Tag Archives: panasonic

*One man’s opinion, or Holiday Shopping guide 2013!

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

P1060085

The season for the commercialization of spirituality (or, SFTCOS) is upon us and following suit, we have been absolutely bombarded with new offerings in the digital photography department.  Taking the holidays out of it, and looking at it purely from a gear point of view, it is truly an exciting time to be shopping around for the best bang for your (or a loved one’s) buck.

Over the last 4 years that I’ve written this blog, I’ve been asked quite a few questions about which cameras, lenses, systems, et al, are the best.  While I’ve chosen the gear I’ve chosen for my own personal reasons, there are so many others out there that offer their own set of pros and cons, and to put it plainly, there is no universal truth, nor answer to that question.

Come on in and I’ll give my take on which of the newly announced cameras over the last year or so are the most intriguing, interesting, best value or just plain confusing…

Continue reading →

*The GX7 vs the OM-D E-M5, battle for my affection, Round 3 – IQ, Interface, Features and the Final Decision

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 110 Comments

round3

These two have gone toe to toe, and we’re all tired.  If you’re not, believe me you will be, this final round is a long one, and really the reason I needed to break this into three parts.  Now it’s time to see which, if either can really pull itself ahead and prove to be a better choice.  I use the word choice because, it will come down to a personal preference, or needed feature for any given shooter because both are great cameras.  I’m finding that it is a decision based more on what each camera doesn’t have as opposed to the qualities that they do.  Both are great, but what can you live without?  Here’s round three, the round to end all others…at least for me and my decision making process.

Continue reading →

*The GX7 vs the OM-D E-M5, battle for my affection, Round 2 – Build Quality and Ergonomics

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

BattleRound2blog - Version 2

The first round produced a bit of a shocker with the GX7 pulling out a surprise partial victory in the IBIS battle (read round 1 here).   The higher res EVF and LCD also fell in favor to the Panasonic.  Now, let’s look at the physical build and ergonomic qualities of these two cameras… ROUND 2!

Continue reading →

*The GX7 vs the OM-D E-M5, battle for my affection, Round 1 – IBIS, EVF’s & LCD’s

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 125 Comments

Battle

In this corner, Panasonic’s new, compact, fully featured camera weighing in at around a grand, the DMC GX7!  And his opponent, the current system champion in this price range, with many of the same features and weighing in at a cool grand as well, the Olympus OM-D E-M5!

I’ve had the GX7 for about a month now and feel that I’ve been able to give it a proper run through in a variety of shooting scenarios and have been comparing it to my OMD EM5 just about every step of the way.  I tried originally to compare these two cameras against each other in all ways I find them to differ, but the article has gotten ridiculously long, so we will break this into 3 rounds…  So, how do these two, high end pro-sumer micro 4/3 models compare to one another?   C’mon in and I’ll give you my opinion on where each of these cameras wins against the other starting with the in body image stabilization, electronic viewfinders and LCD screens.  Round 1, FIGHT:

Continue reading →

*The Panasonic GX7, an Evolution, Part 2

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 57 Comments

Panasonic GX7

In part 1, I gave you my opinion and rundown on the physical, ergonomic changes along with a couple of the key, new features to the GX lineup.  Now, we can take a look at how this camera has evolved from a performance point of view compared to the GF1 and GX1.  C’mon in for some videos and comparisons…

Continue reading →

*The Panasonic GX7, an Evolution, part 1

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

an evolution GX7

In this review, I want to focus on and outline my favorite additions that the GX7 has introduced to micro 4/3 shooters or those who have been shooting other Panasonic m4/3 cameras from a features standpoint.  I’d also like to look at how the GX7 has progressed physically from the GF1 and GX1.  Many of the features on the GX7 are not unique, but may be new for micro 4/3, or at least Panasonic system users, and I’ve been curious to shoot with this camera since the rumors started circulating.  In this first part, I want to go over how this camera feels in the hand, how it interacts with the shooter, and what the new bells and whistles have provided vs the previous cameras.  The next part will focus on the performance of the camera, actual image quality, et al (click here to read Part 2).  I will also be comparing this camera to my Olympus OM-D E-M5 in a future article, but for now, we’ll focus on the GX7 and the advancements it has made compared to it’s predecessors.

