Stocktake Time
Sometimes to relieve GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), the best thing you can do is go and look at old or even more recent reviews of your current gear.
This has triggered me to look at my kit, the future, possible upgrade paths and things that really need some well earned appreciation.
Cameras
I will spare you the “any camera you have is the right camera” rhetoric, but I will say that the time of cameras getting demonstrably better every generation is well past. Any camera made in the last ten years is good enough, but some are better at some things than others and none are perfect.
For example, my best performers (EM1x) are dearer and bigger than the others, my favourites to use (G9’s) do not play perfectly with some lenses and my sentimental favourites (EM5 mk1) are tracking AF limited and aging, but as a team, they are more than capable.
Remember also, that any camera capale of producing a sharp and clear 8mp image can still out resolve a 4k screen and can print to a decent size. With this in mind, often the best value cameras are the ones you own, not the ones you want.
2x G9.
The G9 is my favourite camera. A near perfect ergonomic blend of Canon and Nikon. I use a pair of EM1.2’s for the paper and they are more than fine, but the G9’s just handle so much better, so are reserved for commercial, hybrid and studio work. The G9 is a bigger camera with more dials and buttons than the EM1.2 and sometimes I get lost in the menus, but at the end of the day, a properly set up G9 is the best stills and video camera hybrid.
The AF with a non Panasonic tele lens can be twitchy and the stabiliser is not as good as the EM1x with movement, but is at least equal for semi-static work. I also like the image quality technically as much as the EM1x, but emotionally, maybe more.
The portrait kings, with only the “toy” EM10 mk2’s coming close.
Status; A new G9 would be interesting, even a GH6, but until something really rocks my world, the G9 is nearly the perfect camera. There may even be another firmware upgrade or two and a tele lens to round out their capabilities.
Ignore the tape, it is only covering slightly lifting rubber on that hand grip, but has become quite comfortable.
2x EM1.2.
The workhorse EM1.2’s always surprise. I have felt these are under some pressure, but realistically, they are still quite new for pro cameras, are close to as good as anything else I have and have surely paid for themselves. The lack of the thumb nubbin lever is really the only negative, but I adapt. Some of the early negatives I read about and observed with the Mk2’s like greenish colour casts and slight softness, effectively disappeared when I switched from Adobe to C1. Lesson learned.
In the early days of the EM1.2 I felt they were a compromise on the quality I got from the Pen F and EM5’s, having better AF at the cost of a compromised sensor, but with C1, all that went away. The G9’s and EM1x’s are better in low light by about a stop, but that is it.
Status; I will likely get an EM1.3, EM5 mk3 or maybe an OM-1 if one dies, or use a G9 if video comes back into the frame at the paper. My G9 for wide, EM1.2 for longer lenses kit worked ok, but the G9 is bigger than an EM1 and the two battery thing was annoying.
2x EM1x.
The “X’s” are my sports cameras and they play very happily in that space. I also really like the handling, clean layout and ironically for an M43 lover, the size. Performance exceeds my needs and skills.
Pushed into a different space, enjoying the more flexible dynamic range the X’s offer.
Status; I bought a second one this last end of year because it is simply the best camera I have used and still holds up against the OM-1 and EM1.3.
Pen F.
Love this camera, but use it far too little. Travel, landscape and studio are it’s true lanes, none of which are getting much of a go at the moment, but I hope to change that.
The sensor in this camera is a very differnet beast. Sharper, harder and truer than the other cameras, it is less capable in low light, although the noise is film like. This is the fully realised evolution of the EM5 Mk1 sensor, before the phase detect version took over.
Status; A classic I use not close to enough, but still love. No way or need to replace it.
S5.
This full frame camera was bought for video primarily, but stills are an option. I deliberately bought the Mk1 on sale instead of the Mk2 which was released the day after, because it was more than enough for my needs and by far the best value available when compared to the GH5.2 and GH6 on sale at the same time. This camera feels like a standard V8 compared to the turbo 4 cylinder M43 cameras I have and was the straightest path to pro grade video I could take.
