Tele conundrum

So my α7r now has its 28-70mm native lens with oss and some degree of weather protection. How nice, given its 1st-generation body has no stabilization within. 

Now I'm covered to 70mm with AF and x.shake..

and then?

A telephoto lens with autofocus, wx seals, and oss by any acronym would be ideal. But where are they? Oh they are out there, but not in my price range..

• The A-mount bodies had IS Inside so didn't need stabilized lenses (in fact Sigma and Tamron removed IS from their lenses in A and PK mounts!), and nearly all were screw-drive AF that would require an ea4 adapter ($200+).
• Sony E-mount native options are few. And recent, so still expensive! The bargains are in the aps-c format (same mount for different sensor size) which isn't quite what I seek.
• Tamron and Sigma have added to the E system.. but w/o stabilization below 400mm. Not ideal, as I'd be happy at 200-250mm but few players sell in that range. Other third-party companies have brought AF primes and a couple of zooms, but no wx or OIS capabilities.
• Oddly enough, the canon EF mount has better and thrifty options for me. $100 adapters are available, and some earlier Tamrons like the SP 70-300 (with oss not vxd) have VC in canon mount. Canon's own 70-300 comes with IS and AF for less, though it zooms in the opposite direction to almost everything else I own. Actually everything I own goes the other direction.. except the Olympus 70-300 monster tele with 43-micro adapter! Coincidence?

First attempts with adapted lenses have been ..instructive. On a 36Mpx sensor, focus is really critical. Images that look all right on a tiny screen look blurry above 1:2 magnification - so AF is more important than IS and wx seals on the α7R mk.1 body. I can manage with the fast Pentax 85/2 and 135/3.5 if I'm careful, but with slower m-focus zooms I revert to focus guessing even when peaking +zoom is enabled.

I test-drove a Metabones EF adapter with the 70-300 Canon IS USD. Many rave about the EF lenses, but apparently this particular lens is older than most and is quite leisurely to AF. And after updating firmwares all over the place it generally misses focus on my test shots. It nearly locks, then shifts one last time toward infinity. Multiple AF presses do not help. That pair is going back.

70-210rs with dumb adapter, 100-300D Apo, 24-105D

So on to plan B: the EA4 adapter for A-mount. That will give me pdAF in the adapter and true aperture control in the body, but better technique will have to sub for the lack of stabilization. The best thing about this option is that I already have the Maxxum trio (photo) so plenty of range is already on hand - plus a Tokina 20-35af. I found an EA4 for less than the usual used price, so that's another plus. And it brings PDaf to the α7R, though at the price of a whiny AF motor drive. Presumably the gains will outpoint the losses on this!

Fingers crossed that this will do the job well enough. 

I'm tired of looking at reviews and specs - especially since I generally miss the one site that says "don't expect this lens and that adapter work right with your current camera body". I've learned that particular lesson more than most.

another dry-ish month. And then..

We've reached the 22nd and the forecast is for a dry week. As we sit at 79% right now, it means another sub-standard month will go in the books without a large shift in the forecast.

Since November through January are the wettest of months here, being around 80% is a decent amount, just over seven inches - but last winter all three were drier than average and that's a bad habit to get into!

El Niño is upon us, big time this year, which often means weaker storms for us as more energy dives south to California. It often strikes early in the calendar year, so more storms in December would be a very good thing. 

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Update - maybe 1/4" on the 30th, but probably closer to 0.10". And then the floodgates open - as the models seem to do quite often at the turn of a month. I'll footnote this for certain to see how close we come to it! At our location we'll call it 5" - but the neighborhood is 4-9"  and boundaries are rather vague at this scale! 

This graphic runs through 4PM on the 4th, so nearly everything here is December 1-4.

11/30 update - wx. underground 1-6 Dec. Six-ish in the forecast. Today is at .21" with a pinch more possible around midnight.

α7R- refinements

The α7R is getting some spare bits: flash-shoe covers, a tripod plate, an extra battery. I also found it an Ugly 28-70mm oss for poor weather and lens stabilization, at a non-Ugly price.* In good weather, it can fight with the Minolta 24-105 for sensor time.

I also loaded it up with Apps that I bought almost a year ago for the α7ii, and since I paid for them they are still available. Such things as time-lapse video, action and composite shots, a wave-your-hand shutter release (not to be confused with the big-smile shutter release!) and a couple of other 'features' that most cameras tend to have in place without extra effort/expense. But it works fine and didn't cost much the first time - so I've been treated far worse than this. But what can I do with that extra 43MB of memory? I expect the answer is: lumpit.

So this camera weighs less than the eM1, and its 50/2 is smaller than the equivalent 23/1.4 on my µ43 mainstay camera. The eM1 is replete with amazing features, so the question becomes how much I would miss those in exchange for the larger sensor, higher resolution and a bit less bulk in a few circumstances.

