2023 Weekly Challenge Week 21: Panasonic ZS100

Just prior to the Covid Lockdown in Late Feb of 2020 I traded a friend for a used Panasonic ZS100 having lacked a solid everyday carry camera at the time. I had plenty of other pocket cameras that I could carry but not one that delivered a high quality image and was capable of moderately low light shooting after I sold my original Sony RX100 having not really connected with that camera.

The ZS100 is a special camera to me as it was what I had on me when I went through Hell and back during an upside down world having been used to living in a normally "Quiet" area of the planet that got a lot more turbulent during the Pandemic. 

This was the primary camera that almost soley kept me sane during the lockdowns and restrictions of 2020-2021 where my interest in Street Photography really blossomed as a coping mechanism to document the strange Political and Social "every day" occurrences and allowed me to take on the role of a Photojournalist in my backyard.

While I shot a good number of different cameras between 2020 and 2022 the Panasonic ZS100 was my go to everyday carry.  Its 10x zoom and small size made it the perfect camera for Street Photography especially in Tense situations where having a large camera could garner suspicion from people already pushed to the social breaking point due to the slew of issues all hitting the fan at once.

Released in 2016 the Panasonic ZS100 has a 20mp BSI 1" CMOS sensor, which is the largest sensor you can get on most pocket cameras with certain exceptions (such as APS-C and FF pocket Cameras by Fuji and Sony) but those typically have fixed focal length lenses. There is another exception of the 1.5" sensor used in the Canon G1x which has a zoom lens but that's a fairly odd Unicorn camera along with the Panasonic LX100 which uses a M43 sensor that crops to the 1.5" sensor size.

2016 was at the tail end of the golden era of pocket cameras, and while Panasonic would make an "Upgrade" to the ZS100 with the ZS200 in 2018; many reviewers will state that the ZS100 is still the better camera of the two with a sharper lens that has less distortion while only sacrificing 5x Optical Zoom.

The ZS100 is the Ultimate Jack of All master of None cameras.  It can do some Nature Photography in a pinch.  It is acceptable enough for indoor shooting while not being the best at it (but still exceeds the capabilities of other smaller sensor pocket cameras).  It does decently with Macro photography while not exceling at it.  Combine all of this into one small easy to pocket and conceal package and it becomes the ultimate Street Photography camera.

It has a tiny EVF which is useful in a pinch under extremely bright situations but is generally too small to be useful especially for someone who wears glasses. It has three programmable FN buttons and in a lot of way handles and shoots like a "Mini" version of my GX8 which I just reviewed the previous week.  This is likely another reason I got attached to this camera; because it was easy to pick up and learn having owned a Panasonic M43 mirrorless body.

My original Panasonic ZS100 lived a short and tough life. The zoom lens broke due to turning on while in my pocket in late 2021. I got the camera repaired only to have it completely destroyed a year later due to being run over by a car in early December 2022 during a time I had a lot going on in my personal life. My parents replaced it as my Xmas gift of 2022.

There's a bittersweet significance to this as my Father passed away on Christmas Day last year so it was the last gift I'd ever get from him if you don't count the inheritance of his car. So in more then a few ways if I had a deeply personal connection to any camera that goes beyond how much I enjoy shooting it; the Panasonic ZS100 would be it.

When I broke this camera I considered asking for a ZS200 which I could have gotten for the same price used as a new ZS100. But looking at the specs and everything the ZS100 was through with me I didn't really need a "Newer" camera I just wanted what I had back, so I opted for a brand new ZS100 instead.

It's not a perfect camera.  It is a little slow to shut down but a lot faster then the Sony RX100 was which is a big reason I sold that camera.  But the fact that this camera can do everything from indoor street photography in a Mall, Some Nature photography, Macro work and outdoor street photography all in one small package makes me really appreciate this camera. It's a camera that's been through a lot; and I hope it continues to go on Photography adventures with me Everywhere and makes me appreciate not having to fall back to "Taking out my Phone".

2023 Weekly Challenge Week 20: Panasonic GX8

Back in 2011 I bought into a secondary "Travel" sized interchangeable lens system which was also my first Mirrorless camera system, the format that is known as Micro 43rds.  My first M43 camera was using the first generation M43 12mp sensor; an Olympus PEN EPL-2 (Which I would be glad to review if I can ever re-buy one for a reasonable price; they are somewhat hard to come by). 

