Category Archives: Photography

Panasonic Lumix GX7 – Part II

Micro Four-Thirds

First impressions.

Part I is here.

By way of introduction, it bears repeating a couple of paragraphs from my now two years old G3 review:

For geeky reviews written by people who wisely confine their work to labs, judging by their photography, there are any number of sites which will give you lab results you will not find here. Camera Labs is one of the better ones and you are, at least, spared the moronic comments found at DPReview.

My focus in these articles will be on:

  • Changes from the G1 and G3 and ergonomics
  • Street snapping, stealth and responsiveness
  • GPS logging
  • Wifi and the use of smartphones and tablets to control the GX7
  • Use with MF lenses
  • I will not be looking at the movie mode

The immediate first impression is of high quality, tangibly better than that of the G3. Then again, at $900 for the GX7 body compared with $600 for the G3, quality should be better. The falling price spiral seems to have ended. This impression is further reinforced when the camera is first turned on, as both the LCD and the EVF have greatly increased pixel densities, which make the image and data displays pop. It’s like going from a regular display in a Generation 1 iPad to a Retina Display version. You didn’t think you needed it, but there’s no going back.

You do not have to look too far for the design inspiration for the GX7.


Leica IIf, 1948.

My first thought was that the fine, almost jeweled, look and feel is reminiscent more of the old screw thread Leicas than it was of the later M series rangefinder models. You get the small size of the Leica IIC/IIF with the handling feel of a Leica M2. At a Panasonic price, of course. If you want to pay $2,000 for one of these just wait a while and Leica will rebrand it for you and take your money. Yup, $1,100 for a red logo. Or you can waste $8,000 on a tired M body with its manual focus lenses. There’s one born every minute ….

You do not get the nail pounding toughness of a pro Nikon or Canon, but heavy pro sports use or fashion and advertising is not the target market for MFT. These cameras are more aimed at serious amateurs whose back has given out from too much lugging of full frame gear.

Changes from the G1 and G3 and ergonomics:


A small width increase yields great handling benefits over the G3.
Chrome GX7 variant adds a nice retro ‘amateur’ look.
Height and weight are much the same.

While the biggest change in appearance from the G1/G3 is the absence of the faux pentaprism hump, thank goodness, replaced by a flat top plate, the biggest practical change is in the grip area for your right hand. It’s only a little wider than in the G3 but the improvement in handling compared with the compromised G3 (which is too narrow in this regard) is substantial. Further, the extra width pushes the shutter release button further away from the index finger into a much better location. The G1 had it right and the GX7 restores that excellent design’s hand comfort. Having gone with a smooth rubber finish on the G1 (not bad) to a cold, uncovered, slippery metal one on the G3 (not good), Panasonic has used a textured rubber surface on the GX7 which is excellent. Is it Leica M2/M3 excellent? Nothing is, but it’s their best finish yet.


New surface finish. NFC area is circled.

The GX7 adds a second serrated control dial, which surrounds the shutter release and is visible above and below. This is handy and given the great programmability of the body, I have set the main, rear control dial to adjust aperture (I snap only in Aperture Priority mode) and the front/shutter dial to exposure compensation for quick adjustments when required. You can use the rear dial for exposure compensation, by pushing in, holding and turning, but my approach is far more user friendly.


The front control dial surrounds the shutter release. Pop-up flash at the left.
MF/AF lever is below the red movie button.

When switched to MF, using the well located rear plate lever, the finder will optionally bring up the enlarged center section of the image (up to 10x) and this remains simply the best manual focus system on the planet. Accuracy is far greater then using the focus LEDs in the finder of a modern Nikon (I use a D2x and D3x). With the 500mm Nikkor Reflex mirror lens it’s insanely accurate – and needed for an optic with an effective length of 1000mm. The GX7’s MF mode also allows the use of focus peaking, meaning a colored indicator (even the color is user programmable) shows the area of sharp focus. Nice, to have. Autofocus is incredibly fast with my three MFT optics – the Olympus 9-18mm, the old and excellent Panny 14-45 and the Panny 45-200, the latter two with OIS built-in.

