Perpetual Change LXVII

 After a tough few months of imaging the Nikon Z/dx way, I'm letting it go* and re-energizing the Pentax kit! The Viltrox 40/2.5 fx lens will stick around in case a z6 is in my future, but dx lenses and body will depart. Until other financial movements occur, I'm an apc-C, dSLR guy again. ☺

I picked up great deals on a 55-300plm and a wi-fi card, so the k-s1 can do many Z50-comparable things despite its unreplaced solenoid. That fix would fully empower my 18-50mm and the Limited primes, so surgery is still worth doing. Some day, soon..

* in defense of Nikon dx 

It should be noted that several factors led to the Z50's departure. I was not in a position to learn the z50 feature set well enough before a lifetime travel opportunity (RT#M syndrome), I don't know Nikon gear well enough to know the typical layout or nomenclature, and I fell ill the first night and remained ill for the entire trip. As a result I captured many great images, missed on more than usual, and failed to the self-timer to make an image of all 3 of us travelers. 

Given my better grounding in Pentax, even the ..unique K-s1 will do things that I better recognize - even while sick! It will also stabilize all my primes unlike the Z50, and give me more crop ratios to play with. Bummer about the video specs.. but that is still a very small part of my activity.

Some Assembly Required

 The new kit is coming together, lenses from both older and new kits. Several old kits contributed to filling in the blanks:

• Pentax primes lenses are available in many focal lengths from 28 to 200mm, but the four shown here are likely to see the most use.
• Several T-mount teleprimes have been resting in the closet, and have seen time with many caneras over time. The Hanimex 400 and Quantaray reflex 300 are oldies but goodies! My Sakar 500/8 mirror lens isn't worth the trouble though.
• The Z-native set is now* complete with the 16-50,  50-250 and 17/23/40mm primes.

I had contemplated a couple of other primes at the wide end, or perhaps the 12-28pz ..but the budget stopped at a used 16-50mm. That will do just fine - for now.

 

It's weird that the Z50 video skills are so much better than the slightly newer Z5; apparently its smaller size means faster offloading, so higher video specs are available. Most reviewers note the Z6 Z7 and Z50 use backside-illuminated sensors, and the Z5 apparently does not. 

Editorial - 

Nikon is rather vague about the camera sensors in its bodies - and to nobody's surprise, no owners have volunteered to crack open their cameras to find out! The only two BSI 'dx' bodies that clearly make the claim use 26-Mpx sensor (IMX571, and new IMX695 BSI stacked design); the older 20.9 sensor is no longer current, but clearly Nikon has some in hand for its z50ii. Thom Hogan says the IMX321  (special to Nikon) is the D500/D7500 sensor: to those who seek clarity, none shall pass. Thom chose not to list a sensor designation for his z50/z30 specs page. The z50 sensor claims to be .1mm wider than the D7500.. a quibble/rounding error, or a conspiracy beyond comprehension?

The D7500 Dxo score of 86 is essentially the same "IMX321n" as the D500 score of 85, and the Z-dx models seem to have one similar with pdaf capabilities. One speculator says the wiring to the sensor strongly implies BSI. 

So the answer is informed speculation. 

*Update 7/13: the elder 7artisans 10/2.8 af is selling for $100, now that the mark² is available. A mark¹ will be arriving soon! The primes as shown are showing in blue as 35mm equivalent, and make for A nice fl stair-step of 15/25/35/60/105 - with 150/205/450/600mm/eq also available. -Nice!-

Strictly academic

 I tested the suitablity of Viltrox' 23mm f1.4 lens for closeup work. One shot at min focus, one with 11mm extension tube, and one (attempt) with 18mm tube. Not really surprising that the longer tube at 23mm caused the lens to block almost all light reaching the fuscia buds, so no additional testing needed! The 11mm tube performed nicely, and the Meike set passed all data along.

For a bonus, I put on the Pentax smc-M135 f3.5, both alone and with the two tubes. The minimum focus dropped from 5' to just over 3' with the shorter tube, the 18mm focused several inches closer. And to close, I pulled out the A100 f4 and shot a 1:2 closeup for comparison.

I shall post them here soon!

