July 4, 2019
#317
Gentle reader,
If you are in the United States of America, as I am, Happy 4th of July! The day we celebrate our independence (despite who's "in charge") and the day dogs freak out from the fireworks.
NOTE: If you are viewing this on a computer, clicking on any picture will open a second window over this one. You can click through or use your right and left arrow keys on your keyboard to view all the photos. They will be larger than seen here. If you are viewing it on a device such as a phone or tablet, I do not know if that works the same way. I don't use them.
NOTE: If you are viewing this on a computer, clicking on any picture will open a second window over this one. You can click through or use your right and left arrow keys on your keyboard to view all the photos. They will be larger than seen here. If you are viewing it on a device such as a phone or tablet, I do not know if that works the same way. I don't use them.
If you are wealthy then the cost of things are of no concern to you. But to the rest of the world, stretching our money is vitally important.
I, at age 39 in 1985, bought my first 35mm SLR camera for $100 including a 50mm lens and generic flash. As time went by and eBay was founded, I began buying and collecting vintage cameras and lenses. Eventually having over 400.
Below are two 35mm SLR film cameras with sets of lenses I bought and/or adapted for them:
Below are two 35mm SLR film cameras with sets of lenses I bought and/or adapted for them:
Above is a Sears branded Ricoh camera. It's lenses thread (screw) on and off. It's fastest shutter speed is 1/2000th of a second. While it has a lightmeter inside, it is a strictly manual camera. The physically largest and heaviest lenses I have owned are in the case. Top left is a Chinon 55-300mm f3.5 lens. Bottom left is I believe a 400mm telephoto and top right is a 500mm telephoto mirror lens. I labeled all the lens caps to quickly determine what each lens was. OCD has it's good points.
Some years later, I bought my first Nikon camera. Actually a Nikomat* ELW which was the last of the Nikkormat* line of budget Nikon cameras.
*Sold in North America as Nikkormat, in the rest of the world as Nikomat.
The same case as before, some of the lenses are the same. Top left is a 100-500mm zoom lens. Bottom left is the Chinon 55-300mm lens.
*Sold in North America as Nikkormat, in the rest of the world as Nikomat.
The same case as before, some of the lenses are the same. Top left is a 100-500mm zoom lens. Bottom left is the Chinon 55-300mm lens.
"So where am I going with all this, you may be thinking." I'm glad you asked.
Suppose you could buy, for a very reasonable price, a genuine Leica zoom lens which not only zoomed from 25mm wide angle to 600mm super-telephoto, BUT also has a CONSTANT APERTURE of f2.8? Yes, not a variable aperture lens, wide open f2.8 from one end of it's range to the other!
Just how big and heavy would this lens have to be? The heaviest one I owned was that Chinon 55-300mm. So heavy, I had to use a tripod, all the metal and glass was too much to handhold for long.
Now remember, this a LEICA lens, made by the German camera company famous the world over for it's quality engineering, construction and functionality.
To my knowledge, no such interchangeable lens exists. The one at the very top of the page is a Tamron 200-400mm lens with it's shade attached. It is mounted on my Panasonic Lumix G1 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera via a Nikon F to M4/3 adapter. Pretty impressive looking though, isn't it? Here it is again:
Leica DOES make a large, long and expensive lens which is made for Panasonic Lumix and Olympus M4/3 cameras, here is an image of one:
I found this image on the Internet. It is mounted on the top-of-the-line current Lumix M4/3 camera. The lens is over $2000. But, it is only a telephoto lens: 100-400mm. And it is variable aperture, f4.0 at 100mm f6.3 at 400mm. F6.3 is the dimmest light that most autofocus cameras can work with. To be constant f2.8 it would be nearly three feet long and almost one foot in diameter at the fat end! And I cannot image how heavy!
The key to weight and size reduction in lenses is what size "image circle" the lens must produce. 35mm film requires at the minimum a 43mm wide circle.
The smaller the film surface or sensor size, the smaller and lighter the lenses can be made.
The key to weight and size reduction in lenses is what size "image circle" the lens must produce. 35mm film requires at the minimum a 43mm wide circle.
The smaller the film surface or sensor size, the smaller and lighter the lenses can be made.
"So what the heck are you going on about?" Again, I'm glad you asked. The lens I have been describing comes from the Panasonic factory mounted on either a 12.1 or 16.1 megapixel digital camera. Called either a FZ200 or FZ60. The latter is 16.1 Megapixels but has fewer features and costs less than the FZ200. Now, these are 2012 model cameras.
Panasonic has made newer and better ones and if you have the money, go an buy one.
The VERY reason I switched to LUMIX cameras is because so many of them come with genuine Leica lenses. The FZ200 is my 13th purchased so far.
Here is an excellent web site which reviewed the camera and explains all about it:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 Review: Digital Photography Review
It is the one on the right. The camera I made most of these images with, is on the left. It is a DMC-LX5. It's Leica lens is called "Vario-Summicron" it is variable aperture: f2-3.3 and is (35mm equivalent) 24-90mm.
The FZ200 was the first new LUMIX camera to feature a fixed aperture lens in many years, according to the article linked above. It's lens is called "Vario-Elmarit". As far as Leica lenses, the ones with "Summ-" in the name are the top models.
This case I originally bought for my first "bridge" camera, a Fujifilm Finepix S7000 many years ago. It pales by comparison to this FZ200. Laughably so.
I have been fortunate many times to be on eBay at the right time to find bargain prices on exactly what I was looking for. The Panasonic FL360 flash and that lens on the right, a Panasonic DMW-LWA52 which is made for the LX5, it widens it from 24mm to a 18mm. It costs many hundreds of dollars new and are usually almost $300 used. The flash is also in that price range, I got lucky on both, paying a fraction of that for each.