From this camera I would upgrade to an Olympus Pen EPM-2 and an Olympus OMD E-M5 (Mark I) neither of which I still own. In 2018 I switched from Olympus to Panasonic because at the time it was the better option ergonomically over the Olympus Pen F which I felt had too many controls packed onto a really small body, and it wasn't weathersealed. The OMD E M5 Mark III wouldn't be announced till a year and a half later, at which time my budget would be a lot tighter.

The Panasonic GX8 won me over due to its unique design and massive amount of customizable analog controls (which we will get into later).  It is a mid-sized Micro 43rds camera and comperable in size to most "standard" mirrorless bodies today which means that it really wasn't "Micro" compared to something like an Olympus PEN or even Olympus OMD E-M10. It is a fairly unique camera and it bounced back and forth with being my "Primary" camera body several times since I picked it up in 2018. The first being the gap of time between Canon and Nikon as my primary system in 2019 and when I was forced to sell my first Nikon D7200 in 2020. So while I don't shoot this camera as much anymore it still remains my solid backup kit.

Released in 2015 the Panasonic GX8 was the first Panasonic with the current gen 20mp Micro 43rds (2x crop factor) sensor.  While the bump in resolution was only 4 megapixels this sensor had a lot better Dynamic Range and was better with High ISO noise which made it fairly competitive to even some APS C sensors.  As mentioned before this camera is weathersealed and the weathersealing on this body is far superior to what Canon and Nikon uses including a rubber lined stopper on the battery compartment similar to what the Olympus E M5 and E M1 use.

As with any M43 camera this camera can use either Panasonic or Olympus lenses; and having been a former Olympus shooter all my lenses for this camera are Olympus and they do just fine. This allowed me to easily switch to the Panasonic when it offered the ergonomics and features I was looking for at the time in my price range, which Olympus did not offer at the time.  

The GX8 is loaded with features. It has 7 (yes seven) fully customizable function buttons; eight if you count the record button as well.  There are another 4 virtual function buttons that can be accessed through the touchscreen. It also has three control wheels instead of 2, the third is typically set to exposure compensation and has EV stops printed on it. 

It was also the first Panasonic camera to support Dual IS, albeit I own no IS lenses that are compatible with it as of current.  It still has a 4 axis In Body Image Stabilization which is behind the 5 axis IBIS of Olympus but on par with what Sony uses and it's more then sufficient enough to make me happy with it at any focal length.

Additionally this was the first ICL camera I owned that had a silent Electronic Shutter, which is a great feature for Street Photography and Nature Photography as you can reduce the amount of attention you draw to yourself by not having a loud mechanical shutter fire when you are taking a photo. E Shutter does have its limits however, and can create strange patterns in the image when taking photos with the E Shutter under Flourcent light due to the refresh rate of the sensor.

This camera has no Built in Flash, which is fairly common in pro/higher end prosumer ICL camera bodies.  While in a pinch a pop up flash is nice to have for a small fill flash I do fine without it, and this camera is great to take to Museums, Aquariums, shows etc where Flash Photography is not allowed.

Overall there is really nothing I can complain about on this camera. Sure, it isn't as good in low light as my newer Nikon Z50 or even D7200 but it's the latest upgrade on the system that got me into Mirrorless cameras, and likely one I don't really ever need to upgrade. I don't shoot it as much as I used to but its a great fallback camera and makes a wonderful companion on a day of Street Photography or when I want something slightly smaller then my DSLR kit without sacrificing on what lenses to bring. 

The large tilting periscope style EVF of the GX8 is one of the best and most unique features to this camera, and its one of the few Micro 43rds camera with this option that did not take up the Hotshoe to do so (The other cameras with this feature are the GX7 and GX9 which lack the weather-sealing of the GX8).  This makes for some unique shooting angles this camera can pull off in bright conditions where a flip out or rotating screen is not a good option.

Enjoy a few photos I took while on a short vacation to the Wisconsin Dells. I have many more examples from this camera posted as it's likely been the camera I've taken the most shots with that I currently still own.

2023 Weekly Challenge Week 19: Canon Powershot A410

 The Canon Powershot A410 was released as a beginner/entry level/budget Powershot series of cameras from the Early/Mid 2000s. They had a very unique shape and no frills- no Av/Tv/M modes like the other Powershots of the time (which would become common place in the Canon Powershot ELPH series). 

