GAS Dear Giary!

[Brownie]

I can't always tell from written text when people are kidding around or being serious. So I played moderator. Its not the old age. It's the mileage.

Well, I haven't been here long enough yet to act an @$$hole. But, if you wait just bit...

I modified the post to better reflect my intent.

Now then, since we've successfully hijacked the thread beyond all recognition, let's reopen the floor and hear Mike's next rambling. I for one am interested in what he buys next, I'm always up for spending other people's money.

Mike?

 

[Bobby T]

Hijacking threads kinda happens a lot around here. Along with us trying to spend other people's money.

 

[MiguelATF]

Just a brief comment, Mike - mainly my congratulations to you for picking up the S1. From everything I have read about it, it is a fabulous camera. Confession: most of what I have read about it has been written by Kirk Tuck, who is such an entertaining and thoughtful writer that he could probably make me believe a Kodak Brownie box camera could bring about the 2nd coming of Cartier-Bresson. But. Seriously: Kirk has sung its praises (as well as those of its pricier Leica SL siblings) for awhile, so I can't help imagining that you will find it an intriguing tool, with which to expand your creative and photographic vision.

Nice thread, too. It's enjoyable to read about other people's obsessions... because, ultimately, it helps me justify and rationalize my own, I think

 

[wee-pics]

Guys you are getting too sensitive in your old age. Brownie’s wee scolding was funny and he is right, we SHOULD let Mike have his day!

Where in the world are you from Brownie? With your humour you must have some Scottish blood in you somewhere!

Old I am, yes, sensitive too ... but not too much.

Probably it's just because I'm a non-native that I'm completely missing this kind of wit.
I really did *not* understand it and still don't, that's all. I was hoping for just a little enlightenment.
But now I'd say let's just forget about it and end this discussion.
This is an extremely friendly forum and must remain so. Nothing unfriendly intended from my side.

 

[mike3996]

I for one am interested in what he buys next, I'm always up for spending other people's money.

Whoah, what I shall buy next? With three parcels in the mail and my shriveling credit card to give care to, now's the time to take a pause and take it all in before the storm. Buy next... humph. Let's see until Sunday.

 

[mike3996]

And... that the G80 will please you a lot more than you think it will. Like you said, put a nice-rendering lens on it and I think you'll find that "final generation" of 16MP sensor to produce some really, really nice files.

The main reason I want the G80 is because it's GX80 but with better grip and better EVF. Panasonic G9 was too good to me, I think G80 hits the spot much better. The investment difference of 700 € vs 175 € plays a crucial role here. But the 16 MP chip is certainly spectacular. If the same magic is not retained in G80 it'd be a shame.

I predict the slowness and boggling menu options of the original X100 will prompt you to quickly sell, like I did a couple years ago!

I read frightening reports about shutter lag and such things. Let's see how it is.

Just a brief comment, Mike - mainly my congratulations to you for picking up the S1.

It's a beast. But not decidedly larger than my Nikon Df. Heavier yes, but that will favorably contribute to stability. I battled between choices for a long time, over a year most likely. Which FF mirrorless to get. Nikon Z6 would've been the overall smartest choice probably, but I have the general idea that Panasonic files work for me better. I'm happy I could make this idea a reality now and see if actually works.

 

[mike3996]

I just remembered how my situation was in early 2020.


Previously I had traded Leica Q to a Fuji setup; X-T3 plus 5 lenses. And now I was in the process of selling those Fujis because it didn't work for me. The camera lacked certain soul and the lenses' rendition didn't generally appeal to me.

And then for a brief moment I was there, just me and the Leica M-P 240. Nothing else. A focused period.

I think it lasted 6 or 7 days.

It was the moment when I then wanted to experiment with M4/3 again. I needed a second camera for times when a large setup wasn't convenient or I wasn't feeling like it.

I'd set myself a tight budget target of less than 100-120 € if I remember correctly. Found a camera for 70 € but ultimately it wasn't a fit for me. By the time I realized that and disposed the camera I'd seen the Panasonic GX80 for 250 € and I quickly abandoned my budget targets. And that's how my last period of sanity ended, some 22 months ago.

 

[mike3996]

My weekend plans:

I will keep an eye on a certain Fuji XT3 auction that closes on Sunday evening. With three cameras incoming it would be easy to hit the brakes at this point and enjoy the three new cameras.

But I will check on the Fuji anyway. The auction has some buzz around it so I predict the bidding war takes it over my allocation. I just have to watch myself as to not start overbidding.