Winner lose, loser win

Lyric from Steve Winwood, Go 

For reasons that I accept as reasonable, a Z50 is coming soon - and the eM1 and a lens or three are leaving.

• Pros: larger sensor, smaller camera, tilt screen, USB battery recharge, Nikon menus like my former Z6, 'solitude' picture control
• Cons: no IStab inside, shorter battery life, usbμ port, plus a few Oly/OM features which I like yet never used!

Its 'starter kit' is TTArtisan 17mm + Viltrox (23, 40mm) primes, and the VRs 16-50 and 50-250mm. For now the Pentax 70+100+135 will fill the small-tele slot.

The camera comes with 3 batteries and a charger, so power won't be a big issue. 

I briefly considered a Z30, but its only view is via its flip screen; that outweighs the usbC power port for me. I rarely make use of a flip screen, but will use the tilt design frequently!

Note that the eM1² departure does not kill the μ43 kit! The gf9 and Lumix 14-140, plus a few nice primes, will carry on.

If the kit were to expand soon, I'd expect either the Nikkor 12-28 or Viltrox 14/4 to be next.

Button reset!

 I've tried a few changes to my button settings, and made a mess of things. My big screen wouldn't display anything no matter how many times I pressed the evf|screen swap button.. which I had set to Raw image shooting. Autofocus was acting up as well; apparently I had pushed a button that was now set to AF limiter! 

Oops..

So I sat outside and reprogrammed the buttons back to default, and then tried a few changes or relocations. Some suited me well enough to keep, despite them now being mislabeled on the body!

• Back-button focus is now lower-front-button AF. I like that position a lot better, but the upper front button did not show AF as an option - so that upper-front is now for custom WB. No AF on shutter.
• The labeled AF:AE lock button is now my Video on:off. My videos always ended poorly as the button is poorly located for my finger. This solves the issue nicely!
• The left-right buttons on the 4way pad now control the 14-43ez power zoom. Nice!
• I reset the screen button to its usual function, and use F1 for multifunction options.  
• I'm still thinking about F2 and red button possibilities, for now. The lever is for iso/wb while I think about it also. 
• I did reverse the control panel dials, as I was constantly spinning away from the setting I wanted to change!

One of the problems I got into with buttons is that some options show no feedback* in the viewfinder! Maybe something lights up & tells me when Raw or AF limiter are set, but I don't recognize the lights? 

Clearly it's time to read the manual again!!   🤯

 * none that I recognize, at least!

a small adjustment

 I've traded in the Oly 17 and Sigma 60 (both f:2.8) for a Pentax 40 Limited. That makes the μ43 native primes = 10- 17* -30 and PK adapted = 40-50macro-70-85-135. 

The k•S1 will love having the 40+70mm Limited lenses, but that means it's time to make the aperture-block problem go away!

* The Yongnuo 17:1.7 is staying

End times

 I've decided that my web time is wildly unproductive. 

I have kept at granitix and g² for a decade & more (don't make me look!), documenting camera gear i shall never see again and receiving maybe three comments. To say I have a following online is an insult to followings as only my shadow follows me anywhere. 

I have documented a dozen years of weather in the yard, and who would consider that valuable? True records are interesting, but daily stats are tedious.

I say this after a weekend of router problems (self induced), when I reset the router to factory specs and detached tv tablets phones and weather station from the world and each other. The station now works but ive lost the w.underground password. I'm also in a decent place with camera gear, but very little of it is cutting edge or interesting to the masses. Olympus/OM Systems and Pentax are doing well enough, but I am unable to use them in exciting times.

My faceplant account is riddled with ads, polarizing topics and cute animal pics. Friends seldom post to me and I need to stop seeking them after theee scrolls. 

And so I shall:

• cease and desist posting here, and attend to my Visions blog which has been neglected for quite some time.
• keep some records for weather but only post huge events.. somewhere. Probably just at longviewers.one for now. 
• I will get to digitizing my slides and negatives and miniDV backpack and other trips. Many old jpegs have corrupted badly over the years and need help.
• RELAX and let the WorldWide Weird exist with less participation by me 😳

Choosing one's compromises

 I have a great lens set now, offering the best lenses tuned to the 4:3 sensor. Most people rave about the Olympus 12-40:2.8, 12-45:4 and both 40-150mm f:2.8 and f:4 lenses. Actually, their cheapest 40-150 has a rabid following, too! ;)

I prefer lighter lenses over brighter ones, so the 40-150:4 is my choice for telephoto. 

