Tag Archives: system

*Lumix GX9, death of the GX line?

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 68 Comments

Hey everyone!  Look, the opinions are pretty polarized in regard to Panasonic’s newest m4/3 camera, and I feel that both sides are right.  On one side, we have those of us that are excited to see the form factor shrink a little bit with the cost coming down to a remarkably reasonable level.  On the other side, we have those of us that are lamenting the lack of ergonomics, weather sealing, fully functional, high spec EVF and general feel that the GX8 has been downgraded.  

As someone who has owned every GX model made (less the GX80/85 which I have shot with fairly extensively, however) I do feel I’m in a position to throw my opinion around a bit.  Not that you have to agree, nor even listen, but here’s what I think…

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@Lensbaby Twist 60, rebirth of a classic, quirky, beautiful optic w/@SeeInANewWay

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

DSC00005 1

Lensbaby’s optical engineers have done it again.  After moving away from the toy camera replication type lenses into more complicatedly designed optics with lenses like the Sweet 35 and 50, Edge 50 and 80 and the Velvet 56, they’ve replicated the swirly vortex of the old Joseph Petzval designed optic from 174 years ago with this new Twist 60.  Don’t dismiss this lens as pure kitsch, as it is remarkably sharp where you’d want it for a portrait lens (middle frame) and while, wide open you’ll see some pretty severe vignetting to go along with the twirly bokeh, this adds to its charm and vintage qualities.  Portrait painters of yesteryear used many different brushes to create their renditions, and this can certainly be seen as a wonderfully specialized brush for the portrait photographer, along with those looking to add some fun to shots of any kind. 

While perhaps not an effect to suit everyone’s taste, it is one that has found a place for certain portrait and fine art photographers looking to add in camera effects to visibly differentiate their look.  With other companies seeing the value in chasing this corner of the market with lenses like the Kickstarter Petzval clone and the Trioplan Soap bokeh lenses that are looking to be launched on the market, it’s obvious that there is some demand for these newer versions of throwback optical designs.  The question though, is how much are photographers looking for these optical effects willing to pay?

Priced at a very modest $280 for the Twist 60 Lens (optic and non-tilting metal lens body housing) available in Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony E mount, or $180 for the optic solely, the Twist 60 is certainly worth a look.  You can find it at Adorama HERE, B&H HERE or directly through Lensbaby HERE.

C’mon in for more example shots, some technical mumbo jumbo and my thoughts on this lens…

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*The Panasonic Lumix GX8 vs GX7 showdown. How much of an upgrade is it, really? Well… w/ @LumixUSA

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

gx7 vs gx8

Well, my friends, I have been enjoying the comparison between these two great cameras, and in this article I would like to present my opinions and findings regarding how they directly compare to each other in regards to performance and file output, once and for all (for my purposes, anyway).  Here’s my disclaimer… I don’t work for Panasonic.  I’ve always researched and purchased my own gear, and do these tests in an attempt to help others like myself see what I wish that I could have seen in cases before buying stuff.  Enjoy and I hope this shows you something you’ve not yet seen.

I’ve been looking at the comparison from the angle of one who is curious about replacing my historically favorite micro 4/3 camera in the GX7, with it’s intended upgrade in the GX8.  I’ve now had the GX8 for a couple months and have shot a few thousand images with it, so I have been able to get a good feel for how it handles, performs and how the files look when digging into them.  With the GX8, Panasonic has given us an increase in size, resolution and features, which have all looked good on paper, and I’m now wanting to really see that come through in practice, which in most cases, it has.

Here is what I’ve seen, and what I’ve found…

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*A Pana-Leica Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 review – I never should have doubted you.

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH OIS Lens Panasonic

Now, readers may remember a mere 6 months or so ago, I purchased the Voigtländer 42.5mm f/0.95 lens (see that review on a new page HERE) for my micro 4/3 system setup.  I’ve loved that lens, but since its announcement I’ve been curious about the Leica branded Nocticron, largely because I do really enjoy shooting two of the other Leica branded lenses for the system in the Summicron 15mm and 25mm models.  The asking price for this portrait lens was always high for my taste, which was why I opted for the Voigt to begin with (which isn’t cheap in its own right, but 2/3 the retail price of the Nocti).  Well, as luck would have it, an open box/like new Nocticron came up for sale at near the same price as the Voigtländer and my curiosity couldn’t be held back, and now I’m tasked with figuring out which one to hold onto.

