Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, Starting Out

Compact Comeback: A compact comeback look at the vintage 16MP CCD Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5, an ultra-compact camera with a 28-112mm equivalent optical zoom lens, and distinct 'film-like' image renders that photographers looked for.

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My latest acquisition is in search of an alternative to the ever-rising cost of photography, where film prices and their associated services are ever spiraling in film photography, and where digital cameras are getting very sophisticated and may be too complex to be enjoyable for simple point-and-shoot image capture.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5 is a 16MP CCD sensor ultra-compact digital camera, not much bigger than my other favorite vintage, the Nokia Asha 300, and comes with a 4x Zoom Leica DC Vario, 6 elements in 5 groups with 3 aspherical elements lens. The specs look great, the cost is about equivalent to only a couple of rolls of film, and the fun looks forthcoming.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-S5

The camera was launched in 2012 and weighs 112 grams with a battery.

Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, Ghostly Twilight

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, an ultra-compact pancake with exceptional edge-to-edge sharpness and smooth, quiet stepping motor (STM) focusing, a 64mm full-frame equivalent on the Canon EOS 300D.

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Perfect shots, true colors, couldn't ask for more. Exposures were taken in Program Mode, recorded at 1/2 and 1 second for the first four images, and 1/25 second for the sky shot in the community park just across from where I lived.

Not a planned night shot, but rather an impromptu "Program Mode" handheld twilight session. I am still all excited about having the vintage digital Canon EOS 300D, a 6.3-megapixel entry-level DSLR camera. When launched in 2002, the EOS 300D camera was the first DSLR to hit the market with a price tag below US $1000.

My take? Find an alternative to the ever-spiraling cost of continuing the hobby, as I have been doing in the past, in film photography. Am I getting what I am looking for? I am warming up to it, and it looks like it's going to be a big Yes!

Canon EOS 300D, Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM

I will have to forgo my love for film, though, and work on other challenges instead.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Jupiter-37A 135mm f/3.5

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a legacy Jupiter-37A 135mm f/3.5, widely acclaimed as one of the finest Soviet-era telephoto lenses, praised for its exceptional sharpness, 12-blade circular bokeh, and compact metal build, a 270mm full-frame equivalent on the Olympus PEN E-P5.

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Acquired another copy of the Jupiter-37A 135mm f/3.5 lens recently, after the earlier copy went to a buyer; did my normal quick edit of the garden, and had the images edited on my desktop. As expected, images with the sturdy as-a-tank 37-A are very sharp, even when shot wide-open, with good micro-contrast, natural color rendition, and smooth bokeh.

Had the images been cropped to the square format, or the 1:1 aspect ratio as well, which in itself is an interesting way to present images. Unlike images in either the portrait or landscape format, where the eye is either drawn from top to bottom or from left to right, the square photo format draws the eye to the center of the composition and then lets the eye explore the entire frame without providing any implicit direction because of the frame.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Jupiter-37A 135mm f/3.5

Square format images are, of course, not new, as they were first introduced by Rollei in 1929, later by Holga and Hasselblad, and came back to focus with mobile photo apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic.

Tamron SP Adaptall-2 90mm f/2.5 Macro, In The Garden

Cameras and Lenses: Images with a vintage Tamron SP Adaptall-2 90mm f/2.5 Macro, a legendary 'cult classic' with exceptional sharpness, beautiful bokeh, and stellar performance for both macro and portrait photography.

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Still working with the Tamron SP 90mm 1:2.5 52BB Macro, mounted on the E-P5 this time around. I have also acquired a new Ai - M4/3 lens adapter with a tripod mount, making handholding slightly more stable with the tripod support cupped in my hand. Images are still from the garden, though, close-up.

The Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 90mm f2.5 Macro (52BB) is optically identical to the earlier 52B model, which was released in 1997. The original 52B features a lot more metal in its construction and has a screw-in hood, whilst the 52BB came with a redesigned barrel and a bayonet fitting for a hood, which the lens was sold with. The 52B/52BB was replaced by the 1:1 macro 90mm f/2.8 72 B.

Olympus PEN E-P5, Tamron SP Adaptall-2 90mm f/2.5 Macro

Note: My first post was with the lens mounted on the Olympus E-PM2.