Yes. It's Sunday. And there's a new (used) camera in the house. It's an ancient (but well preserved) Panasonic Lumix GX8.

GX8 camera with Olympus Pen FT 40mm f1.4 lens + metal hood.

The pandemic is making me too cautious. Usually, when I've decided I want to buy a camera I just get in my vehicle and go buy it. But yesterday I found myself trying to explain to my spouse why I was going to go buy this little, used camera. She looked at my in a perplexed, almost bewildered way and said, "You can buy anything you want. You don't have to check with me." It was an odd moment because even in the worst of economic times I've never felt the need to check in. Especially on a purchase that was under $400.

I can give you a dozen reasons why I wanted to buy the camera  but it all boils down to this: I wanted to buy the camera. 

So, why a Lumix GX8 and how do I like it so far?

You'll recall, if you've been a reader of the blog for the past few years, that I've owned a bunch of different Panasonic cameras including these: G3, GH2, GH3, GH4, GH5, G9, FZ1000, FZ2500, G85, GX85, S1 and S1R. Many I owned in duplicate sets. Over time the color from the cameras got better and better and, in the case of the G9 and the S1 series I find that I like the color better than just about any other digital camera I've tried. I got tons of great use out of the GH3 - GH5 cameras and made good money using them for video productions.

The S1 series cameras, especially with the V-Log upgrades, are the best video cameras I've ever shot with and the S1 Pro lenses are superb but they represent a pretty meaty package for those times when I want to walk around in the street and photograph random chaos and beauty. I'd always prefer the images from an S1 or S1R but when I don't have a photographic mission in mind, and where walking is the priority, I find an m4:3 camera much more comfortable. That's why I bought a little GX85 kit before the first of this year.

But much as I like the size and speed of the GX85 I've gotten use to better controls and better feature sets of my other cameras and I was looking for a bit of a step up. Something with a better EVF and a newer sensor. I considered getting another G9 to replace the ones I sold but I don't want to hop back into two systems and the G9 can be powerfully addictive. I noticed that my friend, Frank, has been using a GX8 for the last two years and he seems quite happy with his. He also takes great photos and knows his way around cameras. We talked about it for a while over coffee (B.C. = before COVID) and I logged my new knowledge away for future use. When Precision Camera offered three different GX8s for sale, used, on their website I thought a bit more about getting one.

The GX8 ticks a lot of boxes as a flexible daily user camera. It's got the 20 megapixel sensor, dual I.S.
(sensor and lens), good 4K video, a surprisingly nice and detailed LED EVF and it's splash and dust resistant. I like the way the dials are set up and I'm very used to the Panasonic menus. I can use this camera with older, manual, Olympus Pen FT half frame lenses and, icing on the cake, the batteries are interchangeable with the batteries for the Sigma fp. Pretty cool.

I charged up the battery and stuck a Hoodman Steel 64 GB USH-II SD card in the camera and formatted it, and then added an ancient lens that I haven't used in years to the package. The lens is the 20mm f3.5 for the old half frame Pen film cameras. I'd never been too impressed with it but I thought I'd give it one more chance...and it would present a worst case user scenario to challenge the new camera.

I headed back out to a different part of the trail yesterday which would deliver me to the far side of downtown. I'd walk back from there and do my first documentation of a high tech, busy town now shut almost completely down.

It was raining all day long so I took a plastic bag along with me to cover the camera between shots. The rest of the time I didn't worry about the camera I just tried my best to keep rain drops off the front element of the lens. All the images I shot yesterday (See my April 4th 2020 blog post) were shot with this combo.

The camera was light enough for me to forgo the usual strap and to just carry it around in my right hand for a couple of hours. The punch in for magnified manual focusing was quick and easy to use and I'm happy with the results. I shot at ISOs ranging from 320 to 1250 and found the files to have nice color and to be nearly noise free (I'm relatively insensitive to a bit of noise in files). I was using the electronic shutter with all sounds muted and I can't imagine a more discrete shooting package. It was absolutely lovely.

From an ergonomic point of view much of my initial thoughts about the GX8 handling are influenced by my time with the much bigger and heavier S1. I think the grip on the GX8 could be a bit deeper and I think the four way selector dial on the back is too responsive. I'd like a bit more resistance from it. I love the instant waist level EVF and I like the dial that surrounds the shutter release.

One thing that bothers me on an existential level is that there are 14 different actual and virtual function buttons, most of which can be reprogrammed to do dozens of different things. I can't think that anyone can memorize everything that they've set; especially when shooting quickly, under pressure. If I like the camera enough I guess I'll take a six week course in why and how to reprogram everything and then, once I get all the settings where I like them, I'll have a chart of all the permutations tattoo'd on my calf so I can roll up my pant leg and refresh my memory while out shooting. Thank God it doesn't "feature" GPS.

The camera is well suited for walking around and I might even put that 45-150mm lens on the front and tryout the AF. Maybe it's great.

After running the trail with a Sigma fp and a big, full frame 24-105mm lens under my jacket in a rain storm I think I'll make it a rule of thumb to reach for either the GX85 or the GX8 next time I put on the running shoes and sally forth into the elements. Much less stress on the human system over a certain distance.

