somewhat excited about the upcoming Panasonic product launch on Tuesday. I hope the rumor sites are correct and it is indeed a replacement for the S1R Lumix camera... But I also have a few bad memories about my first S1R!!!

 

It was 2019. I'd been binge-buying new Panasonic camera bodies for a couple of months. I had two of the S1 cameras and even now I could kick myself for ever selling them or trading them in on newer cameras. They were pretty much perfect cameras. Emboldened by my success with the 24 megapixel model I decided to splash out for the 47 megapixel S1R. It arrived and I put it through its paces. Everything seemed fine. Then, a week later, I was doing a shoot for a client when the camera's frame rate and then the camera's shutter camera started to slow down. It took forever to focus, forever to be ready to shoot the next frame, and then it went black. 

I tried changing out multiple batteries. Changed out multiple memory cards. But nothing seemed to help at all. The camera was bricked. Less than a week's ownership, fewer than 1,000 shots and the camera, which was purported to be good for 400,000 shutter actuations, was dead. Kaput. 

Off we go to the dealer to see about trading out for another copy but of course I got stuck in the backorder hell. No new units to be had. The dealer called the regional rep who asked that I send the camera in to their service department and promised that he would shepherd the camera through the process with dispatch. Two weeks later the camera was returned from warranty repair and the paperwork stated that they had replaced the main circuit board as well as the sensor. I was dubious but I put in a fresh battery and memory card and fired the camera up. It came to life quickly and for a moment I was happy. But then I I took the body cap off in order to put on a  lens and was appalled to find a big, juicy fingerprint right across the new sensor. A big, obvious, inglorious, oily fingerprint. A turd in the punchbowl. 

I called the rep. He worked the phones. He called back and told me that Panasonic might or might not replace the camera but I would need to send it in to their repair facility so they could "investigate" the "issue." In the meantime they would send me a loaner but only if I secured the loaner with a credit card and agreed to send it back in exchange for my jinxed camera --- when and if said camera was re-repaired. I'm trying to remember all the "almost" polite ways I told them to go and fuck themselves. 

There were many variations. I think I used the word, "attorney" several times...

Then, needing to use the camera for real, professional, paying jobs, in the moment,  I got out the Eclipse fluid and a sterile sensor swab and cleaned off the offensive fingerprint myself. Certain I could do a much better job than the ham-fisted hacks at Panasonic. I put future purchases of Panasonic products on hold until the rep and I could reach some accommodation, which we eventually did. It involved wholesale pricing on various lenses and accessories. But the thorn was stuck deep into my metaphoric craw...

In the meantime I got great use out of the S1 cameras, the S1H camera, and even the S1R. I liked the system enough to eventually let bygones be bygones and I subsequently purchased the newer S5, which I still have and use today. Now that's a nice camera!

Rumors abound that Panasonic will announce their successor to the original S1R with a brand new product. I'm betting the body will be a familiar one. The one currently in use for the S5ii and the S5iix. I'm also betting it will contain the active cooling fan that those two bodies use. The processors will be faster and the range of video solutions will be more ample and complex. Not that I really care anymore. Nope. I'm more interested in the sensor and the photographic features of cameras at this point. 

If they do, indeed, shove a 40-60 megapixel sensor into the smaller body and use the new phase detect autofocusing of the aforementioned bodies, and price it at something reasonable, it would make a great addition to their overall system of full frame camera solutions. And a nice back up for Leica SL users...

Will I buy one? Never say "never" but I'm fine right now with a bountiful raft of Leica camera bodies. While I'd appreciate the phase detect AF and a half price MSRP I'm more than happy with the SL bodies, including the original Leica SL. It's hard to say you need yet another back up when you already have all the models previous to the SL3 series --- and in some cases multiple copies to boot.

If I were starting from scratch I'd certainly consider combining an S5iix with a new, higher resolution body, like the one I think they'll announce next week, as the basis of a good, professional system. Great performance, a wide range of system integrated Sigma, Leica and Panasonic lenses to choose from, and a much less expensive outlay than for the top of line Leica, Sony or Canon stuff... but I personally might still be haunted by the messed up, original S1R customer (dis)service of Panasonic and find myself considering a Nikon system instead. I can really carry a grudge it seems. 

