GAS GAS: Please Share your Latest Acquisitions Big and Small

And here's me feeling ill enough to know that I won't be able to use this lens out and about for at least another couple of days (if not longer - touch wood). Bugger ..
Hope you feel better Matt , In the mean time while I'm recovering from my busted foot I spent some money on my old and first system that I learned with, Pentax. Selling a few film do dads I bough a K-70 a 17-70 f4 , 20-40 2.8-f4 limited and a 15 f4 limited All of it's here except the camera and it's raining so I pulled out a couple old manual focus Nikkors and chased the dog around the house.
 
Hope you feel better Matt , In the mean time while I'm recovering from my busted foot I spent some money on my old and first system that I learned with, Pentax. Selling a few film do dads I bough a K-70 a 17-70 f4 , 20-40 2.8-f4 limited and a 15 f4 limited All of it's here except the camera and it's raining so I pulled out a couple old manual focus Nikkors and chased the dog around the house.
Thank you for asking. I'm basically fine again, though a bit of a cough still remains - it was nothing but a common cold. However, I had to test for COVID in order not to upset things at school ... which wasn't fun, nor the fact that I had to wait 30 hours for my results - and I had to stay in during the whole time. So it goes - I'm not complaining, on hindsight ...

M.
 
After a brief try out, I decided to move on the Olympus 9mm fisheye BCL. I also sold my Olympus 14-150. With those funds I have bought (re-bought) a Panasonic 12-60, which I feel is sharper and has more 'pop' than the 14-150, plus I don't need the extra reach 99% of the time; and the Panasonic 25mm/1.7, that being mostly for photographing Stanley the Spaniel indoors (the little 12-32 being fine for outside work but a bit rubbish in low light, and I don't want to use flash).

Did you get the Lumix 12-60mm or the Leica version? I can't decide if it's worth upgrading to the faster lens. Reviews seem to be mixed on the expensive version.

Doug
 
Did you get the Lumix 12-60mm or the Leica version? I can't decide if it's worth upgrading to the faster lens. Reviews seem to be mixed on the expensive version.

Doug
It's the Lumix. I only sold my last one because I wanted a longer zoom for a specific holiday where that came in handy. I'd never had any problem with the IQ from it. I think the extra stop at the long end would be useful in the Leica, but it's also quite a bit heavier isn't it?
 
I think the extra stop at the long end would be useful in the Leica, but it's also quite a bit heavier isn't it?
It is indeed. I've owned one twice, and the IQ was very good, but both times I came to the conclusion that the lens was just too large to be carrying around on my bike rides. I know that's just me, as I've read opinions from others who have no qualms about carrying a FF DSLR and lens when out on a bike.
 
Got me a laser-ammo.com blowback enabled 1911 training pistol.
C091873B-89A3-4EF8-971F-86ECC24501F9.jpeg


uses green gas to have the pistol function just like a real 1911. The barrel has a laser unit in it, so when the hammer drops, the laser pulses so you can see where you aimed.

I could spend almost the cost of this unit at 2 trips to the range (between range fees and ammunition).

I can actually practice in my home for potential scenarios that may occur around my surroundings in the exact lighting.

given that we still have pandemic rules in effect, getting to the range is still challenging.

oh, and it’s fun and I dont risk losing my hearing shooting a real firearm indoors for practice without hearing protection. 😜

Not that I think I’m at risk for a home invasion. Just like to be prepared.
 
Hope you feel better Matt , In the mean time while I'm recovering from my busted foot I spent some money on my old and first system that I learned with, Pentax. Selling a few film do dads I bough a K-70 a 17-70 f4 , 20-40 2.8-f4 limited and a 15 f4 limited All of it's here except the camera and it's raining so I pulled out a couple old manual focus Nikkors and chased the dog around the house.
Congrats on the Pentax purchases, Tim! The K-70 is a GREAT camera, and the 20-40 a legendary lens. I'm looking forwards to see some of your future Pentax work :)
 
Got me a laser-ammo.com blowback enabled 1911 training pistol.
View attachment 278620

uses green gas to have the pistol function just like a real 1911. The barrel has a laser unit in it, so when the hammer drops, the laser pulses so you can see where you aimed.