Am I crazy for buying a cheap, used camera during such a frightening financial crisis? Naw. Look at it this way, the store is trying to stay afloat in a horrible time for non-essential retailers. Buying another camera or lens now and then disrupts my inclination to focus on disaster too much, gives me a sense of control over....something, and supports the store and the folks who work there. I'd love for them to survive so I can buy cameras at will A.C. (After COVID-19). If we come out of this okay then I'll worry about my future spending because it's going to be outrageous.

Final early thoughts about the GX8. It's a beautiful little camera with lots of potential. I have it set to monochrome today. Let's see if I can unlock some of its potential. Even if it's just around the house.

the 20mm f3.5 Pen lens is not bad for a 50 year old lens. Not back at all.

Just cleaned out our shed so I could move it. The house painters are coming this week to do the exterior and needed access to that wall. Laundering my face covers for the upcoming week as I type this. We walked through the neighborhood today (big, wide streets, every house, person and dog well distanced from each other) but we've been hanging around at home the rest of the day. No big plans other than staying positive and happy. Ours is a big house, bought for a time when it was filled with Ben and his friends. At least Belinda and I aren't crowding each other. We both have separate offices. There's an ample living room and even a separate reading room. If I'm too noisy or antsy Belinda can always send me out here to my studio for a while... is that "adult time out?"

Can't think of a better place to be for the next month. Wish I had a twenty five yard lap pool though...

Perhaps there is a project we can all do, wherever we are in the world. The idea came to me from the Austin History Center.

 This is rush hour on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas April 4th, 2020. 

Few of us have lived through anything like this pandemic in our lives. Even us ancient ones who've been around (and through) a lot of weird and scary stuff. Many of the changes to our way of life are sudden, profound and bereft of precedent. We are truly living through a transformative and perilous period and it would be good to have a record of what it was like to be in the middle of this. I shy away from concentrating on the health care (immediate life and death) aspect of the crisis because it would be selfish to intrude when every medical professional needs space and full attention to work. And, selfishly, I don't want to put myself or my family and friends in great peril just to get photographs. 

But the economic ramifications may end up being equally severe and we need a record of this time as well. The Austin History Center put out a request for images that document how Austin and its citizens are dealing with the pandemic. They have photos that go all the way back to Austin during the Spanish Flu in 1918 and good documentation of just about every major upheaval (or positive thing) that's occurred in our city. Now they want to make sure people know that they would welcome good images that tell the story of our responses and our sacrifices during this trying time. 

I can't think that Austin is alone in this desire for documentation and a memory archive. I would think that the responses and the real life changes will be different for small towns and giant cities; for once thriving economies as well as communities already dealing with painful financial adversity. And it's obvious that this is not an "American" problem but a world crisis. 

I put on my rain jacket and my face mask and went out for a walk this afternoon. I walked up one side of the lake trail which put me on the east side of downtown. I then walked through the center of town with the idea of documenting all the closed and boarded up businesses as well as the empty parking lots, empty hotels and empty streets. If I could go back in time about three months and show these images to people who live here they would never believe that downtown could be so bare. And I've not begun to document the lines outside of grocery stores and legions of normal people behind medical (and home made masks). 

It's something to think about if you are home and bored and itching for a project that has real bones and real value. It's not just another Zone VI exercise with a running brook made smooth with a long exposure... We can only bear witness if we photograph the world around us. As HCB once said, 

“The intensive use of photographs by mass media lays ever fresh responsibilities upon the photographer. We have to acknowledge the existence of a chasm between the economic needs of our consumer society and the requirements of those who bear witness to this epoch. This affects us all, particularly the younger generations of photographers. We must take greater care than ever not to allow ourselves to be separated from the real world and from humanity.” – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photography and video will form the cultural memory of this time. It's only by having lots of points of view that we'll aggregate a history that will tell the story. 

It is obvious that there will be hard times ahead not just for people directly touched by the health effects and deadly fallout of the pandemic but by the severe and rapid closure of the economy. Young people's potential will be put on hold. Many businesses will fail and not re-emerge. There will be many sad stories to be told and the capturing and telling may help to inform future policies and decisions that will prevent the same kind of wholesale destruction in the next pandemic. 

It's an idea and I'd love to get some feedback. I'm sure I'm missing a lot and haven't figured out entirely how to proceed, but I know photographers love projects and they love to tell stories. Please let me know your thoughts. Ethical considerations, etc. Here are the images I took today. 

All the cafe tables gone. All the people scattered.

Menu monitors at Juiceland. 

An un-manned Bank of America office. 

Cafe Politique shutter behind a construction walkway. 

No businesses open for blocks at a time. But it was nice that Loft left their lights lit. 

2nd Street is usually packed  with people heading to happy hours and early dinners.

Today everything is closed. 

No cars and no guests at the W Hotel.

 There are still some food businesses trying to make it with mobile ordering and 

curbside pickup but one by one I'm watching them throw in the towel as it becomes

apparent that the cash flow out is unsustainable without a critical mass of customer. 

I have never seen this parking lot vacant. Never.

Yeah. That's the GX8. I'll write about my experience with it tomorrow.

2nd Restaurant and Medici Coffee shop are closed up tight on Congress Ave.

And this is Congress Ave. at Rush Hour. No one is downtown.

Valet parking at the JW Marriott is boarded up and closed. 

The hotel is not boarded up (yet) but it is closed down.

All the furniture and fixtures have already been removed from this corporate hotel restaurant.

The Royal Blue Grocery is now ---- particle board. 

this is the location on Second St. Several others in the chain are still open 

in downtown. The sell groceries. This one is near the convention center and further away from the residence towers....

