Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Lumix DMC-GH2, Lumix G 14mm 1:2.5 Asph.)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Lumix DMC-GH2, Lumix G 14mm 1:2.5 Asph.)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Lumix DMC-GH2, Lumix G 14mm 1:2.5 Asph.)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Lumix DMC-GH2, Lumix G 14mm 1:2.5 Asph.)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2, A Winning Bet

Digital Moments: A retro look at the 2011 16MP CMOS Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2, a very compact and capable mirrorless digital camera.

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I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I won the 2011 16MP CMOS Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 on a $1 bet, as I had little or no knowledge at all about the camera, its target use and audience, and capability, except that it was one from the series of mirrorless Micro 4/3 digital cameras that I see often enough being listed on auction sites. My curiosity for the bet was induced by the fact that I am an overt Olympus user experienced with 35mm OM's, LT, IZN, AF, and AM autofocus cameras, E-series Four-Thirds, E-P5, and E-PM2, and a crop of lens adapters for use with legacy manual focus lenses.

The camera, an updated version of the initial DMG-GH1 launched in 2009, which already has a very flexible and high-quality video capability, is now HD capable. Still shooters, on the other hand, may look forward to the GH2 as having a sensor larger than the format's imaging circle to allow the camera to capture images in different aspect ratios while retaining the same image diagonal. The camera shoots 16MP images on an oversized 18MP sensor. The electronic viewfinder on the GH2 has been widened to 852 x 600 pixels, where 16:9 and 3:2 images are displayed without cropping.

Lumix DMC-GH2, Lumix G 14mm 1:2.5 Asph.

The Lumix DMC-GH2, weighing only 385 grams without battery, has a multi-angle and swing 3-inch touch screen 460,000 dot LCD, conveniently compact and lightweight, is a joy to use and carry around, made more advantageous with the range of equally compact and lightweight Micro 4/3 lenses. The camera's handling and performance, with external controls, buttons, and switches that make it easy to change options without going deep into the menus, were hugely positive. My early trials with the camera include the light patch study, above, which was shot during one of my recent street walk sessions.

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4)

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SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4, Stopped-Down Metering

The CCD Sensor: Executing stopped-down metering with an SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4 (and/or other MF legacy lenses) on the Pentax K-m / K2000.

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The SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4 (1975 to 1977), introduced by Pentax with the launch of Pentax K-series 35mm SLR film cameras, is a robustly built all metal and glass 7 elements in 6 groups (with SMC coating) 35mm full frame lens. The lens is more than often wrongly misrepresented as the later version SMC Pentax-M 50mm 1:1.4 (1977 to 1984), which is lighter, more compact, and with similar image characteristics. The lens (and series), just as well, was not officially referred to as a K-series lens by Pentax, a designation was given to later K-mount lenses (such as the M, A, F, FA, and DA series) produced with later model cameras.

Using the lens on the Pentax K-m (K2000 in the US), which has a 'crippled' KAF2 mount, is with a couple of caveats. First, for image stabilization functionality, the lens's focal length must also be indexed by the camera. This is done on power-up where the 'Input Focal length' menu is displayed and the focal length (from 8 to 800mm) is selected from the display bar.

Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4

Second, as the lens mount of the K-m does not have the aperture coupling lever to tell the camera what aperture the lens is set to, metering the SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4 can be done stopped-down, with the camera's exposure mode set to manual ('M' on the mode dial), and exposures made fully manual (you may use the Sunny 16 Rule for this), or stopped-down, which is executed by pressing the AV (on the K-m) / Green button located on the top plane of the camera (circled red in the image above) before releasing the shutter.

When the AV button is pressed, the viewfinder (depending on how small the lens aperture is set to) will darken slightly as the diaphragms are stopped down for the exposure measurement to be taken, and the value converted to the shutter speed setting. 

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Pentax Optio W90, Go Anywhere

The CCD Sensor: The Pentax Optio W90 is a versatile dustproof, waterproof, and shockproof go-anywhere digital compact for the outdoorsman.

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For the CCD enthusiast, the Pentax Optio W90, a vintage 2010 CCD go-anywhere camera with a 12MP sensor and a 5x optical zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent 28mm wide-angle to a 140mm telephoto lens, might just be the right tonic for your go-anywhere outdoors, for just sitting in the rain, or submerged to depths of up to 20 feet for as long as two hours. The compact minuscule is just as well dustproof and can withstand a drop from four feet onto 5 cm-thick plywood.

The camera has a normal shutter speed range from 1/1,5000 to 1/40 second, or up to 4 seconds in Night Scene mode, a standard ISO speed rating from 80-1600, or up to 3,200 or 6,400 by dropping image resolution to 5MP in automatic Digital SR mode, and a self-timer with two- or ten-second delay. The aperture varies from f/3.5 to f/5.5 across the zoom range. Exposure modes include Green (fully automatic), Program, Auto Picture, and a wide selection of scene modes, exposure metering is by TTL Multi-Segment, Center-Weighted, or Spot metering, with exposure compensation in 1/3EV steps.

Pentax Optio W90

Images are framed and reviewed on a 2.7-inch LCD with a 230,000 dots screen resolution with a wide viewing angle, finished in anti-reflective coating. Autofocusing is by a 9-point contrast detection autofocus system, with face detection that can recognize up to 32 individual faces and three pet faces with Smile Capture and Blink Detection to ensure portraits look their best. Focusing is as close to just one centimeter in Super Macro mode, and down to 10 centimeters in standard Macro mode. Three LED lights around the lens provide illumination in Macro mode shooting.

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1:4)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4, Start Of Day

The CCD Sensor: Fantastic colors, and superb images, on a sunny and bright start-of-day street shoot at and around Petaling Street Kuala Lumpur.

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The SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4, a first-generation K-mount SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4 (1975 to 1977) manual focus prime, is more than often wrongly misrepresented as the later version SMC Pentax-M 50mm 1:1.4 (1977 to 1984). The later Pentax-M version is lighter, more compact, and has almost similar image characteristics. The lens series, just as well, was not officially referred to as a K-series lens by Pentax, the designation was given to later K-mount lenses (such as the M, A, F, FA, and DA series) produced in tandem with later models cameras.

Introduced by Pentax with the launch of Pentax K-series 35mm SLR film cameras, the lens was in production from 1975 to 1977. It is an all metal and glass 7 elements in 6 groups (with SMC coating) 35mm full frame lens, has an automatic 8-blade diaphragm, an aperture ring with a range from f1.4 to f22, a compact dimension of 63mm (diameter) x 43 mm (length), a minimum focusing distance of 45cm, weighs 265 grams, and takes 52mm filters. The lens is rated for Sharpness at 9.0, Aberrations at 8.6, Bokeh at 9.4, Handling at 9.5, and Value at 9.1 on PentaxForums.

Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4

Despite its age, the SMC Pentax 50mm 1:1.4 I tested was still in excellent overall condition. Seen here mounted on the 10MP CCD Pentax K-m, the lens is a joy to handle and use. A nice and compact fit on the Pentax K-m, which in turn, makes the camera a snug fit in the hand. With soft images at wider apertures, the lens is not a contender for a sharp lens award. Bokeh is interesting and the colors are bright (typical of Pentax glass) though, and stopping down to smaller aperture openings improves sharpness significantly.

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