Before I get into the review itself this camera has a story behind how I acquired it, and it belongs to my SO. Back in early 2019 when the Nintendo Switch was still quite the rage and really hard to come by, my SO decided to go for a fairly reasonable offer (but not in the realm of suspicious on the asking price alone) Switch from a seller on Letgo, an app that's like Craigslist or Facebook marketplace.  

The seller had arranged to meet us in the parking lot of a grocery store and at last minute changed it to a private residence.  That's where we should have stopped and just drove away but we didn't.  It was also after dark which was another red flag and mistake but my partner had her heart set on this Switch and it was her money so we agreed to the new meeting spot.

The "Seller's Boyfriend" then showed up, which is another red flag that we should have driven away but by the time we got this far it may have been too late. They handed us a switch box then took the cash.  Before we could open the box they bolted into the yard and were gone into the darkness.

Inside the box was not a Nintendo Switch but a Gameboy Advance with a broken screen, some rolled up newspaper and this camera. We filed a Police report and reported the seller but nothing ever came of it, so we learned a valuable lesson about Scams that day but hey the camera worked atleast so we got something for the money (even if it retailed for $150 brand new and is only worth around $20-30 today).

Behold the Digicam on loan from my GF that she wound up getting from a "blind box" for $250:

The Canon A4XX series of cameras were one of the first consumer digital cameras sold for under $200 along with the Olympus Camedia D series of cameras. When you compare this with a Camedia D the Canon does have more features at that price point like a slow but working optical zoom and taking a more standard form of memory (SD).

The A410 was released in 2005 and has a 1/3.2" 3.2 MP CCD sensor.  Like the Olympus Camedia D cameras this sensor size was smaller then the more standard 1/2.3 / 1/2.5" class sensors for standard pocket cameras and significantly smaller then the 1/1.7" sensor used in premium point and shoot cameras.  Smaller sensors made these cameras cheaper to make and ironically enough had sensors very similar to the first generation of Smartphones.

Like a lot of digicams in the budget class from the 2000s this camera works off of AA batteries.  And the battery life wasn't the worst when compared to cameras like the Nikon L110 and GE camera.  I shot it all week on one set of rechargeable AAs never having gotten a low battery warning (though the clock battery was dead and it was really hard to find a replacement battery for it so I just dealt with being a Time Traveler and having all my photos be tagged that they were taken in 1980)

The fact that this is still a Canon CCD sensor meant that it still gets really rich colors and contrast which means that I'll have to yield that its not the worst camera in my collection.  Color rendition was spot on which other cheap cameras (such as the Fuji A345 I reviewed earlier and the GE Camera) really struggled with, so as porky as this thing was it's not the worst digicam in my collection.  

It doesn't have the sharpest lens and you defiantly get that softer more compressed look on its JPEGs but you have to look fairly close to notice it.  A print on a table from this camera is going to look just fine until you hold it up close.  There was some noticeable CA that was not easily correctable that you can see in the third shot.

That said it lacks a lot of things. The ability to do Manual modes/priority modes, and to change anything in P mode (such as the exposure comp) is a huge hassle because you need to access a quick menu to do it.  But this is standard in a lot of cameras of this class.

Menu response is laggy as well, about what you would expect from a 2005 Digicam. As well as a shutter lag too.  Startup and shutdown of the camera were surprisingly quick and responsive however.

With some patience a digicam enthusiast could still get some useable photos from this the Canon Powershot A410 (as I was able to do).  My expectation was set extremely low for this camera as I expected it to be one of the worst cameras in my collection; and while its not a camera I'd likely ever use as a daily carry, it does an ok job for what it is- a nearly 20 year old digicam with less then 6mp of resolution.

2023 Weekly Challenge Week 18: Panasonic ZS50

Earlier in this year I reviewed the SX720 and SX280 two Canon Powershot cameras that fit into the "Superzoom" catagory (anything over a 20x zoom).  The SX280 is right on that edge at 20x zoom and the SX720 is one of the longest zooms you can get on a pocket camera at 42x optical zoom.  The Panasonic ZS50 sits right between the two of them at 30x optical zoom.

This was the immediate predecessor to my ZS100 for a pocket camera, replacing my SX280 in 2019.  When I acquired the ZS100 in early 2020 just prior to lockdown from a friend, I gave this camera to my mom as a gift.  I later got it back in trade for the SX720 as that camera is a better fit for her and this one is a better fit for me when I want to shoot this class of camera and I'll get to why in a bit.