Michaleda's tried takeout and then breakfast tacos and coffee and now they too

have boarded up the shop and gone dormant. They are right across the street from

the convention center.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think of the idea. 

I'm going to flesh out my intentions for this and figure out how I will use and share the images in a way that's beneficial. If I figure that out I'll post about it. 

Incredibly interested to hear how very small towns are dealing with this.

Saturday adventures. April 4, 2020.

From yesterday's run. Water pouring off the top of the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge

in Austin, Texas. Combined with an amazing (and dangerous) lightning storm.

It was fun to get out and hit a nearly vacant trail right through the middle of town yesterday. When I left my vehicle it was a balmy 70+ degrees and there was soft, intermittent rain. By the time I'd gone 1/3 of the way the wind had picked up, the temperature started dropping and the raindrops got fatter and more frequent. By the time I finished the wind gusts were dramatic, the rainfall torrential and the temperature about 20 degrees colder. It was a blast! What a nice change from sitting in front of my computer trying to find fun stuff to read. 

When I got back to my vehicle I stood under the tailgate and stripped off my rain jacket, black baseball cap, and camera and tossed them in with the swim bag on the rubber mat. I grabbed an "emergency" poncho and my swim towel and blundered into the driver's seat, using the poncho to create a barrier between the seat and my soaking wet shorts. Happily, I have a WeatherTech floor mat on the driver's side so my brand new, soaked, running shoes didn't matter.

The Sigma fp and the Lumix 24-105mm f4.0 L lens were unfazed by their time in the rain and wind but that's probably because I tucked them into my jacket for the last half of our journey. The bridge above is the last couple of hundred yards to cover on my way back to the Zach Theatre complex where my car was parked. I stopped under the bridge and made a few shots (and some video) because by the time I'd gotten to that point the thunder and lightning was nearly continuous and I thought it best not to cross an exposed, elevated bridge in the middle of a lightning storm. As soon as mother nature signaled a very short break in electrical activity I lunged up the stairs and sprinted across the span. Just like a protagonist in an action/adventure movie... (Calling Walter Mitty, calling Walter Mitty....). 

Last night was weird. The temperature dropped into the 40's (which is very unusual for this time in our part of Texas) and instead of running the air conditioner we had to switch back to the heater for the first time in a month. It rained and thundered and lightning-ed (is that even a word?) all through the night and it was still chilly this morning. I made almond croissants and scrambled eggs for me and Belinda. It was a fun breakfast, complete with an extra dose of coffee. 

Then boredom really sunk in. I was in the office looking at camera store websites. I went to Precision Camera's website where I had previously seen a used Mamiya 645 Pro with an 80mm lens and an Aptus 5-II digital back offered for the princely sum of $1299. With a sensor three times the size of a 35mm sensor it seemed like it might be a fun diversion. 

I called my favorite used equipment specialist at the shop to make inquiries. They are working with a skeleton crew and can ship or do a curbside pick-up (brief explanation: By "curbside pick-up" you should not take it to mean that a human comes up to my car and hands me my purchase through the car window. Instead, you purchase the unit you want with a credit card -- either over the phone or online -- then they prepare the package for you. You arrive and stay in your car. You call them to let them know you are out front. They place your package outside the door and then retreat. Once they've fled the scene you exit your car, circle around the package warily, spray it with your spray sanitizer, and, with the tips of two fingers of one hand, drop it into the gapping trunk, in a special metal box marked with hazardous material decals. Once home you spray down the contents of the box with a toxic stew of disinfectants and disgorge the contents onto a thick spread of newspaper on top of which you swab down each piece with more disinfectant. Then you dispose of the newspaper, re-wash your hands and you are ready to re-enter the portal of normalcy. Or something like that....).

We chatted about the medium format digital camera and, to his credit, he convinced me not to buy it. The sensor in the camera is from 2008 and is now more or less obsolete, but also, the original owner was not an individual but a busy for profit trade school for which this camera was a daily loaner to students. Not a good recipe for long term reliability.

So, what did I buy instead? You may recall me asking everyone who would read or listen how well they liked their Panasonic GX8 cameras. I'd danced around picking one up for a while. My most convenient rationale for wanting one being my ample supply of Olympus Pen FT lenses to use on this kind of camera (aaah. Just the thought of being able to use my 60mm f1.5 on the 20 megapixel sensor makes me happy!).  I'd seen three used versions in EX condition on Precision Camera's site so I asked about that while I had my guy on the phone. We negotiated a bit and I decided on a nice, black one. 

With charger and battery for not a lot of money. The asking price was $450. I paid less. I'm heading up this afternoon with my improvised face mask and a new belt with holsters that hold spray bottles of sanitizer on either side (kidding about the belt and holsters) to pick up the camera from their front door. It will be nice to have a diversion to play with. I can't wait to shoot some frames and evaluate it. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write about a three year old (+) used camera by the middle of next week.   

Still eyeing the Leica SLs. I know you are tired of hearing about it and wish I would just buy one and get over it but that's not the way I do stuff. It's either total impulse purchase or the opposite. I can watch the prices go down until we hit a point where sales start to increase and then I'll make my offer. It works for me. I do the same with investments. Seems to work most of the time. Sometimes the price never comes down enough and I'm happy to walk away. 