Here are my initial impressions on this beautiful lens.

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*Leica 15mm f/1.7 vs the Pana-cakes

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 53 Comments

panasonic lumix leica 14mm, 15mm, 20mm

Choice is good, and unless it is an important, multiple choice test, the more choices, the better I feel.  In this constantly growing camera system, we are continuing to get quality choices in the lens game.  From semi-wide through standard focal lengths, the micro 4/3 system boasts quite a few options and those options are increasing.

So, with the recent addition of the new Panasonic Leica Summilux 15mm f/1.7 lens, it begs the question, why?  With quite a few other comparable focal lengths in the lineup, why this lens?  Panasonic has already provided two, pretty comparable, adequately performing focal lengths in this space.  Come on in for a comparison between these three lenses to see which might be most deserving of your adoration and hard earned money.

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*Olympus M.Zuiko MC14, 1.4x Teleconverter Review

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

m zuiko mc14 1.4x micro 4/3 teleconverter for 40-150mm f/2.8 pro lens

Olympus continues to add to its Pro lens quiver with the M.Zuiko Digital 1.4x Teleconverter MC-14, available as a useful accessory to the 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro Zoom lens.  Currently, the Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO lens is the only lens that this teleconverter works with, but I’d assume that once we see the soon to be M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 PRO prime lens show up, that number will climb to two.

A teleconverter effectively multiplies the focal length of the lens it is coupled to, while decreasing the lens speed by one whole stop in the case of a 1.4x, or two stops when using a 2x tele converter (Oly, feel free to bust one of these guys out too!).  In this case, it converts the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens into a 56-210mm f/4 optic which translates to an effective field of view in full frame terms of 112-420mm.  Not a bad range, and one that for system users essentially turns the 40-150 (80-300mm e-fov) into two very useful lenses if we’re to look at it in Full Frame equivalency as a workhorse, studio portrait/event tele zoom akin to the various 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses as well as the more sport and light wildlife tele zooms of the world in the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 flavor, it begins to make a lot more sense as to why Olympus chose this range, as opposed to what would have been a more traditional 35-100mm (70-200mm) lens in the first place.  Hmmmmm…  Continue reading →

*Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro Lens, User Review

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Olympus m.zuiko 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro Lens review

Well, one mirrorless system has certainly put its big boy pants on.  Over the last year, Olympus has joined Panasonic in offering a professionally fast zoom range from wide through tele in a two zoom setup.  Traditionally seen as a working photographers “go-to range” the 24-200mm focal length run being offered in a reasonably fast, constant f/2.8 maximum aperture is arguably a necessity, and depending on who you ask, a must have range for many professional applications.  Olympus has taken that traditional range, and added to it on both sides with their series of “PRO” zooms, the recently announced and soon to be released 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO (14-28mm e-fov), their 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO (24-80mm e-fov) and this 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO  lens (80-300mm e-fov) offer system shooters the ability to shoot from a 14mm ultra wide equivalent through a 300mm long tele equivalent at f/2.8.

Today, I’ll have a look at the tele zoom in this series in the 40-150mm.  So, how does this lens stack up?  Well, if Canikon have been waiting for a warning shot, this might be seen as a nuke across the bow.  C’mon in for my thoughts on this lens.

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*Olympus 45mm f/1.8 vs the Contax G Zeiss 45mm f/2

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olympus m.zuiko 45mm f/1.8 vs contax zeiss 45mm f/2 planar

I held off for a long time on buying a portrait focal length for the Micro 4/3 system and despite the stellar reputation and modest pricing of the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens, I’d found myself more or less happy with my adapted Contax 45mm.

