/85/90mm primes and 55-200 +100-300
• K mount: 50/85/135 trio plus a couple of zooms

Both of those have gaps galore, but Pentax can be filled with 16-45 or a WR 18-50 (among others). A futures option would be the 20-40 Limited zoom, or the 16-85 or ..who knows.

After a couple of years away, it seems the Pentax leftover lenses kept a grip on me after all!

So today I swung a deal (with a dealer, of all people): xT100 and 15-45 for a K-S2 body plus cash back. That cash can buy me an 18-50 if I choose that route.  Or maybe I'll go with a couple more primes and that's what the Pentax kit will be?

never before, never again?

8AM sunday, lowest central pressure

 No storm has been recorded on this side of the pacific ocean with such low pressure. Whether it's a complete one-off event, time will tell - but we already had one of those this year, with the July superheatwave! How many firsts can we manage?

Models are still struggling with such power to determine where the flow will take it. Generally they swerve more to the north before reaching the coast as they fill and weaken, but ensemble variations are high with this much energy seeking a path. Models are doing amazing work already, forecasting both this storm and the previous 953hPa low earlier in the week. Hard to complain, but residents would like as much warning before their trees and roofs take flight. 

estimated position Monday morning

Yikes!

Not actually as bad as that, since it's heading a bit north and weakening - but still a potent threat especially with this being one of many possible results.

Leaves are leaping from our maples under the hard rain and blustery weather from the passing fronts. Our hill protects us from S/SE storm winds if they do occur - at least until the trees atop the hill wear out from the pounding..

And by the way - forecast for the upcoming seven days is still at 3" or more, so the damp days we've just passed are being replaced by equally-damp ones at the end of October. No surprise, and it means that once again our monthly rainfall will be above average. Every single October of our seven years on the hill-top has been above average (though we'll admit one was by 0.01") so the streak continues. We're still almost two inches short as of the 23rd - but feeling pretty confident it will happen.

Update 10/27 - we reached 100% of the 30-yr average this evening!

late October, no surprise

 It's time for the Pacific to discard its name and start flinging moisture at us. The NWS is in full agreement, looking at the upcoming seven days. This includes two dry days!

The map also looks nice for the Sierra Nevada, which is entering another moisture-unfavorable La Nina season; a good early start would be most helpful. Can't say it does much for the lower Colorado basin.

Our little patch of new grass is sprouting decently, but it's a good thing the mix is for shade and sun; the low sun angle is only catching a small bit of the area, and only in the mornings. A decent outflow channel has developed near our steps leading into the area, so I had better add an improved drainage option before the first inch or two of this pattern finds us - otherwise a decent amount of that grass will be growing at the lowest part of our property, where only the frogs will see it!

Update - well, the dry days have passed and a few new wet ones have entered the end of the period in their place. Big numbers abound.

Fuji|X update - any future in it for me?

After nearly a month with the x-T100 I've got it set up to my satisfaction. Well, almost. Seldom does one settle in that quickly with an entirely new system! 

Images look nice with this camera and the 15-45xc lens, sharp and appropriately colorful. Focus speed is decent, not amazing but not much speed difference between this and the em1 Classic. It would be nice to check with telephoto, but nothing exists in my budget other than adapted PK lenses. No IS inside for adapted lenses, so blur is a risk. 

The µ43 system is not showing me an upgrade path. The only tilt-screen µ43 camera with weather seals is what I own now: the 8-year-old e-M1v1. Both OM-D and Lumix cameras will do IS, and weather seals are fairly common - but at the price of a flipout screen, which I've learned that I don't enjoy in the least. So for IS within and weather protection, µ43wins - but the Fuji aps.C sensor will outperform Oly (though not by a huge margin), gets decent battery life, and can be charged in-body while retaining (and improving upon!) the tip screen that I prefer. 

I'm not enthusiastic about xTrans color array, nor for retro looks that do not align with the operational memory that comes with 12 years of dSLR use. Weather seals are hard to find below a high-mid body type and definitely not for low-range lenses. The path is slightly better than µ43 though, with xT3±1 body holding to the dual-tilt screen in a modified form. The xH1 also does so, and adds internal IS. So that's a plus.

+Oly: affordable ibis, wx seals, live imaging tricks, 4:3 format plus 1:1 3:2 hd. 

+Fuji: sensor (size and resolution), screen double-tilt, battery life, 4k>8Mpx still images a la Lumix. 

+both: compact, tilt screens, interesting lenses. 

- both: moving to flipout screens and high-end items. Lumix is doing this too.

Rumor has it that 3rd-party lenses are soon to arrive for Fuji, as they made their lens-contact protocols public. That would really help with the Fuji budget and telephoto options .. some day. Sigma plans are important for me to stay in this format since Fuji has no telephoto options in my price range. OK Tamron &c could also play a role; we'll know soon what these lens suppliers have in store for the fX mount.

Attack of the -itis

 My left leg below the knee took a post-cider hit, wrecking plans for a beach trip and putting life in low gear. No major events did the damage; maybe a bit too much squatting in the mash process, perhaps too much twist when spreading peat moss on the newly-planted grass. In any case bursitis struck my pes anserine sac, and tendonitis along the outside of my lower leg felt like a perma-cramp for a few days. 

It's been frustrating to stop and let things heal, especially since a family campout formed spontaneously for the recent week. First we hoped for two nights, shrank it to one night then a day trip.. and didn't manage that either. It should Not have been so difficult!