Today I shot Raw + Jpeg. The Jpegs (previously posted) were in black and white while the raw files were.....raw files. I thought you might like to see what some of the stuff I shot looked like in color....

 

I walked around downtown this morning just getting my "sea legs" with the Panasonic G9. I purposefully shot everything in black and white as my primary intention. I posted those shots earlier this afternoon. But I'm always curious how things look in color too. Especially if I'm testing out a new camera or a new lens; or both. If you shoot in both file formats and use the most current rev. of Lightroom the raw files maintain their black and white profile unless you change it. I wanted to see how the color performance of the duo looked so I pulled some of those files as well and reset them back to color. 

The first photo (above) was taken at f11. I was curious to see three things in this sample. 1. Would diffraction at f11 be obvious in this shot when compared to the shot below which was done at f5.0? 2. How would the different apertures affect the specular highlight of the sun being reflected off the tall building. Also a fun thing to compare in the images above and below. And, 3. In both or either examples would the bright light source induce some weird flaring, softening of contrast or manifestation of artifacts?

From my observations the resistance of the Olympus 12-45mm Pro to flaring and artifacts is very superior. Which points to good design, good manufacture and great lens coatings. Another observation is that I really like the sun star and I don't think diffraction crept in and killed the effect of the image. I also like the fortuitous bird in the top frame....

None of the photos here has been retouched to deepen the skies or increase the blue saturation. Sometimes Austin just looks like this.. The images above and below are examples of two different focal lengths taken from the same vantage point. I like the wide one best. 

old and new.

While the GH6 and GH5ii are exemplary video cameras I think that even though the G9 is over four years old at this point it is still the preeminent photography variant of the Panasonic system and doesn't even need to be updated, upgraded or otherwise messed with. It does a great job in 2022 and it floors me that it's now so cheap to purchase. Even if I did have a little extra help from the universe. 

But you know, according to one wag on the web, I only keep on accepting commercial photography assignments so I can afford to keep buying cameras. Not really true and a bit condescending but there it is...

Getting reacquainted with an old friend. The familiar feel of the Panasonic G9.

Swim practice was the first event on today's agenda. The coached workout started at eight o'clock. The water was delightfully cool as the pool management has started using the water chillers with the arrival of Summer weather. Are we Western Hills Athletic Club swimmers a bit spoiled? Well maybe...

After most swim practices I head home and eat something for breakfast and then blossom into the day's typical activities like reading the current news or catching up on over night email. But today I made a point to stick the G9 in the car and, after a heroic amount of fun swimming I headed straight downtown to reacquaint myself with my new Panasonic G9. I knew it would be bright and warm by mid-morning so I didn't need a fast lens, only a sharp one. The first choice that came to mind was the Olympus 12-45mm f4.0 Pro. It's sharp as an etching tool and as a bonus it may be the lightest lens I own. A perfect combo for a jaunt through urbania.

First stop was the Torchy's Tacos over on 2nd street. They serve a really nice bacon, egg and cheese breakfast taco. Then it was a cross town ramble over to the convention center to take a peek at the arrival of attendees for a Trump"rally". Out of morbid curiosity. But very few people showed up so I moved on and photographed different stuff. Almost all of which is in black and white. It was different for me because I'm usually downtown in the mid to late afternoons and the light was coming in a different direction than I was used to. 

Today was mostly a black and white photography day and I was happy to see that my muscle memory of using using the G9 was intact. The menus seemed familiar. Everything fell into place quickly and without effort. The camera's profile for black and white, "l. monochrome d" with a little tweaking worked quite well and I was once again amazed at the apparent sharpness of the little Oly Pro zoom lens. 

The farmer's market at Republic Square was also on the agenda and I bought a wonderful cherry and almond scone from one of the vendors. After a couple hours of photography my Birkenstock Sandals (which I have never come to terms with) were starting to chaff my feet and the temperature, even before noon, was cresting 90°.  I figured it was time to head home, look at the files from the G9 and embrace the kindness of the office air conditioning...

To sum up, I'm thrilled I bought another G9 to replace the two I mistakenly let go of during the onset of the pandemic. I should have had more faith in their staying power. Click the images to see them bigger.

The capper: the S5 battery, when used in the G9, seemed to last forever. I shot all morning and it's still showing "full."