[wstruth]

Drinking beer in Prague, tough job but someone has to do it. I'd love to visit there, especially the Alphonse Mucha museum. The closes I've been to Prague is Plsen and Budowiece, Czechia. I've been to Krakow Poland twice, though ,and cannot wait to return. I love going to Eastern Europe, so much to see and do, but not on the Euro so a much less expensive vacation.

I'll post shots tomorrow, too tired to cull, process and upload tonight.

Thanks I'll have to check it out. I've been wasting too much time lately trying to decide on which camera system to bring. I got a Panasonic GX9 for my birthday so I could use it as my travel cam and take along during my work day for Daily when I didn't want the weight of the DSLR.

Anyway it was going to be a simple choice until I decided to book a night time photography tour of Prague. As a side note, and as Rod has been noticing, I've been adding lens fairly quickly for the GX9, mostly by selling off a few less used ones for my Pentax system and now I have a pretty filled out selection of lenses for travel. So back to night, aka low light, shooting: I will be bringing the tripod and may even bring some Cokin square grad filters for early morning shots. I don't know what the tour will be like per se, but it did have good reviews and is a bit out of the ordinary for what Sharon and I usually do, and will hit a few spots in the Old Town and across the river. The basic advantage for M43 is the lighter weight as well as the GX9's size. I've also found I can hand hold up to 1/4 second on the GX9 vs 1/8 second on the KP. ( funny how when I was younger I could swear I did as well or better on a film camera with no built in stabilization). So I did some low light comparison shots the other day (which I still have to post on flickr) I found that basically I can shoot up to ISO 6400 on the KP and get a respectable amount of detail. ISO 3200 on the GX9 3200 is respectable, but is still not as good as 6400 on the KP (the shooting was done at f/8 for both systems).

Friday's images were just for the fun of comparing the field of view of the PanaLeica 15 1.8 and the FA 31 Limited since they are pretty close when the FA is on the K-1. I was telling Sharon about my conundrum this morning and her response was to go with the lighter system (after chuckling at me). Truthfully, I can carry more lenses for less weight in M/43. The great equalizer is the PanaLeica 15 1.7. It is the first lens I bought with my trade in monies. For the KP set up I am thinking of the 20-40 limited, the 15 limited and the 77mm limited. For the M43 (with consumer zooms) I am thinking of taking the 12-32 (for inner city and small size walk around), the 12-60 for general travel, the 54-150 for telephoto, the PanaLeica 15, and the Lensbaby Sol for fun effects. All this for 85% of the weight of the Pentax system with fewer lenses.

So this morning I found a web site that has a simple calculator for lens equivalency so plugged in values of two likely shooting scenarios to see what I would get with the kits I have:

Ultra wide low light (FFE below is Full Frame Equivalent)
KP & 15mm at f/4 yields a FFE of 22.95mm @ f/6.12
GX9 and 12m zoom at f /3.5 yields a FFE of 24mm at f/7: So slight advantage to the KP set up

Wide Low Light:
KP & 20mm at f/2.8 yields a FFE of 30.6mm @ f/4.28
GX9 and 15mm at f /1.7 yields a FFE of 30mm at f/3.4: So slight advantage to the GX9 set up

I have to factor this in : The KP has lower ISO (100 vs 200) but will require a longer shutter speed to use, especially in interiors where I may not be able to use a tripod.
However I can shoot longer hand held with the GX9.

The upshot of all of this is that as of this morning I am leaning towards the GX9, But knowing myself to be a master of last minute decision this could change.

[robgski]

I understand, sometimes I wish I owned a K-3-/50/70 to have a slightly smaller and lighter DSLR travel option. Panasonic cameras of various sorts were my go-to non-ILC digital cameras from about 2005-2013 when DSLRs with fully manual controls became affordable for me. Really, it was having a digital camera with fully manual control options that made me go to DSLR, I need that functionality for some of the styles I prefer to shoot, and I had over 30 years of SLR habits. At that time the K-5 was being marked down with the fielding of the K-3, so it was perfect timing. If I were entering the digital camera world today, I might consider a mirrorless option.

Just for fun, at night you can flip a graduated ND so the darker portion is nearer to the well lit ground level to prevent overexposure and allow for more detail in the higher stories of a building, or the night sky.

[UncleVanya]

For the M43 (with consumer zooms) I am thinking of taking the 12-32 (for inner city and small size walk around), the 12-60 for general travel, the 54-150 for telephoto, the PanaLeica 15, and the Lensbaby Sol for fun effects. All this for 85% of the weight of the Pentax system with fewer lenses.