The mode dial, top right, is heavily click stopped. There is no earthly way you will change this by accident and the sharp knurling (almost too sharp) on the knob makes changes easy. I simply program the three custom settings (C1, C2, C3) for Aperture preferred automation at 400, 1600 and 3200 ISO, respectively, making changes for low light easy. I prefer this method to trusting the camera’s electronics to set ISO based on some algorithm.

The pop-up flash shoots up vigorously – too much so – when you slide the rear release. You quickly learn to restrain it with a finger to reduce the violence of the action which is not consonant with the operating feel of the rest of the camera. It’s useful for fill-in flash or small product photography. The hot shoe allows the use of more powerful studio units and Panny has thoughtfully colored the related protector to match the satin chrome of the top plate.

Panasonic has, yet again, changed the dimensions of the battery (grrr!) but the location is much improved.

Power storage has risen from 7.3mAh in the G3 to 7.4 mAh, even though the battery is smaller. Nice. The SD card goes in the slot parallel to the battery. The new offset location makes battery or SD card replacement possible with the camera on a tripod – that was impossible on the G3, and only the card could be changed on the G1.

The rear LCD swivels up or down, but cannot be turned around the way it can on the G1/G3. I only use it for programming the camera, so that makes no difference to me. The menus, by the way, have been cleaned up and are easier to read than in the G1/G3. I did notice that the touch response is an order of magnitude better than on the G3 which was awful in that regard. It’s not iPhone quality, but close. Even pinching/un-pinching is supported and the ability to touch an area for selected focus should work well for macro photographers.

Likewise, the EVF eyepiece can be swiveled up to 90 degrees for waist level use though I remain somewhat mystified what use this has. First, you have to hold the camera to your eye and second you cannot take portrait orientation images unless you like to look really silly. I suppose there are some clandestine uses for these things, but they are not of interest to me.

The EVF diopter adjuster is accessible when the EVF is tilted up. It’s a slider, which is not as easy as the click wheel on the G1/G3, but it’s a ‘set and forget’ thing, so hardly of consequence.


Effective design of physical controls. The EVF eyepiece
protrudes 3/8″ but does not hamper operation.

There is a great deal of programmability allowing the camera to be customized just the way you like and Panny has struck a fine balance between physical and software controls. There are four programmable function buttons on the rear (and yet more in the menu system and touch LCD screen) and the total button count is a great deal less than on a ‘pro’ Nikon body or on the silly Nikon Df ‘pure’ snapper which has twice the number of buttons and dials. The balance between buttons and menus seems just right, and while there are many options in the menus, once set they can be forgotten.

Electronic shutter:

It’s amazing to me how unremarked this feature has been in the geek press. Or maybe not so amazing. After all, that cadre has no interest in taking pictures.

Switching the camera to electronic shutter use not only disables all the beeps and mechanical shutter noises, it also renders the camera silent (only the user can hear the lens quietly focus) while massively extending shutter life. When the shutter is activated the EVF gives a very brief ‘off-on’ blink, confirming the picture was taken. More of this feature when I take to the streets with the GX7.

Sadly, my first test run disclosed that there is no power saved from using the electronic shutter. Panny states that battery capacity is 320 snaps with the regular shutter; I was down to one (of three) power bars after 280 snaps using the electronic shutter, with no LCD use and no pixel peeping. So 400 snaps is probably the limit on one charge. Disappointing. A spare battery is recommended, though original Panny batteries are currently out of stock at Amazon and B&H.

