At 7/16/2020 01:01 PM, Rambling Man 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.
Ramble On - Gotta find the [camera] of all my dreams - Ramble On
Me personally, the early Olys, that need to be in the "sweet-spot", were
problematic. Perhaps you can throw in a 12. Pentax or 13. Nikon?
Since you like Provia, I always felt it tended toward the blue, so can see
your sensitivity to LR shifting WB toward warm. You must be a Cool person.
WayneS
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