The photograph was taken on September 29th at the same place where I took one of the first photographs with my first LX100 camera. There is now a new version of the LX100 available, but my second LX100 is still in quite good condition.
(Posting title is from the poem Brand New Products by Linh Dinh.)
The photographs were taken on July 2nd, when I had no idea of the dry and hot summer ahead.
An updated version of the LX100 camera was announced recently. I'm using a second LX100. With the first I took over 115,000 photographs before I had to buy a new one (because of the dust problem). With the second one I have taken over 105,000 photographs and the dust problem hasn't yet got bad. Before the LX100 cameras I had an LX3 (203,000 photographs taken) and an LX5 (186,000 photographs taken). Thus I have taken over 609,000 photographs with Panasonic cameras so far. The LX100 II camera seems to be a competent upgrade, and if the current LX100 breaks down I know what camera to buy.
(Posting title is from the song Jolene by Dolly Parton.)
The photographs were taken yesterday morning in the north parts of Nuuksio, within a swamp that is circled by hills from all sides. It is the time of courtship display for capercaillies. Never before has it happened that one of the birds comes to present himself to me, and was not afraid at all.
The bird followed me a couple of hundred meters across the swamp, and I took a lot of photographs, but had to leave because my fingers and toes were getting cold as the temperature was at -22 °C.
I even took three short video clips, even though I usually never use the LX100 for taking videos. When I listen to the sound in the video, it almost feels as if the bird would be trying to say "isä", which means "father" in Finnish. (Thanks to Atso Almila for pointing this out on Twitter.)
(Posting title is from the poem Bay Window Lauds by Marcus Wicker.)
Here are two pairs of photographs, taken at the Valtavaara hill route in Kuusamo on July 2nd. Two of the photographs were taken with the LX100, two with the iPhone SE. Can you spot the difference?
After a week of traveling to London I'm back in Finland, and it is raining, heavily.
And oh the awful wonder of what is happening with Trump. I do hope truth and openness will win this case.
(Posting title is from the poem Wonder as Wander by Sharon Olds.)
The photographs were taken on May 6th. I have taken over 52,000 photographs with the second Panasonic LX100, but I'm lagging behind with the processing. Today there are over 4,000 photographs waiting.
(Posting title is from the poem Bean Spasms by Ted Berrigan.)
The photographs were taken on January 28th at Velskola.
The LX100 dust problem appeared again, with the new LX100 which I bought in July 2016. So far I have taken 34,000 photographs with it, and the problem first appeared two weeks ago. Below you see the dust particle in the right upper corner of the photograph (taken at f/16). With the old LX100 the problem appeared much later, when the camera was no longer under warranty.
When the old LX100 got broken after 100,000 photographs taken, I decided to get a new LX100, but now it is apparent that the dust problem is quite widespread. I'm planning to send the camera for repairs at some point, but I'm loath to be without a camera for any longer period.
It seems that changing the shooting style didn't help with the LX100. I thought that shutting down the camera and starting it up again would be the reason for getting dust inside the lens, and thus I have been keeping the new LX100 on all the time when using it. But I guess the dust still gets inside, via zooming, when dust particles get stuck to the lens barrel and bit by bit travel into the lens.
At some point I thought about getting the Panasonic GX80 with the Lumix G Vario 12-60mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, but it would be a bit limited choice. And much less bokeh in closeups... Another possible choice is the Panasonic LX15, which is however quite limited in the controls compared to the LX100. And apparently there is no 1:1 aspect ratio available. Another choice would be yet another LX100, which isn't that impossible to think as the price has gone down to 550 euro. But then there is the dust which would kill the LX100 at some point.
(Posting title is from the poem The Lake by Daryl Hine.)
The photographs were taken in Helsinki on September 4th.
I have taken over 9000 photographs with my second LX100, and so far there hasn't appeared any dust inside the camera. I have avoided unnecessary on-off cycles of the camera, keeping it on all the time when I'm taking photographs. The battery lasts almost two hours, so I usually need just one spare battery when I go for a walk.
(Posting title is from the poem Oration: Half-Moon in Vermont by Norman Dubie.)
The photographs were taken at Vaakkoi on August 6th.