 

The Panasonic ZS50 was released in 2015 and as mentioned before sports a 30x optical zoom behind a fairly standard 1/2.3" 12mp sensor.  However on "paper" this camera was a step backwards from the 18mp sensor used in the predacessor to this camera the ZS30.  So why was the ZS50 released with a lower resolution sensor?

In the early and mid 2010s some camera manufacturers realized that megapixels weren't everything espically on smaller sensors.  Less MP often meant for sharper images because the glass the pocket camera was shooting through could only render a certain resolution clearly anyway, and anything higher MP then what the lens could render would come out as "soft" when zoomed all the way in.  Additionally less MP dense sensors at the time got slightly less digital noise, meaning you could push a higher iso without looking grainy.  Olympus took this hit with the XZ 1 (which is an amazing camera) and Canon took a step "Backwards" in their lines as well going from 14 and 16mp in their small sensors back down to 12mp like the Canon Powershot S110.  

Indeed Megapixels aren't everything and in many cases photos from higher megapixel small sensors look WORSE then those taken on less pixel dense sensors.  10-12mp seemed to be a "sweet spot" for resolution on a less then 1 inch sensor so for a long time small sensor cameras hovered around this until Marketing of Smartphones made the last of the small sensor compact cameras (Like the Powershot ELPH 190 and Canon Powershot SX720) jump back up in resolution to try and compete.

If there is one unwritten law about Digital Photography its that Megapixels aren't everything and this could be the reason the Digicam trend is catching on, to take cameras like this that have a lot less "Megapixels" then a Smartphone; when realistically most smartphones still only output at around 12mp anyways or so because of "Pixel Binning" so this "Difference in Megapixels" between Phones and Pocket camera becomes a moot point at the end of the day anyway.  

So once you realize that numbers on Megapixels for smartphones are really stretching the truth of the sensor inside 12mp isn't that bad at all.

I didn't mean to take up so much of the review as a rant- and maybe that will be a separate post for another time; but the ZS50 is a fine little point and shoot everyday pocket camera.  Sure it's missing a few features that the ZS100 has along with a slower lens and not very good at high ISO but this camera has amazing Image Stablization even compared to the Canon Powershot SX720.  

I'm fairly certain that's why I tore apart the SX720 unfairly because I was comparing it to this camera; and every time I took a shot I found something I missed about the Panasonic ZS50 over the Powershot SX720 which is why I was happy to make the trade to get it back. I will be giving both a second review next year and I'll likely do them back to back.

Both the SX720 and ZS50 are quick to start up, take a shot, and store in the pocket.  The ZS50 does have a slight shutdown lag before you can turn it off again however it does this delay AFTER retracting the lens; a drawback that some pocket cameras such as the OG Sony RX100 (which won't be reviewed but is the reason I sold mine a mere 3 months after owning one) have.  You can still put the camera back in its pouch a moment after pressing the power-button and have it ready for the next shot.

So performance wise both are pretty comparable.  And when you get above 25x zoom the difference between magnification levels is not that much.  So there is quite a bit of difference between the SX280 and the ZS50 but a lot less noticeable difference between the ZS50 and SX720 in spite of the SX720 having 12x more zoom on paper.  In reality it feels like it has a 2x more bump instead.

Before going into the photos at the end of the review I will just do a list of features that the Panasonic ZS50 has that the Canon Powershot SX720 lacks, and that will suffice for a description of why I enjoy shooting it more.  It is a much more advanced camera then the SX720 and the extra function button and control ring made it harder for my mom to get good shots with it. She would wind up accidently changing settings by bumping those extra buttons and turning the lens control wheel which made this camera not the best for someone who wants something fully automated. Here is what the Panasonic ZS50 has the the Canon SX720 lacks:

• RAW Support
• Second Control Wheel (lens ring)
• Customizeable FN button (less options then the Panasonic ZS100 on what it could be set to)
• Much better Image Stabilzation
• EVF (altough tiny and hard to squint through its nice to have when shooting in very bright conditions)
• Saveable custom Modes- while I never really used this much- this feature is usually reserved for DSLRs and Mirrorless bodies so seeing two custom presets on a pocket camera is very cool.

 

2023 Weekly Challenge Week 17: Nikon D200

With both my mood and weather improving (if only slightly on both counts) I decided it was time to review another interchangeable lens camera. Instead of doing one of my newer ICL cameras (which I plan to save for weeks I'm doing an out of area weekend trip with) I decided to pull one of my Classics off the shelf, a full professional APS-C camera from 2005 the Nikon D200. 