The Contax G Zeiss 45mm f/2 lens has a pretty amazing reputation of its own.  In its day, it was touted as being one of the sharpest standard lenses available, even garnering praise over some more illustrious Leica lenses in the same focal length neighborhood.  While I wish I had some Leica glass with which to test and back up that claim, let’s just say that the little Zeiss lens has done okay for itself and still goes for a decent amount of money now that the weird proprietary focusing mechanism has been worked around and this lens can be adapted to most any mirrorless camera nowadays.

So, how do these two compare?  Let’s see…

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*Have you been on the fence? GX7 on super sale.

by in General ramblings, Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Lumix GX7

Adorama has started to offer the GX7 (body only) with a bunch of freebies or gift card for $300 off the normal price.  Now, I don’t have a crystal ball, and I don’t know if this is somehow a precursor to a newer camera, but even if it is, this is a killer deal on what I feel is the best all around micro 4/3 camera out right now.

Let me clarify that last statement.  I don’t mean to say there aren’t better performing micro 4/3 cameras in ways.  The GH4 is the benchmark right now, but costs a lot.  The EM1 has some bells and whistles, but also, costs a lot more than the GX7.  Neither of these two is anywhere near as compact as the GX7 is, and as you may have read, I feel the GX7 does really, really well against the EM5/10’s or EP’s of the world in my opinion.

Find the GX7 with a bunch of stuff for $697 at Adorama HERE

Find the GX7 with a $100 Adorama Gift Card for $697 HERE

The GX7 deals are listed through 10/4.  If you’d like to read more on why I feel this is the best current overall micro 4/3 camera, hit the links to my review articles below:

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 1 (IBIS, EVF’s and LCD’s)

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 2 (Build Quality and Ergonomics)

GX7 vs EM5 Battle for my affection Part 3 (User Interface, IQ, features and the final decision)

GX7, an Evolution Part 1

GX7, an Evolution Part 2

GX7 vs GM1

Adorama is also offering a $300 rebate off of the GH3.  I’ve never used the GH3 aside from a few shots here and there so I cannot give a personal endorsement, but I do feel it has gained a good reputation for a reason.

It’s currently $797 and can be purchased with a $50 gift card and 4% reward, a $100 gift card or alone without one which is odd, but you can see all 3 deals on Adorama for the GH3 HERE if that floats your boat, and these deals look set to expire on 9/13.

I don’t normally do this type of post, but I do field a lot of questions, emails and various social media inquiries about cameras and the GX7 is one that I feel has been the best mirrorless camera I’ve yet used and with the current deals, is an absolute steal in my opinion.  The Adorama links are in fact attached through my affiliate account there and would give me a small commission which will in turn be used to purchase more stuff to shoot and review on the blog, so I thank you in advance for the consideration and I hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer (or winter depending on where you may be reading from).

 

Thanks all and happy shooting!

T

*New Kid On the Blog! Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 lens, first look.

by in Photography gear and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

leica 15mm f/1.7   Hi all.  Sorry for the lack of activity on the blog.  Lots of things happening in the Robichaud camp of late, many of which have required a large amount of time, energy and emotional involvement.  All’s well, and one thing I’ve been really wanting to share is a quick look at this new micro 4/3 gem.  The (Panasonic) Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 aspherical micro 4/3 lens is the fourth Leica branded lens for the micro 4/3 system, and much like the others I’ve shot with, brings with it a unique signature.  Boasting a fast f/1.7 maximum aperture setting, and a 30mm equivalent field of view in a solidly built little package, it should prove to be another success for the system.  An odd focal length, but one that if embraced, can give someone a unique wide angle that moonlights as a semi-standard a-la the more traditional 35mm focal length.  I have always been a 35mm lens fan, and not a fan of the 28mm lenses, rather opting for a 24mm as my wide angle and the 35 as my semi-wide/standard focal length of choice for all around shooting, this lens has forced me to reassess my past comforts, but to be fair, the Oly 75mm falls into that same category, and I love that one, so I’ve found room in my heart for odd focal lengths in the past.  (*If interested, you can now read my review and comparison piece using the Leica 15mm HERE)  Okay, let’s take a quick look at this little lens… Continue reading →