I'm having fun shooting lots and lots of video. Trying to get my video mojo in shape for the recovery. I have a feeling video production will be in very high demand. Sorry to torture you with my impromptu video shorts but I think it's all fun. 

Stay safe and have some solo adventures in the rain. At least, in the cold, driving rain you won't be fighting for safe space!

Hope everyone is putting their own positive spin on sheltering in place. 

At the beginning of the run it was just starting to rain.....

I guess that's how it always starts. 

Wanna blame someone for my GX8 purchase? It's Frank's fault. 

He makes the camera look good....

I thought it might rain during my afternoon run but I went anyway. As you can see, no problems with social distancing....

I thought it would be a good afternoon for a run so I grabbed a small and lightweight camera, my rain jacket and my running shoes and headed down to Lady Bird Lake to hit the hike and bike trails. Dr. Fauci would be so proud of me because I wore my homemade face mask for the entire run. It hung in there well.

I stopped a couple of times near the beginning of the run to take some still photos which I intend to turn into masterpieces later but the few threatening rain drops decided to up the ante and, with a little help from a vicious north wind, the rain became a full bore downpour. Torrents and torrents of rain deftly guided by vicious wind gusts. The temperature dropped about 25 degrees over the course of a 45 minute run.

Even though the Sigma fp camera and the Panasonic 24-105mm lens are supposed to be "weather resistant" at a certain point I chickened out of this "trial by fire" (or should it be trial by immersion?) and tucked the camera and lens inside my rain jacket. The last half of the run was uncomfortably fun.

My shoes and socks were soaked, the bottom half of my shorts were soaked and I was starting to get concerned about lightning. So I stopped for a few minutes under the famous and well documented pedestrian bridge and then I remembered that the Sigma fp does video. Lots and lots of video, so I took a few minutes to catch my breath and shoot some footage of the Biblical style rain.

It wasn't my best time for a four mile run but I don't usually have a camera under my jacket either.

The camera and lens are both fine and ready for the next adventure. Me? I'll have to let everything dry out first.

As you can probably see from the footage there is little chance anyone played fast and loose with social distancing out there this afternoon. There were only three other people on the entire four mile loop. Everyone else seems to believe that you can't go outside in a cold rain. They just don't know what they are missing....

Feeling alive.

I was sitting at home reading novels. Now I'm getting back in touch with clients and planning for a time when we all re-open and re-engage. We should understand the power of pre-planning and intention.

Blue skies will return. Keep the sunscreen handy.

We all tend to operate under our own unproven set of assumptions. My assumption lately was that all business is shut down and people were hunkered down for the long haul. Like one of the apocalyptic movies about nuclear war I thought we'd start to emerge from our bunkers months from now, blinking at the sun and defeated by a vision of a landscape laid to waste. 

Imagine my surprise when I started getting texts and e-mails this week from clients who are already planning ahead for the recovery. One group of attorneys is ready to (tele) conference immediately about tasking me to write and produce a series of videos for their firm. Another company queried me about making exterior photographs of big infrastructure projects around Texas. Places I could get to and back from in one day of driving, and photographing without having to interface with people. Just landscapes and construction infrastructure. Another client is a post graduate institution that wants to get a head start on a projected, August video program. 

This input inspired me to get off my ass and try to stay focused on the parts of the business I could be working on right now. Building a better and more complex presence on LinkedIn and Instagram, planning my own marketing strategies and building advertising collateral I can put into place when the timing seems appropriate. Re-envisioning my portfolio. Rebuilding my website. 

When we emerge from our cocoons and once again become shimmering Chrysalis it will be a new business environment and much will need to be done. It's becoming obvious to me how much more important all types of video production will be: from fun, quick piece on social media to full on television commercials and much in between. The period of stasis right now is an opportunity for us to find our own niches, to figure out stories to tell and how to tell them. 

As a photographer the one thing I keep thinking about is all the cancelled gallery shows. I regret now that I didn't do more personal project work and show it to the public in the days B.C. (Before Covid). I'm enthusiastic right now about getting a new show of prints together and shopping it around (online) to Austin and Texas galleries. I have a vision in my head of standing around with a bunch of other photographers. We'd all have those flimsy, plastic glasses of box wine in our hands and we'd be talking about nonsense like printers and our favorite lenses. 

I don't know which clients will be left when this whole thing subsides but I know I'd like to work for the ones who had deep enough pockets to survive. My intention is to use some of their $$ to finance a bunch of pro bono work for great non-profits that are really, really taking it on the chin right now. 

I'll volunteer, certainly, but it might also be nice to write a few checks. Sometimes keeping the lights on takes precedence over having nice photographs. 

It all starts with intention. If your intention is to retire or move into another career then that's great. But if your intention is to remain as a viable part of the commercial photography community then you need to firm up that intention and start making plans now for how your business will look when we all reconnect with the clients who will need us. It's never too early to plan and it's never too late to turn off Netflix for a while and get some work done. There are few among us whose businesses couldn't be made better with a sharp focus on what's next. 

Yes, all of this came out of a conversation with my spouse who reminded me that even though we are social distancing I still have to clean my bathroom. And she mentioned that it might also be a good time to clean the leaves out of the gutters. What I interpreted from hearing this growing list is that this would be a good time to rush into the office and at least try to look busy.... or at least write a blog that makes me sound like I've already got plenty of stuff to tackle. 

