Daily Challenge The April 2020 Challenge - discussions and insights

Just to shed a little light on the "Take Care" thing ... I thought that a motto was appropriate to help us keep things in perspective: It's much more important to "take care" than to contribute to the challenge.

At first I wanted to call the whole thing "No Fools" (that came after an unhelpful "No Joke" ...), but I felt I might offend someone by that. So I changed it to something less tongue-in-cheek - and seem to have caused people to take issue. Duh ...

M.
 
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Really glad I picked an autofocus 50mm this time round, just shooting what I see. I found the first monthly challenge I did about 5 years ago really difficult, not this time though. That might also be because I picked a non-fancy lens. Absolutely no pressure at all.
 
With the theme of this thread, my challenge of doing it, is health issues, that I am overcoming with equipment helps. Several issues, keep me from handling a camera steady, and especially manual focus.
But the E-M5 has the magnification on demand for the screen as well as the EVF. Wonderful!
Put it on the Medium duty tripod, with 2 sec shutter delay, and we're good to go!
No, it's not very versatile for complicated situations, but, neither am I, any more. Getting weaker all the time. Not able to walk very far. Just glad to be part of this, one more time.
The Olympus OM series (1, 2, 3, 4)of the old film days, were my favorite cameras. The E-M5 is the natural digital upgrade to the OM4, and is as good as I could have asked for. Not craving another upgrade. From the Kodak Brownie 620 (box), to the E-M5 and the many, many cameras and lenses in between, it's been a great trip, and I'm grateful for it.
This pic taken with my LG phone, tweaked in PS.

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Pentax 35mm SMC f/3.5.
I have had this lens hiding in the extra camera bag, for quite some time, but had not given it a fair trial, until now. I am loving how it works with the E-M5. Very usable wide open and gets better, as you stop it down. Some where I read about this sleeper lens, and looked until I found one. I somehow wasn't impressed, but now decided to break it out for this challenge. I am so glad I did. I expect it will mostly live on the E-M5 now.
I couldn't find the right thread for this discussion. Feel free to move it to the proper place for it.

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Right as the challenge was kicking in I did to the upgrade from the D3200 to the D7100. Mostly small changes - two control wheels instead of one so that manual mode is much easier, etc. The classic 35/1.8 DX lens is proving to be a very good lens especially considering it's price :D OTOH, I got back a beautiful old 50/1.4 from being AI'd today and if I had to chose again... :daz:

Been fun so far, I'd been doing a One Camera, One Lens, One Year challenge already so I shifted into this easily.

Thanks!
 
So far I have been able to find things to point my Sigma 30mm f1.4 at - effective 60mm is a little tight for me, and I didn't care for it when I had the older f2.8 Sigma, but I'm shooting different things with this one. Specifically I've been looking for detail, shooting wide open and layering out of focus areas into the frame. I don't know whether I can keep this type of composition up for the whole month, but I'm fairly pleased so far.
 
I'm struggling, but not in a way that will keep me from finishing the challenge in any way. Anyhow, if things turn seriously bad, I'll just switch gear - because what I'm having trouble adapting to is the GR III.

To me, this iteration of the tiny Ricoh remains a conundrum: This camera punches so much above its weight and size that it's unbelievable. Jaw dropping, at times. At the same time, I don't enjoy shooting with it much. That said, if things work out (which they do if I try hard enough and use the camera for things it does really well), I'm still satisfied with the results.

But finding all this out and maybe overcome it was and is the purpose of my decision. I was pretty much aware of it going in, so I won't complain too much. And I've decided to always take another camera with me (apart from the Olympus XA that's tagging along anyway but hasn't seen any action in the last couple of days).

I'm going to get to the bottom of another nagging suspicion I've had for a long time now: It may be that the 28mm FoV just isn't for me (I'm usually a 35mm to 50mm type of guy, but I also love shooting with seriously wide lenses). Maybe this is the sore spot ... I somehow doubt it, but it's worth exploring. So I'll take another camera with a very nice 28mm lens along and see if I feel more comfortable shooting that.

Still, all this may lead to the GR III being moved on ...

We'll find out today if there'll be a curfew over Easter - too many people behaving insensibly in the last couple of days may well lead to that. In some people, spring causes that ... Anyhow, keep your fingers crossed - so that at least going for a walk alone or in couples remains possible. I'm really quite afraid of being cooped up in my flat ...

M.
 
I'm fine for now, able to find the subjects, light and compositions in these limiting circumstances. Usually for me photography means going for a walk, so it's an interesting change for now. Maybe it will become a bit oppressive toward the end, if I run out of cute corners and details around my home :)

As for the Jupiter 8, a little Russian M39 lens chosen for this challenge, it gets the job done and has a certain glowing and dreamy look wide open that goes well with intended atmosphere of my shots. On the other hand, it cannot focus closely and it's not really pleasant to use, nowhere near my Minolta lenses.

When all this is over, I think I'll invest in another speedbooster so I can put my Minolta and M42 glass on Fuji XE2.
 
The Pen F camera and old film Pen F 38/1.8 lens are an excellent combination for outdoor compositions, but its short telephoto FOV makes it a bit challenging for indoor work. I have to keep the camera on a tripod for sharp images, since my workshop takes up a corner of our utility room and it's fairly dim, even with extra lights on the bench.
 
Wow. One month with one prime lens is already very difficult for me. So far I get by with a 28mm on full-frame but I'm not sure if I'm going to stick it out to the end.

It can be a challenge but OTOH it's how I started. Back in the bad old days you bought a body and got a nifty fifty with it. I couldn't afford a second lens and 99% of the zooms were horrific and the rest were worse. As a result I still prefer a bag with a body with a normal prime on it and a wide and a short tele when needed. With my D7100 I have a 35/1.8 on it (50mm E) and I have a 50/1.8 (75mm E) as well. I have my eye on a 24/2.8 at eprey and when I get it I'll have my 35mm E lens. After that everything is a specialty lens to me.
 
For you Nikon shooters, back in the film days, I bought a new 8008 with the 85 mm f/1.8. A super nice lens. But being fresh off Olympus OM 1, all manual, I could not live with computer driven photography. Sold it to my daughter. She loved it. I owned that camera/lens 3 times, and after 20 years, I gave it to a friend, that loves Nikon. Still miss that lens.
 
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