Continue reading →

*Ladies and Gentlemen, The Panasonic GX7: A first look.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Lumix GX7

When Panasonic started to leak the GX7 micro 4/3 camera, I, along with many micro 4/3 fans started to pine for what seemed on paper to be one of the best offerings for the system yet.  Compact, nice grip, IBIS, focus peaking, a step forward in IQ, good video options, integrated EVF, WiFi, rugged chassis… I’m no fanboy, but I will admit to feeling that Panasonic has done a better job at the interface side of things, compared to Olympus in my experience with cameras from both manufacturers.  If I could gain access to what I saw as Oly’s two benefits in IBIS and newer sensor tech in a Pana body with it’s more streamlined, yet still customizable interface, I had to see if it could live up to the hype.  I’ve long felt that if Oly could re-engineer it’s interface and remove some of the frustrating quirks that plagued the EM5, or, if Panasonic could take a step forward in sensor performance and integrate a decent IBIS system, either could have a quintessential micro 4/3 juggernaut on their hands.  Is the GX7 the answer to those desires?

Continue reading →

*Panasonic Lumix 100-300mm, waste of time, or amazing value?

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4-5.6

One huge benefit to a smaller sensor is the effective focal length multiplier.  Sure you can crop into an image captured at a wider angle, or on a larger sensor but as we have seen in the focal length vs sensor size post, when utilizing a smaller (relative to full frame) sensor, you can actually decrease your depth of field with the same focal length if shot from a fixed location, all while generically increasing your focal length by way of the effective multiplier in that smaller sensors crop into the larger image circle.  Aperture is aperture as far as exposure is concerned, so even by this standard, f/5.6 is relatively quick when you consider the focal length and price.  This said, is the Lumix G Vario 100-300mm f/4-5.6 (<UPDATE! click the link to see it at B&H, and if you click on “Savings Available” the price is down to $499 if you purchase one of the three things that qualify, like the $10.99 software…) worth the price of admission when you consider you get a 600mm lens able to shoot at f/5.6?  Let’s see…

Continue reading →

*My, how the mighty (prices) have fallen. The GX1, best bang for the buck?

by in General ramblings, Photography gear, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

GX1 on sale!

I’m sure there are new cameras on the horizon.  With every camera manufacturer pumping a few new bells and whistles into newer body styles and wrapping it around warmed over sensor tech, those among us who play the patient opportunists really benefit.  I held off on the GX1 when it was released and opted for the G3 when upgrading from my GF1.  I gained the beautiful EVF, and at the time saved about $500 (when looking at the GX1 + add on EVF).  I’ve since been running a two camera setup (much as I do with my full frame work setup) as it allows me to always have a backup as well as be able to eliminate much in the way of lens changes.  Because I use the Olympus OM-D E-M5 as well, and I’ve recently traded my G3 to my brother in law for favors yet to be determined, I felt I could justify a compact body, sans EVF again.  Enter the GX1 which is now down to only $250 just about everywhere!  (it’s available at B&H – CLICK HERE – with 2% reward and free shipping).  C’mon in to see a couple shots of and with the GX1…

Continue reading →

*Moving upward and onward!

by in General ramblings, Photography gear, Photography tutorials, Postprocessing techniques, Software tutorials / reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment
backyard shenanigans

don’t worry, there were no kids harmed during the photoshopping of this image.

Hello everyone!  You may have noticed that I’m quietly adding content to the site.  This is being done to try and make a more complete resource for those visiting the site to reference specific tutorial articles or find gear reviews, etc.  The biggest changes are the new “Tutorial” “Review” and “MyGear” pages up at the top of the page.  I will be trying to catalog the more popular tutorials and reviews for easy reference, and the new gear page has allowed me to link certain cameras, lenses and miscellaneous gear that I use to my affiliate links at B&H.  Yup, you read that right.  I’ve finally succumbed to the monetary necessity of trying to make a little coin to keep the site going.  Read on for my reasoning and ever cheesy gratitude…

Continue reading →