The current wide-normal zoom choice is the 12-60, f/2.8-4, 4thirds lens from Olympus! That comes up at ~685 grams (including the 43-μ adapter)! Does that make sense?

Let's find out!

The 12-60swm is nearly as well regarded as the two m.Zuiko options above, and its 2.8-4 aperture splits the difference between them. It's a high grade lens from the brief Olympus dSLR era, with weather seals and sturdy construction.

More importantly to me though, it's from the days before μ43 - and its inclusion of in-camera compensation for lens distortions. Since these happen before the image is displayed, it is a non-factor to many imagers. These people would probably perform these same tweaks in their computer once they are home .

I seldom do such things. I prefer lenses that are built to perform well without need of stretching the original to fix distortion, or selective brightening to fix corner shading. It's the easy way out, as software is far cheaper than designing great optics that work to the very corners.

It would appear that I'm a hypocrite, since the 40-150:4 does this very thing.. but the largest digital corrections are most common at wide focal lengths. Nearly all μ43 12-xx zooms struggle with this (especially wide open).

The ZD 12-60mm swm is a premium optic from the dSLR era, despite being introduced in the 21st century. It received high marks for its handling of distortion, color fringing and vignette. This has value to me, and so, for now at least, the extra 300g is worth carrying. That's 200g more than the 40-150mm! Since it's a 12-60mm it isn't a long lens, so unlike something like the Oly/OM 40-150/2.8 it isn't front-heavy. It even cost less than the Lumix 12-60 when I bought it, and so extra frugal compared to the 12-40 and 12-45mm offerings.

So I shall deal with the extra grams - for now. I may switch to the 12-45 some day, but not this year. I own a 14-42ez and also 10+17+30mm primes, so in many cases the 12-60mm will stay at home.

What did we do?!?

 So the kit changed in big ways in the last two months.

 Specifically what gear came and went?

• S5 and Gx7: gone
• L-mount lenses: gone
• E-M1² : in (again)
• Swm 12-60 + OM 40-150 f/4 Pro: in
• Pentax kit: restored*

In functional terms? 

I upgraded the μ43 sensor, removed the AA filter and restored 4k video specs. I regained weather seals (with eM1² and 40-150), and USB in-camera charging. I lost my tilt screen :√( but added autofocus limiter and live time + composite. I picked up a superior telephoto lens for light gathering, build quality and compactness. I also gained light in the wide end with the zd swm 12-60 f/2.8-4 but added bulk to the system (heavier, and uses an adapter). 

I retained the zd 70-300 (and its adapter!), Laowa 10/2, Olympus 30/3.5 macro and Yongnuo 17/1.7 for more compact and/or lower-light wide options.

I also gained back some money to pay bills, and prioritized more useful features above sensor size. Yes, that was hard - but I'm nearly over it already!

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A Small Update

The GX7 and 14-42 have departed, in exchange for cash and an Olympus 14-42ez. That allows for a flexible 'small kit' (even smaller when used with the gf9!!) - so now all my zooms rotate in the same direction, which minimizes headaches. I owned it before and felt bad about letting it go - so let's try again!

* The Pentax Restoration is likely quite temporary, as the eM1² matches or beats the k-S1 in nearly every way. It was a stop-gap plan - and the gap is filled now.

 

winter?

 

We are at 50% of normal already for February. 

We're in a dry spell for now, but change is coming. 

Sorta looks like winter - at last!

This is the forecast for next week at the valley floor. Whether we will be warmer or cooler, or if snow will drop to 800 feet, only time will tell at this point. 

January '26 = dry

We got off to a wet start, but since the 12th we've had just 0.02" - and that had to be fog condensation as we had no storms. We did finally reach freezing though! December's low was 31.1° which barely qualifies as freezing, but 27.6 this month is decently chilly.

We're at 2/3 of average precipitation for the month, and that's about where we shall end; the storm for this weekend has fizzled out and we might see another after the 28th. That breaks the string of above average months at three, but those three are the wet ones so we're in decent shape. As to snowpack, it's pretty  bad - the volcanoes are purely white, but roads through the mountains are frosty not snow-packed.

