August?

 Sure doesn't look like an August forecast. 

And this isn't a forecast five days out; this is tomorrow. 

Our average August has 0.99" in the whole month - and we had .40" a week ago! This chart adds an additional 1.39 inches, and another .15 or so arrives after 6am Saturday. So we might double the typical August - assuming it does not rain in the second half of the month.

It's a good month to double the average as a) this is the 2nd driest month of the year and b) July, the driest on average, had Zero rain this year. So our summer average should square up nicely with this nice surprise drenching. Hopefully it will do a number on several fires in the region, especially on Vancouver Island and the Olympic peninsula. East of the mountains should get some of this also, but it always comes with wind that can whip up the fires as much as dampening them. Fingers crossed!

Update - the storm has carried itself further north so far, with just .15" during the first part of Saturday. The leading edge of the cold front is finally reaching us at 3PM, so the relatively dry spell is over now!

Practical considerations join the battle

 

Upper left: S1 +70-150mm +1.5x converter + nF-Z adapter. That's 690g of tube on a 1kg body.

Lower-right: Tamron's 70-300 f/4.5-6.3 (590g) attached to the 680g Z6. More range for 450g (and several cubic inches) less - plus the Z6 pair has autofocus and weather seals! Something tells me I'm trying too hard to justify the S1 beast...

How Fares the Battle?

Well, a few wrinkles have tossed themselves into the fray. As usually happens! 

A great feature for Nikon: Z bodies can upload 2Mpx images to the cloud. Does Lumix club do that as well? Hmm.. 

A quirk of the S1: note in the image that the LCD screen on top is active when power is off. That small drain (and perhaps others) will kill the camera battery in about three weeks of inactivity. Removing the battery will drain the small battery that keeps the clock and other settings working - and that battery is miserable to replace! Bummer..

One L-mount bummer is the lack of a sub-600-gram telephoto zoom. But since I now have primes at 200/4, 300/5.6, 400/6.3 & 500/8, how badly do I really need a zoom? 

And a Z-mount bummer is the lack of a 20-anything lens. They have Tamron's 70-300 (575g), sorta bulky but sufficient to fill the long end. 

Update! In searching for specs on the Vivitar (Kino) 2x converter, I found a Kiron 1.5x multiplier that would yield a 105-225mm f/5.2 - that would be nice! Since Kiron made the lens, it could prove to be a very good match.. and the 35-200 can move on. 

Curious that MY proposed kits each fail for lack of a zoom at one end or the other. Canon is just now adding its basic 70-300 and Sony hasn't - so it isn't just one mirrorless mount that lacks a lighter slower long zoom. Ya'd think that tiny Alphas and the S9 would make this a priority; clearly not, or at least ..not yet? 

So the full range S1 kit would be 20-60 + 70-150 + either a multiplier or an appropriate prime or two. The 2x matched adapter, but it makes for a slow 140-300/7.6 lens¹ - I feel less troubled by the 1.5x that stops at 225mm f/5.2ish. And we cannot forget that in either case the Nik-L adapter must be included! 

The Z6 would be the bulky [ftz plus 24-85G/vr] plus 70-300, and an 18-20mm prime placeholder. Sounds nice, and a prime or two.

So who wins this skirmish?

Z6, 24-300 + ftz = 1,860g

S1, 20-150, no 2x: 1870g

A Draw. 

Variations: One could use the 70-150 on both to open the weight gap, but then it's 80g vs 20-24mm. Or add the 2x adapter (weight unclear) and the S1 becomes 1/2 stop slower at 300mm (and manual focus vs Z native) for the added weight of the converter. 

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Round 3: video quick check

This was simply checking 4k30 rolling shutter, and settings were really different. I had to reshoot the Z6 after capping the iso at 8000, for unclear reasons its iso max was 16000! In the end it shot at 640, but the S1 chose 2500? I wasn't checking sharpness and color anyway - and for rolling shutter effect I preferred the S1. I believe the readout speed on the two sensors is pretty close .. (checking) .. they match. Another draw. But my tests suggest a slight advantage to the Lumix.

A Battle for the Ages!

 Yes, again. No wonder you look bored..

A Lumix ß1 (S1 for those who avoided German im hochscule) has come to contend with the Z6. The fate of the GX7 could also hang on the results!

I recently expanded my s5 v z6 table (below) to see what I really think about the recent choices I've made. Other than bulk, the S1 nearly won out at the beginning - but I wasn't fully aware of the firmware update it received with 2.0. That's a danger of buying old cameras based on their just-out camera reviews: seldom are text reviews updated after firmware 1.0, and video updates are out there but rare.

I could have had an ß1 for $120 less when I grabbed the ß5. And it turned out that the specs were valuable: 2-way tilt and ultra high vf resolution outdid the S5. But I panicked and chose the lower-mass option - and it wasn't a good fit.

With the Z6 I 'cured' many of the S5 issues, and also rediscovered the joys of using a decent 1-touch zoom (Vivitar's 70-150/3.8 Kino). That xx-200mm space has been abandoned by mirrorless models of every brand - and that lens adapts just as easily to any mirrorless body. Good evf resolution is really helpful with manual focus - and that's where the ß1 shines.

And so it comes down to this. Z6  vs ß1!

Comparable lenses will be tested at matching apertures for AF speed, AFc refocus, panning skew in video at 4k30, image qualities of many sorts. 

Winner gets stuck with me - the chronic complainer and perpetual gear switcher.

And on the third hand - or foot - if neither clearly blows me away, both could go! - and the μ43 kit reinforced with higher-end lenses with the proceeds (+ a higher spec body to replace the GX7)..

Stay tuned! Or not!