First off, I'll look into the shutter-shock issue that ruined nearly every review for the α7R; some users laugh about its overblown presence, while others cry and point to evidence. My turn to evaluate!

*Update - as I've seen more than once, KEH Ugly label brings me a great lens, but with no caps or hood. The sucker looks new to me.

skeptical

 We shall see how November starts - but given that most October forecasts came up short, this looks pretty .. enthusiastic.

Here's the news 7-day map. It also appears to be convinced.

Update - Nov 1-7 total ended up at 4.8", a bit lower than most forecasts but not a bust for a wide-area map that put us in the 5-7 inch range. Monday's rain was from the 3rd atmospheric river of the bunch and was pegged as the weakest, but location is everything with such streams of moisture. We had 1½" for the day and its the 4th day since mid-October to be over 0.85". 

We're over 50% for November after the first seven days! The upcoming week may only add an inch or so, putting us at six inches at mid-month. Time will tell, as it so often does..

Updates, on many subjects

 October has been ..active. Here's a summary of the Story so far:

• My health is pretty decent after surgery, but it took several days to be sure that the gut aches were gone since the surgery hurt the same areas of my gut! It seems that all went fine, best evidence being my late-evening discharge. I'll learn more from the doctors in early November.
• Weather has been underperforming for the month, as every large forecast has dried out upon reaching us. Split flow is common with el Niño patterns, as strong fronts are spun up to our north and the southern end does a soft landing near the California border. Maybe they will consolidate more in coming weeks, but October is looking like a 50-60% kind of month.
• Camera gear was a surprise, as the new acquisitions of recent months all slipped through my willing fingers. I'm back to an eM1 and K-s2 - and am convinced that these are the best fits and image quality that I need. I'm a big fan of 4:3 images, more so than 3:2; thankfully Pentax crops to square and 4:3 very easily after capture.

So things are going decently well, other than the somewhat dry weather. More coming tomorrow though!

Riding the tide

I made an informed and reasonable decision, and put the G9 up for sale. The eM5³ was a better fit for me; still not the best fit, but preferable to the Lumix. The g9 was very nice but would require new muscle memory that was unlike my K-s2 and .. well, every advanced digital camera I'd used in 15 years!! Including every Lumix ever made, in the case of the front control dial.

So off went the G9 to market. 

And there it sat.
I dropped the price thrice and had spare time for surgery.. but no one claimed it in three-plus weeks.

Well all right, I can take a hint. Let's put the eM5³ up and test the market with that. An offer came swiftly, though a bit low. I'll wait a bit on that.

But.. what if Both sell ??!??

Honestly? I could live with that.

Update 10-19: I accepted the offer on the eM5³. The listing said I had four followers, so three said flat nothing to me as the price was lowered enough to show the 'price-drop' flag to them. Maybe that's typical; I've never watched such riveting online events before.

I have announced the G9's final price drop, but I won't pull it off-screen just yet. 

Again, whatever happens I can live with it, whether K-s2, G9 or another eM1 Classic.

Update 10-21: the G9 is claimed! In response I grabbed another black eM1 with tripod plate. The more things change the less they stay the same! 

And the end of my time of experiments; the eM1 is my best-fit camera in µ43 format, and now I've tried every alternative except the GX9. Wasting money on cameras isn't much fun any more.

And the K-s2 is just what I'd seek in a Pentax, with its compactness, decent live-view system and great Pentax ergonomics that I could use in my sleep. I really liked the K-5, but its video specs and a few other features make the diagonal step worthwhile. And once the solenoid is swapped out, results could be magical!

Over, and out

Wow. My surgery is done, and I'm resting at home!

The date changed several times before locking down on 10/12. The procedure name changed a few times too. And late in the game, the overnight stay became a 4-day stay! My wife needed to pack many items to stick with her diet plan, and her mom came down to keep her company.

In the end it did some real-time adjusting!

• The 1:30 schedule slid to 4:00 or so
• The time required was a bit less, and
• They threw me out at 9:30!!

Night one of our..one-night stay

Since we had 3 nights scheduled at an on-site room, my wife had done plenty of unpacking. And I couldn't help her to repack! Thankfully her mom helped to get everything crammed into her car, and we left OHSU around 10pm - meaning arrival at home around 11:40pm. I stumbled toward the bed (and past the cats who wondered why they had a 4-day supply of food!) and marveled at how much had changed in 12 hours.

Pain was strong but manageable, though my shoulder ached terribly - which I learned today is a common side effect of laparoscopic surgery. I am more mobile and less miserable now (5pm Saturday) - but that trip was completely impossible to plan!

Results did go according to plan though: no more gallstone factory, and no more liver with a pint-size cyst crowding my belly. And the laparoscopic punctures were entirely predictable. 

It was the clock that never could meet expectations. Ah well, 'tis done.