say something - anything!

Not much has changed recently, which is generally a good thing. Sales have been ..weak though, nibbles on the Pentax gear but no deals yet. The GX7 and occasionally GX1 have had a few nice workouts on the autumnal views of gold leaves and fungi, though no big-time destination shooting other than stops at Lake Sacagawea in town, shown below. I have some raw images to toy with on several shots ..some day.

The only dream of lenses right now is a non-existant μ43 17-70mm zoom of reasonable speed. Kirk T. mentioned that a similar focal-length range would do for 90% of his work; as a "walkaround lens" I seldom use ultrawide <14mm) so starting around 35mme would be right for me. Not many forum folk have taken up my crusade. I can grab an old 18-50 Sigma in 4Thirds mount (some day) and see how it goes - but a native lens would be much smaller. Ah well.

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And now: weather news!
After a week with about 4½ inches of rain, we will end October on a dry stretch. We did reach average for October with about 0.02" to spare, so every Sep and Oct that we've lived here has been above average. 'Twas close - but still counts! Novembers have ranged from 65-120% of average so the signal gets weak after this.

'Snu?

Hardware update: I swapped my 12-60mm Lumix for a GX7 body plus $20. This one has about 50k fewer clicks than the recently-returned one, cost $30 less and works just fine. Current use is with 12-40 xiaoYi zoom* since the gx7 stabilizes it and it's 2mm wider (it loses 2mm at the long end). That's a fair trade compared to the 12-32mm's narrower range.

The k-5 and lenses are up for sale & a bit of interest has appeared.
No action just ..interest.

Here's an image for today of a twisted contrail. It was transferred from GX7 to phone and tweaked for contrast. Hope everyone was wearing their seat belts on that flight!


* Soon after posting this, the Yi body sold. Just the body, which is fine by me as I get to use the 12-40mm a bit longer. Yay!

weekly gear post

As part of the Mold|Breaker new leaf programming, gear talk will be limited to once per week. Maybe even biweekly? This isn't the best day for it, as things are moving out or pending - but that's the plan and I expect to stick to it! *

In the meantime I'm also working to continue an image or more per post. Here's one from the K-5 with the camera's infrared-filter simulation, which always makes cirrus clouds (cumulus too!) more dramatic. So much to like about Pentax gear.. but for a while I fear it must go back to the wish list. I have a pending sale on this great camera, someone else will be very pleased and I will return to living vicariously with Pentax and holding steady with μ43 cameras. Not an awful thing, just a pinch less satisfying in some circumstances. I'll do just fine.

More on the transition in a week..

* Note that nothing prevents me from appending fresh data to a 'weekly' post. 
Is that cheating? Perhaps. Only I can judge that, and I will allow occasional post-scripts. I plan to make it the rare exception however. 
Voilá: baby cut in half, everyone's a winner..

two inches incoming?

I cleaned out the gutters today to prepare: our forecast shows over two inches coming this week! 

A good week to have a WR system..

addendum:
9/14 through 17 = 2.01 inches. Good forecast!

choose just one

More medical bills, and why do I act like it's a surprise? Every time my gear collection expands it means that medical bills are pending - my failure to learn this has been a big problem. And the solution is as it has been every time: reduce.

Team One is the Pentax - weather protected, excellent APSc sensor and focal length range of 27-450mme. The K-5 is dated but about as excellent as the dSLR form can achieve for my use. Newer models have AF capability as low as EV-3 and video that does not overpower the memory card, both nice features; I'm subtracting not adding right now so newer models are not relevant.

Team Two is Lumix with more versatility, FL range of 24-600mme including adapted 4Thirds glass, a very good 4:3 sensor and several features on the GX7 that Team One cannot match. The 24-120mme zoom is weather sealed but not the camera; newer bodies are sealed, but again we are looking at current kits not potential. My GX1 is also useful, not as fully featured but a bit smaller.

Each can easily meet my current needs, so it's only the regret that I am dealing with - well, that and best resale value. Neither kit has much, or I would not own them at all given our current budget & bills. The choice isn't pleasant, but it must be done.

In any case the YI M1 is going out for a pittance if it must. Among other drawbacks it seems unable to drive the 4Thirds lenses, considering them MF only. I've tried more than once and that's what I get, so for my uses it limits the kit more than I like.

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addendum -

As happens so often, my selloff will be a hybrid retrenching. The GX7 is a free and easy return so it's being packed, and the 12-60 and 30mm lenses will probably sell quickly enough. That leaves 4:3 system of 14/35m/14-42/45-150/70-300 for the GX1. The Pentax system will probably be trimmed a bit as well or at least offered up, and if it sells for an amazingly good price we'll see if a 25mm 4:3 prime is accessible.

warm August days

We finally outdid our warmest August day, with 86°. It has been a mellow and mild August until now, and after a two-day heat wave we may see showers tomorrow.

It cannot come soon enough for this overheated furry resident!

current conditions

- hazy, limited visibility.
So much for the weather report?
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The EM1 v1 has arrived. Within three days of ordering it, so did two $480 medical bills.

So much for keeping the camera.
It works fine but definitely 'needs work' as shutter button, front control dial and eyepiece cup are all absent. No point in reading the E-M1 manual really, so I will let the buyer know ASAP that it's coming back. Focus with the ZD35 macro lens is definitely faster with PDAF!

Timing is nearly everything with gear deals, and it's too bad -
but I've had plenty of practice at this.

So what's here that isn't an E-M1?

• YI M1 with 12-40 kit lens
• GX1 with 12-60, 14-42ii, 45-150, 14/30 primes and 4Thirds 35 macro and 70-300
• K-5 silver special with 18-50re, 50-200wr, silver Sigmas 28-80 1:2 and 100-300 +Pentax primes  (50, 100, 200)

 Some of the above will be departing soon as I don't need three cameras. Bummer that the M1 has zero resale value; it should be what I keep ..but I doubt it. On the other hand - what's keeping me in the micro4:3 system? Is it because my wife owns a GF2? A lot could leave and I'd be 'stuck' with a raw and video performer in the M1. We'll see..

I've learned recently that the Vivitar 24 isn't focusing well at all. Not sure when that happened as its problems are easy to see - yet I've owned it for a year. Curious.