Lightroom import settings:

Panny claims that the sensor in the GX7 has been improved, though it remains 16mp (14mp effective in 3:2 aspect ratio which is what I use), as in the G3. (The G1 was 12mp, the G3 noticeably better at 16mp). Here are my Lightroom 5 import settings:

Is the sensor any better? Maybe. A little less noise, perhaps, and needs a little less sharpening, but hardly a compelling reason by itself to upgrade. As with the G3, 18″ x 24″ prints, given decent technique, are a breeze., as my HP DesignJet 90 prints confirm.

Typical file size for a RAW file is shown below.

Should you upgrade?

The GX7 is better than the G3 in every way except for the inability to fold the rear LCD in on itself. If you are a happy G3 or GX1 user, should you upgrade? Well, your $600 mint, boxed G3 is now worth $200, so you will be $700 out of pocket. The upside is superior execution, handling and display quality, plus wifi and NFC if those turn your crank. It’s rather like comparing an iPad 1 to an iPad Air. Is the later device better in just about every way? Yes. Do you need to upgrade? Only you can decide. For me it seems like the 2 year upgrade cycle (G1, G3, GX7 and iPad 1, iPad 3, iPad Air) is going to be much longer in future, given the high level of function for the GX7 and iPad Air. A G1 user really should upgrade.

The later sensor is much more capable and the poor shutter life of those relatively fragile mechanical shutters, which is likely in the range of 20-30,000 clicks, compared with the 250,000 in ‘pro’ behemoths like the Nikon D3, is mitigated through the use of the electronic shutter which has no moving parts. The GX1 user upgrading to the GX7 gains a better sensor and a proper finder, meaning he no longer has to look like a fool, arm outstretched, when trying to compose pictures. Plus he will actually get to see what he is trying to snap.

I can’t wait to give the GX7 a run on SF’s streets, the most vibrant this side of Paris. I will be using the electronic shutter exclusively and cannot think why any street snapper would do otherwise.

Meanwhile, here’s a quick snap, hand held, with the 500mm Reflex Nikkor. You can just make out the typical OOF doughnuts in the top left of the image. This image takes advantage of a first for Panasonic. Unlike every Panny MFT body before, the GX7 has in-body image stabilization. For users of long MF lenses this is a blessing indeed, with this image taken at a very slow 1/160th second, hand held. That’s for an effective focal length of 1000mm which would typically dictate a 1,000th second or shorter exposure time to mitigate the appearance of camera shake. the fastest shutter speed on the GX7 is 1/8000 sec, the fastest in any MFT body.


Autumn. Panasonic GX7, 500mm Reflex Nikkor f/8 at 1/160 hand held, ISO 400. RAW original processed in LR5.

Proof of the pudding? Here are some large (13″ x 19″) prints from my first ‘roll’ on the ‘Leica for the rest of us’, made with the HP DesignJet 90 printer:


Small camera, big prints. The Leica concept realized in the digital age.

More in Part III.

Panasonic Lumix GX7 – Part I

Micro Four-Thirds

More improvements for the MFT format.

I continue to be a huge fan of the Micro Four-Thirds concept, and have just ordered a Panny GX7 body. This follows on from my G1 (July 2009) (the first ever MFT camera) and G3 (March 2011) (which had a better sensor but compromised ergonomics). Both the G1 and G3 designs adopted a faux pentaprism shape, the prism hump used for storage of the built-in flash. The GX7 does without that pretense, adopting a more classical Leica rangefinder form while retaining the pop-up flash in an ingenious cantilevered design which still allows the use of a flat top plate.

Before looking at the appealing technological enhancements in the GX7, it bears repeating that if you like large prints – the touchstone of quality image reproduction – then anything up to 18″ x 24″ with an MFT sensor is easily achieved. Only if you need the ability to selectively enlarge sections of the frame does full frame become a necessity. Given that few make prints so large that’s the same as saying that MFT works for most serious snappers. The one constraint is that the shorter focal length lenses used mean much more is in focus at a given aperture, so if background blur is insufficient, the snapper needs to resort to post processing to confer additional blur. Not too difficult with recent versions of Photoshop and the Magic Lasso tool. Click on ‘Instructional Videos’, at the base of this page, to see how to do this. And for light weight and portability, there’s no comparing an FF DSLR with an MFT body.