Update! The last storm of the month brought January to ~80 percent of normal. Better than expected, but it was another warm storm that did nothing good to snowpack.

We'll see what February will bring!

Solar smash relents

 

The timing this week's solar storm was good and bad. Skies were clear, but conditions were slick and frosty for our sloped viewing area. Worse was the time zone: europe and the eastern us hit peak time for two nights, but the west us was declining both nights. One could stay up and be rewarded, but the cold was most unappealing.

This 4-second shot at iso2000 is far fainter than last year's events. The timing was vital; clearly many folks got very bright flareups but the chill did not bring me patience!

Happy New Gear: 2026 edition

The Lumix-S era is over. For now.

As I noted before, if S didn't work out I would just revert to the µ43 kit and enhance it.  Well, as is often the case, I was half right. 

I gave the L mount my best shot, but it couldn't be comfortably managed on my budget. I'm getting back nearly all my S investment. And in exchange I spent $220 on a new body.

Oops: it's a Pentax!
It isn't possible to deal for a choice µ43 body ($600+) without spending the same amount of cash that the S sale provided. And in effect my PK lens set is fully fleshed out - but it lacked a body. My K-01 shutter may repair itself (as many people report after it sits a while)  - but I won't bet on it. 

I found a low-shot black K-s1 body, with its nice 20Mpx sensor and odd but very small body. I've owned it before and lamented its limitations, but for the time and price it will serve. 

 

(I immediately spent $40 more on a spare solenoid - in case it's needed. And yes, it's needed.) 

It has 'better' pixels (more, and larger) for duplicating my piles of slides and negatives compared to the GX7. Somewhere around here i've seen a spare Li190 battery .. maybe?

HD us nlythe limit for video - but it's a Pentax,  video specs are not their thing. In other ways it will do quite nicely. 

--+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++--

The second bit.

An Oly eM1² will arrive soon, and the gx7 will depart. After a few days of fruitless site-searching I found a very nice price for a copy. This will be the weather resistant and 4k video option. Almost everything, actually.. perhaps the K gear will be moved, but its resale value is mighty small!

I shall pick up a wx resistant zoom in the near future.. oh!

Update: a 12-60mm f/2.8-3.5Zuiko Digital is coming!

 zoIt willom the same direction as the 70-300, which will be nice. It will be bulky but that's also a match. It was the same price as 'that' 12-60 but gains me pretty much a stop of extra light. I should use a wx sealed adapter though, at some point..

+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++

Update II: and a 40-150mm f/4? 

This was a major surprise! I found a great deal on a used copy. Not many of these show up used, so the owner must have stepped up to the f/2.8 or a longer telephoto. 

This gives me a sealed option for long shots, and also provides great overlap with both 12-60 and 70-300 lenses. And if I switch to a 12-45/4 or 12-40/2.8 at some point, I'm in a good spot. Hopefully the 12-60 will prove worthy - but it's a beast, weighing almost as much as the 70-300.

The new era begins.

+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++-----+++

Update III: Oly 14-42ez!

So farewell to the Lumix 14-42² - and perhaps the Sigma 60mm. 

This power zoom will be an excellent video assistant, and it pairs well with the 14-42!The 10mm f:2 can then cover the widest angles.

ending '25 with a splash

We set a new personal best for rainfall.. or perhaps the worst?

 This month has edged out October 2017 as our wettest month here on the hill-top. Since Octobers are drier than Decembers around here, that month still wins on percent of normal, so it keeps its trophy for that record! 

We still have over a week to go, but that %-normal record looks safe. The forecast for now through New Years Day looks relatively dry. The previous two Decembers came in around 10 inches, just above average.

For 2025 minus a week, we are nine inches above the annual average. That's a comfortable number, about 20" above our driest year and 18" short of the calendar-year wettest. 

  Year-end update: 67.99"

sorting out the 2026 kit

 So now I have a decent setup with plenty of coverage. Some things aren't ideal, but it will do for as long as it must.

