Major Shakeup!

I've been going through a Search phase recently, contemplating my options and placing an occasional bid on bodies that are more fully featured and modern than my classic eM1 but at an 'affordable' (=borderline-absurd) price. This means dealing with a flip-out screen, which is not my preference - but all the tip+flip screens are on current-generation bodies, and those are beyond my budget.*

I tried for a silver eM5 iii and watched for G9 and eM1.ii deals, but they stayed beyond my bidding budget. 

In the end, an all-black eM5.iii came within reach - so I reached. This has all the eM1.ii features but in a lighter body (with a smaller battery).. and the flip screen. Oh well, for all the updates gained, I can manage it.

Those updates within the 5.iii are the 4Mpx denser sensor, more touch screen uses, a high res multishot mode, AF limiter, more options for button assignment and faster processors. Oh yes, and 4k video again .. assuming I ever do so shoot video, which is an entirely different issue!

Oddly enough, I liked shooting video ~15 years ago, and the Casio P505 flip screen was a nice feature! Maybe I'll regress to 2006 instead of my early-60s childhood and adapt more quickly than I expect?

Kit Impact!

• The Sony experiment is well and truly over with this purchase. DXO sensor rankings are too close to call between the K-s2 and the 20Mpix 4thirds (G9, eM1ii, eM5iii). The Pentax can handle the job of slide duplication at 20Mpx well enough, since the 3:2 format won't be cropped with that sensor. The manual-focus Sigma macro will stay a while also.
• The backup 'small' body position is open! Does the gx7 make more sense there, or should the recently acquired Air A01 take that spot? Hmm.
• I'm pretty sure that I cannot afford a better overall kit than the eM5.iii, 12-60+35-100/2.8 and my fun primes!

*Some x-T Fujis have this screen, but then wx seals and IS vanish - which I'd also regret losing. Nearly all Alphas have tip screens but the features I like come & go  with every model update. Also: living with Oly and Sony menu systems at the same time has absolutely no appeal. 

keeping weird in my kit

I am about to give the Olympus Air A01 a try!

It's an EM10 camera within a tube - a few buttons and a µSD card slot, but a full wifi/bluetooth chat line to a local phone. It was a bargain for the feature set, but it's gained a reputation for spotty phone connections. Sure it will do fine with the 10mm fisheye so I never have to aim (or even move off a 20' focus point since it's fixed at f/5.6!) but I hope it can be happy with my Pixel5. As a simple camera for high/low perspectives and possible time as my telescope eyepiece, it's ideal. A normal microSD charge port can recharge the unit from a portable source, and it can do Live Time/Composite tricks like an eM10 and uses the talented 16Mpx sensor that gave a big boost to overall interest in the µ43 platform.

I'm thinking that the G9 is enough camera for pretty much anything - but I'll hold on to the eM1 for a little while, with its tilt screen and Oly Live features that the G9 doesn't quite duplicate. If the A01 works out, the eM1 can step aside for the next user.

This may be a weird call - but I'm not alone in seeing potential in the A01!

And of course I liked the K-01 quite a bit. So why not give it a try..

µ43 commentary, part 1

Let's face it: I've been spanning the virtual globe in search of the 'right' camera for me. I've been a big fan of big sensors since 2007, but cannot afford to hold on to the largest available when I do acquire one (K-1, D600, α7ii/Rii). The aps-c sensor is my sweet spot, especially since Pentax created such jewels as the DA Limited lenses to keep kits small; for mirrorless though, it's Sony Fuji or move on (Nik/Can have finally staked out places now, but bargains are few with their fresh arrival). Finally there's micro43 and its oft-derided sensor size that just cannot keep up (when examined with a 3x loupe in search of off-color pixels).

It annoyed me when I saw how much interim processing happens with µ43 images to compensate for optics with .. less rigorous optical expectations; since then I've learned that every mirrorless camera plays this game to varying degrees. I prefer the lens to be engineered to make straight lines straight, and all colors to focus evenly across the frame - but it's clear that many do not share my hardline attitude.