Why not hit the brakes at this point?
Well.
"Going all-in" is "going all-in" for a reason.

 

[marlof]

To me, it sounds like some of the cameras you’ve bought are (semi?) rational decisions. But the silver XT3: whenever you write about that, the pure lust comes through.

I have that with the silver Pen-F. Not my best camera. Not by far. But a camera like the EM1 mk iii (my bad weather camera, better suited for the WR zooms) always feels like a tool, whereas the Pen-F with metal primes is a good friend. I can see myself selling the EM1 and great Pro lenses one day, for instance if I ever want to try out a full frame camera, but never the Pen-F. That one is here to stay.

We wouldn’t be in this hobby, if we were immune to aesthetics. My bank account wants to add that it’s a good idea that I’ve never seen a Df in real life….

 

[mike3996]

To me, it sounds like some of the cameras you’ve bought are (semi?) rational decisions. But the silver XT3: whenever you write about that, the pure lust comes through.

I rationalize Fujifilm X-T3 this way: it has a unique feature of offering magnified views on the side of the full frame view. This way you can focus your manual lenses but you still have the overall composition in your sights. Most Fujifilm cameras starting from X-T1 offer this. Of course a plain old black X-T2 at 400-450 € is a better idea than a silver XT3 at 700+ €. An X-T4 would be even better in a ways but I hate those articulating screens sufficiently enough so that I can discard that camera!

I want to specifically hunt a Fujifilm at a good deal. If I get one for 700 € then I have a pretty good standing to resell it at the same money, making this experiment essentially "free". I can get one brand new somewheres at 900+ but I fear it would mean a cost of 200+ euros if/when I decide it's not for me.

But... yes. There's a lot of lust also involved. A lot. If nothing else, I want to see how a silver X-T3 looks with my silver Nikon Df set on the same table. After all, it was the X-T3 I had in 2019-2020 that triggered the impulse to explore towards the Nikon... Now the circle would close and I'd spend this winter having the two side by side.

 

[mike3996]

Two arrived at the ~same time.

Panasonic G80: really like how nice the body feels in hand. Solid and sensible. The EVF is alright. The size is wonderful overall. A joystick would be nice but can't have everything.

Fuji FinePix X100. The body is much dirtier than I'd hope. The OVF on the outside looks like a detail from a Jackson Pollock painting.

Certainly the menu structure is quite something else. "Kind of charming" is my first reaction. Is it slow? The shutter delay is low enough. Maybe not Leica-low but I like it. The aperture is very noisy. Now that I heard it in action I was reminded of people who complained about it. Certainly this isn't the quiet mouse that the X100T was. Then I had to enable flash and take a couple test shots with fill flash. It's still the same wonderful performer the X100T was. Very well working fill flash. The EVF despite the age is quite alright -- I intend to go with the OVF most of the time, but things like pic review and magnification tools work rather seamlessly!

The first impressions on both cameras: very favorable. Especially the X100 surprised me. The firmware updates were no jokes. I don't know how I can check the firmware of the camera but most likely it's the latest 4.x.


If I were to buy a cleaning agent that was friendly to optics, especially coatings, what can you recommend?

 

[Bobby T]

On all Fuji cameras, checking the firmware is the same. Power off. Then hold down the display/back button, power on the camera, then release the display/back button.

 

[mike3996]

I goofed around with the Fuji in my darkened living room. Thanks to the OVF everything is fluent in the viewfinder, and thanks to the excellent metering for fill flash, I get sensationally well exposed shots without effort.

 

[mike3996]

So my Panasonic is at latest firmware.

Had to scavenge for a memory card before I could check the firmware on Fuji. It's at version 2.11. I think it's the latest. I was thinking it was at version 4.xx but maybe I just remember the headlines about Fuji still releasing firmwares to the camera after 4 years.

 

[Kevin]

Well, I haven't been here long enough yet to act an @$$hole. But, if you wait just bit...

Wait, we were supposed to give it some time before we started doing that? Uh, oh, I may have broken that guideline....

On a tangent note, if anybody is interested, I just checked the settings and there are no censored words yet.

 

[mike3996]

I braved outside into chilly early winter weather, with gusts of wind.

I just wanted to stretch my legs and make a shallow test run so I took both G80 and X100 with me.

