More photos at Tokyo DisneySea with Panasonic Lumix G1

I’ve had a Panasonic Lumix G1 since January and I’ve discovered that its a very handy piece of gear that easy to carry, especially when traveling.  On a recent trip I relied on my Leica M8 for the majority of my photos but the longest lens in my traveling M8 kit is the Summilux 75mm f/1.4 lens which with the M8’s crop factor of 1.3 is equivalent to 100mm in 35mm format.

On this particular day I also carried the G1 with its optional image stabilized 45-200mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens which has an effective range of 90-400mm.  Not only is the G1 a tiny DSLR, this lens is very compact, so much so that I was able to carry both the M8 with a Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens and the G1 and lens in the same bag, the small Billingham Hadley.

The G1 saved the day as there was no way I could get close to the show to take closeups of the action.  The show photos ranged from 107 -334mm effective range.  Although the lens isn’t that fast the image stabilization managed even to steady the lens extended to 334mm.  (And as I noted in other recent postings, some photos to 422mm.)

The show photos in this posting were all shot in jpeg.  Handheld.  No tripod.

Dancers from “Mythica” show at Tokyo DisneySea

I’ve been to Tokyo DisneySea on several occasions and never had the opportunity to view “The Legend Of Mythica”,  the daytime waterfront extravaganza.  During my previous visits, the crowd was so large, I  did everything I could to avoid the show.  But it was a great time to visit other parts of the park.

On this visit, the crowd was smaller and I was able to get a front row view.  Visually, it was a vivid, action-packed production.  With a percussion background, the rhythmic and sychronized show was the highlight of my visit.

Check out my other posting for more photos from this show.

Photos taken with a Panasonic Lumix G1 camera and Lumix 45-200mm zoom f/3.5-5.6 lens, focal length from 230 – 422mm, image stabilization on, JPEG.

Muir Woods north of San Francisco – don’t miss it.

One of the highlights to any trip to San Francisco is a visit to Muir Woods located north of the Golden Gate Bridge off the highway from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach.  It’s not a long drive, probably about 15 miles north of San Francisco. Take US101 across the Golden Gate Bridge, get off the highway at the Stinson Beach exit  and follow the signs.

One does not see many locals visiting Muir Woods as they have the luxury of many destinations in beautiful Marin Country and beyond.  And tourists usually are bound to a few days in the area.  As a result, one sees many tourists (and school groups) at Muir Woods.  But thats not a bad thing although Muir Woods, being the focal point of tourists wanting to see coastal redwoods, does become congested when the weather is sunny and dry.

There are many miles of trails and the farther you roam from the parking lot, the fewer people you do see.   And if the weather is wet and foggy, well, there are even fewer people.  I happen to like the wet weather as the experience is more primeval.  The dampness of the air, the scent of the redwoods and other fauna, and fewer people can make the visit more personal, a sense of being part of nature.

All photos were with either a Leica M8 with Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens or a Panasonic Lumix G1 with Lumix 45 – 200mm f/4 – 5.6 lens.

Walking four bridges on the Singapore River

Read Bridge near Clarke Quay

One of my favorite walks in Singapore is down the Singapore River from Read Bridge near Clarke Quay to the Cavanagh Bridge near the Fullerton Hotel.  Along the way is also Boat Quay and its boisterous pub and restaurant row.  (Of course Clarke Quay is home to many restaurants and bars.)

The walk is best done during the evening as the heat and the humidity during the day can be overwhelming.  There are paved walkways down the river with pedestrian tunnels to avoid having to cross busy streets.

As you proceed from Read Bridge, the bridges become more beautiful and elaborate, especially at night.  First comes the Shaw Bridge, then the beautifully red-lit Elgin bridge and finally the Cavanagh Bridge with the backdrop of the Fullerton Hotel.

I recommend you make the walk a loop, starting at Clarke Quay down to the Fullerton Hotel and then around to Boat Quay and back.  I believe the loop is around five or six kms but this is a guess.  There are many online map sites which will help plan your walk.

These photo were taken with a Leica M8 and a Carl Zeiss Biogon 28mm f/2.8 lens and a Panasonic Lumix G1 with Lumix 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.

Shaw Bridge in the late afternoon sun

Elgin Bridge

Elgin Bridge looking at Boat Quay

Cavanagh Bridge

Cavanagh Bridge and the Fullerton Hotel

Billingham Hadley v. L2 (Alice) camera bags, which one for you?

L2 on left, small Hadley on right.