The S5, with a running mate G9, which is how I need to look at it.
Status; The S5 changed the capabilites of my kit in key areas, offerring the fixes for video I needed and a doorway to full frame, but to be honest, I doubt I will get too carried away here. Maybe a Mk2 and a couple more primes or a kit tele, but nothing much else.
2x OM10.2.
These little winners are my light travel and event cameras (2 bodies, the kit 12-60 and 40-150 and 2 small primes weight about 1kg). The silver one in particular is my lucky flash camera, meshing really well with artificial light, especially with select lenses.
Status; No need to upgrade or change these until one or both die, but they owe me nothing (I bought both cheap on clearance) and they get an amateur grade working life. If I did need to replace one, a OM10.4 would likely be it, because the sensor is close to the one used in the Pen F (two birds…..).
The mixed bag of “hobby” cameras, all more than capable.
1-2x Pen Mini mk2.
One belongs to my wife, one is mine. These are the older 16mp sensor also and I love their files. Just my opinion, but for me the 16mp sensors put out by Fuji, Olympus/Panasonic and Nikon were a real sweet spot. These are hip level street cameras and I truly hope they will get another trip overseas.
Status; see EM5 mk1 below.
1-4x EM5.1.
A bit tired, but much loved and still used for personal stuff. The first cameras I have ever used until they died and I will miss the sensor when the last one falls over.
A file that defies technical criticism, from a 13 year old camera.
Status; Use them until there is nothing left, then lovingly shelve them. These are still capable machines for many tasks and the files have a certain something. Unfortunately, they are getting a little old to pick up as second hand deals, so their end is imminent.
Cannot forget the cameras that got me here.
As you can see there is a pattern. The Olympus cameras do the hard yards and thankless paper work. The Panasonics are more for love projects and the “spares” are used to reduce the load on others and personal stuff.
Cameras that fall in and out of favour when looking ahead are legion.
EM10.4 (pen F lite), EM5.3 (EM1.2 lite), OM-5 (EM1.3 lite), OM-1(latest and greatest), EM1.3 or a cheap EM1.2 (known beast at the right price), GH85 (a decent video option), G7 (also a good 4k video “B” cam), GH5.2 (live streaming, 400 bit All-i), GH6 (Super M43), S5.2 or a cheap S5 (fleshing out full frame), maybe a Sigma FP (with Lumix S lenses). All are great, some ideal, so I have options and intend to keep an eye out for best bargains.
Quality that still impresses me from M43 is a common thing.
Looking at my kit in a job specific way.
Landscape. No need to improve. I have plenty of quality and high res that is never used.
The kit 12-60 Panasonic.
Sport. Two EM1x’s and EM1.2’s as backups are tons. Nothing needed here. Maybe a Panasonic long lens to increase my options. I already had a 35-100 miss-fire, but may try again.
Can you use a hand held 600 f4 in a humid, dark and crowded environment?
Editorial. My day bag is the most heavily used kit, with two well used, ut healthy enough EM1.2’s. I will replace these with the best buy available when I need, or maybe demote an Em1x or add a G9 if video becomes a thing again.
The 12-40 on an EM1.2, light as was, channeling Rosie the Riveter.
Travel. Never a latest and greatest thing, I take pride in getting my images from “hobby” level kit. Two EM10’s the Pens and even my last EM5’s are fine.
A kit tele on a basic camera.
Street. Any camera, the less “pro” looking the better. The little Pen Mini on a 60” strap for wide and maybe an EM10 or 5 with the kit 40-150 or 45 for long.
A product of organisation and reaction speed, not a super camera.
My next trip to Japan will be with the Pen F, Pen mini and my last reliable EM5 mk1. Lenses will be the 9, 15, 25, 45 and 75 primes.