GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

I need to stop going to the closet at work…
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Alright, it had to happen. The writing was on the wall. The thing is, no one remotely close to me carries this camera, and my two options were to rent it, or purchase it and handle it gingerly for a few days, and if I can't make sense of the purchase, return it. I went with the latter. I'm cognizant of the fact that returning gear isn't the best way to do things, but I did find a good deal on Adorama, and fell prey to the temptation and clicked the buy button.
 
agentlossing said:
View attachment 312453

Alright, it had to happen. The writing was on the wall. The thing is, no one remotely close to me carries this camera, and my two options were to rent it, or purchase it and handle it gingerly for a few days, and if I can't make sense of the purchase, return it. I went with the latter. I'm cognizant of the fact that returning gear isn't the best way to do things, but I did find a good deal on Adorama, and fell prey to the temptation and clicked the buy button.
Click to expand...
Congrats, Andrew. May it serve your purposes well.
 
agentlossing said:
View attachment 312453

Alright, it had to happen. The writing was on the wall. The thing is, no one remotely close to me carries this camera, and my two options were to rent it, or purchase it and handle it gingerly for a few days, and if I can't make sense of the purchase, return it. I went with the latter. I'm cognizant of the fact that returning gear isn't the best way to do things, but I did find a good deal on Adorama, and fell prey to the temptation and clicked the buy button.
Click to expand...

Wow!
Serious congrats, Andrew!
And...such a great camera, too.
I can't wait to see some of what you will do with it. And I'm also curious how your perceptions - regarding its overall size and weight - are. I'm guessing the handling of the camera will be as good as advertised: practically every fine photographer who has used a K-1 for any period of time, all seem to agree about its 'handle-ability' - the way it 'feels' in hand - and how its controls and functions seem to organically lend themselves to photography.
What a GREAT purchase!

Plus...it looks pretty cool, too!
 
MoonMind said:
View attachment 310524

Okay, I broke down, I caved in, I folded, I have to eat my words - call it what you want: I now own the Fujifilm X100V, a camera I had tried to avoid for a long time. I finally bought it for several reasons:
  • I was fed up with the fact that for all my research, I had no real idea what shooting with this camera would be like - I wanted to know if I was right or wrong, and now I can find out. Initial impressions point to me having been a bloody fool, but it's early days, and as with any camera, there's bound to be a kind of honeymoon period.
  • On reflexion, I realised that my fretting about its lack of stabilisation was completely off the mark: A fixed-lens compact will never be a do-all, end-all camera, and as my experience with the Nikon Z fc (my favourite approach to a "single lens, single focal lens" camera - I use it with the Z 28mm f/2.8 SE almost exclusively) clearly shows that in day-to-day shooting, it simply wouldn't matter. If I need crazy low-light chops, either via superb high ISO performance or great I.B.I.S., I have plenty of cameras that can do exactly that. The X100V is meant to be a camera that's easy to carry (jacket-pocketable) while delivering the goods. We'll see about the latter, but I'm pretty optimistic, and of course, it fully hits the mark on portability.
  • I'm a 35mm FoV guy, have been for a very long time; this camera should be right up my alley, and again, first impressions corroborate that already. It just works for me - better than the already very pleasant Z fc with its slightly narrower FoV, and definitely better than the GR III (even though that super-compact powerhouse still has a lot going for it). The lens seems to render in a very pleasant way, too - not too bold, but definitely crisp *and* smooth, something that few comparable lenses do, and most of those are almost as expensive als the X100V (or at least half its price) while being much bigger. The GR III's lens is more "temperamental" - not worse, but much more on the "bold" side.
  • I like rangefinder (style) cameras, and I was quite pleased by what the Fujfilm X-E3 and Panasonic GX9 brought to the table, but neither camera felt fully "there"; the superb viewfinder (both the nice OVF which I still find a bit gimmicky and the great EVF) of the X100V is a cut above both and makes framing a real pleasure. I was hoping for that ... It's *not* a Leica, nor should it be, but it's a work-alike with smooth operation and good AF. All this while being about half the weight of any M body even with the most compact lenses ...
  • Last but not least, I bloody well wanted that camera, whatever else I may have tried to convince myself of!
A couple of other early impressions.
  • Setting up the camera was pleasantly straightforward - I didn't have to shoot down all the gizmo galore other cameras have switched on by default; I was up and running in less than three minutes and only had to adjust one thing afterwards (I will do more tweaking over time, but nothing significant).
  • The leaf shutter is super-quiet, certainly on par with the GR III, and only slightly "louder" (more audible) than the almost imperceptible shutter of the Canon G1X III. And it stands heads and shoulders above my former "champion" in its form factor, the Panasonic GX9, whose shutter is fantastically smooth and quiet for a focal plane shutter. The Leica M Typ 262 isn't far behind, but a bit meatier. In my book, a real asset (once you get used to it).
  • The dials are very stiff - no danger of knocking them, but it's actually a bit difficult to move the exposure compensation dial, and the aperture ring is also nicely clicky, but not all that easy to move. We'll see how things develop - it's no big deal, but I'm used to easier adjustments.
We'll see how things play out - I'll no longer be guessing, I'll be able to look into things and make up my mind for good.