Ok, so in terms of appearance, the small Hadley has it hands-down over the sturdy but plain looking Billingham L2.  The Hadley has two buckles and exterior pockets and the Billingham logo to attract your attention.  Let’s face it, the Hadley is a great looking bag.

But as they say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and  “beauty is only skin-deep”.   Beneath the plain exterior L2 is a GREAT bag for someone looking for a compact design.  Where do I start in describing the superlatives of the L2.  How about the leather reinforced bottom panels with feet?

L2 on bottom, small Hadley on top

Or a slight larger main compartment that makes the L2 roomier for your cameras and your accessories.  This difference can be seen in all the photos. From the “face” in the first photo to its bottom panel in the second to its end view below.

L2 on left, small Hadley on right

And the L2 is also expandable by attaching the optional AVEA pockets to the leather loops that comprise the shoulder strap anchor on each side of the bag.  The small Hadley does not have this advantage.

Inside the bag, one can notice other differences between the two. Whereas the Hadley has a removable padded insert, the L2 does not.  In addition, the Hadley has narrow spaces between the insert and the interior front and back of the bag for additional storage, while the L2 has a sizable storage area in front of the main compartment that is capable of holding additional gear to include smaller Leica “size” lenses.  The narrow space behind the main compartment is large enough for flat accessories like filters, etc.

In addition, the main compartment of the L2 is slight larger than the Hadley as the below photos show.

Contained in the bags are a Leica M8 with Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 AND a Panasonic Lumix G1 with 45-200 f/4-5.6 zoom lens.  Both bags are roomy enough for a DSLR, like the Canon 5D lens.  But an additional lens may be difficult to carry.  A smaller DSLR like the 450D may be a better choice for this bag as the smaller body will give you more room.

Small Hadley with Leica M8 and Panasonic G1

L2 with same Leica and Panasonic cameras

Note the size of the compartment in front of the main compartment of the L2 (but remember that the Hadley has two exterior pockets the L2 does not have).  Finally, the L2 has additional weatherproofing in the form of an extra layer of waterproof canvas on interior side of the top flap (and both side gussets to protect the sides of the top flap).

Bottom line?  I think the L2 is a very practical bag to shoot from.  There are no exterior or zippered pockets to contend with.  You just open the flap and get to shooting.  However, if you’re going by looks, the Hadley is the way to go.

One small problem. I can’t find the L2 listed on the Billingham website.  Maybe it’s not being made any more.  (However the L2 is available at various photographic equipment websites.)

Final thought.  I find both of these bags easy to carry.  They are lightweight and comfortable.  I do not find my Hadley Pro or my 555 to be “easy to wear” bags.  The Pro’s insert stiffens the bag to the point I don’t find it to be very comfortable.  The 555 because of the sheer weight of the bag.  For me, there are better choices in that size of bag.  But for looks and detailing,  they are good-looking bags.

Panasonic Lumix G1 with Voightlander Ultron 28mm f/2 lens

I’ve tried several Leica M-mount lenses using the Rayqual adaptor on the Panasonic Lumix G1.  So far, I used the Voightlander Heliar 15mm f/4.5, the Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8, the Leica Summicron 35mm f/2, Leica Summicron 90mm f/2  and the Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1 lenses.  This particular lens is the least satisfying lens I’ve tried on the G1.  Resolution off center is poor and I could not pre-focus the lens and expect a sharp image.  On the M8 and M6, I prefocus all the time with no problems whatsoever.

I set the lens on f/8 which should bring into focus everything between 2 meters and infinity.  As you can see from some of the photos, this was not the case.

By the way, I tried to use my Contax Carl Zeiss Biogon 28mm f/2.8 lens on the G1.   It would not seat as the back end of the lens clashed with the sensor mount.  Therefore, I could not try it out on this camera.

Panasonic Lumix G1 with Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 lens

Panasonic Lumix G1 with Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 lens

The Summicron 9omm f/2 is one of the finest lenses that Leica makes.  On a film M-series camera it’s a longish portrait lens. On the digital M8 with its 1.3 crop factor its still a longish portrait lens.  On the G1 with its 2x crop factor, it’s a full blown medium telephoto lens with the ability to focus down to less than one meter.  And a fast f/2 lens.

The lens has great bokeh and pretty good contrast, making it ideal to isolate the subject from the background.  On the G1, this lens is a very good performer, creating images that would rival those created by the M8.  Of course its the lens that makes the major contribution.