I also used to be bothered by the smaller-sensor arguments about equivalent lenses/apertures for a given image.. yet that is not relevant to 90 percent of shooters. If after every shot I attempted to make an exact duplicate of that shot with a different kit, then perhaps it would be relevant. Perhaps.

fyi: I don't do this.

And so, after many kits and brands have passed through my hands, I've assembled a kit with the best stuff I can afford. I've said that before, and meant it then too - but this feels more real. Considering that any camera body made before 2018 is too expensive for me (and still has compromises!), the eM5ii is the newest body with features that I like and use. I had always hoped to grab the 35-100 f/2.8 one day, and now a copy is in hand! The Lumix 12-60 fits nicely below the 35-100 and has suitable image quality. Also I've gathered many small native primes up to 50mm that can be stabilized with the 5.iii (unlike the α6000) so lower light imaging can happen below 35mm. I like the all-manual primes as they are optically designed without auto-corrections; all the camera knows is their focal length for image-stabilizing purposes.

The good sides of µ43 from my perspective:

i. Depth of field control. WAIT NOW, that's what Big sensors are for!! Sure, if you want to blur a background it's more easily done with 'full frame' - but 4thirds sensors can do it fine with f/1.4 primes and the proper distances to subject and background. The issue can be stood on its head just as easily: a 'full frame' camera might have problems achieving sufficient depth of field in some circumstances! Maybe you'd like a fairly long shot where everything is in focus? That's far easier with a somewhat smaller sensor. So there.

ii. Features. I'm not in need of every feature, e.g. burst rates and buffer clearing times are not relevant to a one-focus, one-click shooter like me. Weather seals are valuable though, and in-body stabilization for my primes is very nice. Autofocus in low light might be nice with starry images, capturing photons in real time with screen updates, and interval shooting are things I enjoy doing - well, attempting at least. And video was big enough thing for me in the '90s to carry a DV camcorder in addition to my film camera on multi-day hikes! 

At some point I'm going to get better at that again. Whether 4k captures me or HD is sufficient, time will tell.

iii. A noteworthy 'feature' is the 4:3 native shooting ratio, which I prefer to 3:2 most of the time. I also like 1:1 as an easy option. The α6000 offers 3:2 or 16:9 - my two least favorite choices. I'd prefer video in something other than 16:9 too, but that's asking too much of any brand, it seems!

Downsides? Hmm..

I. The flip screen is annoying. I much prefer tilt-types but those are rare once specs for video rise high enough. The tilt+flip style is gaining ground.. but not in my price range.

II. Battery life? With spare batteries and the ability to recharge on the fly, I believe the lesser rated batteries will be fine. The eM1ii/iii last a bit longer per charge, but only the eM1iii and 5iii can charge via USB.

III.  (reserved for an as-yet unknown grievance)

nice

 This is a fine summer, indeed.

One can get things done in weather like this - assuming one isn't suffering from Covid, or an extended edition thereof. Sadly we're in that second position as of mid month. The sticker bushes continue to flourish while we labor with our minimal energy to keep the interior of the house clean. With better health, a few days should be found to hammer down the blackberries before they claim a second acre of our property.. of which we have but two!

Monday might even be a bit damp! Many plants would sigh audibly at such an event, I'd expect.

Covid inaction

We are into week #2 of our new COVID-19 lifestyle. It has been unpleasantly symptomatic so far: 101° fever, loss of taste, aches aplenty and energy shortages.

I was diagnosed at the doctor's office on June 27th, and home tests yesterday (3 Jul) show we both remain actively infected. So we await negative tests +5 days before rejoining the world at large.

We'll never know where we encountered it. Food shopping, drive up coffee shack? We've done so little public stuff that it is a real surprise that Covid found us.

Update - Friday tests (6 Jul) showed my spouse negative but me still positive. Another lost weekend coming up!

Are we there yet? Summer 2023

 Apparently not! One late spring storm is about to visit, with 1/2" of rain and Snow on the highest peaks. The last one usually coincides with Portland Rose Festival, but this one was ..delayed. Ah well, one less week without sprinkler deployment.

a longer hot spell?

 We'll see about this!

Update: actual result was not so hot. Two mid-80s and Sat-Sun each rounded to 90°. By Tuesday it was 78° again.