While weather and work have conspired to keep me indoors and or unmotivated to get out an shoot over the last several days, yesterday I forced my self to go out, even for only an hour, to make more images with the Lumix. Heavy overcast meant higher ISO's for the most part, but even at ISO 800, I think the camera held up well. I was also shooting manual exposure and manual focus (a bit of trick with no focus ring), all managed using the touchscreen/view screen on the camera.
I wanted to capture not just testing images, but the kind of images I like to capture (just as the Scarborough Bluffs series).
I also wanted to see how well it held up to close focusing, and the weekly game night I attend with some friends gave me a chance to test out that as well.
As before, everything was shot using the 12-32mm kit lens.
Ice forms
Overall I was pleased with the results in these shots. Although it was heavy overcast, shooting ice/snow on darker backgrounds gave me an idea of how well the camera handles brightness range. The ice shots were all exposed at ISO 800, often on a tripod. The sharpness is decent, considering the ISO - and the fact I forgot to turn off image stabilization - doh! And I think I got pretty good tonal rendition too, especially evident after processing in Lightroom. I did apply a minor amount of noise reduction to the shots as well.
I hadn't shot ice on water for some time and I really enjoyed studying the formations made by the melting ice.
While I didn't notice it at the time, the negative space in this image was fore warning to the board game we'd play that night.
Summer Waterfall
I call it a summer waterfall because the city turns it off in the winter; it's obviously manmade, but it's a picturesque waterfall and series of connecting ponds, nonetheless.
All shot manual focus, or what Lumix calls Maual Focus Assist, I was quite pleased that I was able to better control the focus point this time around.
F5 gave me very satisfactory shallow depth of field in this image.
Also f/5.6, but focussed at the middle distance.
F13 shows deep depth of field and the image is still - for me, and considering the camera - pretty sharp.
Excellent detail rendering and texture, even at ISO 800.
Oh the fun one can have with Black and White conversion. I like this version much more than the original.
Game Night
My friend @ofermod, hosted game night this week. He's recently purchased two Kickstarter board games; Thunderbirds and Ghostbusters. We had a blast playing Ghostbusters on Friday and during game play, three of us (starting with another good friend, Glen) pulled out our portable cameras (Glen got a new one for Christmas as well) and made some close up shots. It was another good opportunity to test out the close focussing capability of the Lumix, and I think it handled close distance quite well.
Final Analysis
Well, the verdict is in. I'm keeping the Lumix. I'm very pleased with its overall performance. Pleased enough that I've ordered a small camera case and spare batteries for it! I'm still adjusting to the camera, but practice and use will resolve that issue. Based on my experience with the battery life, the extra batteries will come in handy. The short battery life was the main complaint about camera to begin with. I was able to find affordable batteries and a compact camera bag through Amazon.ca.
I think it will be a perfect bridge between my iPhone and my DSLR, with better quality than my phone and a smaller footprint (MUCH smaller) than my DSLR.
Time will tell if I invest in any additional lenses. I'm thinking a pancake lens might be a good addition eventually, and my favorite third party lens make, Rokinon, also makes M-4/3 lenses too. So, who knows? Regardless, you'll no doubt see more images shot with this camera as my travel schedule picks up. I likely won't call it out as obviously in the future, though.