The most recent lens is an older Tamron Di 28-300 VC. It's not the newest and it's used, but the AF speed is a bit better than the Canon lenses. Its close-focus skills are very good, about 3/8 life size. The nose does spin when focusing.

Here are a few simple kit options, and some clarity on specific lenses.

• The 20-60 has weather seals so it's a clear option when the weather could make a difference, the Meike 35mm has a seal at the mount but no others. This suggests I can bring primes for the lower end and zoom after 70 or 100mm, whichever seems appropriate. 
• I cannot imagine enough times when 20mm isn't wide enough - and I can stack my own panorama in those rare cases. Also, 20mm f/3.5 seems sufficient for astronomy compared to an f/2.8 lens, so the 20-60 plus 35/2 and 70/2.4 should suffice for sky images.
• As to zooms, I have a few more than I need. The Vivitar 70-150/3.8 works very well and its push-pull makes for nice video zooming. It's not worth much on the used market so its place is safe for now, along with the Nikon-F to L adapter. The 100-300 isn't top notch at its long end, but for now it can stay. The 70-210 is a definite keeper until someone brings out an L-mount model with superior AF, some weather protection and hopefully OIS. The Tamron claims to have VC but my tests showed very little benefit, so perhaps its implementation isn't happy with S5 and adapter. With it turned off it's not a low light champ either, so that might turn off the S5 internal stabilizing; the 70-210usm definitely shows better shake reduction overall.

It's nice to have more functional options! The EF-L is greatly superior to SA-L that I tried earlier, since my old SA lenses were not sufficiently compatible for autofocus. 

But wait! More sky fun

After a foot of rain this past week from two skyrivers, another awaits! 

Today and tomorrow are almost dry - but by Monday afternoon another arrow of tropical punch has the PacNW in its sights. It appears to slide south sooner (map of tue at 4pm), which would be a great relief to Washington. Still a bit early to say.. though last week's modeling was very good! 

Monday will be wet in any case. Our forecast is for 4" by Thursday. Ug. If the moisture sags south, we get to be on the cool side, meaning the snow that departed last week will start to rebuild. That would be good news!

p.s. It's interesting to see that Monday 12/22 (8-9 days out) shows cooler air at the Canada border and a low-pressure system drifting SSE along the BC coast! All three models (GFS, ECM, GEM) show a very similar pattern. That pattern is our typical low-elevation snow pattern for winter - and Winter begins the day before!

We'll see how they treat things in subsequent runs.. but it's undoubtedly "interesting"..

A good day's work

My EF-mount lens collection has brought me useful information as to L-mount adaptations. 

Today brought a second copy of the Canon 70-210usm (3.5-4.5). That was necessary because the first copy is wildly off with autofocus; it successfully meshes with my S⁵ for passing focal length and aperture but I have other good options for manual focus. 

The second copy was similarly cheap to the first, but for a different reason: a cloudy front element. It was described as dust, but I feared fungus. I figured I could swap that front element with copy #1. Thing 2 arrived today and focused correctly, so after testing I prepared the operating/dining table for surgery. 

I have definitely performed my share of such, including a Pentax body with a bad shutter solenoid. I'd improved a few lenses also, but nothing major - so in I went!

• I was pleased to find just six screws in my way: 3 to detach the lens' nose and 3 to pull the lens group from its housing. 
• I was even more pleased to find it was dust not fungus scattering the light!

Several minutes of soft cloth, cleaner and squeeze bulb cleaned the front group front and back plus the front of the next group. It would take a lot more work to break into other lens elements, but they appeared less in need of intervention. 

In less than an hour I had a clean and sharp 70-210mm lens!

And I mean that. Its images looks better even wide open at 210mm than the 100-300usm at 200mm (and ½ stop faster). It might win against the Pentax 135/3.5 + 200/4 primes since it can AF (but AF-s only) and max aperture is similar to both. It definitely outpoints the all-manual Minolta 100-200/4.5 and the massive K-mount 80-200/3.5, so many spares in my kit can depart. 

Plus I still have 70-210 copy #1.. but no clue as to fixing its focus issue. That now becomes Somebody Else's Problem, as Douglas Adams once said. 

This compact yet speedy 70-210mm lens is A Big Deal because an L-mount lens of this sort is still does not exist! And that sucks!! Yes, fixed-aperture 70-200s and a vari-ap 70-300 do exist - but not at 660 grams or under $750. 