FWIW, I also traded in my X-E3 setup - I no longer own any other Fujifilm gear. It's the X100V or - at some point in the future - nothing.

M.
Click to expand...

Looking forwards to both seeing your photos with this camera - and your impressions of it, in hand.
I'm particularly interested in how you find the combination EVF/OVF. (The EVF/OVF on the X-Pro3 I bought last year, is one of the best things, to my way of seeing the world, of that particular camera.)
Congrats!
 
agentlossing said:
View attachment 312453

Alright, it had to happen. The writing was on the wall. The thing is, no one remotely close to me carries this camera, and my two options were to rent it, or purchase it and handle it gingerly for a few days, and if I can't make sense of the purchase, return it. I went with the latter. I'm cognizant of the fact that returning gear isn't the best way to do things, but I did find a good deal on Adorama, and fell prey to the temptation and clicked the buy button.
Click to expand...
I'll be really curious to hear your observations.
 
drd1135 said:
I'll be really curious to hear your observations.
Click to expand...
These are the absolute first impressions, since I won't have any real shooting time for a few days yet.
  • Size: I knew this thing was large, and I wasn't wrong. However, the grip is so good (pretty much perfect, in fact) that the size doesn't impress itself on the user in the hand. To be honest, the ability to comfortably rest my pinky finger without it scrambling to find purchase is, in fact, pretty great. Where the size of the camera will make itself more apparent is in packing it around. I've yet to put a strap on it (waiting for screen protector to arrive) but I think it should wear well enough across the shoulder on a longer strap, but we will see. Packing it around in the car or a bag will be a slightly different story. I know myself well enough that I am not going to jump into getting a camera bag or backpack, because I don't adapt to them well and I end up getting rid of them, typically. So I'll want to make a decision around that later into the period of ownership.
  • Weight: another thing people like to mention about this camera, but, again, the grip really comes to the rescue in that area. The other thing is lenses. Even the FA 28-105mm (came with the camera kit, but if I'm keeping this rig, It'll go up for sale, because it's not my kind of lens) is large enough and heavy enough that, once mounted to the camera, it becomes an overall heavy package for me. Heavier, large aperture zooms? Hah, not likely. I want to use small film-era primes, for the most part, and the awesome FA Limited line is always there if I want to get fancier. So, I would say it's on the threshold of being heavy for me, but as long as I keep the lens small and light, it works fine. Plus I like the looks of the big camera with a little lens. It reminds me of a scaled-down version of the Big old Pentax 67 SLRs.
  • Body design and features: In a word, nearly perfect. It takes the things I liked about the KP's design and improves on them (okay, I know, the K-1 came out first so the KP was the derivation rather than vice versa, but this is just the way I am reacting to the camera, in a purely stream-of-consciousness, hallucinatory manner - it's just GAS, no absinthe or any similar chemicals, honest). The third dial, for example, has much more useful features available at a twist, such as exposure comp and ISO, without having to set custom functions. The very small top LCD has useful information. I like having TAv on the mode dial, and of course Pentax's green button is excellent when utilizing old lenses which don't electronically communicate with the body. The "moon lander" LCD is a conversation piece, for sure, but it gets out of the way when not needed. I do really wish it had an eye sensor for the LCD, but the K3 III is the first Pentax camera to get one from my understanding.
  • Image quality: I haven't really explored this yet, though I did download and play around with a couple RAWs before ordering, and found the amount of detail quite impressive. Also, the DNGs didn't seem to bog down Lightroom or DXO, which was a pleasant surprise. I do think this FF 36mp sensor pushes the limits of what a camera's JPEG engine can do. Files don't seem as clean or crisp as they should when you really zoom in, even given the fact that there's a roomy pixel density compared to smaller sensor cameras. I think far better results will come from desktop software in a way that's more noticeable than it is with my other cameras, and their smaller sensors and also fewer mp.
 