I could spend almost the cost of this unit at 2 trips to the range (between range fees and ammunition).

I can actually practice in my home for potential scenarios that may occur around my surroundings in the exact lighting.

given that we still have pandemic rules in effect, getting to the range is still challenging.

oh, and it’s fun and I dont risk losing my hearing shooting a real firearm indoors for practice without hearing protection. 😜

Not that I think I’m at risk for a home invasion. Just like to be prepared.
This is really cool.
 
I followed the advice of @MiguelATF and bought the DMW-EC5 eyecup from a Japanese seller.
View attachment 277324

Yup, it actually changed the whole experience. There is a minor vignette in the EVF when wearing glasses but it doesn't bother me. With contacts on, the eyecup can block most of the light around. The experience is now immersive with this one.

I got it 10 days after purchase! The shipping is even faster than with locally bought products. I even received a "Thank you and enjoy" note from the seller.
Those large eye-cups are game-changers, I had it on the GX8 and have them on both the GX9 and G9.
 
This weeks haul was a small camera bundle, consisting of a GF1 with the LVF-1 viewfinder, a GF5, a Lumix 14-42 of sorts and a Lumix FL-220 flash. Chargers and a couple of small Lowepro bags for both of the houses, an Adventura SH100 II and a Off-trail 1, as well as a Lumix leather ready pouch for the GF1.

GF5 shuttercount was at 3189 and the GF1 has 6689 actuations. All in, with signed for postage at about $110.

Was somewhat keen on another GF1, and had no ideas about the GF5, but was intrigued when it came, its a puny one.

The Off-trail is somewhat nice, an early modular waist bag, with two dismounting lens pocket, that I think can be worn on a belt by themselfs, and a main "body pouch", that I will try with the G9 and a little assortment of lenses. All in all, rather happy with the purchase.

The 14-42 will most likely be off-loaded.
 
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I lavishly indulged in action camera stuff. Specifically a shorty stick, premium lens guard and underwater housing for my Insta360 One X2, as well as a Hero 10 + housing and 3-way stick (version 2.0). We're headed to the Big Island over Christmas so I want to have the action/water sports side of things locked down.
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Last week I got a Fuji FinePix X100. A vintage digital to be sure, at least given the speed Fujifilm has iterated and advanced their cameras. This predates the whole X system, hence the "FinePix" moniker that they use for point & shoots.

This camera works wonders in all lights. Today I took it for a quick errands stroll. It fit in the jacket pocket so there wasn't any inconvenience.

Thanks to my training with Leica, steady shooting at 1/15 sec results in sharp files. The leaf shutter is to thank here. Even 1/8 s with or without aiding with the useful 5 FPS burst makes for a usable substitute for IBIS. And the OVF means that I can compose and time my photographs with perfect fluency. Even when I dropped to the EVF for a quick moment to check my focus, it was all perfectly fine to use.

All in all, a very good purchase after all. The Panasonic GX80 may extend the shooting envelope a little bit but won't be this fluent in dark situations. The Fuji slips in my pocket more easily as well.

I don't have a product shot right now but here's a sample from my walk today.

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Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
 
Last week I got a Fuji FinePix X100. A vintage digital to be sure, at least given the speed Fujifilm has iterated and advanced their cameras. This predates the whole X system, hence the "FinePix" moniker that they use for point & shoots.

This camera works wonders in all lights. Today I took it for a quick errands stroll. It fit in the jacket pocket so there wasn't any inconvenience.

Thanks to my training with Leica, steady shooting at 1/15 sec results in sharp files. The leaf shutter is to thank here. Even 1/8 s with or without aiding with the useful 5 FPS burst makes for a usable substitute for IBIS. And the OVF means that I can compose and time my photographs with perfect fluency. Even when I dropped to the EVF for a quick moment to check my focus, it was all perfectly fine to use.

