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Re: [OM] Hodgepodge Thoughts and Other Ramblings

Subject: Re: [OM] Hodgepodge Thoughts and Other Ramblings
From: Jim Nichols <jhnichols@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2020 16:30:45 -0500
I appreciated your ramblings, and wouldn't argue with a thing you said.

As to E-1 portraits, it's not just flash that it excels in.  My favorite portrait shot of all time was made with an E-1 and the Pentax Takumar 50/1.4.

http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Katie+Grace+_amp_+Kristin.jpg.html

On 7/16/20 3:01 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
Instead of couching this as something important in the subject line
and fooling you all, I decided to be clear about my lack of clarity.
These are just a few random thoughts and items not specifically on any
one topic.

1. The E-400. I'm going to say that this camera falls into the
category of "weird". When operated in the ISO and shutter-speed
sweet-spot, it is a brilliant picture taker. This camera produces
"straight-out-of-camera" the closest to Provia 100F I've seen from a
digital camera. In fact, if you want a sensor that just gets to that
punchy result without drama, this is the camera. The size and weight
are wonderful, but the viewfinder is horrid and the ergonomics are
disastrous. The shutter-release is so notchy that between that and the
mirror-shock, it's a very difficult camera to get a sharp picture from
because of camera shake. The additional mass of the 14-54 makes a huge
difference in image sharpness because of the shake. The controls and
power switch are literally backwards from the other cameras and as I
get older, I seem to be getting less flexible to these things. But the
image quality is wonderful. Now that I've gotten a lot of time with
the camera, the one item that absolutely bugs me is the
shutter-release. It just isn't right. TL:DR - Sensor is Awesome, but
the Camera Sucks.

2. E-3. It's strange how a camera grows on a person. Honestly, when it
comes to a pure picture-taking machine in "battlefield conditions" the
E-3 is REALLY GOOD. The sensor has issues at high ISO and with extreme
dynamic range, but when used in the sweet spot, it's a rock-solid
camera that really grows on me. When you MUST get the picture, the E-3
is the best camera in my kit to grab. However, the IBIS is totally
fooled when I'm photographing airplanes.

3. Panasonic DMC-GX85. It's funny how this camera falls in and out of
favor on almost a daily basis. I hate it, I love it. I love to hate
it. I hate to love it. It's my go-everywhere camera that just delivers
the goods time after time. Viewfinder is miserable, but the camera
just wants to be with me. Time-lapse and the remote control app are
dead-on. I really do like this camera. But the sensor is sometimes
frustrating. It ain't no Kodak CCD. I fight the colors, but it does
give me the best B&W conversions possible. Same with the L1. These are
among the best cameras for digital B&W there are. Honestly, the kit
lenses are amazing, and the elcheepo 25/1.7 is stunning.

4. Sony A7 II. When compared to the GX85, this camera is a huge step
backwards in so many areas. When I want to just grab and run with a
camera, the Sony is not it. I like the Sony for the image quality, and
the glorious shutter-release, but overall, the camera is functional,
but not exceptional. There are times when the camera really does get
in your way. When compared to most modern era cameras that seem to be
more about features than brute-force picture-taking ability, the Sony
seems competent enough, but the ancient E-3 absolutely runs circles
around the Sony every single time.

5. Speaking of the Sony... Yesterday, I was taking pictures with the
app (finally got it to work, the razer blades were put back away), and
took slightly more than 250 pictures with it only to discover that I
had forgotten to put a memory card in the camera. But I did have lower
quality JPEGs on my phone. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

6. Sunset skies and native colors. Photographing the sunsets here at
the house is an interesting challenge. The Olympus cameras, even the
E-3, nail the colors the way I want them straight-out-of-camera. The
E-1 is the gold-standard, but the E-3 and E-300 are close. The E-400
will default to a slightly more "CMOS look", but can be dialed back in
to match the others.  The L1 and GX85 continue to have challenges with
the reds and oranges, but the L1 and GX85 are sometimes on polar
opposites when it comes to what to do with golden hour light. The Sony
will default to a very "CMOS look", but a couple slight twists can
bright it back in line with the Olympus, as long as I have an Olympus
image to baseline. In a nutshell, the Olympus skews red slightly
towards the orange, whereas the CMOS-based sensors skew the reds
slightly towards the magenta. And the Olympus will skew the blues
towards teal, but CMOS towards the purple. When you have a guide image
to work from, it's relatively easy to adjust in Lightroom, but without
the guide image, it's all guesswork.

7. Oh, how I despise the auto-WB feature in Lightroom. It ALWAYS skews
warm. Ugh.

8. Zuiko 28/2 lens. Man alive, that lens is so good.

9. Focus peaking on the Sony A7 II. Yeah, that's the ticket. I'm in
hog heaven. Shame that the Panasonic's focus peaking is not nearly as
good.

10. Portrait flash photography. Honestly, The E-1 is, again, the
gold-standard. And not by a small margin. The difference is
significant. The GX85 is second best. The GX85 is much worse in
natural lighting, but for flash, it is right up there--better than the
E-300, E-400 and E-3. Pretty close to the L1, The L1 and GX85 give
better dimensionality at the edges than the E-1, but any mottling in
the skin requires more correction to reduce. The Sony has outstanding
skin tones, but skin mottling is definitely an issue I've not been
able to quantify yet. The comparative I would use is this: The Sony is
to skin tones what a green filter is to skin tones in B&W photography.
Every blemish is visible. Very accurate, but needs whacking.

11. We have a momma Black Bear and two cubs running around our houses.
Yesterday, momma chased a young moose through the yard and across the
drive. Not sure where momma moose was in that, but Jack London would
be proud.

AG Schnozz

--
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA

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