agentlossing said:
These are the absolute first impressions, since I won't have any real shooting time for a few days yet.
  • Size: I knew this thing was large, and I wasn't wrong. However, the grip is so good (pretty much perfect, in fact) that the size doesn't impress itself on the user in the hand. To be honest, the ability to comfortably rest my pinky finger without it scrambling to find purchase is, in fact, pretty great. Where the size of the camera will make itself more apparent is in packing it around. I've yet to put a strap on it (waiting for screen protector to arrive) but I think it should wear well enough across the shoulder on a longer strap, but we will see. Packing it around in the car or a bag will be a slightly different story. I know myself well enough that I am not going to jump into getting a camera bag or backpack, because I don't adapt to them well and I end up getting rid of them, typically. So I'll want to make a decision around that later into the period of ownership.
  • Weight: another thing people like to mention about this camera, but, again, the grip really comes to the rescue in that area. The other thing is lenses. Even the FA 28-105mm (came with the camera kit, but if I'm keeping this rig, It'll go up for sale, because it's not my kind of lens) is large enough and heavy enough that, once mounted to the camera, it becomes an overall heavy package for me. Heavier, large aperture zooms? Hah, not likely. I want to use small film-era primes, for the most part, and the awesome FA Limited line is always there if I want to get fancier. So, I would say it's on the threshold of being heavy for me, but as long as I keep the lens small and light, it works fine. Plus I like the looks of the big camera with a little lens. It reminds me of a scaled-down version of the Big old Pentax 67 SLRs.
  • Body design and features: In a word, nearly perfect. It takes the things I liked about the KP's design and improves on them (okay, I know, the K-1 came out first so the KP was the derivation rather than vice versa, but this is just the way I am reacting to the camera, in a purely stream-of-consciousness, hallucinatory manner - it's just GAS, no absinthe or any similar chemicals, honest). The third dial, for example, has much more useful features available at a twist, such as exposure comp and ISO, without having to set custom functions. The very small top LCD has useful information. I like having TAv on the mode dial, and of course Pentax's green button is excellent when utilizing old lenses which don't electronically communicate with the body. The "moon lander" LCD is a conversation piece, for sure, but it gets out of the way when not needed. I do really wish it had an eye sensor for the LCD, but the K3 III is the first Pentax camera to get one from my understanding.
  • Image quality: I haven't really explored this yet, though I did download and play around with a couple RAWs before ordering, and found the amount of detail quite impressive. Also, the DNGs didn't seem to bog down Lightroom or DXO, which was a pleasant surprise. I do think this FF 36mp sensor pushes the limits of what a camera's JPEG engine can do. Files don't seem as clean or crisp as they should when you really zoom in, even given the fact that there's a roomy pixel density compared to smaller sensor cameras. I think far better results will come from desktop software in a way that's more noticeable than it is with my other cameras, and their smaller sensors and also fewer mp.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is going to be all you hoped for...and more!

Once again, congrats on what I think will prove to be an immensely satisfying purchase - and camera! - for years to come.

Speculating out loud, if I had a K-1, all other things being equal (and I tend to go for primes rather than zooms also), I think I would probably wind up saving my pennies and dollars for one of the semi-legendary FA Ltd. series of primes... with the FA 31mm f/1.9 at the top of the list. Slightly wider than a 35mm, slightly more telephoto than a 28mm, it's almost the perfect focal length for...well, for so many types of photography.
 