Today I processed the last photographs taken with the old LX100 which had a serious dust problem. Quite a lot of the photographs had so many blemishes that I got rid of them without trying any processing.
(Posting title is from the poem Bridge & Swimmer by Forrest Gander.)
The photographs were taken at Vuorela on July 24th.
I have take a couple of thousand photographs with the new LX100 camera. The new LX100 feels different than the old LX100, which was worn out. Even the shutter sound is a bit different, not so sleepy. The controls work flawlessly, which feels a bit strange as I had got used to non-responsiveness and other quirks.
It is great to have a camera without a problem of having lots of dust inside the lens. However, I have still some photographs taken with the old LX100 waiting for processing, blemished with dust spots.
(Posting title is from the poem Cock by Albert Goldbarth.)
The photographs were taken in Nuuksio on July 12th.
This morning I walked for over two hours at Myllyjärvi, south of Luukki. It is starting to be moosefly season, but so far I haven't got any. On the other hand, mosquito season starts to be over.
Today was the first time when I took the new LX100 out for a walk. It is nice to have a camera that works well. All the little problems with the old LX100 were making it somewhat cumbersome to take photographs.
(Posting title is from the poem Autumn Shade by Edgar Bowers.)
The photographs were taken at Kivistö on July 9th.
As I wrote here earlier, my LX100 (bought in October 2014) got worn out after 115,000 photographs taken with it. It developed a serious dust problem, among other signs of wear and tear:
With the LX5 there were similar problems as with the LX100 (the control wheel stopped responding), so this wasn't quite so surprising. The LX3 was really something in terms of durability, it had no problems at all until the thunderstorm where it got completely soaked.
It remains to be seen how well the new LX100 lasts.
Today I printed the first photograph with the new printer, Epson XP-760. The photograph was a family snapshot, printed on Premium Plus photo paper, and the result was much better than with my old HP printer. But I do so little printing these days that it may not matter much, though.
(Posting title is from the poem The Admiral Benbow by James McMichael.)
One could say that the above photograph is an LX100 selfie, as it is taken with an LX100 camera. I got today the new LX100, and set it up. Some settings are still to be done, for example the setting which makes it hard to engage the iA mode by mistake (you need to continue to push the button to engage the iA mode).
My LX100 observations were quite useful, but not all necessary tweaks were mentioned there. For example, I set the preview mode off, as well as the focus and shutter sounds. Also, the low-light focus assist lamp is off as the camera focuses quite nicely in the dark, and the lamp can be quite distracting.
In addition, I set the timeout for the sleep mode off, because the battery is quite durable (it is good for a two-hour walk) and there is no need for the camera to shut down automatically. And I have now two spare batteries (and two chargers), so I shouldn't run out of charge anyway.
Below you see photographs taken with the old and the new LX100. You probably can say which one is the old one that has the dust problem.
(Posting title is from the poem Skipper Ireson’s Ride by John Greenleaf Whittier.)
The photographs were taken at Puijo hill in Kuopio on July 25th, with a Nokia E7 phone, as my LX100 camera was broken. In bright light the E7 photographs are passable, but when there is less light the image deteriorates a lot. The experience of not having a real camera made me go ahead and order a new LX100 camera to replace the old one.
(Posting title is from the poem Leap In The Dark by Roberta Hill.)
The photographs were taken in Nuuksio National Park on July 1st.
The Panasonic LX100 camera got broken yesterday, refusing to start. The lens was stuck, resulting in a system error when trying to switch the camera on, or off. I tried gently moving the lens backward and forward (there was some flexibility), but this didn't help. This isn't the fist time I have had similar problems, but earlier a restart of the camera has made the lens start working again.
Yesterday I walked along a beautiful nature trail - the Puijo trail in Kuopio - without the LX100, and tried taking photographs with my Nokia E7 phone, which is not something to recommend. After this walk I was so frustrated that I went ahead and ordered a new LX100 camera to replace the broken one. The price was 640 euro, 1/3 less than what I paid for the LX100 one year and ten months ago.
Why buy another LX100 when the old one had so many problems? The old LX100 has dust spots in the lens, the control wheel in the back doesn't work properly, the zoom switch on top of camera doesn't always work, and the lens gets stuck, disabling the camera.