Here are some of the immediate benefits of the later technology in the GX7:

  • Better ergonomics
  • In-body anti-shake, means I can use my long Nikkors with antishake
  • Improved MF for long lenses
  • Electronic shutter option – silent
  • Improved sensor – G3 is already good enough for 18” x 24” prints
  • Much improved EVF – possibly the best in the business
  • WiFi – will be cool with the iPad Air and the Nexus 7 (the latter also supports NFC)
  • GPS – used with a tablet or smartphone app, not built-in (needs a free Panny app for iOS or Android)

The ones which really get my attention for street snaps include the silent electronic shutter and the internal IS for use with my Nikkors, with a simple lens mount adapter. As an EVF adjusts finder brightness automatically, a 500mm f/8 Refex Nikkor is every bit as bright as an f/2 prime.

The electronic shutter is a far from trivial enhancement. Using the movie mode’s technology and delivering full RAW quality, I expect that the electronic shutter will permit thousands of still images to be recorded on a battery charge, whereas the regular shutter is limited to some 300 with Panny’s small battery. Further, because the electronic shutter uses no mechanical parts, there is no wear and tear on the mechanism and 10 frames per second machine gun shooting is possible. Whether the latter is needed is an open question, but it suggest that the ‘decisive moment’ has just become a good deal more indecisive. HCB must be rolling in his grave ….

I bought the chrome version as anything which looks more amateur is taken less seriously on the street. And, yes, Lightroom 5 does support GX7 RAW file conversion.

You can download the 380 page (!) extended Instruction Manual here.

More in Part II.

Nikon Df

Cameras

What were they thinking?

Retro looks in cameras are nothing new. Olympus replicated the looks of its (excellent) film era OM SLRs in the OM-D MFT models and Panasonic and Fuji have had a good go at the Leica M rangefinder in their GX7 and X100, respectively. These latter two models added better digital sensors and took away bulk, cost and weight, so there really was something new being said there.

But Nikon’s attempt, the Df, which seeks either to copy the film era F3 or the FM/FE/FA, depending on which you wax more poetic about, looks like an exercise in futility. And failure.

Here are the reasons why:

  • A ridiculous $2,750 asking price for the body only
  • Bigger than the FM/FE/FA by a substantial margin
  • The D4’s 16mp sensor at a D800 price. Heck, you can get the 24mp sensor in the D600/610 for a great deal less
  • A comically cluttered look from any angle – the sell being that this is a return to ‘pure photography’
  • Claims that pre-Ai lenses can be used – ummm, if you like metering stopped down, that is – oops, forgot to mention that ….
  • No movie mode. Duh!

As for the ‘pure photography’ crap, I count 32 switches and dials on this comedy hour special. For comparison, I get to 26 on my D3x, hardly a ‘simple’ camera.


Clutter galore.


More clutter and complexity.

Ah, you say, but look at the technological sophistication.

Uh huh. Like:

  • A low sync speed metal focal plane shutter
  • A very noisy flapping mirror
  • A mid-20th century pentaprism glass hunk
  • A tired focusing device – one unsuited to MF ‘purity’
  • No interchangeable focusing screens
  • A rubber plug doubling as a (not so) built-in eyepiece shutter for those ‘purist’ night shots on a tripod
  • No ten pin accessory connector socket

A fool and his money may be easily parted, but I rather doubt Nikon will see too many of either when it comes to this abomination – fools or money. It used to be doctors and dentists who collected toys like this; now a few will sell to Silicon Valley geeks and their pictures will be every bit as good as those of the medical set which came before.

Stacks

Dining, Paintings

A lovely environment.