MiguelATF said:
Sounds like it is going to be all you hoped for...and more!

Once again, congrats on what I think will prove to be an immensely satisfying purchase - and camera! - for years to come.

Speculating out loud, if I had a K-1, all other things being equal (and I tend to go for primes rather than zooms also), I think I would probably wind up saving my pennies and dollars for one of the semi-legendary FA Ltd. series of primes... with the FA 31mm f/1.9 at the top of the list. Slightly wider than a 35mm, slightly more telephoto than a 28mm, it's almost the perfect focal length for...well, for so many types of photography.
Click to expand...
I hear ya. I've been scrutinizing the used prices on the FA 31mm Limited as well! Maybe even a silver one...
 
Just picked up a lightly used Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 for about $50 off, plus the 5% back ebay is running currently, and an array of filters for it. This will be my second ultra wide lens in my assortment (best name for all my crap at this point?), but my only ultrewide capable of taking filters. That could make this immensely more usable and may even facilitate the sale of my Tokina. Time will tell.

Some how none of the filters I yanked from work the other day are 43mm 🙄
 
My eldest is getting married next week and I thought I'd take my smallest camera (a Panasonic GX80 and 12-32) to take a few photos. However the bulge in my suit pocket didn't get a seal of approval from my wife, so I've splashed out on a well used Sony RX100 iii from MPB. It arrived yesterday and has a few minor cosmetic scratches but everything seems to work. It is small but with its f1.8/f2.8 lens, tilting rear screen and a tiny bit of PP I think it will be fine. Now I just need some dress sense! Both minor edited JPEGs.
DSC00174.JPG
DSC00085.JPG
 
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MiguelATF said:
Looking forwards to both seeing your photos with this camera - and your impressions of it, in hand.
I'm particularly interested in how you find the combination EVF/OVF. (The EVF/OVF on the X-Pro3 I bought last year, is one of the best things, to my way of seeing the world, of that particular camera.)
Congrats!
Click to expand...
Thanks, Miguel - though I think the jury is still out, for several reasons, but I can say a couple of things:
  • It's a really compact, but not exactly super-small camera - so some things are on the verge of being fiddly, like the aperture ring or the somewhat stiff exposure compensation dial. But all in all, this is a fantastically well conceived camera with a minimalist approach to shooting. Coming form the X-E3, it's like coming home, only more so (because of the even more classic handling that's another stop closer to what my Leica M bodies give me).
  • It's also a very dense camera that feels heavy for its size in the hand; I prefer carrying a camera like this without a strap or even a wrist strap, but I don't feel completely secure doing that with the X100V, so I invested into some additional stuff to see if it can improve things. See below ...
  • I know it may seem narrow-minded, but I had to switch of a lot of the gizmos initially switched on, most prominently permanent access to touch screen modes (a little soft button on the display that had me constantly switch modes and induced irritations no end) and digital zoom which inexplicably seems to be the default for the lens control ring which equally inexplicably can't be set to manual focus override ... Once I had the camera tamed to my liking, it felt very natural, and by now, nothing disturbs the experience.
  • The EVF is very good - not quite as compelling as on my Nikon Z FX bodies, but better than on the DX bodies; I haven't yet found a real use for the OVF yet, but it certainly has great optics, and it may come in handy when out on the street (as opposed to nature).
  • Images are truely appealing - Fujifilm at its best, with a really, really great lens. I know that saying this may sound provocative, but it's almost the equal of the GR III's lens in terms of clarity and bite, but without the latter's tendency to boldness. It's not quite as crispy, but in a good way. And it's certainly not (or no longer) a "character" lens, it's well behaved, predictable, a tool with nonetheless very pleasing rendering. I'm really glad I finally made the step - it would have been a shame to miss out on this camera!
The handling "issues" are really not that big, but I'm someone who walks for hours with camera in hand (not on a strap, not in a bag), and the X100V feels slightly uncomfortable doing this, whatever position I choose - and as I do this all the time, I actually know my preferred hand/arm positions very well. The best way for the X100V seems to be the "Leica" position: elbow bent, camera vertically nesting in upturned hand. However, the camera is a bit small and light for that (somewhat similar to the Panasonic GX9 in that respect), so it doesn't really rest securely in the hand. In spite of the grip, there's no way to have the camera hanging off your fingertips, so lowering the arm means I have to grip the camera really tightly, and it's too small to comfortably rest on a bent arm ... Sorry if this sounds like gibberish, I may put together a couple of images to explain this better at a later time. The bottom line is, I haven't yet found a position I feel comfortable *and* secure with.