Now, how to handle the idea that the living room needs painted? 

I'm on a bit of a video roll so I thought I'd roll some video just for the heck of it...

Mr. Andreas Schultz. Introduction Video. from Kirk Tuck on Vimeo.

The above is a video I did as a solo operator as an introduction for the north American CEO of Ottobock at a leadership conference. I shot most of it with a Panasonic GH5 and a selection of image stabilized lenses but I also used a Nikon D810 for a few segments. We did the V.O. in a little glass meeting room but I'm particularly happy with the way the audio came through in spite of the ad hoc "sound studio". I edited everything together in Final Cut Pro X. It was fun to have nearly complete control over every aspect of the video. The script was provided by the client's in-house writers.


Marty Robinson, Clinician. Discusses the Ottobock C-Leg. from Kirk Tuck on Vimeo.

And here's is a quiet video that I don't think I've shown before but I really like. I shot it just outside of Toronto with the assistance of a great guy named, Abraham Latchin. This video was shot with a Sony A7Rii and a Sony RX10iii. We used an Aputure Diety shotgun microphone just out of frame and I personally like the audio from a mic used like that much better than the less dynamic sound of a lavaliere microphone.

Just wanted to show some of the projects I've worked on recently and show you how photography can help one move into video production.

Kindest regards to everyone, Kirk

A very quick video about a DIY face mask solution. For people for whom manufactured masks are not currently available. NOT for Medical Professionals.

An Alternative to the traditional face mask. A PSA. from Kirk Tuck on Vimeo.

So, I've done some research and it's pretty apparent now that everyone in north America (and probably everywhere else for right now) should be wearing a face mask every time they go out of their home. Not just sick people or people caring for sick people, but everyone.

In Laredo, Texas face masks are required by law!!! Go Laredo!!!

At any rate, I won't go on and on about "why" but I did want to make and show you a very short and low tech video about my current solution ---- until such a time as I can buy a ready made mask or two...

We'll all look like banditos for a while but then that could be pretty cool.

If you want to see the video bigger and better you can click through and watch it on the Vimeo site.

I'm not selling anything and this should not be construed as professional, medical advice. I'm just sharing my stop gap solution to an ongoing potential problem. The paper towel in between layers is of vital importance in increasing the protection of this zany construct. Sorry for the ham-fisted edit but... now hearing that the blue shop towels (thicker paper towels) are better because they are less porous. Use one of them folded over instead!!!) But just about everything is better than nothing. Just remember to treat the shop paper towel as a single use and to wash your cloth mask everyday (or more often depending on usage). 

The stretchy things I'm using are made by a company called, Buff, and they are also sometimes sold under the "National Geographic" label. I buy them over at REI. If you have a sewing machine a a bit of stretchy cloth you could probably make one at home in about five minutes. If I tried to sew one by hand it could take five days.

That's all. I'm just excited to have a reason to use my video stuff. Stay safe.

Be kind and generous and maybe someone will be equally nice to you.

KT

Note: This post got posted a couple hours after my "more interesting and less serious" post of the day about buying Leica's. If you missed it please go back and check it out. I worked on it just for YOU. 

Why, with all the other cameras in the world, am I still interested in getting an obsolete Leica SL? Maybe that's a question better directed to my analyst...

Sigma fp + 45mm. 

One of our readers asked if I would explain my renewed interest in acquiring a Leica SL camera body. I think that delving into the psychology behind my desire for any particular camera might devolve into a long and boring mining operation into my anxious neuroticism but I think what he was really looking for would be my rationales for spending money on an older camera that I demonstrably don't need. That might be closer to the mark. 

Okay. I'll leap at the bait. 

First, I think I'm starting to feel that 2020 is the year I'll cure my overwhelming desire to change cameras and camera systems frequently. With no ongoing client work there's nothing pushing the button in the back of my brain which gears up the internal propaganda pushing me to keep up with the industry or to find that one camera that makes super special files. I'm coming around to the idea that it's never going to make a profound difference on the quality or type of images I create. Although Annie Leibovitz confesses in her book about making images that she often goes through 4 or 5 different digital cameras in a year, looking for the one that works best...for her.

I know you guys have been telling me that the camera doesn't matter for years but I'm constantly under the influence of my own confirmation bias. A good example would be my long tenure with the old Kodak DCS 760C camera. If you looked at this camera rationally, even a decade or more ago, you would no doubt see that it was big, ponderous and slow. It was a Frankenstein build that combined a Nikon F5 body with a huge amount of Kodak digital tech attached to the cast iron bottom. It was an outsized idea of what a pro might want or need in a digital body; right down to the full size firewire socket and the dual PC/MCIA slots. 

But the LCD on the back was... challenging... and the battery life was abysmal. If I ever got more than 100 shots per battery I would have been shocked. But, back then there were only a tiny handful of options for cameras capable of shooting raw files in a high bit depth at 6 megapixels. And most had some similar matrix of obstacles to use. 

But!!! I used that camera to shoot a campaign for the Austin Lyric Opera and the images were great. Of course I was really, really into my lighting then and worked hard on getting it just right. Then, I was using the Nikon 105mm f2.0 defocus coupling lens then and it had a wonderful look. I lit the set with thousand watt tungsten fixtures (the main light through a 6x6 foot silk) and I worked from a tripod so I was able to work at the camera's only optimal ISO = 80. The images came out so well. We won Addy Awards for the whole campaign and that triggered, in my brain, the idea that the camera brought some of the magic to the shoot and therefore I could not abandon it entirely for years....

