New Hobby

[Alan]

Photos will come later (I've only glanced through them, will look more carefully later this week and do edits as needed, though I don't really anticipate doing much of that), but overall I was quite happy with the Panasonic. I decided to shoot JPG because I didn't think I'd have the time to process a whole bunch of RAW images the way I used to, and on first pass I'm pretty happy with how they came out. I'm pretty impressed by how well it performed at ISO 1600, which is what the majority of my indoor shots were at. I didn't have major problems in bright sunlight in Barcelona (the display is still pretty visible), but there were a few times when an OVF would've made things easier.

Overall, I didn't feel I was missing anything by not having a DSLR, and the portability and ease of handling is really a huge plus. The AF generally performed really well, including a few times when I didn't have a chance to verify it was focusing on the right things before firing the shutter (either because of timing or covert photo taking). With my Sony I would get a usable image in that situation maybe 1 time in 5, with this guy it was the other way around.

[Alan]

Uploaded a couple photos. No post-processing on any of them.


1/80
ƒ/8
ISO 160
14 mm


1/200
ƒ/5.6
ISO 160
42 mm


1/13
ƒ/5.6
ISO 1600
14 mm


1/100
ƒ/11
ISO 160
14 mm


1/2000
ƒ/5.6
ISO 160
42 mm


1/60
ƒ/11
ISO 250
14 mm


1/100
ƒ/3.5
ISO 160
14 mm


1/60
ƒ/5.6
ISO 640
14 mm


1/60
ƒ/5.6
ISO 500
14 mm


1/30
ƒ/3.5
ISO 1600
14 mm


1/60
ƒ/3.5
ISO 800
14 mm


1/60
ƒ/3.5
ISO 800
14 mm


1/60
ƒ/3.5
ISO 500
14 mm


1/80
ƒ/3.5
ISO 160
14 mm


1/160
ƒ/8
ISO 160
14 mm

http://flickr.com/gp/eninala/331386/

[Jonathan]

What are your flash options, Mr. Flash User?

[Dave]

Nice photos. Makes me hungry for some desserts!

[Alan]

Processed some more photos to the set:
http://www.flickr.com/invite/history/gu ... 4055312856

Also put up photos from the brunch:
http://www.flickr.com/invite/history/gu ... 4052455577

I actually don't know what my flash options are.

[Alan]

Added my SF photos.

http://www.flickr.com/invite/history/gu ... 4056479662

[quantus]

Ummm, I can't access your photos... Anyone able to access Alan's photos?

[Jonathan]

Nope. No worky.

[Alan]

Ok try these instead:

Honeymoon:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eninala/se ... 502271247/

Brunch:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eninala/se ... 055197002/

SF:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eninala/se ... 056457350/

[quantus]

Yay, those work. Nice pictures. SF has the best colors... You should move there. Or at least say hi the next time you visit.

[Alan]

I also need to remember to say hi to Peijen when I'm in LA.

Madison Square Park / Suzanne Vega concert yesterday evening:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eninala/se ... 236039874/

[Jonathan]

I had to double check that Flickr is still the same website you started uploading photos to. It's really different now.

What's with all the filters? Why are you shooting crowd shots so wide?

[Alan]

I was walking around with my lens prefocused at around 6 feet and shooting whoever was at that range. I like the idea of taking street photos from close up, but don't have the nerve to get close enough yet to make use of the wide angle.

I was trying to go from heavily filtered to natural and then blurred out photos for the set.

[Jonathan]

I have been sifting through the recent camera announcements. I didn't get one last winter because I decided to get married. I would like to own a digital IL camera again.

I want to like the Samsung Galaxy NX or the Sony A3000, but the more I look the more I think the Panasonic GX7 is kind of what I am after.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/859964 ... ons-review

Requirements
23 point AF
prime f1.8 90mm film equivalent - $350 (or $1000 f2.8 zoom which sadly only gets down to 70mm film equivalent or I would buy that. 50mm-200mm would be a great zoom for me.)
IS in the body
f5.6, 1/50s @ ISO 6400, 50mm film equivalent is a couple hundred dollars for a zoom, less for a prime. Probably kit lens here.
Hot shoe

Considerations
Price would be $1100 plus $350 = $1450. A D7100 would offer better performance with kit lens for about the same price, but for fast glass I would be using my 50mm prime @ 75mm film equivalent, which is pretty far shy of my 100mm desired focal length.
Weight GX7 is half the weight of the D7100! Under a pound = WIN
Silent mode Not on my list, but this is a Good Idea. Silent mode and ISO 12800 = WIN
Connectivity Built-win Wifi
Fps 4.3 FPS with autofocus, but electronic shutter @ 40 FPS is more interesting to me. This is what I actually use burst for, anyway, which is capturing The Moment with stupid fingers.
Metering Here's where actual reviews of actual shipping cameras would help.

In terms of what comes off the sensor, I don't see a lot of difference between the GX7 and the D7100 in the test shot linked above. The EOS 5D Mark III is substantially better (so is a D600), but that's more money for the body than what I was planning to spend altogether.

Definitely not going to buy anything right now, but I will be keeping my eye on the GX7.

[quantus]

What, no iphone 5S with its revolutionary dual-temperature flash and 1.5um pixel sensor size?

I wonder what the cross-over point will be when camera manufacturers can just make a slot for a smartphone to integrate with the camera body to do extra image processing and just provide the raw images to the phone. 40 fps shots seems like it doesn't need to get much faster unless you're going to be shooting a hummingbird or something like that.

[Jonathan]

You mean the QX100?

http://www.ibtimes.com/sony-dsc-qx10-qx ... os-1403762

[Jonathan]

To seriously answer your question, all the Moore's Law in the world doesn't change the physical fact that to focus some light on a reasonably large area you need a hefty piece of glass. And large area corresponds to low light performance.

[Alan]

Well, I still love my gx1 so I fully approve of you getting a gx7.

[quantus]

You mean the QX100?

http://www.ibtimes.com/sony-dsc-qx10-qx ... os-1403762

That's pretty much what I was thinking, but it adds the sensor, NFC and I guess yet another battery to charge. They could skip the sensor and use the phone's sensor and image processing, but then they'd have less control of the image quality and have a harder time focusing correctly for each type of phone and no app from which to advertise other products. Still it's a nice entry point for someone like me who might want a better camera option around assuming it performs as well or better than point and shoots in that price range. It would also be nice since I don't have two devices to download pictures from...

[Jonathan]

What, no iphone 5S with its revolutionary dual-temperature flash and 1.5um pixel sensor size?

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/e ... meras.html

This guy very explicitly says yes, buy the iPhone 5S.

http://connect.dpreview.com/post/751861 ... ew?page=11

Not saying that I agree with him, but it is an interesting position.