Earlier this summer I pondered possible alternatives to the LX100, and decided that there are none that would work for me better than the LX100.
The LX100 has excellent controls (including the aspect ratio switch), bright 24-70 mm equiv. lens with reasonable macro capability, and big enough sensor (for bokeh...). The camera is small and light enough to carry in hand on long walks. The only problem is the durability of the camera after 100,000 photographs taken, and the dust issue.
So, I ordered a new LX100, and it should arrive within a few days.
Today afternoon when I got back home from traveling I tried once again to switch on the old and broken LX100. And lo! the camera started to work again, without any apparent reason, except perhaps the tremors, jitters and shakes when traveling. In any case, soon I will have two LX100 cameras, one which has lots of problems due to lots of use, and one which is brand new.
(Posting title is from the poem The Broken of Heart by James Rorty.)
The photographs were taken on June 19th at lake Häkläjärvi.
Yesterday late in the afternoon we visited Suomenlinna island fortress. It was quite a warm day, and there were a lot of people visiting the island.
Today is a rainy day. In the morning I went for a walk in Vaakkoi. I saw one young Gavia stellata with a parent. A couple of weeks ago there were two. The blueberries tasted good, they were sweet and big.
I'm getting frustrated with durability of electronic devices. The LX100 has dust spots in the lens, the control wheel in the back doesn't work properly, the zoom switch on top of camera doesn't always work, and now the lens doesn't always retract when switching off the camera. Well, there are rumors that the LX200 would be announced in September, 2016, and maybe the LX100 lasts until then.
Another thing that didn't last long was the HP Photosmart 6510 printer. I have had trouble with the black ink for quite a while. Previously trying the various hints made the printer behave after a while, but this time nothing worked, black ink was missing. I bought the HP printer four years ago in the summer discount sale for 99 euro, and thought it was quite a nice purchase, getting printer, copier and scanner in one device. I have bought quite a few ink cartridges, worth over 200 euro, and I would have thought that it is in the interest of HP to make devices that keep on consuming ink.
My previous printer was a Canon i455 inkjet, bought in 2004, and it lasted for eight years. I still think fondly of this printer, which lasted until the print head broke down.
This time I did quite a lot of web searches for advice on what printer to buy for my modest needs. Finally I bought the Epson XP-760, which was on sale at 100 euro. The scanner is much faster and better than on the HP 6510, and the print quality on normal paper is better than it ever was with the HP 6510. I haven't yet tried printing photographs on photo paper. There are six ink cartridges in the XP-760, and I expect that I will be buying quite a lot of them during the next years, provided that the printer lasts. But so far so good.
Anyway, there are some things that do last. I bought my Berghaus jacket in 2002, just after Finnish markka was replaced with euro (€). At that time I still mentally changed euro to markka, and I remember that the price of the jacket was 930 markka. I have done a lot of outdoor walking with the jacket. It shows signs of wear, but still holds water, and even though the front zipper no longer works, the inner zipper works well, as well as the coat buttons. I wore the jacket this morning in the rain.
(Posting title is from the poem Meeting at an Airport by Taha Muhammad Ali.)
The photographs were taken on May 1st in Vaakkoi.
I have been pondering what to do with the dust problem of the LX100. I have been coping reasonably well, mostly by using the Retouch tool in Aperture to hide the blemishes generated by dust inside the lens unit of the camera.
Also, I have been looking at the available camera models, such as Panasonic GX8 and GX80, Olympus OM-D E-M5 and OM-D E-M10, and possible lens combinations. However, every time I have realized that the LX100 fits my requirements much better than any other choice.
Of the available compact cameras the result is the same: the LX100 is the best for me. Excellent controls (incl. aspect ratio switch), bright 24-70 mm equiv. lens with reasonable macro capability, big enough sensor (for bokeh...), etc. And the camera is small and light enough to carry in hand on long walks. The only problem is the durability of the camera after 100,000 photographs taken, and the dust issue.
If I would need a camera right now, I would buy an LX100. I'll try to cope with my "old" LX100 as long as it lasts, and perhaps the LX200 will become available when I need a replacement. Any other camera model that is available misses the mark.
(Posting title is from the poem End of Days Advice from an Ex-zombie by Michael Derrick Hudson.)
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