It has come to my attention that it's been a while since I just spewed out
random nonsense regarding things Olympus. In an effort to correct this and
give you all reasons to terminate your accounts... It's been a VERY busy
past couple of months here. I haven't had much time for anything photography
related, much less being productive with cameras. But I did manage to spice
my life up a bit by moving stuff around to different bags. Not so sure I'm
all that happy with the current setup, but oh well. Life is too short for
stagnancy.
Random thoughts and observations. Some new, some not so new, but may be of
interest to anybody who has lost all will to live and needing that extra
something to push them over the edge:
1. The latest/greatest Micro FourThirds bodies. Yes, I finally got my mits
on a Panasonic DMC-G3. For mere moments, but enough to give myself a few
brief thoughts. The EVF is far better than the A1's, but it is still very
irritating to use when there are moving objects in the scene. Also, the same
issue of loss of dynamic range in the viewfinder rears its ugly head. Yes,
the display shows what the camera is going to capture, but it masks
everything that is not going to get captured. You MUST have both eyes open
to know that there is something lurking in the shadows, because you'll never
see it in the liveview. As I thought it would, the camera actually handles
very nicely--as long as you don't try to be stupid and hold the camera by
the right hand. This is a left-handed camera, just like all the age-old
rangefinder and SLR bricks before the fake motordrive bulge took over due to
marketing reasons. The control layout is improved, but the camera feels like
it is fighting you for supremecy. Just as with the DMC-L1, I'm not quite so
sure that the camera understands that it is supposed to be subserviant to
the photographer. For a Micro FourThirds camera, I'm quite pleased with it,
but it just doesn't rock my world. Functional? Yes. Comfortable? Pretty
much. A partner in getting the shot? One picture, yes, multiple pictures,
no. It's good at singing a song, but can't perform an entire concert. A
one-hit wonder. I really like the formfactor but I feel that Panasonic just
doesn't always understand that certain controls MUST be intuitively
available. I do absolutely love the LCD monitor, though. Focus point
selection doesn't get any easier. Lenses do feel cheep.
2. House-hunting. Darkroom a requirment. So far, things are looking
promising. Each of our narrowed down locations is fine in that regard. One
would allow me to have a HUGE darkrom. :)
3. New Olympus Micro Four-Thirds bodies. Is anybody else as puzzled by
Olympus' product managers as I am? Nothing to see here. Move along. Sure,
the cameras will take good pictures, but they lack the "completeness" of
design. It is obvious that these are just stepping-stone cameras on the way
to some glorious "must have" camera. Well, I'll continue to wait for that
"must have" camera to come along. In the meantime, there is absolutely
nothing that is begging me to spend my money on it. That new lens is really
nice--until I realize that it's pretty much exactly what I've been using all
along--lenses with manual-focusing and aperture rings. The Fuji X100 is
being accused of being too expensive of a camera, but when you take an E-P3,
add this lens and the EVF, the price doubles. Two of these and you purchase
a used Leica M9 with lens.
4. Old Zuikos. I so love using my old Zuikos on the digital cameras. The
look of the images is so different from the made-for-digital lenses. Not
better, not worse, just different. I particularily like using the 24/2.8 on
the DMC-L1. What a nicely balanced (and looking) camera. Of course, on the
OM bodies, these lenses are even better, but they don't do too shabby of a
job on the digitals.
5. Canon 7D. To repeat myself from a while back (which this entire thing is
pretty much a repeat, anyway), the 7D is possibly the best Canon DSLR made.
I like how it handles skintones and the camera just handles so well. They
made seemingly minor changes to the grip, but that was just enough to make
it work for me. I still feel like my fingertips are being sanded off by the
body, but overall, the camera is a pleasure to use. I've said it before, and
I'll say it again, this is the best reasonably-priced camera on the market.
The 60D, technically gives better images than the 7D, but the flawed imagery
of the 7D actually makes the pictures look more wholesome. The camera feels
like it's with me, but a quarter step behind.
6. Fuji X100. Me wants. me thinks. No hurry, fortunately. May be destined to
be one of the "cult cameras".
7. RAGBRAI just passed through last night. Population of Grinnell
quadrippled (at least). Went for a walk downtown and could barely get within
a block and a half of the stage due to the crowd. Looking around town, you'd
think there was a humanitarian crisis of immense scale. Tents and campers
everywhere. The official camping grounds probably had over 15000 people in
it, and the rest were dispersed in other parks, front yards, etc. Travel
trailers and motorhomes were lined up on every street. By 10AM, the only
thing remaining is trash and a thousand overflowing kybos. Some of the more
popular overnight stops (and this was one) can easily have over 30000 people
rolling through. There's something like 9000-10000 official riders, but most
days see twice that many, and then you have all the support vehicles,
families travelling along in campers, and vendors galore. It' a big weeklong
festival that travels across Iowa which is disquised as a bicycle trip. I've
ridden in it myself, but determined the general insanity of trying to
bicycle along in a giant rolling traffic jam where you are constantly in the
state of passing somebody and being passed by someone who is being passed by
someone. Of course, the person you are passing is also passing somebody
else. If you have to get off the road for a moment to adjust something, it
can take a couple of minutes before a clearing opens up enough for you to
reenter the flow.
AG
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