Best things on offer from the current Panasonic camera products are the video performance, the newer AF, the cooling fan for endless operation, and the ability to graze across three different lens lines for great AF lenses. And, if you use Panasonic lenses with image stabilization I've heard that the combined AF of lens and new bodies will be able to delivery 8.5 stops of image stabilization. That's like having a built-in gimble!

We'll see if any of this pans out or if they are just going to drop some new variation of the S9 camera or some other useless appendage to the system. It's all up in the air. 

Getting a camera repaired? Check the sensor the minute they hand it back to you. Thank goodness the technician in my case wasn't eating gooey caramels and getting that sticky mess all over the sensor.... Talk about "professionals" Sheesh.

I bought some of the type of hats Justin Mott wears on his YouTube channel. I got "influencered"...

so much stuff is hard to resist. Gravity, inertia, taxes, lethargy, etc. But the influencers on YouTube make it tough to resist photo oriented stuff; at least for me. But fortunately, this time I got off easy. Justin Mott is a successful professional photographer and video producer who is based in Hanoi, Vietnam and has a YouTube channel with a rapidly growing (and well deserved) following. And he always, always wears an odd style of hat when he appears on his videos. It's basically a little, French brimless hat. Similar to hats worn by workers in parts of China as well. The hats are often referred to as Miki hats or Docker hats.

He wears them because he's going bald and he wants to keep the harsh rays of the sun off his noggin. Sounds like a good idea to me. Here in the ole USA the default is usually to wear a baseball cap or a "gimme" cap. But Mott justly argues that the bill on the ubiquitous American baseball cap can interfere with your camera operation. Even worse than using your camera in a vertical orientation and, at its worstest (ha. ha.) when trying to use an on camera flash. 

And he admits that it looks gauche to flip the baseball cap around so the bill faces backwards while you shoot. With which I totally agree. Here's Mott's take on the hats: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CEsJecqjWns

His logic was sound and I'm always happy to keep my head protected from the deadly UV rays so I started to research a bit. The brand he buys is pricy. There are a bunch of variations on the dreaded Amazon.com site so I took a shot and ordered some from a likely vendor. 100% cotton. Nice looking. Well made. 

I think, after wearing one for the better part of a week that they are comfortable, look pretty cool and perhaps, if I wear them long enough, I can become an influencer like Justin. 

Since the ones I bought are just a thick cotton material they aren't particularly good cold, cold weather hats but for temperatures down to 38° or so, with no heavy wind, they remain comfortable. Below that? I look to the Canadians for guidance...

I have been well and truly influenced by a YouTube influencer (one of the good guys). But an influencer with value --- beyond his taste in hats....

Reposting another favorite that appeared on VSL some 12 years ago. Back when we "only" had a thousand posts up on the site...

 https://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/05/whats-missing-from-current-practice-of.html

Portrait done in a workshop many, many years ago. But in a style I still love very much right now...

 

This image of a person who agreed to model in one of my workshops gives energy to the argument that, at least for me, the camera, its resolution and its vintage aren't particularly important. The lighting is much more a fundamental concern for me. 

When teaching a workshop about portrait lighting it's nice to work in a dark, controlled space, with constant/continuous lighting. Everyone in the room can see exactly what the effect of one lighting style or another is. How a big, soft source is really different from multiple smaller lights. How to place shadows. How to look for the transition between the exposure you want on the important parts of a face and the shadows that help defined the overall look.

In this instance I used a 6 foot by 6 foot frame with a couple layers of white diffusion material on them. I placed the talent as close to the surface of the diffusion as I could while keeping it out of the frame. Think two and a half to three feet away. I placed the bottom of the panel just above her chin height in order to get the defining shadow under her chin. And then I stopped and took the shot. 

She is wearing a drape over her street clothes as we were just about to change outfits and lighting. 

The camera was an older Nikon camera. Probably a D700 and the lens is a 105mm. I like the look of the portrait even nearly 20 years later. It's the lighting and the talent, not the camera sensor. At least I think that's right. 

I laughed out loud this morning when I read in the newspaper that a south Austin couple went out for a walk in the very cold weather...

 

this image was taken back in 2022, in August. It was hot. So I walked. Yesterday was cold. So I swam...

