A week in Nice September 2024

I believe I found a locale to potentially call home once I retire. Southern France (Cote D’Azur) is spectacular with stunning coastlines, amazing seafood, and super chill atmosphere. I did not want to leave. Have a look! Lumix S-5MKII with PL24-70F2.8 and Lumix 70-300f4.5-5.6. Edited in DXO PL.

A Visit to Paris September 2024....

Paris is fabulous. Superlatives do the place no justice. Please enjoy what I saw wandering around for the first time in decades from Notre Dame to the 10th Arr. and of course the Eiffel Tower. Lumix S-5MkII with PL 24-70f2.8 and edited with DXO PL. I normally stick to variations of Fuji film looks; however, Paris called for some experimentation and I used several of the available DXO “Time Machine” specialized looks as a baseline. Enjoy!

Summer and Fall England 2024

Lumix S-5MkII with PL24-70f2.8 and 70-300f4.5-5.6. Edited in DXO PL. Enjoy!

My Phtography Gear

I have been shooting Panasonic with the G9 since 2017. With the 12-60 f2.8-4 and 100-300 f4-5.6 I was covered with 2 lenses in a reasonably light tough kit giving me actual reach of 24-600mm thanks to the M43 sensor. A good 75% of all legacy images here on my site were made with that setup. I beat the hell of it too and finally managed to kill it last year visiting the Philippines (cliff-sides and monsoons don’t mix well). M43 struggles in a few areas notably lower light and digital noise induced when cranking up the ISO. While I was spending the best part of 2023 trying to decide between going back to Fuji with the X-H2 or step up to full frame (35mm digital) in the form of Sony, Panasonic, or possibly Nikon-I picked up the lovely little Sony RX100VA seen here for a little walkaround. Its a great little pocket shooter and super quick autofocus thanks to inheriting the module from its full-frame siblings. After much hemming and hawing and finally several product demo’s and brilliant pricing I went with the Panasonic S-5II. They threw in the 85mm S f1.8 (I will have to start doing proper portraits now!) and amazing pricing on the Pro 24-70 f2.8….and I just picked up and shot for the first time the S 70-300 f4.5-5.6 completing the kit for full frame 24-300mm reach.

Why didn’t I jump ship from Panasonic? Sony’s ergonomics are ass, software and menu structure remains ass, and any advantage in size is negated by the monstrous and super expensive G Master lenses needed to really get the most from the system unless you are just shooting “cats n brats n shit in the garden”. Sony’s AF is ridiculous….best in class…but by how much? With the addition of PDAF Panasonic has closed the gap and in stills there’s not much between them. A forthcoming software release promises to make what is already an excellent AF system even more competitive.

I really like Fuji. But the wight and reach advantages for what is an APS-C sensor package are again negated by the big lenses needed to resolve the big ass new sensor. And there is way more noise than I expected even at low ISO. It would be a step backwards for me anyway. Thier color science is amazing but Panasonic is close….and of course I shoot RAW so who cares.

I picked up the Nikon Zf wanting to like it….and put it right back down. Ergonomically its a wannabe Fuji retro body without the charm. Nikon will sell loads and its got great spec’s….but if it don’t feel right….you know it.

Didn’t even bother with Canon. Blah blah pro shooter blah blah honesty who cares. If I was a pro shooting the Olympics….ok you go with CaNikon or possibly Sony top end speed guns….but I’m not a pro.

The S-5II is a bit of a beastie. Add on the two big lenses I have and its actually quite the hog around the neck. That’s really my only complaint….and the thing ergonomically fits my hands and balances well so….yeah. I am still learning the system and looking forward to getting more of the specialist features in play…Hand Held Hi Resolution, pre-burst, and especially Live Composite for night scenes.

That’s my rambling story and I’m sticking to it!

Winged friends.....

Newly acquired Panasonic 70-300 S lens is excellent. Edited with DXO Photolab 7.

Oxford and London

Panasonic S-Pro 24-70 and 70-300 S. Edited in DXO Photolab 7.

Spring Flowers Bloom in Battersea

New lens Panasonic 70-300 S Macro. Edited in DXO Photolab 7.

2024 Still here...........

Welcome to my completely remade home on the interwebz. After 9 years of occasionally posting and scrubbing and updating it was time to get a bit more modern, cull the crap, and connect via Instagram. If you are viewing here….thank you! I pay for it out of my pocket to ensure no advertising and uncompressed photographs for everyone’s enjoyment.

I also finally changed systems and stepped up to full frame with the new year. I’ll talk about my gear and software/editing notes in another posting; suffice to say this was the perfect time to cut off the old and bring in the new!

Stay tuned. In the meantime here are some initial shots around London in full frame. Enjoy the show or click for larger. The dynamic range and detail is night day over previous systems.