Talented Young Artist

I photographed this budding artist (with her permission), while she worked on a drawing of this sculpture entitled Peacocks by French artist Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935).  The sculpture is on loan to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Talented Young Artist

Lumix DMC-G1, Panasonic 14mm f2.5

iso800, f2.5, 1/40 sec.

 

Even though the G1 has the older series Micro 4/3 sensor, it did a nice job at iso800.  The 14mm exhibited sufficient depth of field for my purposes, even wide open at f2.5.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Steve Huff Report on Summilux 25mm f1.4

Along the lines of my post about the Pana-Leica Summilux 25mm f1.4 yesterday, I found Steve Huff's user review of the lens:

(click here)

Source: http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2012/01/10/the-panasonic-leica-25-1-4-summilux-lens-review-for-micro-43/

Personally, I like Steve's review style.  It is like chatting with an informed friend about how a lens performs for him.  He also finds that the 20mm f1.7 is a nice lens, and is different enough to justify having both.

Nice review, Steve.

Reed 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Decisions, decisions... Or is it Just an Embarrassment of Riches?

Which Lumix normal lens is best?

Size Comparison - Lumix 20mm f1.7, Pana-Leica Summilux 25mm f1.4

Image Source: http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/normals.jpg

 

I read this post about the decision a poster over at the forums at mu-43.com is trying to make regarding Panasonic lenses.  Specifically, they are trying to decide whether to trade in their 20mm f1.7 for the new Pana-Leica Summilux 25mm f1.4.  Here is the post:

 

(click here).

 

I own both lenses, and both are excellent.  But, I would not trade the cheaper, smaller 20mm, ever.  Nor would I be ready to give up the Summilux.  They are different animals.  Yes, they are both "normal" focal length, with equivalents of 40 and 50mm fields of view.  That is where the similarity ends.

 

Coming from Leica, I compare them very directly to two of my favorite lenses.  The 20mm is the equivalent of my Minolta-Leica Summicron 40mm f2.  Incredibly small, sharp, and pretty fast.  The 25mm Summilux is directly comparable to my Canon (in Leica screwmount) 50mm f1.4.   I am sure if I were richer, I would compare it to the Leica Summilux 50mm f1.4, but I don't have that lens.  The f1.4 lenses are truly for low light, where you may otherwise not be able to get the shot.  Yes, they work fine for bright light as well, but in those cases, I would always opt for the smaller lens.  

 

And, even the field of view is different enough to warrant consideration.  I very much like the 20mm (40mm equivalent in full frame terms) for street photography.

 

So, congratulations Panasonic!  You have succeeded in giving us a wealth of choices!  And, they are certainly not mutually exclusive.  So, for me, the answer to "which lens" is the obvious one.  Both!

 

And remember, you can have both lenses described here for much less than the cost of a Leica M mount Summilux!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

My Lumix DMC-G1 Image Wins History Channel / Civil War Trust Recognition!

This image won Second Place in the Civil War Trust / History Channel / Google competition, in the division dedicated to celebrating the 150th anniversary of battles in 1861. The image is displayed on the Civil War Trust webpage of winning images, was published in the journal "Hallowed Ground," and featured in the trust's 2012 calendar.

Henry House, Manassas National Battlefield

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, iso 100, High Dynamic Range (HDR) composite of three images, processed in Adobe Lightroom, Nik HDR Efex Pro.

There's a great description of the Henry Hill site here at wikipedia (click here).

You can see the announcement of Contest Winners on the Civil War Trust website (click here).  Calendars are for sale at this link: (click here).  Proceeds benefit the Civil War Trust.  I do not receive any compensation for sales.  But, I urge you to consider buying one, as they are very nice calendars, and benefit a great cause.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

New Waterproof, Shockproof Lumix Coming?

Well, I am not much for new camera rumors, but given my interest in the DMC-TS3, I find this one intriguing...

(click here)

source: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1033&message=40267283

According to past data, one would certainly expect a new model this month.

I think I will wait a little while before deciding on a waterproof Lumix.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS3 - I'm Interested

The Lumix DMC-TS3 is an attractive little camera to me.  I do a lot of outdoor activities, and travel at every opportunity.  I often go fossil hunting, nearly always near or in water.  Therefore, a small camera that is waterproof, shockproof, and has GPS is interesting to me.

Panasonic DMC-TS3

Image Source:  http://mycdn.mypcnote.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Panasonic-LUMIX-DMC-TS31.jpg

As usual, I will leave the specifications up to the manufacturer (click here), and the myriad sites that restate them.  The only relevant drawback in specs for me is the inability to shoot raw format.  I also wonder about any maintenance requirements for the seals, to preserve the waterproof integrity.  I have seen it mentioned that you should clean them carefully, and perhaps put on a thin coat of silicone lubrication.

I usually do read reviews, and pay close attention to images that I can find on flickr, taken with the camera I am considering.  In this case, the images look pretty darned good.

I found this post on dpreview.com, where the poster is asking for any negative feedback on the camera, and really gets only positive responses

(click here)

As my funds recover from the holidays, I very well may be in the market for one of these.

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy my DMC-LX5 in an aftermarket waterproof case.  I'll write more about that in a future post.  This setupworks well, but is a little more clumsy, and does not have GPS.  

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Surprising Low Noise Performance From the DMC-G3 at High iso (6400)

I used my G3 at iso6400 at a concert.  This was necessary to be able to use my Lumix 100-300 mm, f4.0-5.6 Mega OIS lens.  Not exactly a low-light lens, I was worried about having to use the camera at maximum iso.

Melissa Wright of the Acoustic Burgoo

Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 100-300 f4.0-5.6 Mega OIS Lens at 100mm

iso6400, f4.0, 1/100 sec

Lightroom settings:  Sharpening 12,1.0,25,39

Luminance NR 11, Color NR 25

This first image (above) shows how it looks with a little Lightroom adjustment of sharpness and noise reduction (NR).

Jam - Jake and the Burtones, Hot Seats, Acoustic Burgoo

Lumix DMC-G3, Lumix 100-300 f4.0-5.6 Mega OIS Lens at 100mm

iso6400, f4.0, 1/100 sec

Lightroom settings:  Sharpening, Luminance and Color NR all ZERO!

This second image shows the performance with no adjustments, right out of the camera.

I am amazed, completely blown away by the performance of this camera at iso6400!  

Interestingly, I forgot to reset my image quality settings after playing around trying to learn the camera's controls before the concert.  As a result, both images were shot only as jpegs, no raw files involved.  There are more images on my flickr account here:

(click here).

DMC-365.blogspot.com