I assume readers were supposed to marvel at the courage of a healthy couple who decided to continue their habit of a morning walk even though the temperatures were......wait for it......in the mid-20s. The photo in the newspaper showed the thirty something couple all wrapped up in layers. Parkas, gloves, face covering; the works. How very, very brave they were. 

"How very, very brave they were!" I thought to myself as I wrapped up my hour long workout in the outdoor pool. A pool in which I amused myself by occasionally knocking the icicles off the starting blocks at one end. "How exhilarated they must have felt to be out in the elements..."  I thought as I pulled myself out of the water and onto the freezing deck, all the while watching steam float off my body and wisp away into the 30 mile an hour wind gusts. 

Since the wind chill index was about 11° I babied myself and tossed a towel around my shoulders to keep me warm as I walked through the breezes toward the locker room. "But, thoughts and prayers for those poor walkers...."  Yes, it felt a bit chilly but by the time you hit 69 years of age you are hardly even sentient enough to notice mild changes in temperature. You are too busy imagining how your life might be different with more megapixels in your one and only camera. Every other thought, including survival, just takes a back seat...

When did our version of civilization turn so soft and discomfort averse? What would the Spartans say? 

Sigh. Such is the life of a blogging gadfly. 

In all seriousness 23° (F) with the add-on of a heavy wind chill is about my lower limit these days for swimming outdoors. The swim club agrees with that sentiment and decided to cancel today's early morning practices since the temps predicted around swim time started at 18° and also featured lively wind. Sometimes you just have to rough it and put on those shoes, a coat, a vest, a hat, another hat, gloves, mittens and long underwear and head out for a walk instead... Maybe you'll be featured in the local paper!!! Sure beats walking around in a wet swim suit...

Or you could stay home, drink hot tea and decide just exactly how many megapixels your camera needs to make you happy. Choices, choices, choices.  

I have experienced the "beating of a dead horse" on other writer's blogs. I thought I'd continue the tradition here with one of my favorite visual tangents....the lonely, paper coffee cup.

 

I'm a promiscuous coffee drinker. There's good coffee in spots throughout Austin and I've learned where many of these spots are. And then there's bad coffee. You can try to change the quality of Starbucks drip coffee by moving it from a paper cup to a ceramic cup but the disappointment in the taste is immune to gussying it up in a "better" container.  On the other hand it's tough to kill a great cup just by choosing a particular vessel from which to enjoy a standout brew.  Most paper cups offer ample transparency to the coffee taste.

Mañana Coffee makes a decent but not exemplary cup of brewed coffee. They make up for not achieving the highest tier of coffee brewing in two ways. First they do make coffee that's better than 90% of the other coffee purveyors in town. And, second, the atmosphere they provide, in which you can drink your coffee, is superb and (some readers here will be delighted to learn...) the wonderful patio, which is covered against the chance of rain, is large and well designed; perfect for sitting around while you enjoy a beverage. It's adjacent to the downtown lake (Lady Bird Lake) and right next to the very popular running trail that follows the contours of the water. Located at the bottom of two high rise residential towers there is always wonderful people watching to be had.

It's so pleasant there that I never walk away with coffee but instead enjoy it slowly and while (mostly) seated. 

When I get coffee there it's with the intention of sitting at a table in the shade and enjoying the brew slowly and with intention. It's one of my favorite meeting places as well. Last week I met with a film maker there for morning coffee and later in the week I met with an old assistant who sat with me and reminisced about the "golden age" of photography. As we practiced it. All while we remained mostly stationary. From the first sip to the last. 

There are inside tables for the coldest and hottest days as well as "wash rooms" for calls of nature. Very nice wash rooms. Clean and well maintained. 

Up until now Mañana had generic, white paper cups with a logo rubber-stamped on them. Now they have cups with built in insulation to keep one's hands from heat trauma, and a nice combination of color and design applied. So much prettier than a mug that's passed through countless hands and, hopefully, been well washed. Again and again. Ah, the chorine smell of those commercial dishwashers...

I like coffee but I also like photographing solitary cups and amusing myself by seeing how cool the foregrounds and backgrounds come in and out of focus when photographed just so. It's a treat.  

I can assure you that you can look forward to more, and different, solitary coffee cup photos. You know you love them. The mannequins told me so.....

I've recently had a renewed interest in the Leica SL2. So much so that I bought a second one as a back-up to the first. Why not? The prices have dropped so low....