If cameras could talk and tell stories of where they have been and what they have seen, the D200 would be the first camera I'd pull up a chair to sit and listen to.  These cameras were wildly used by professional photographers in the mid to late 00's from Portrait Studios to Wildlife Safaris around the world. 

Many photographers from National Geographic shot D200 cameras, so if you pick up a National Geographic Magazine from 2005-2007 and the photo was taken on a digital body there is a very good chance it was taken with a D200.

Both of the D200s I have owned have had issues, the one that I currently have replaced one that managed to have over 250,000 shutter actuations and was working albeit barely.  The grips and covers were peeling off, the shutter button was mushy and it was very picky on what memory cards it would read.  

The fact that my original D200 lasted so many shutter actuations and was still going when I replaced it was a true testament of how well it was built; during in an era where many other DSLRs would die before they hit 50,000 shutter clicks. The one I replaced it with and currently have has a lot less shutter actuations (around 23k) but the rear control dial is broke. Luckily the rear control dial on the grip works just fine, so the camera is useable if not a little awkward at times as I need both hands to change some settings such as ISO or exposure compensation.

The D200 is a Beast of a Camera and the epitome of not being discreet. You pull one of these out (especially with the battery grip as mine has) and everyone will know you are a photographer from a far. 

When the shutter button is pressed you can actually feel the vibrations from the mirror as it violently flips itself out of the way for the sturdy mechanical shutter which echoes a hearty ka-chank. It may not be as high pitched or loud as a Canon Rebel but it certainly announces itself in a non-subtile way that makes you know that you got the shot.

The D200 is from a line of long forgotten Unicorn DSLRs with APS-C CCD sensors. The APS-C sized CCD sensor would disappear from the market less then seven years later (with the Sony a290/a390 being the last CCD based DSLRs released by any camera mfg in 2010).  

It was released in 2005 and sported a 10 megapixel APS-C CCD sensor which was very high resolution at the time.  Even the full frame flagship D2X only had 2.4 MP more then the D200, leaving this camera as a solid contender back in the days where crop sensor bodies could be just as professional as Full Frame kits.

The button layout is a lot like my other full pro legacy camera (the Canon 1D Mark IIn) with a lack of the standard PASM dial, and relies on holding down one button and turning a control wheel for pretty much everything.

As one would expect from a camera like this it's ready to take a photo as soon as you are.  There is no startup or shutdown lag. It has a very impressive buffer which means you can fire consecutive shots, even in burst mode, for a good duration without needing to write to card. It gets 5fps burst which may be pretty slow and meh for 2023 but seventeen years ago anything above 3fps was almost unheard of.

There are defiantly times that this camera shows its age. While the buffer is large and can take a lot of shots before filling up, writing those to memory takes a much longer time.  Even with a higher speed CF card (that the D200 would support atleast) it took a solid 10-20 seconds before I could turn the camera off while it was writing the buffer to card while in RAW.  That said, I could still keep shooting which is something that differentiates a camera like this from an early Prosumer bridge camera such as the Sony f828. 

The metering is not the greatest either, so it is advantageous that I shot in RAW.  I had a lot of photos that turned up under or over exposed but a lot of it may just be fine tuning that I didn't have time to deep delve into during a single week.  This camera is very advanced, even today that it's really hard to get a full feel for and comfortable shooting with the time I had to shoot it.

The D200 has no live view or video mode which may be a dealbreaker for some, but I'm a photographer not a videographer, and as such all my reviews on this blog are going to be how well a camera takes photos.

While I didn't care that it couldn't take video not having the ability to do live view, even at a much less responsive rate like my D7200, did make it so there were certain shots I simply could not take without shooting entirely blind.

In the end, the D200 is a classic, a legend and a beast of a camera almost 20 years later. If you really want someone to appreciate digital photography without taking everything for granted with a smartphone or modern point and click digicam this would be a really good camera to hand to them. 

It's heavy and bulky but few cameras in my collection has near the personality the D200 has. Shooting it is like using the grandfather to my most loved camera of all time I've shot with the Nikon D7200, and that isn't a bad thing.

Get around its crankiness and this camera can do a fine job to this day, seventeen years later. That CCD sensor gives a solid look with amazing color rendition and requires very little editing in POST so long as you don't push the sensor past ISO 800.

If the Nikon D200 could talk, what stories could it tell?