 Here is the five pound package that the DCS 760 in shooting form weighed.

On of my favorite images of (a younger) Ben after swim practice. 

Shot with the DCS 760 and the Nikon 50mm f1.2.

From the Austin Lyric Opera project.

 From the Austin Lyric Opera project.

From the Austin Lyric Opera project.

So, that, in a nutshell, is how my brain works. I get a camera and incorporate it into a really fun and creative project that features a fun location, a great lighting design, and good casting and then I end up giving 99% of the credit to whatever "magic" camera I happen to have attached to a unique and exciting  lens. 

When I say it like that it makes no sense at all. But when I have supreme confidence in a camera then I am more confident in my photographic abilities. It all comes down to confirmation bias. A self-fulfilling prophecy. I might have been able to do just as nice a job with other gear but this, the shoot just completed, is finished proof that the gear in question can deliver.

Here are three more samples from a shoot done with the Kodak nearly a year later for one of my favorite ad agencies: 

The real reason I have fond memories about the Kodak camera is that its useful life in my studio corresponded with a time in which many fun projects were coming in week after week along with budgets that would amaze photographers who might have started their careers after the 2008-2009 recession. In my memory the great camera, the wonderful assistant and the amazing business and art opportunities that were offered to me in that time frame all blended together and one would have been foolish to try to dissect the success and change big parts.  Falls under leaving well enough alone. 

The above is all an attempt to explain why I approach camera purchasing and use from a less  than rational point of view. Why my judgement is clouded by an emotional attachment to gear that was used in the process of making images that I liked. And in that time period one day of shooting would completely pay for one camera. 

There is a second mental disconnect that is in play here as well. That is the logical of contrarian wisdom (or self-delusion).  When I see work by photographers using very popular cameras (think Canon 5Dmk2, Nikon D800, Sony A7xx) I start to associate their work with those cameras and the thought of being "one of the club" pushes me to find cameras with different personalities and different looks to their files to use for my work, mostly as a way to differentiate myself from what I perceive to be the mainstream. It's a failure of logic, to be sure, since we can more or less replicate the "look" of most cameras with some work in PhotoShop. 

But it reminds me so strongly of a time in film photography when I eschewed the saturated and similar color palettes of Kodak and Fuji film and embraced the much different color palettes and saturation characteristics of various Agfachrome and Agfacolor films. Agfacolor Portrait was very much a favorite of mine because its look was so different from that of film from the two leading film makers. Much closer to the look now preferred by so many modern cinematographers and, at the time, a conscious rejection of the hyper-color look of so much 1990s photographic work. 

This contrarianism is also a symptom of someone who wants to show off the power of their own vision and their own operational capabilities without a reliance on the technical support of the most highly specified cameras of the day. How else to explain my embrace of the m4:3 format (most recently in my work with the Panasonic G9) while so many other photographers raced to squeeze every ounce of quality out the burgeoning selection of newly available full frame cameras?

I pushed that disconnect between camera technology and individual photographic point of view even harder when I insisted, at least for a while, on using one inch sensor cameras like the Sony RX10 series or the Panasonic FZ-2500 to complete big swaths of my commercial photographic work recently. But, in fact, the lesson learned is that the camera can be as transparent as the artist wills it to be....or as opaque.

So, all of that is a preface to explain my (now waning) desire to acquire and work with a Leica SL camera. 

Let's start at the end first: The camera is not a fast focusing machine and depends entirely on its contrast detect AF to focus big and ponderous lenses filled with lots of heavy glass elements. In a way it is set up for focus remorse. Especially among those recently arrived photography adherents who expect every current camera to focus on fast moving objects without a hitch. If one considers this camera as an "all around" commercial user camera that can handle press events, portraits, products and fast moving sports you'd probably only be in the ball park for two out of the four uses = portraits and products. 

But the mechanical capabilities of the Leica SL camera don't have much part in driving my curiosity and interest in the camera. I think I'm getting ahead of myself so let me back up a second and lay out just what the camera is:

The Leica SL, introduced four years ago, was the first full frame Leica mirrorless (excluding M series cameras) that used the L-Mount and was designed to bring Leica style imaging to the market. It featured a full frame, 24 megapixel sensor, a unique exterior button interface and a different approach to the menu/user interface. Priced originally at $7495 without a lens it was definitely a luxury purchase for most photographers. At the time it included the highest resolution EVF on the market and a nice range of video specifications, including a deep 4K capability. The SL had twin SD card slots which were both UHS-II capable and a body mostly carved out of a block of aluminum alloy. So, well built, well spec'd and, to me, a beautiful example of industrial design. 

The sensor, the manufacturer of which has not been disclosed, seems to be designed with a different compromise than the 24 megapixel sensors from Sony (at the time). My perception of sensors in that time frame is that there was a compromise to be made in which designers could choose either the lowest noise at high ISOs or a much more complex and differentiated color response, but not both! Sony chose low noise because that parameter is easier for consumers to see; easier to show off. Leica chose to optimize color, making more complex and nuanced color differentiation because that would appeal to more experienced photographers who might represent a higher income demographic than photographers who would not spend $7K+ on a camera. 