While inside in the dark the X100's EVF might have looked fine, it was right away clear that the panel can't really reproduce any sort of highlights. I will have to figure out if I can set up blinkies in pic review or at least the histogram.

The lens, sharp as ever. This camera supposedly has the OLPF but it doesn't show in the least. f/5.6 gets you in any situation, no need to close down further unless for DOF reasons.

Thanks to the lens, oh my Barnack, the files. I was worried the old tech lead to very bad DR and clipping of every bit of sky and everything. But the files look really swell.

The camera also did not feel sluggish in operation, not in the slightest. It's not a camera for action I grant you. But due to the FL-eq of 35mm you could use it for it as well. Easy to prefocus and time the shot.

Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

While the pics may look totally clipped on the camera's aged displays, on raw developer there's plenty leeway about it.

And the lens is certainly sharp enough for the 12 MP chip. f/2 at 2 meters and up is perfectly usable. This is performance I should have expected but I am still surprised.

What was often criticized of Fuji 10 years ago, how it decided to close down the aperture if the metering resulted in too much exposure, I think it's a fine idea and it doesn't really matter. At f/2 the leaf shutter is limited to 1/1000. Shooting wide open outside, the limits of this are easily met. I get a nice warning flash in the OVF and the camear closes the aperture down enough so that it can take the shot it had metered for me. f/2.2 most often. Do I care about a 1/3 stop difference? Not really.

 

[Brownie]

If I were to buy a cleaning agent that was friendly to optics, especially coatings, what can you recommend?

I do some minor camera repair. I keep a bottle of lens cleaner on hand for dirty lenses, but if necessary they first get a dose of isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip. I've cleaned helical coil grease off glass with that combination. Make SURE to blow any loose junk off first, and never wet the lens, only wet the applicator.

Blow > Alcohol > lens cleaner

 

[gordo]

I braved outside into chilly early winter weather, with gusts of wind.

I just wanted to stretch my legs and make a shallow test run so I took both G80 and X100 with me.

While inside in the dark the X100's EVF might have looked fine, it was right away clear that the panel can't really reproduce any sort of highlights. I will have to figure out if I can set up blinkies in pic review or at least the histogram.

The lens, sharp as ever. This camera supposedly has the OLPF but it doesn't show in the least. f/5.6 gets you in any situation, no need to close down further unless for DOF reasons.

Thanks to the lens, oh my Barnack, the files. I was worried the old tech lead to very bad DR and clipping of every bit of sky and everything. But the files look really swell.

The camera also did not feel sluggish in operation, not in the slightest. It's not a camera for action I grant you. But due to the FL-eq of 35mm you could use it for it as well. Easy to prefocus and time the shot.


View attachment 278699

While the pics may look totally clipped on the camera's aged displays, on raw developer there's plenty leeway about it.

And the lens is certainly sharp enough for the 12 MP chip. f/2 at 2 meters and up is perfectly usable. This is performance I should have expected but I am still surprised.

What was often criticized of Fuji 10 years ago, how it decided to close down the aperture if the metering resulted in too much exposure, I think it's a fine idea and it doesn't really matter. At f/2 the leaf shutter is limited to 1/1000. Shooting wide open outside, the limits of this are easily met. I get a nice warning flash in the OVF and the camear closes the aperture down enough so that it can take the shot it had metered for me. f/2.2 most often. Do I care about a 1/3 stop difference? Not really.

The X100 series is one of those cameras Fuji knocked out of the park IMHO. Even the original produced really nice images, and some today still prefer it due to the standard Bayer CFA vs the X-Trans CFA used on the later versions.

With the outdoors shooting, don't forget the camera has a built-in 3-stop ND filter.

 

[mike3996]

The X100 series is one of those cameras Fuji knocked out of the park IMHO. Even the original produced really nice images, and some today still prefer it due to the standard Bayer CFA vs the X-Trans CFA used on the later versions.

With the outdoors shooting, don't forget the camera has a built-in 3-stop ND filter.

Yes. I can't quite explain it but the X100 series always felt more caringly designed than for example the X-T series.

It also helps that with the lens design they made all the right compromises IMO.

 

[mike3996]

I do some minor camera repair. I keep a bottle of lens cleaner on hand for dirty lenses, but if necessary they first get a dose of isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip. I've cleaned helical coil grease off glass with that combination. Make SURE to blow any loose junk off first, and never wet the lens, only wet the applicator.

Blow > Alcohol > lens cleaner

Is there a particular lens cleaner liquid that you swear by?