Personally I wouldn't carry both the 12-32 and the 12-60 - but I have the 35-100 f/4-5.6 which is tiny and I would pair it up with the 12-32 in your situation or just commit to the 12-60. I highly recommend the Olympus BCL 9mm fisheye as a fun tool that takes almost no space and no weight. The GX9 is a great kit and I think it makes for a great travel cam.

[wstruth]

Personally I wouldn't carry both the 12-32 and the 12-60 - but I have the 35-100 f/4-5.6 which is tiny and I would pair it up with the 12-32 in your situation or just commit to the 12-60. I highly recommend the Olympus BCL 9mm fisheye as a fun tool that takes almost no space and no weight. The GX9 is a great kit and I think it makes for a great travel cam.

Truth be told I'm up in the air about that. the 12-60 came bundled with the camera and while I think that 90% of the time I will have no need to go beyond 32mm, the extra reach is nice to have and not have to change lenses. FWIW I have a 7Artisans fisheye but I am leaning to just take the Theta and no fisheye. I'm seeing the Theta is a purple fringing monster though, and if I wanted to make the most out of spherical images I would want an upgrade. I wonder if someone could make a spherical camera out of 10 K-1s?

[UncleVanya]

Truth be told I'm up in the air about that. the 12-60 came bundled with the camera and while I think that 90% of the time I will have no need to go beyond 32mm, the extra reach is nice to have and not have to change lenses. FWIW I have a 7Artisans fisheye but I am leaning to just take the Theta and no fisheye. I'm seeing the Theta is a purple fringing monster though, and if I wanted to make the most out of spherical images I would want an upgrade. I wonder if someone could make a spherical camera out of 10 K-1s?

You will enjoy whatever you take. Good luck with weather and travel!

[robgski]

I think if I could have anything, I'd have a pancake prime lens that is weather resistant, the forecast during my Florida trip calls for rain, and as much as I love my 18-135, I don't want to make space for it, my carry on is almost full.

[todd]

the shooting was done at f/8 for both systems

Considering M43 sensor size and ramifications, you might want to try the test at a wider aperture. I'd be curious at least if it changed things at all to your eye.. This thread provides good food for thought in these regards.. I still shoot at whatever aperture I want, but I do keep in mind that it's stressing things a little more when I stop down significantly on M43 relative to bigger sensors. And I ordered another ND filter so i can stack when using M43 and not have to stop down as far...

[wstruth]

I think if I could have anything, I'd have a pancake prime lens that is weather resistant, the forecast during my Florida trip calls for rain, and as much as I love my 18-135, I don't want to make space for it, my carry on is almost full.

Me too. A tough decision. But weight did factor in as to why i go the 20-40. the 18-55 Wr is also a nice kit kit zoom. It came with my KP.

You will enjoy whatever you take. Good luck with weather and travel!

You're right and I know I will.

Considering M43 sensor size and ramifications, you might want to try the test at a wider aperture. I'd be curious at least if it changed things at all to your eye.. This thread provides good food for thought in these regards.. I still shoot at whatever aperture I want, but I do keep in mind that it's stressing things a little more when I stop down significantly on M43 relative to bigger sensors. And I ordered another ND filter so i can stack when using M43 and not have to stop down as far...

A good read. In the back of my mind I know about the DOF differences at various apertures and it makes sense it can be used this way. The first thing I did when I got the lenses was to get some step up rings so I can use the ND's and CPL's I already have, so have to give this a try too.

[UncleVanya]

My own use of M43 (GX-1 and GX-7) and APSC (K-3) is comparing 16mp and 24mp but I think it is fairly valid. What I find is slightly lower dynamic range (what a shock) and slightly higher sharpness or focus accuracy on the m43. The lenses that I use are mainly either fast primes or slow but sharp zooms. The prints I get (13x19 or smaller) are very good with both. Customers/Friends/Family can't really tell which system was used - the differences are subtle. I THINK I can, but I also know which camera shot which image most of the time so the test isn't really unbiased.

[OzzRod]

THEME ALERT !!! Sunday September 30 2018

The final theme for this month is Dutch angle (pepperberry farm) where the subject is purposely shot off-kilter (see Post #31 for pepperberry farm's example).

[robgski]

On Monday's flight I was seated on the wrong side of the aircraft to get good shots of the lightning over Tampa Bay, but flying home last night, I might have gotten one or two shots. Biggest challenge was trying to do long exposure without any tripod available. I'll post a few pix later. I got home after midnight but after a few cups of coffee I think I am ready to process.

[todd]

Next round is open for business
Daily in October 2018 - discussion thread