I walked down to North Congress Ave., just in front of the state capitol building, to see some of the finishers from today's Austin Marathon race. It was a perfect day to run a marathon. The course was straightforward and remarkably secure. And the temperature range, 40s to low 50s, was just right for running long distances. Back in my 20s I ran several marathons. The events were much smaller then; in terms of participants. Several hundred people would enter the full distance race. A larger number would sign up for the half marathon. Now the attendance is in the tens of thousands and corporate sponsors are eager to participate. 

I was never a fast runner but in your twenties you can do just about anything physical that you put your mind to. I find swimming more enjoyable but seeing the runners at the finish made me think, just for a few moments, of training at age 69 to see if I could run just one more.... A few minutes later I came back to my senses and decided I'd just run out the clock in the pool.

But there was an observation I wanted to make that's all about photography. Up until about ten years ago any big foot race in Austin came equipped with a large number of photographers. There were teams of professionals snapping images of every runner who came across the finish line. Editorial shooters who were after great images of the top runners from around the world. And an army of amateurs out to get great "sports" photographs or to catch images of friends and loved ones as they ran by picturesque parts of the race course. 

I walked through the finish area near the end of the race and saw two or three people with actual cameras. Not phones, just cameras. And that was it. No legion of hobbyists out for fun images. No young professionals anxious to get great shots for their portfolios. Nada. Videographers? Sure, there were a few roving teams and a bunch of stationary camera set-ups. That's to be expected since video is far more popular on sharing sites than stills these days. Especially when it comes to sharing events. 

But the paucity of cameras in the downtown area today was stunning. Just stunning for me. 

I fear that our traditional approaches to photography are winding down and becoming..."quaint."

We of a certain age cling to the hobby or profession but the rest of the world seems to be moving on. Now, I have to say that if I lived in Manhattan, London or Paris I expect I would see tons more people with cameras out on the streets. After all, those cities are famous for their pedestrian street traffic and there are still ample opportunities to give the cameras and lenses a good workout. But you would think that a large event, on a gloriously beautiful day, in Texas' favorite city, would be a draw for more people with cameras. But maybe that's just an endless loop of a thought that's only shared by people who've been into photography for a long time. We constitute a small circle of people who just won't give up.

In some ways this experience plays into one of the ideas that always sticks with me when I see people participating in races, contests, and adventures. The idea is that it's a lot more fun to participate than it is to stand on the sidelines and document other people having fun... And maybe the vast majority of adults have figured that out for themselves. 

I didn't take photos of the race or the finishers. It's not a genre I'm much interested in. Instead I noted the lack of cameras and photographers as an interesting shift and moved on to walking and taking photos that interested me. And probably only me. 

I was photographing with the Leica SL2 that came in just last week, coupled with the Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 that's been lurking around the studio here for years and years. It's a fun combination. I love the blue skies when a storm has finished sweeping through our area, taking the clouds with it. I like the juxtaposition of old and new architecture and I find empty train stops something of a critique of Texas city culture. 

Today's walk reminded me that I love the feel of the SL2 in my hands and I like the way it makes photographing with older, manual focus lenses easy as pie. Which also reminds me of how much I like pie ---- and that would be... a lot. 

I sat in the shade near the end of my walk and drank really good coffee from a paper cup. I paired the coffee with a croissant. I marveled at the idea that people in the northern reaches; on the east coast, have such a prejudice toward coffee delivered not in a ceramic cup. At least the plastic lid on the disposable cups helps keep the coffee warmer if you are slow to finish it. The croissant helps with the pacing....

It's always fun to get back to the office and import images from a walk into Lightroom so I can look at them large and clean on a 27 inch monitor. That process itself makes them look more grand. More fun for me. I drop a preset I got from Leica Store Miami onto the files when they import and most of the resulting files can be exported with no other changes --- and still look great. 

Life is good. Even if I decide not to run another marathon. Walking with a camera is its own satisfaction.

Loving hearing stories about camera packing. I wish my readers who travel with cameras would toss in some of their own stories about traveling with gear. Great ideas? Travel traumas with gear? Grand success stories? Logistics? And so much more. 

Fun to read about Greg planning out his journey and the science of loading everything he needs for a long period of time into a tiny car with no back seat...... More like that.