If you want to get into any of the three Stacks restaurants – in SF’s Hayes Valley, in Palo Alto or my local, in Burlingame – get there as soon after 7:30am opening as possible. Much later and there is certain to be a long line outside and there’s a good reason for that.


Stacks this morning. iPhone5 snap.

The service is world-class and the environment is reminiscent of nothing so much as a Tissot, although dress standards are not what they were in Victorian times:


James Tissot’s ‘Ball on Shipboard’ – 1874. Tate Gallery.

And while you can probably get similar food at the local greasy spoon for less, you will not get the atmosphere to be enjoyed here, at Stacks you will not be forced to converse with horny handed sons of toil at the bar. My son did serious damage to a couple of pancakes and I destroyed the all meat omelette. The pot of coffee provided, and left on our table, would have fueled a whole Arctic expedition. With tip our meal came to $30.

The iPad Air

iPad

Resetting the standard.

Background:

A while back I sold my first generation iPad Mini and replaced it with Google’s second generation Nexus7. That was a sound move. A far better display, faster operation and a robust Android 4.3 OS and a much handier 16:9 display format all make for a fine user experience. The openness of Android makes it easy to connect to other devices, not least additional storage of as much capacity as you want, making it unnecessary to pay up for more overpriced internal memory.

The new iPad Air offers no such option. The storage it comes with is what you get. Everything else must come from the Cloud, assuming you have a decent wi-fi connection. But, this minor complaint aside, the iPad Air resets the standard for what a tablet should be, starting at just $500.

The new iPad Mini with retina display:

By contrast, the latest iPad Mini now with an HD display, is hugely overpriced, starting at $400, just $100 less than the 16gB iPad Air which offers a larger display for little added weight. With the Nexus7 selling for just $229, it’s impossible to recommend the new iPad Mini, especially as accessing and syncing with the Apple ecosystem is so easy with Android. Refer to my series of Nexus7 articles here.

Pricing:

The pricing of the iPad Air remains unchanged from predecessors. $500 for the entry 16gB model with $100 extra for each doubling of storage up to 128gB, with an additional (and outrageous) $130 for cellular connectivity. I bought the 64gB model for $700, and use my iPhone5 when I need to get on wifi, via tethering.

First impressions of the iPad Air:

If the Nexus7 defines the pocket tablet genre, then the iPad Air does the same for the full size one. The immediate first impressions are, indeed, remarkable. Apple has managed to shave a significant amount of weight from the iPad Air, which comes in at just 16 ozs, a full 6 ounces less than its predecessor. It’s a reduction which is very noticeable. Further, the external dimensions have been reduced, owing to a smaller bezel, with the display remaining the same – and still too reflective. Despite the reduced thickness, the sound from the speakers has been noticeably improved (magic!) and the overall speed of operation – compared with my iPad 3 – is significantly better. Most importantly, iOS7 (awful fonts and all) now supports true multitasking. This advantage manifests itself best in the use of web based apps, such as the Financial Times which I read as part of my day job. The FT has sidestepped Apple’s AppStore monopoly, and the attendant punitive ‘take for the house’ of 30%, delivering its publication through a web app. With iOS6 and earlier, every re-entry to the app resulted in an agonizing wait as everything reloaded from scratch. Now it’s instantaneous. Very welcome.


The iPad Air atop the iPad3 – the noise canceling microphone orifice is circled.

Wi-fi and the new 2013 Airport Extreme:

Wi-fi speed, owing to improved antennas, is the best I have yet measured, some 10% faster than with iPad3 and as fast as my desktop machine, though some of that may be due to my replacement of an ancient single band, 5 years old, Airport Extreme with the latest version of the device. Except for the packaging which is designed to ensure you drop the contents when the bottom (literally) falls out once the glassine is removed, the new Airport Extreme is recommended with no reservations. Setup is a breeze – try saying that about any other router on the market. It also supports 802.11ac, which is available on the 2013 MacBook Air and in new MacBook Pros just coming to market.


The new Airport Extreme – highly recommended.