Poor off-center resolution as seen in some images created by particular wide-angle lenses is non-existent.  It had been speculated at some of the Leica-centric forums that this resolution issue was caused by the particular angle of light refraction through Leica M-mount lenses and that this would be less of an issue with longer focal length lenses.

The 90mm is still a handful on the G1 as its effectively an 180mm lens without the advantage of image stabilization.  Keeping your shutter speed at or above  1/250 sec to insure a decent handheld image.

Panasonic Lumix G1 with Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens

This week I’m using the G1 with the Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens.  I’ve used this lens off and on since I purchased the Rayqual adaptor in Osaka about a month ago.  The image’s resolution off center is not quite as good as I would expect, given the excellent performance of this lens on my Leica M8.    Also, focusing at infinity in the viewfinder is slightly off in that the image is not in perfect focus in the viewfinder.  Again this is in contrast to the M8’s ability to focus at infinity.

Check out my previous posting where I discuss (and link) the off-center resolution issue that the G1 has with some wide-angle lenses.

First day with Leica and Carl Zeiss lenses on Panasonic Lumix G1

Shot with G1 with Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 – closeup

First of all, I didn’t know what to expect with the merging of M-mount lenses and the G1.  I figured that the lenses were more than up to the task.  The main question to me was:  Was the sensor up to the task?  After an afternoon of shooting this combination I have to say that it works although there are some shortcomings.  But they were niggling and not dealstoppers.

As I noted earlier, I purchased the Rayqual adaptor in Osaka a couple of days ago setting myself up trying this gear out.  The adaptor is a well-made precision piece of kit that will not dissatisfy you.  The only problem was the lack of English language instructions but this was not a real impediment.  The only changes you have to make are: changing a setting in the menu so the G1 can recognize a manual focus lens and setting the dial to aperture priority.  That’s about it.

The above photo was shot with a Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.  Not a bad image.  But consider that it’s a cropped image.  The uncropped image from which it was taken is below.

Shot with G1 and Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 lens

So how easy is it to set the G1 in manual focus?  It’s pretty easy and I encountered no problems with the EVF.  It was up to the task and I didn’t have to use the magnify feature very often to zero in the focus.  In addition the metering was spot on.  No problems whatsoever.

Shot with G1 and Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 lens

The only difficulty had to do with the 2X crop effectively making a 90mm lens a 180mm lens.  Try a 180mm lens with no image stabilization or tripod.  It’s a bit difficult although you can be effective.  The above photo was taken handheld.

Shot with G1 and Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 lens

But remember that with all lenses, the focal length is doubled so that your favorite 28mm is now 56mm and so on.  I eventually ended up using my Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 and Voightlander Heliar 15mm f/4.5 exclusively because it gave me some wide angle capability.  Lenses above 21mm had too much focal length for my tastes.

Shot with G1 and Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens

Finally, you can still retain a decent image even if you have to severely crop the image.  Not as good as the M8 sensor but not bad.  The photos below are the uncropped and cropped versions of the same photograph.

Shot with G1 and Carl Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/2.8 lens

Cropped from above.

In the coming week, I will be testing the G1 and M-mount lens combination under other conditions.

Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1 on Panasonic Lumix G1

Leica Noctilux lens attached to Panasonic Lumix G1

Last week while I was in Osaka I spent some time looking for the Rayqual Leica-M to M4/3 adaptor so that I could use my M-mount lenses on the G1.  It turned out to be somewhat of a difficult task as every shop I checked in Osaka and every Japanes website were out of the adaptor.  One website offered to put me on a waiting list and that perhaps in a week or so they could send one to me.

Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 lens on G1

Well, those answers didn’t satisfy me so I had a friend contact Rayqual directly.  Guess what?  We ordered the adaptor directly from them and the next day it arrived at the hotel.  It came with instructions for use only in Japanese but I was about to figure it out.  One interesting thing about using M-mount lenses on the G1, is that you can opt to focus using the G1’s magnified focus display.  I didn’t find it necessary with wide angle lenses but with the Noctilux, it did come in handy.

With the adaptor, you have to use manual focus.  And the G1’s image stabilization does not work.  For those of you wedded to modern technology, it will take some time adjust to these differences.

G1 with Noctilux used to shoot this photo

In the coming weeks, I intend to use the G1 and the Leica lenses everywhere and take as many photos as possible.  I am expecting the G1 to perform admirably although I don’t expect it to outperform the M8.  If it did, then Leica would be in trouble.

Shot with G1 with Noctilux lens