Monday, September 29, 2014

And first with nicest skill and art

Last week I got over eight hours of exercise, half of it during the weekend, walking in forests and swamps. This weeks looks good for commuting by bicycle, although it is getting colder.

I went ahead an pre-ordered the Panasonic LX100. It is not cheap, 1000 euros here in Finland, and I debated the wisdom of the purchase for quite some time. And now I might have time to regret it, as the camera will be shipped in late October or November. But I'm really missing the feeling of having a real camera in my hands while walking. In fact, it seems that I don't know what to do with my hands as if something has been cut away.

My first digital camera was Canon Digital IXUS 400, which cost well almost 600 euros. That camera broke when the lens cover got stuck. Then I had the Panasonic LX3 and the Panasonic LX5. And now I'm getting the new Panasonic, and I hope it will be as good in the hand as the LX3 and the LX5 were.

(Posting title is from the poem The Building of the Ship by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.)

6 comments:

Markus said...

Juha, I guess with us more experienced photographers (where my shutter counter albeit never get as high as yours), the relationships with cameras tend to get more long-lasting. So if the LX100 is as durable as your other Panasonics were/are, I fully expect you to get again into the 5-digits exposure numbers - with the image quality (content-wise) growing again in this process.

Technical parameters get less important according to my feeling, as the overall quality of digital cameras has grown to a broadly satisfactory level.

Juha Haataja said...

The first camera I owned was the Minolta XG-1, an SLR with aperture priority mode, with on 50 mm f/1.7 lens. I still have it, but haven't used it in 20 years or so. Before that I was allowed to use the Canon G-III QL17, belonging to my mother, which had a 40 mm f/1.7 lens. And now the LX100 has a f/1.7 lens. Somehow things turn around.

I agree about the technical parameters becoming mostly irrelevant. Another thing is the usability (or suitability) of the camera controls.

The big attraction of the LX100 are the direct controls: aperture, shutter, exposure compensation. The dedicated aspect ratio switch is for me a big factor. Using a camera which doesn't allow direct control of 1:1, 4:3 etc. seems like a serious handicap.

Andreas said...

I saw one today, but it was behind glass and I didn't dare asking. It looks gorgeous. You may find it bigger than the LX5 (it certainly is) but compared to other cameras in its class it is tiny enough.

Hmmm ... no, I must not try it, I have to buy a Macbook Pro :)

Juha Haataja said...

I haven't been this impatient in getting my hands on a purchased item since a very long time ago. I have checked the status of my purchase almost daily just to be sure I haven't missed the shipping notice...

Andreas said...

Can't take very much longer. The major shops in Austria seem to have it, and when I could see one even here in rural Villach ...

Juha Haataja said...

So Austria is where all the LX100s were shipped to!

But yes, it shouldn't take long now to get the LX100.

I could start reading the user guide, if it is available somewhere. Typically when I get some new thing I'm unable to concentrate on reading manuals, and this can prove to be problematic later. However, all that I could find were instructions for a quite different Panasonic LX-100.