With both my 2013 MacBook Air and the new iPad Air I get download speeds greater than the maximum my broadband supplier, AT&T, states is possible. I am using 802.11ac on the MBA and 802.11n on the iPad Air, which does not support 802.11ac. AT&T’s stated maximum is 18mbs for my service level, yet I consistently get well over that:


The 2013 MBA with the 2013 AEX router.


The iPad Air with the 2013 AEX router.

Interestingly, the older 802.11n protocol delivers almost the same speed on the MBA, suggesting the gains are coming from the router antennas rather than from any new protocol advantages.

Issues:

What’s not to like? One of my most used apps on the iPad is GoodReader. The wired – and fastest – way of moving content to or from the iPad was by using GoodReaderUSB, a small desktop app which added a drag and drop interface for file transfer to/from your source computer (desktop, laptop, etc.) Sadly, GoodReaderUSB does not work with the iPadAir, so I have to revert to wifi transfer – much slower – as described in the link. Further, mp4 video files currently play sound only, no image. I would expect this to be fixed soon as GoodReader has an excellent history of technical fixes and the maker has promised a comprehensive update soon. Other than as noted, GoodReader continues to function perfectly and is highly recommended.

The look and feel of iOS7 is a step backwards. The fonts are far less legible to my eyes and the loss of skeumorphism in app icons means that icons are flat and boring, and harder to find with a quick eye scan. For all the complaining from nerds about the awfulness of skeu, I much prefer the look and feel of iOS6. I suspect regular humans mostly feel the same.

Conclusions:

Other than that, operation is just like with any iOS device. Start-up is very fast, iCloud makes populating the new tablet with favorite apps trivial and Mail works perfectly, with some nice UI enhancements. Apple is making the iWork suite in its iOS variant available free (you have to download it, as it does not come pre-installed) and my only interest here is Numbers, the spreadsheet. A spreadsheet stored at Dropbox can be loaded and if it is then saved in iCloud Apple claims that it’s truly interactive, meaning that changes on one device will be automatically reflected on any other device where the spreadsheet is open. For other desk- or laptops that means you have to be using the iCloud.com version of Numbers, not the local standalone version in your Applications folder. Further, the Numbers spreadsheet in iCloud must not be password protected as it will not load if it is. A pretty confusing mess. Numbers can load Excel spreadsheets and can also save (Export to) to the Excel file format. Whether an experienced Excel user can adapt to the rather clunky Numbers interface is a different issue and Numbers is not about to obsolete the industrial power and breadth of use enjoyed by Excel in the real business world. Yes, Numbers can ‘make pretty’ with its many charts and templates, but pretty never improved earnings per share.

Minor grumbles aside, the new iPad Air is highly recommended. The far slower operation of the iPad2, which continues in the line for $100 less, is very much to be avoided, unless you do not value your time. And the weight reduction in the iPad Air means there’s simply no going back to older technology.

The iPad Air is now a mature device, with little obvious need for improvement. Size is constrained by the finite tools afforded us humans (aka fingers) and while batteries will get lighter and chips faster, there is no impatience with speed as regards the Air. I can easily see a 3-4 year life for this device before replacement/upgrade is called for, which makes for a nasty dilemma for Apple. After the large weight reduction in the Air, what is left to do to divorce credit cards from wallets? But Apple should be congratlated on its rigorous appication of Japanese kaizen preinciples of continuous improvement.

The best technical review out there is from AnandTech and can be found here. Be sure to check the two videos which demonstrate how well the added noise canceling microphone removes background noise from sound recordings. Remarkable.

The future with wi-fi equipped cameras:

With more cameras now sporting wi-fi circuitry, I’m looking forward to trying something like the new Panasonic MFT GX7 with the iPad Air to see how practical a combination this makes. The current gestation of the web blogging app WordPress works very well on the iPad so photography blogging using just a tablet and a wi-fi capable camera should be possible.