While both sides of the compromise have implications for users I shouldn't belabor the differences in approach too much because they make somewhat subtle differences between the two philosophies in actual practice. I will say that I think we have ample tools to control noise in post production but that once color differentiation/discrimination is compromised in capture we don't have equivalent tools to re-capture baked out color in post...

If you understand the way my thinking works, based on the explanation I gave above it should be clear to you that the camera appeals to me on the basis of some theoretical constructs and by dint of its contrarianism more than any measurable parameter. 

Here's what appeals: Even though Leica is a luxury maker there is still value in the engineering and design they put into this camera --- to say nothing of the superior quality of materials used. You are, in essence, at today's used prices, getting a $7,000 camera for the current 9+ grade used price of around $2200. Even if you believe there is an enormous "luxury tax" connected with all Leica goods you could say you are getting a $4,000 camera for half price. 

Next, each camera maker has their own ideas about color. How saturated a file should be. What kind of color palette each system will put forward. How much fine difference between color shades should a camera be able to define. And then their are other imaging choices, baked in, that make a difference in the way we see and appreciate files. How much processing will be devoted to careful noise reduction? Not just overall noise reduction but also noise reduction in areas of large and small detail. And noise reduction in various color channels. To my mind the files I've seen from Leica digital products always hedge towards accuracy over impact. For convincing sharpness over absolute absence of noise. And these decisions seem to align with the way I feel cameras should interpret and present scenes to me. 

Four years ago the idea of spending $2200 for a four year old, used Leica would have been ridiculous. At that time there was no L-mount alliance. No opportunity to buy less expensive lenses from Sigma and Panasonic. But today we have a wide choice of great lenses to use on the L-mount cameras. Where I would have had to spend upwards of $5000 for a 50mm lens from Leica to use on the SL in 2016 I now have the choice of: the 50mm f1.4 Lumix lens (certified by Leica for performance), the 50mm f1.4 Sigma Art lens, and, if I can fudge the focal lengths just a little bit, also the $550 Sigma 45mm f2.8 Contemporary lens. 

Since I own eight or nine different lenses, all very, very good, that will fit and work well with the SL I needn't make any huge financial sacrifice if I want to test the camera and see for myself whether the differences in color and overall rendering really create $2200 worth of value to me. 

I was all gung-ho about getting a used Leica SL a couple of weeks ago but the more I think about it the more I come to believe that Panasonic and Leica (and to a degree, Sigma) are much closer to each other in the way their cameras make images look and further away from how Sony, Canon and Nikon make their images look. I'm almost at the point of believing that the Lumix S1 is a more modern re-imagining of the SL but with more capabilities. Since the market for commercial photographers is slowly grinding to a full stop right now the rationale of using the SL as a powerful differentiator for client work has all but evaporated. 

I'll keep watching the prices. The Leica Index for SL used cameras is dropping week by week. When I first started looking a clean, 9+ body was trading for $2895. Last week that dropped to $2595 and this week it dropped to $2395. Decent bodies (8,8+) can be had for $1995 now signaling that an important floor price has been busted through. I'll keep checking back to see when and if I can source a 9+ body in a box for less than $2,000. That will be the point at which the pain of purchase might be less than the ping of desire pushing me to try out something new. And different. 

And that, in a nutshell, is how I go through the dreaded process of rationalization. Fertile material for the friendly neighborhood analyst, for sure. 

YNMV.

A productive and uplifting walk through Austin with a Sigma fp camera and the cute, little 45mm f2.8 lens. Oh yeah....and a polarizing filter.

It's been a fun day for me. I heard from an institutional client who wanted to know if I could bid on a television spot scheduled (tentatively; always tentatively) for August. After that I got a call from a law practice/firm I've worked with asking if I would be interested in making a couple of "tasteful" (non-ambulance chasing) TV commercials for them. The attorneys will be ready to go as soon as we work out how to proceed while under the restrictions of the pandemic. 

I spent the early afternoon finishing up the retouching of images for another law firm. And billing! I'm so thrilled to still be billing...

But once I'd gotten through the retouching I'd had enough office time and had spent enough time in the proximity of conduits to the endless news cycle so I got up, grabbed a camera and a homemade face mask and headed out for one of my legendary walks with photographs in mind. The camera of choice today was the little Sigma fp, and it did feel little after my recent amble with the Lumix S1 and the Sigma 20mm f1.4 art lens. Knowing we'd have bright sun through the afternoon I looked around the equipment drawer and found a 55mm circular polarizing filter. Funny trivia = it was a Minolta brand filter. That certainly dates it.

I had a certain route I wanted to take because I'd seen some video that showed some cool graffiti on the plywood covering the storefronts on Sixth St. And I'm a sucker for good graffiti. Please keep in mind that in all but a few areas of the country which are in complete lockdown, we in Austin are allowed; no, encouraged, to walk for exercise, as long as we're careful about distancing ourselves from others! 

As usual, I parked in the lot adjacent to the Zach Theatre (no other cars in the entire lot) and walked across the pedestrian bridge. It's this part of most walks where I spend time "dialing in" the feel and settings of the camera. I capriciously decided that today was an ISO 250 day and that we'd go fully manual for a change. Well, fully manual exposure but I still used the autofocus because it works so well on sunny days. 

There were a ton of people out on the bridge and on the hike and bike trails but everyone was doing an amazing job of skirting around other people, maintaining that six to ten foot distance, and being attentive to their surroundings. Many more face masks today.  Once off the bridge and the trail, and fully into downtown, the foot traffic dropped to nearly zero. I still kept up an eye-roving surveillance; my "head on a swivel" as they say in the action/adventure spy novels. 

