GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

Sigh. Insomnia and eBay don't mix. I bought a one-owner black X-E2. I've kind of been thinking along those lines anyway, and the price was too good to pass up. I don't plan on buying any XF lenses on this foray into Fujiland. I have the excellent Pen F film 38/1.8 which I've used a lot on my m4/3 cameras. On the X-E2 it would give a 57mm FOV. I'm already thinking of a project where I carry only that combo for a month and shoot in B&W.
 
My dad had a 35 he was willing to part with so I grabbed it with the 23mm f2.

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Sigh. Insomnia and eBay don't mix. I bought a one-owner black X-E2. I've kind of been thinking along those lines anyway, and the price was too good to pass up. I don't plan on buying any XF lenses on this foray into Fujiland. I have the excellent Pen F film 38/1.8 which I've used a lot on my m4/3 cameras. On the X-E2 it would give a 57mm FOV. I'm already thinking of a project where I carry only that combo for a month and shoot in B&W.

Just in case you ever feel the need for autofocus, you might find the XC 35mm f/2 tempting. Same optics as the XF 35mm f/2 but with plastic barrel and mount, and without an aperture ring and WR. $199 brand new. I also find the XC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 power zoom useful on my X-E3. $299 brand new.
 
In two days I have acquired as many new things, although only one is photography related. I decided it was high time (no pun intended given the photo) to replace my aged smartphone, and the Memorial day weekend here in the states coincided with a sale on the Google Pixel 3a. Even though it's a mid-range phone, I'm finding it to be tremendously snappy and overall quite polished, definitely a bargain for $279. And yes, the camera is quite good - for a phone. Inspect the images closely and you'll be reminded that it is indeed a phone camera, but it's quite pleasantly detailed and the colors are spot on.

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While I'm raiding my dad's gear, one more prime to make a 23-35-56 trilogy. When I'm done I will have a X-E3/3 prime kit and the occasional borrowing of the 50-230 in my son's kit. And being me, at some point I will have to get a weather sealed body. But for the time being I have nice simple light weight kit.

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While I'm raiding my dad's gear, one more prime to make a 23-35-56 trilogy. When I'm done I will have a X-E3/3 prime kit and the occasional borrowing of the 50-230 in my son's kit. And being me, at some point I will have to get a weather sealed body. But for the time being I have nice simple light weight kit.

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My first-generation XF prime trilogy is the 23mm f/1.4, the 35mm f/1.4 and the 90mm f/2. I know the 56mm f/1.2 lets in a whole lot of light. But I really like the way the 90mm renders and at that focal length, I don't lose anything in terms of depth-of-field control.
 
My favorite couple for casual photography is the GX9 and the 20 1.7. Wouldn’t mind a couple more 40mm myself, what a nice focal length is that!
Interesting observations ... I also like the 20mm f/1.7, and I do like shooting it on the GF1; on the GX9, the 15mm f/1.7 gives me more satisfaction and even better results, but given the difference in price, this shouldn't really come as a surprise. However, there's a measure for my appreciation of the lens: Sometimes, I'm tempted to also get the 20mm f/1.7 II just to try it on the GX9 ... (I know it's not really a different lens, but still ...).

I also really like the results from the Fuji 27mm f/2.8 - it's another strong performing 40mm-e pancake.

That said, I also like 45mm lenses - my current personal favourite AF lens is the Sigma 45mm f/2.8 C that I currently have to shoot on the Sony A7 II, a camera that's decidedly past it's sell-by date - I really hope Sigma will be able (as well as willing) to crack Nikon's Z mount protocol and give us this lens in that mount. I'll get that lens as soon as it becomes available ...

Oh, and the actual reason why I'm posting in this thread: I got another Contax Carl Zeiss 45mm f/2.8 Tessar to replace the one I busted ...
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It's in a bit worse nick than mine was before the tumble, but the cosmetic problems are minor, and I got it for comparatively little money.
M.
Strange thing: I bought the GX9 as a camera to use the 20 on. That lens has decent behavior on Panasonic cameras but is too sluggish to my taste on Olympus cameras. Next I bought the PL15 to use on the GX9 (in a multi lens setup with the PL25 I have had since ages and a P42.5 I wanted to try even when I had the O45) because of all the great results I saw, but I just never warmed up to the PL15. It gives beautiful results but the focal length doesn’t get along with me. It’s too wide to pass as a normal, but not wide enough to act as my wide lens. So for a multi prime setup I use the Pen-F with the O12/O17/O45/O75 series, but on the GX9 the 20 (Mark II, since I gave my Mark I to my niece) makes it almost a fixed lens camera, with the 42.5 as an occasional portrait lens. Still, I do love some images taken with the PL15, so I just can’t seem to pass it along.
The P20 is tempting. I'm not sure which of the primes I have that I will end up keeping (P14, PL15, or O17); but unless it's the O17 I think there is enough difference between the others and the P20.

And the P14/PL15 + P20 would be about the same as the Fuji X70 / 18mm f2 / 27mm f2.8. If the P20 didn't have AF issues and banding question I might consider just keeping the P14 / P20 combo.
 
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The P20 is tempting. I'm not sure which of the primes I have that I will end up keeping (P14, PL15, or O17); but unless it's the O17 I think there is enough difference between the others and the P20.