The FZ200 has 52mm filter threads and readily accepts that DMW-LWA52 lens making it's range expand to 18.75mm wide angle from 25mm.
Below are test shots I made with it attached and not.
Above is the widest the lens goes: 25mm. Below is with the DMW-LWA52 attached. FL360 flash used in both cases.
A little soft on the edges, but that's OK, it's not some cheap screw on "fisheye" lens which aren't worth the cost of a postage stamp.
Here are shots of it attached to the FZ200. Note printed on the camera's lens body above: F2.8 25-600mm
The camera's lens features "NANO SURFACE COATING" and it is stabilized so that one can make 600mm shots handheld! I love this camera!
The business end of the DMW-LWA52 18mm lens.
SO, what prompted me to buy a seven-year-old camera when I already have a nice Nikon DSLR with a passel of lenses and LUMIX G1 and GX1 micro four thirds mirrorless camera bodies?
Lenses, that's what. Being retired and on a fixed income, I cannot afford any Leica lenses like the 100-400mm I showed you or any of the other Leica, Olympus, Panasonic or other brands of lenses made for these wonderful M4/3 mirrorless cameras. AND all but the most expensive models are variable aperture lenses.
Above are the TWO lenses I could afford: Panasonic's 14-42mm and 45-150mm. They are good, but not Leica lenses. OK, I had briefly an Olympus 9mm "fisheye" lens. It was all plastic and in fact was not a fisheye lens but merely a 18mm equivalent wide angle. And it was manual focus.
You may be thinking, "But that bridge camera has a much smaller sensor that M4/3 cameras." And you are correct. Again the word is LENSES. Sharp lenses like ones made by Leica.
Just LOOK how sharp this photo is! And it was made by a pocket camera, the LUMIX DMC-ZS15, an image of one is below:
This image I found on line, I have not written about this camera. But look, a Leica lens. F3.3-5.9. 35mm equivalent is 24-384mm. AND, the sensor it has is way smaller than the FZ200 has!
Larger pixels and greater counts are fine, but if all you can print is up to 8 1/2 by eleven inches, all you need for that is 6 megapixels. The rest of the pixels are wasted, so to speak.
Not that I shoot video, yet, but the G1 does not offer that ability. The GX1 does, but it and all my M4/3 equipment is for sale on eBay right now, rfcollectin on eBay
so that point is moot. I'm selling for bargain prices! Please take a look.
Look at how much larger the FZ200's lens glass and barrel is in comparison, size equals speed in lenses. Larger apertures equate to being able to use faster shutter speeds. And the one on the right is at the 600mm end in these shots. The G1's lens only reaches 1/4 of that at 150mm. Think how long it would have to be to reach 600mm!
The shapes and functions of the two are very much the same. It makes it easy to transition to a newer camera if there is consistency in design.
Both have the same size LCD screen, but the FZ200's has far more resolution as does the electronic viewfinder than the G1.
The G1 and GX1 and now the FZ200 are the first cameras I've owned which have rotating LCD screens which greatly improve the ability to capture images. Just think of the possibilities!
Those areas in front of the hot shoe (flash mount socket) on the FZ200 are it's stereo microphones for HD video recording.
There it is in black and white: f2.8/4.5-108mm which equates to 25-600mm in 35mm or full-frame sensors.
It arrived just yesterday, so I really haven't been able to play with it much. Oh, but I will!
Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble words and view my images. Your kind words and comments greatly encourage me to keep shooting and writing.
Scott
July 4, 2019
#317
The VERY reason I switched to LUMIX cameras is because so many of them come with genuine Leica lenses. The FZ200 is my 13th purchased so far.
Here is an excellent web site which reviewed the camera and explains all about it:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ200 Review: Digital Photography Review
The FZ200 was the first new LUMIX camera to feature a fixed aperture lens in many years, according to the article linked above. It's lens is called "Vario-Elmarit". As far as Leica lenses, the ones with "Summ-" in the name are the top models.
I have been fortunate many times to be on eBay at the right time to find bargain prices on exactly what I was looking for. The Panasonic FL360 flash and that lens on the right, a Panasonic DMW-LWA52 which is made for the LX5, it widens it from 24mm to a 18mm. It costs many hundreds of dollars new and are usually almost $300 used. The flash is also in that price range, I got lucky on both, paying a fraction of that for each.
The FZ200 has 52mm filter threads and readily accepts that DMW-LWA52 lens making it's range expand to 18.75mm wide angle from 25mm.
Below are test shots I made with it attached and not.
Lenses, that's what. Being retired and on a fixed income, I cannot afford any Leica lenses like the 100-400mm I showed you or any of the other Leica, Olympus, Panasonic or other brands of lenses made for these wonderful M4/3 mirrorless cameras. AND all but the most expensive models are variable aperture lenses.
Above are the TWO lenses I could afford: Panasonic's 14-42mm and 45-150mm. They are good, but not Leica lenses. OK, I had briefly an Olympus 9mm "fisheye" lens. It was all plastic and in fact was not a fisheye lens but merely a 18mm equivalent wide angle. And it was manual focus.
Larger pixels and greater counts are fine, but if all you can print is up to 8 1/2 by eleven inches, all you need for that is 6 megapixels. The rest of the pixels are wasted, so to speak.
It arrived just yesterday, so I really haven't been able to play with it much. Oh, but I will!
Thank you once again for taking the time to read my humble words and view my images. Your kind words and comments greatly encourage me to keep shooting and writing.
Scott
July 4, 2019
#317