Enter my latest purchases: Grips, and more lens stuff:

X1000061.jpg
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(Don't mind the stuff in the background - it's a curio included with the JJC lens accessories, and you've already seen the NiSi filter.)

I got a couple of JJC accessories:
  • A dedicated grip that's actually not only well made, but also very well thought out, doens't impede card and battery handling, has its own attachment screw (no tools needed for secure attachment) and corrects the position of the tripod mount. I've had a similar one for the X-E3 (though marketed by Meike) - this is at least on par with what SmallRig offers for my Nikon Z DX bodies ...
  • A ThumbsUp that's somewhat less convincing, but seems to do the job. It doesn't really sit firmly in the hotshoe and shifts a bit, though - I don't think it'll slip out, but I'm used to a different kind of experience from my Leica and Match Technical ones. However, it actually *is* helpful while retaining quite a low profile - I'm not sure yet if it'll become a stay-on, but so far, it still feels promising.
  • When using my Canon G1X III in adverse weather, I found that a hood was actually more important than a filter - so I got the JJC filter/hood combo as a bad weather solution. Unfortunately, this stuff is very roughly made - screwing the hood onto the filter part sounds like car repair instead of fine mechanics, but it works after a fashion. So, the JJC combo will *only* come on in bad weather - the NiSi is much more practical and a lot better made. And I'm absolutely certain that the actual filter is in a different classe, too.
My minimalist carry combo now looks like this, and I certainly hope it can solve most "issues" (worries, rather):

Z60_4019.jpg
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This is what, for now, I call my "winter" combo:

Z60_4020.jpg
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The most surprising thing so far: Even it may feel counter-intuitive (I wanted a small camera, right?!), it's not out of the question that I'll actually end up using the screw-on grip most of the time and actually *instead* of the ThumbsUp - it really feels nice in the hand, and it allows me to use my favourite way of carrying any camera: Hang it on my fingertips, tighten grip while pulling it up to my eye for shooting ...

Now I'm set - I'll test things out over the next couple of days. Anyhow, none of my niggles takes anything away from the fantastic package the X100V definitely is.

M.
 
MiguelATF said:
Sounds like it is going to be all you hoped for...and more!

Once again, congrats on what I think will prove to be an immensely satisfying purchase - and camera! - for years to come.

Speculating out loud, if I had a K-1, all other things being equal (and I tend to go for primes rather than zooms also), I think I would probably wind up saving my pennies and dollars for one of the semi-legendary FA Ltd. series of primes... with the FA 31mm f/1.9 at the top of the list. Slightly wider than a 35mm, slightly more telephoto than a 28mm, it's almost the perfect focal length for...well, for so many types of photography.
Click to expand...

agentlossing said:
I hear ya. I've been scrutinizing the used prices on the FA 31mm Limited as well! Maybe even a silver one...
Click to expand...

Not sure if you're into shooting at the short tele range but a 77mm 1.8 would make an awesome second to the 31mm. It's one that I regret not trying out in my brief visit to Pentax.

Side note: Love the silver finish. Had the 20-40 and 40 in it and it was beautifully done.
 
MountainMan79 said:
Just picked up a lightly used Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 for about $50 off, plus the 5% back ebay is running currently, and an array of filters for it. This will be my second ultra wide lens in my assortment (best name for all my crap at this point?), but my only ultrewide capable of taking filters. That could make this immensely more usable and may even facilitate the sale of my Tokina. Time will tell.

Some how none of the filters I yanked from work the other day are 43mm 🙄
Click to expand...
Nice. At that price it's an almost cost nothing and weigh nothing UWA lens with respectable output. Love mine.
 

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