I have what I presume is an eclectic photographic gear list given I don't have any Canon, Sony or Nikon. I like to support the little guys as long as I think they offer good value.
I've never been into film except for auto everything compact cameras when I was growing up. My dad had a Honeywell film camera but had basically given up on photography when I was little probably because of being overrun running the family business and with 4 little ones to keep him and my mum busy.
Anyway, I know he had some kind of passion for photography as he actually developed his own film with the garage doubling as his darkroom. We have an assortment of funny shaped photo's due to him developing his own film. I digress.
So after that digression and my own penchant for supporting the little guys in photography in the digital realm I have supported Pentax (now owned by Ricoh) and recently bought into OM System (formerly Olympus). Yeah, history repeating itself. Perhaps not the greatest idea but I know what they photographically deliver and as far as picture quality provide all that I will ever require.
Photography unfortunately can often seem to be all about the gear rather than the results and seems particularly silly when most amateurs and the general public never print their photos and view most of them on their mobile phones.
Anyway, back to my gear list...finally.
Micro Four Thirds
I am not going to get technical as other websites can cover that. As far as technicalities goes all I will say is that micro four thirds is half the size of what people call full frame (in reference to 35mm film cameras). Larger formats exist such as medium and large format that are greater in size again than so-called full frame.
In practical terms this means that picture quality is generally very good until around iso 1600 and after that camera's that have APS-C and full frame sensors have better picture quality. With a bit of post-production for low light photos though, micro four thirds is more than good enough until about iso 6400. Everything is relative though so it does depend on how fussy you are.
I purposely used the heading "micro four thirds" as unlike most mounts two manufacturers make cameras for micro four thirds, Om System and Panasonic. Yes, you can mix and match lenses from both on each manufacturers cameras.
My micro four thirds gear list currently comprises of:
- OM-5 camera
- OM System 12-45mm F4 Pro
- OM System 20mm F1.4 Pro
- Olympus Fl-LM3 flash
- Sigma 56mm F1.4
- Panasonic 25mm F1.7
- Panasonic 9mm F1.7
- Kamlan 7.5mm F3.2 Fisheye (manual focus)
- Pentax SMC-M 200mm with Pentax K to MFT adaptor (manual focus)
- Godox tt350O flash
This gives me coverage from ultra-wideangle through to 400mm albeit the 400mm and fisheye are manual focus.
Pentax Q
A tiny camera with a tiny sensor. Outlandish for some, useful for others. Often ridiculed and definitely under appreciated this is a perfect concert or live gig camera. Where some cameras are just too large to carry or would be rejected (into a concert venue) the Pentax Q is an easy carry with good enough picture quality if you know what you are doing.
My Pentax Q gear list comprises of:
- Pentax Q camera
- Pentax 8.5mm F1.9
- Pentax 5-15mm F2.8-4.5
- Pentax 15-45mm F2.8
- Pentax 3.2mm F5.6
- Godox V1-P flash
Pentax K Mount
Pentax is a niche brand and most people if they've heard of them it's for their older film camera's and most people think they are out of business. Well they are out of business and now the brand is owned and run by Ricoh.
Despite being a niche player in the DLSR era they always produced excellent ergonomic weather sealed DLSR's with built-in image stabilisation and class equallying image quality.
If you do your research you'll discover that Canon despite all their market share for many years used inferior image sensors to the Sony image sensors used by Sony, Nikon and Pentax. Pentax weakness has always been slow if accurate autofocus and almost non-existent marketing.
However, for those in the know Pentax always offered great value for money and image quality equal with the best.
Over the years I've used a huge number of Pentax cameras ranging from the K100D, K10D, K20D, K7, K5, K-01, KP, K3 and K1. Cameras come and go and I presently still have the K-01, KP, K3 and K1. My all time favourite Pentax DLSR is the KP, followed by the K5, K3 and K1.
The K5 autofocus just wasn't good enough for me despite it's amazing image quality with dynamic range equal to and better than some fullframe cameras. The K1 although with stellar image quality is just too large for me to truly enjoy and the K3 although ergonomically superb has inferior image quality to the Pentax KP.
There is just something about the Pentax KP that makes it special. The overall package is what makes it great. Small size (by DLSR standards), weather sealing, 100% viewfinder, amazing high iso performance, good autofocus (by Pentax standards), great ergonomics, battery grip compatibility, ultrasonic sensor cleaning and built-in image stabilsation.
The Pentax KP's main weakness is poor battery life but despite that, it is still my favourite Pentax DSLR.
A subset of my Pentax K mount gear list comprises of:
- Pentax K1 camera
- Pentax KP camera
- Pentax K3 camera
- Pentax K-01 camera
- Pentax DFA 24-70mm F2.8
- Pentax DA Limited 15mm F4
- Pentax DA Limited 70mm F2.4
- Pentax DA 10-17mm F3.5-4.5 Fish-Eye
- Pentax DA* 50-135mm F2.8
- Pentax DA* 55mm F1.4
- Pentax FA 28mm F2.8
- Pentax FA 35mm F2
- Pentax FA* 24mm F2
- Sigma 70-200mm HSM II F2.8
- Sigma 10-20mm
- Sigma 8-16mm
- Sigma 17-50mm F2.8
- Sigma 85mm F1.4
- Sigma 30mm F1.4
- Tamron 90mm F2.8 Macro
- Godox V1-P flash
Fujifilm X Mount
Yeah, I got all caught up in the Fujifilm retro thing. Anyway, I only have the Fujifilm X-E1 rangefinder styled camera and currently no lenses.
I formerly had the Zeiss Touit 12mm and 32mm as well as the Fujifilm 35mm F1.4 and 18mm F2.
The Fujifilm X-E1 is a first generation product with pretty awful autofocus and lo-res back display. I find that Fujifilm apply what I call a high contrast tone curve that I never really liked and x-trans sensor array was notoriously bad for landscapes.
My Fujifilm X-E1 also developed some kind of fault with it's on-off button but it still works. Anyway, I have generally been put off Fujifilm especially now that my Fujifilm X30 has also developed a fault with its electronic viewfinder.
Despite it's faults I may one day pickup a cheap third party lens so I can at least use the camera.
Fujifilm X30
I also have a Fujifilm X30. The Fujifilm X30 is compact camera with a relatively fast f/2-2.8 zoom lens that ranges from 28-112mm in 35mm equivalent terms. The Fujifilm X30 was announced on Aug 26, 2014.
With its 2/3” X-Trans CMOS sensor, built in electronic viewfinder (evf), built-in flash, optical image stabilisation and great looks this was a near perfect compact camera when trying to travel light. Made in China with a magnesium alloy body this is a lovely camera to hold and look at. However at 423g in weight including batteries it definitely isn't a featherweight.
Yes, the image sensor isn't the largest but if you like changing the settings like a "real" camera and aren't striving for the ultimate in picture quality it would do the job.
I personally like compacts for their fill-flash capability for backlit scenes with people and find compacts perfect for this task.
However, my Fujifilm X30 has now developed a fault with it's flash and evf so I am kinda annoyed with it as it fulfilled a specific function that mirrorless and DSLR's did not - a light weight carry with fill-flash. With the now non-functioning flash, I purchased a third party flash which is another thing to carry plus it doesn't set it's power levels properly so exposure control is hit and miss. Arrrrgh!
0 Comments