At some point they will exist, and I shall rejoice! But until then, the EF lenses will serve me well -- and give me the patience to wait! :√)

The next skyriver is on the doorstep

Another solid round of rain is coming soon. The last one dropped nearly 4" at Thanksgiving, and this adds up mighty close to that. It's still a couple of days away so the final location of the heavy rain will shift at least once, but an inch or two appears guaranteed!

---

Update - quantities are a bit higher than before, and Monday 12/8 is in play for a deluge. The table below shows WxUnderground 10-day forecasts at Longview for the last three days. 

We're a few hundred feet higher so it's quite possible our total will be higher! As of 11:30 on the 5th we have 1.61" for 4+5 December. That's nearly an inch above these forecasts.

Another update - it's bigger! It's TWO rivers, in fact!!

Update 3? Massive regional rains. The Skagit will break all recorded records tomorrow, all west-side WA rivers are full. Even the Yakima, thanks to the 8k freezing levels. Had snowpack been decent,  circumstances would be much worse. Ski Bowl and Timberline snow is gone.

Here are our local values for the past 8 days: over a foot!

 

EF first (and 2nd) tests

 I'm satisfied by my initial tests with the Viltrox EF-L adapter and Canon 100-300/4.5-5.6 USM lens.

Tests show nice color contrast and sharpness, and - so it's a typical sample that verifies what reviewers have said. It focuses at a decent pace but definitely not to L-native standards - but that's OK for now, and better than my no-AF adaptations of Minolta AF, Sigma SA and Pentax K lenses. Manual override is straightforward, and the S5 internal stabilization provides four stops with acceptable results (1/10s at 200mm is consistently decent, 1/8 or less would be a crapshoot). Focus is sufficiently silent if somewhat pokey, and AFc is not available at the USM grade - I'd have to check online to see if newer, higher-grade lenses can manage it. Weight isn't an issue for me, which is quite nice and sadly rare for L-mount telephoto lenses at any price. The new Sigma 20-200 and Lumix 28-200 lenses are lighter, but both stop at 200mm and are slower than this lens!

Viltrox EF-L adapter summary: 

• Viltrox EF-L (first edition, not Pro)
• adapter weight is 134 grams
• AFc is not available with USM sample lens
• camera screen shows "use AF-S" when set to AFc
• O-A switch - needs to be A with 100-300!

Canon EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM summary:

• Tests show nice color, contrast and sharpness (noted in reviews)
•  some chromatism away from center at longer focal lengths (also noted)
• manual override is straightforward - just rotate ring at base of lens
• 640 grams with adapter; weight is very nice
• no IS within, but S5 internal stabilization provides four stops
• f/4 only to about 120mm but f/5 to 180mm!

Curious bonus coverage!!

The lens does not focus accurately with my polarizing filter! It took me a dozen shots or so to remember that I'd put the filter on (a K&F nano cPL). It wasn't just shake either, as the first shots were outdoors. Focus didn't look right in the viewfinder, nor could I get a sharp image with manual focus. Once the filter was removed I felt a bunch better about what was happening. 

Still.. what's going on, we wonders?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

More news!

A poorly-focusing copy of the EF 70-210/3.5-4.5 is coming. Possibly its problem is front or back focusing on a dSLR, and it will do fine with the S5 contrast detect AF - but possibly not. In any case, I picked it up for a great price! Another experiment is also coming: a 28-300mm Tamron with VC stabilizer. This would be quite wonderful if it can work without issues, but it can be returned after a thorough exploration. It takes the same filters as the 20-60 and could be great or not-so; we shall see!

Update: the 70-210 has arrived, and it's all true. AF is fast - and wrong! It's backfocusing by a large amount, even with the supposedly more exact contrast AF of the S5. Weird! Early tests at 200mm ± show it doing well for overall IQ wide open f/5 vs the 100-300 at 5.6. I'll do some research on the back focusing; could shims help it out?

damp turkeys this year

 

An inch today, 3/4" tomorrow. Less but still more coming on Thursday. 

Casual football will be messy around here!

11:30am = 0.01" - - - - 6:30pm = 0.90"