And the P14/PL15 + P2 would be about the same as the Fuji X70 / 18mm f2 / 27mm f2.8. If the P20 didn't have AF issues and banding question I might consider just keeping the P14 / P20 combo.
FWIW, I never minded the 20mm's AF when shooting it on the E-PM1 - but what I didn't like was the unruly, ratchety aperture mechanism. The 20mm is no speed demon, but pretty accurate; I still find it more than adequate to use on the GF1 where the aperture doesn't rattle so much. I guess that's happening if the camera gets the lens ready to shoot - on Olympus bodies, AF efficiency seems to be "prioritised", which may make the aperture open up again after user adjustments and metering ... I'm not sure, but that's what it looks like.

However, I now own the 27mm f/2.8 - and the 20mm isn't far behind at all, neither in IQ (where I think it's equally good, with the advantage of a brighter aperture) nor in AF speed. Only deploy time is lagging (it takes its time to wake up on Olympus bodies).

But as you know: All other lenses you mention (14mm, 15mm, 17mm) *clearly* beat the 20mm for speed. I'm glad I'm not facing the conundrum you've put yourself into, David: For me, the advantages of the 15mm over the 17mm optically are fortunately obvious, and the 15mm does away with all weaknesses the 20mm has, whereas as a compact pancake lens, the 20mm holds its own, especially since its optics are really something worthwhile, always have been. That's not the case for the 17mm in my opinion - nice enough, but not on the same level (aberrations are too high for my taste, resulting in only *mostly* pleasing images). Whether you keep the 14mm or the 15mm (or both), the 20mm makes the better companion in my view. Of course, YMMV.

If Panasonic would take the time to upgrade the electronics (motor, control) of the 20mm, I'd be all over the result ...

M.
 
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My first-generation XF prime trilogy is the 23mm f/1.4, the 35mm f/1.4 and the 90mm f/2. I know the 56mm f/1.2 lets in a whole lot of light. But I really like the way the 90mm renders and at that focal length, I don't lose anything in terms of depth-of-field control.
The 90 is a phenomenal lens. The 56 is going to fit what and how I'm shooting. And looking back through my last few years of images, the 56 is a lot more versatile. With the bonus of 1.2 for the horrible lighting in some of bars my friends play in. Assuming we ever get to for them to play.
 
Would you go for another X-Pro2 or get the X-Pro3?
That is a tough question. I absolutely love the Pro2. But the Pro3 has the super low light AF performance, or actually better, that had me moving to a X-T2 with battery grip to get. Maybe both if I could swing it.
After more thought, I've shelved the idea of getting a Pro2 for a short while. More than likely, I will grab another 16mm 1.4. Then just shoot. If we get to do our annual North Myrtle Beach trip, or some unforeseen need arises. I'll settle on a Xpro to add in.
 
I have to 'fess up to a few impulse buys (most of them film related, but I put them here for a good reason), but I really think I did well on them; I'll start out with the one that *didn't* work out, though:
  • I bought a lightly used Minox 35 AF, including the AF-F flash - a nice set; unfortunately, some part of the electronics of that camera seems to have given up the ghost, the batteries don't really manage to power it up fully; I suspect condensator rot ... It wasn't expensive, but it *was* a disappointment because all I wanted was simplicity - including not to have to worry about a trigger-happy flash you have to remember to switch off whenever you want to use the camera without drawing attention to yourself.
  • Moving on: Something I reported on before, but just to get an angle on the rest: I bought the Kiev-4AM to sort of make up for the Minox. Turns out I gained much more than I bargained for - it's by far the most enjoyable Soviet rangefinder I've shot so far, and it feels like a really good camera.
  • You may remember that I crushed my coveted Contax Zeiss Tessar 45mm f/2.8 - and then re-acquired one. Well, now I have the camera I always wanted to try the lens on: a Contax RTS in surprisingly good nick, once I discovered that all its "troubles" could be solved by using the correct 4LR44 battery instead of the 4 1.5V batteries a previous owner hat shoehorned into the battery compartment. It also came with another interesting Tessar-type lens, the Yashica ML 55mm f/4 Macro - I'll give that a try as well.
  • I've told you how I decided against buying a certain Nikon lens, the 28-105mm AF-D. Well, I just pulled the trigger - for way under $100, I can't go wrong with it, and it *is* smaller and lighter than *everything* I have available for the D750, except for AF(-D) primes.
  • Now, only one, the most intriguing purchase is missing from this list - hopefully soon to be announced ...
Why this somewaht over-indulgent report? Well, in spite of the fact that I don't exactly *needed* any of this, I quite enjoy most of it; in the recent past, I was busy "rounding off" existent systems or setups; these things are pure fun, and they didn't cost me a lot of money. Except for the Minox, I was lucky, too ...

M.
 
My Fuji prime trio is the 35 1.4, 60 2.8, and the X100. :rolleyes-74: One thing I wish to mention. I see a lot of folks thinking about the XE series which are very good cameras. However, I would also encourage people to look at the XT10, 20, and 30. The bodies are taller rather than wider and give a bit more purchase for the hand and they have flip lcds.
 
My Fuji prime trio is the 35 1.4, 60 2.8, and the X100. :rolleyes-74: One thing I wish to mention. I see a lot of folks thinking about the XE series which are very good cameras. However, I would also encourage people to look at the XT10, 20, and 30. The bodies are taller rather than wider and give a bit more purchase for the hand and they have flip lcds.
I've owned both the XT10 and 20. While they are good cameras with nice output, I've tried numerous cameras with the center-mounted EVF, and I'm just not a fan. I've never kept any camera with that configuration for very long.
 
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