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Fun with 4/3rds cameras/ Image Thread

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
GX8 with 100-300mm II @ 183mm and f/8

This lens needs to be stopped down to f/8, but at that aperture, it's very nice. Not a low light wonder though.

 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Even at 300mm and f/8 it's very sharp. This image is with little sharpening in post. This surprised me.

GX8 with 100-300mm II @ 300mm and f/8, USM 72/0.2/0

 
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Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
No low-light wonder perhaps, it still is awesome, you Nikon-head ... :rolleyes:

Best regards.
Ha ha... I worked hard for these, and that's at a swimming pool where there are nothing to confuse the AF. But hey... this is one of the things m4/3 is best at; long telephoto lenses that I can actually carry and travel with. This was also in full, tropical daylight. To do this in low light, I would have needed the PL 200mm f/2.8, a lens I cannot afford. That's where Nikon becomes attractive... there too.

I'll keep and use both systems. Horses for courses :)
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
No low-light wonder perhaps, it still is awesome, you Nikon-head ... :rolleyes:

Best regards.
But since you mention Nikon, here's a photo that the D500 would have no problems with, but the GX8 totally destroys:

Since the GX8 mostly chooses shutter speeds in "shutter shock" area with the aperture and light I had today, I had to use the electronic shutter. In this photo, I'm following a running child, and the rolling shutter is easilly visible in the tilted verticals. In addition, the AF-C can't follow her and for some reason focuses on her right foot, which is closer to me than the rest of her. Her face was visible during the entire 3-4 seconds that she were running, but the normally good face detection of the Panasonic didn't kick in.

I've had many misses like this the last few years, more than I like.

GX8 with 100-300mm II @ 100mm, f.8 and 1/250s. El-shutter.

 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
Hi Jørgen, what a beautiful girl, and nice images as well!
Ever considered the G9? Re. focusing issues.
I just made a comparison between the (excellent) D500 and a Pen-F (also 20 Mpx) and couldn't see any meaningful difference as far as resolution is considered at base ISO.
Beyond ISO 1600 the D500 pulls ahead somewhat, but the G9 is still decent.
Please keep posting:)
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Hi Jørgen, what a beautiful girl, and nice images as well!
Ever considered the G9? Re. focusing issues.
I just made a comparison between the (excellent) D500 and a Pen-F (also 20 Mpx) and couldn't see any meaningful difference as far as resolution is considered at base ISO.
Beyond ISO 1600 the D500 pulls ahead somewhat, but the G9 is still decent.
Please keep posting:)
Thanks Arne. Your experience when it comes to resolution is the same as mine. It's very impressive how much detail can be seen in images from the best m4/3 cameras, and the GX9 and G9 are clearly better than the older GX8 in this respect. At low ISO, I would say that the best m4/3 cameras beat both the D500 and the X-H1 for detail. I'm not too worried about ISO beyond 1600, since most of the photos that I do commercially are done at very low ISO, and for personal work, grain is not an issue.

The AF issue I think can be divided into four parts:

- I've been shooting sports and action with Nikon cameras for many years, and have had time to refine my (rather basic) technique doing that.
- Although I have used m4/3 cameras for nearly a decade, I have never really understood how they think when it comes to following moving subjects and AF-C.
- I get a feelig that at least Panasonic has consentrated more on making their AF advanced than making it solid. Take their face detection: With stationary faces, it's faster than my eye can see and my brain can think. I just push the shutter button, and Panasonic will find the faces for me. Once people start to move, it's as if it restarts itself continuously, unable to keep focusing on the faces it started with. It's like every movement is a new scene to the camera.
- The AF systems of mirrorless cameras, at least those that I have tried, picks up disturbances much more easilly than a traditional AF system like those from Canon or Nikon. It's a bit like the automatic headlight switch on my Toyota; if I drive under a bridge with a dark underside, it switches on the headlights immediately, instead of waiting to see if the darkness is permanent, and after a second, when the bridge has been passed, it switches the lights off again. Panasonic AF often does this with subjects that pass through the frame, even when I use tracking AF. For birding, this is not a problem. For street shots, it is.

Will the G9 be better? Most probably. Will it be satisfying enough? I'd have to buy one to see. A few minutes on a street corner won't do.

Unfortunately, the G9 is 30% more expensive than the D500 in this country, and Panasonic lens prices are beyond belief. Luckily they are cheap second hand... when I can find them. The G9 does have a halfway decent battery of course, but I still miss the optical viewfinder, and again; the solid AF.

I might end up buying both, but that will not be this year... I think :angel: . I won't sell the m4/3 lenses, but the GX8 will have to go. It's a lovely camera, and the ergonomics are to die for, but it doesn't work well with my style of photography. Not when stuff start moving anyway :)

One more from the pool.

GX8 with 100-300mm II @ 250mm and f/8



That lens is really great, particularly at short distances, and again: f/8.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Here's another attempt to make the GX8 work better:
I've never liked Panasonic's AF mode menu; click the left keypad key, then the left or right one till I'm in the right mode. When I use "Single area" mode, I also tend to push the wrong buttons when I want to adjust the size and/or position.

However, it's possible to assign an fn button to "Focus area set". Pushing that fn button will allow me to adjust the size and position of the single area, while it also selects that mode until it's cancelled using the Menu/Set button. However, the size is adjusted using the front command wheel (fine adjustment) or back command wheel (normal adjustment), cancelling the opportunity to adjust aperture and/or shutter speed. But if I push the Garbage/Return button, it will cancel the adjustment option but keep the camera in Single Area Mode. To make this a quick procedure, I've assignet the "Focus area set" to fn4, which is next to Garbage/Return. That way, I can push the two buttons in fast sequence to get into the Single Area Mode when needed, and back to Face Detect or whatever other mode the camera was set to when cancelling the Single Area Mode. I'll try this out the coming week :)
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Haven't posted here for some time as I have been distracted by work and other things.

G9+Lumix 200/2.8. 1/1000 f2.8 iso3200

 
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