All in all, a very good purchase after all. The Panasonic GX80 may extend the shooting envelope a little bit but won't be this fluent in dark situations. The Fuji slips in my pocket more easily as well.

I don't have a product shot right now but here's a sample from my walk today.
That's interesting, I didn't know they used the FinePix name with that camera. Congratulations on your purchase. And like you, I have also been relying on burst shooting on my X100V when I'm in the realm where IBIS would be helpful. I haven't used the OVF much, which is a shame since it's such a significant part of the camera's look.
 
How do you like the X100 in comparison to the X100T?
It feels very good, very good indeed.

Let's note right away that I sold the X100T in 2017 so my memories of it are fading. Moreover, back then I had a different focus in photography than I do, today. Back in 2016-2017 the little camera was my primary shooter and it was only replaced by the Leica Q.

Let's say the X100T is a 500 € camera, give or take. The X100 has been valued around 200 € for a while. I got mine for 175 €.

Autofocus: both are equally terrible in so that you rely on single-point S-AF to get anywhere, can't rely on much else. The X100T focused in pitch black conditions much better than Leica Q (another CDAF focuser), so I think it would win in single-point S-AF against X100 handily by a great margin. The software upgrades or sensor improvements can't fix the slow focus mechanism of the lens itself.

Screens and EVF. X100T is a clear winner. X100 has a poor EVF that lags and jitters a lot when the light levels drop. It's good for my use case -- it really encourages to fully push for the OVF. The camera software is very good and operation with regards to EVF/OVF is quick. You can be in OVF all the time, but press this one button to check your focus in a magnified view, and you're then back to the optical view in no time. It all works out quickly and seamlessly. Kind of hard to believe it's ten year old tech.

Build: X100T was one of the best experiences in this regard. The buttons in particular felt so nice. X100 feels very rough on the edges in comparison, and the buttons on the back are notoriously bad.

Software: Decent on both, with all the firmware fixes done in. X100T has much more customizability like we know Fuji for, whereas the X100 only allows to adjust two of the buttons and that's it. X100 has all different, modern-feeling niceties here and there, like highlight blinkies, but they can't be adjusted in playback modes to one's taste like you can with the newer Fujis.

Lens: same design I suppose, but the aperture blades make much noise on this original X100.

Sensor. Everybody raved about the wonderful sensor of X100, and it really is a wonderful pairing, the lens and the 12 MP chip. I like this sensor a lot and I don't like the 16 MP X-Trans chip of X100T much at all.

JPEGs. Haven't shot them. I am under the impression that Fuji has tweaked the colors throughout the generations, always inching towards "maturity" or subtlety. The colors on X100T were also very "candy-like". Classic Chrome used to be my favorite. But all those Velvia JPEGs I took with the X100T now look like crap, with no raw files to be found. That's why it's raws for me. Speaking of...

Raws. Beautiful noise structure (although all I've shot so far have been at base ISO) on the X100. And while I want to avoid rekindling the war that was the Bayer-v-XTrans, I am solidly on team Bayer.

Fill flash. Both models excel at fill flash and automatically metering a good balance. This is the main reason why Ken Rockwell titled the X100T the world's best camera. Its fill flash works wonders and makes subjects pop. Of course you need enough ambiance light for it to be "fill" flash. Using the camera's builtin direct flash in dark conditions will continue to look poor.

Other tidbits. X100T introduced the Electronic shutter option so that you didn't really always have to consider the builtin ND filter. I certainly didn't bother with it. Does X100V have an option to enable the ND filter automatically when needed?

Performance. Card writing times on the old X100: can't complain. Very good indeed. Playback is also very smooth and quick, considering how people all claim it's a slow camera in all operations. With the latest firmware version 2.11 from 2015, I can't agree. It's way more fluent than expected.

~

So would I consider an X100F at around 700 €, an X100T at 500 €, compared to this ~200 € X100? Not really. The price is a factor of sorts. I get much satisfaction getting my hands on a nice looking tool that punches well above its age, and how affordable it can be!
 
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