The thing that impresses me most (after the small size and weight) about the Sigma fp and the 45mm lens is the amazing amount of detail in the finished files. It's quite different in its nature than the look of apparent sharpness one gets from other brands. This camera does an especially good blend of super-high resolution coupled with great acutance. It helps that my use of the camera in full sun is generally predicated on using f5.6 and f8.0; f-stops at which this particular lens excels. (Please click on the images on a big, fat 5K monitor to really see what I'm talking about. But when you do please remember that these files are only 2100 pixels on the long dimension....). 

The view to the east of the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. 

If there is sunshine there will be kayaks and paddle boards...

The lens tends to compress space but I used a laser "measuring tape" to ensure that the 

two men on the bench were at least two meters apart. They did think me 

quite odd.... But then so do my friends.

I thought I'd remark in passing that the image just above was originally overexposed by over a stop.

I pulled the exposure down in post. There was no clipping to be seen in the highlights. 

I think I can get away with a +1 overexposure from time to time with no penalty1

Promotional posters for Red Ash Italian Restaurant on 3rd St. 

While I was looking forward to seeing the graffiti on Sixth St. my new path took my by a high rise on Third St. that has a nice Italian restaurant on the bottom floor. The graphics in the window caught me by surprise and I actually laughed out loud when I saw these three posters. 

All of them are a take off of World War Two posters but these are aimed at getting loyal customers to future-support this restaurant by selling gift cards to be used when the establishment re-opens. As I read the fine print I see that they are offering a one hundred dollar gift card for $60. A good deal...if they make it through the fallow times. See the two below.

It's a brilliant campaign, it's kind of tragic that there is so little foot traffic to see it...

I applaud their marketing team for some fun work1

It seems the local bars (see just below) are getting into the to-go business. The governor of Texas lifted restrictions on selling alcohol off the restaurant premises and now just about every restaurant and bar is rushing to sell and have delivered: food+alcohol, food, alcohol and drink mixing kits. Not sure why people can't just use a Mr. Boston's bartender's guide along with a quick trip to the local liquor stores (which the governor has included in the list of essential businesses which are allowed to stay open during the crisis. I guess you could use the Tito's vodka to sterilize stuff while pickling your brain cells). 

With all the downtown professionals and their entourages working from

home all of the food trailers are locked up tight. No customers, no business.

But this image above and the ones just below are the one's I wanted to see. They were my primary destination for today's walk. The street looked so bare the first week after the storefronts on our most popular and densely packed bar district were covered with particle board and plywood. The same people that sponsored the Graffiti Wall got permission to invite artists to decorate the "crisis covers." 

At some point, if the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" restrictions last long enough, I look forward to seeing street art on every square inch of plywood and particle board on the 200 establishments bordering our famous hospitality district. It should be interesting in its own right. 

It will be a sad and happy day when the boards are peeled off and the businesses re-open. 

That will mean Austin is back in business but it will also mean that the art will go away. 

As I'm sure you guessed, I will be back again and again to document it all. 

Since downtown is totally bereft of both working people and tourists an unintended consequence of the "stay home" ethos is a radical thinning of the crowd of homeless people who just weeks ago thrived in the area. Except for the hardiest most have looked for greener pastures or fled to the shelters; mostly driven, I suspect, by hunger. Makes the sign must above seem superfluous, yes?

After my jaunt through downtown I headed West on the Lady Bird Johnson Hike and Bike Trail happier than ever with my little Sigma fp. It just oozes personality and a solid, ingratiating grace. Here's the refrain you've probably read many times before: I might just have to find another one....

To update: I went to Trader Joe's grocery store today, wearing my homemade face mask and clutching my small bottle of hand sanitizer. I shared the store with fewer than 30 people (they are rationing access). I followed all the rules and, upon returning home, sat out front of the house wiping down the bottles, cans and containers with alcohol and wipes. I disposed of the bag and then re-sanitized my hands before bringing my stuff into the house. 

With great joy I must announce that there will be fresh baked Almond Croissants on Saturday morning. 

My sanitizing protocol was approved by my keen and strict supervisor and house mate. We have gone 17 days with perfect social distancing and have spent 90% of that time isolated from everyone outside our tiny familial sphere (two). I think we're doing okay but I'm equally sure that, at some point, it's all the luck of the draw. We're just trying to play the long odds. If we do get sick we want to put if off as long as possible in the hopes that the protocols will be in place to generate decidedly better outcomes across the board when it comes to treatment.

On an off topic note: 

Michael Johnston gave us a movie review on TheOnlinePhotographer today. I feel compelled to "keep up with the Joneses" so here is my (much shorter) review of my movie viewing from last night: 

We saw the most recent Star Wars movie on Amazon Prime last night. It was action packed and entertaining. But overall George Lucas's reputation for directing has nothing to worry about. JJ Abrams threw everything in his directorial playbook at the latest movie in the franchise. Barely crested the Jar Jar Binks bar for good story telling. But again....entertaining. The popcorn was great.

Hope everyone is well. Maybe tomorrow I'll write about coming to grips with my fascination concerning the old, used Leica SLs. But maybe not. Maybe I'll just shrug my shoulders and get another fp. I know those are great.