suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Bill

Glad you started this! I am on my way to the coast but wanted to add a couple of quick remarks.
I have the combination and am very happy with it. You will get very good images from this combination if you keep your speed up to accommodate movement. For birds that are moving I shoot at 1/1600-1/2000. For birds that are sitting then 1/400- 1/600 is usually adequate. I have used ISO as high as 6400 with good results. Do not be afraid to use this lens wide open- it is up to the challenge.

I believe that the camera and lens together weighs in at about 3.5 pounds total. It is a well balanced unit and easily handheld especially with a pistol grip. I keep camera with lens and hood attached in a small Lowepro backpack.

The Gx8 has a touchscreen that I like- not everyone does. Focus points can be changed in an instant through the VF and touchscreen. It's very cumbersome to go back to manually moving focus points via a curser after using this touchscreen. Focus is fast and accurate.

For me, considering size and weight, image quality, usability and price, there is not currently a better system or combination than this one.

Let's hear it from all the other users :)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

When I posted my Eagle photo earlier I said I should up the ISO and shutter speed. The wildlife in Jasper NP were not cooperating this morning and I had to settle for a Crow. Anything black on a grey day is tough to shoot. Handheld at 400mm. ISO was 3200, shutter was 1/1000. It auto exposed at F/6.3. Shooting RAW required some adjustments in Lightroom and an output to JPG.

I wish I had done the high ISO and shutter on the Eagle a couple days ago.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I can't upload the crow picture. It is a JPEG and I am choosing the file, storing the original and Adding the Attachment. It is not working!

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Try again- shot at ISO 6400

(Download)

Linckinn Loc: Okatie, SC and Edgartown, MA

Suntouched-

Fantastic picture.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Trying again......! Crows are not well liked birds. I doubt their photos ever get hung on the wall!

But, there can be some detail in their feathers to use for lens testing!

(Download)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Nice humming bird! Do you recall if it was shot on electronic or manual shutter?

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Thanks-
Electronic Shutter- I almost always use electronic shutter because I like the sound and feel of it.
I tested the camera and lens with manual and electronic shutter and I didn't see any difference in image quality.
As far as "shutter shock" I wasn't able to make it happen :)
And with the software update it's maybe a moot point anyway.
Your crow is a good example of the overall look of this lens.

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Thank You!

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Too bad crows are not regarded as primary photographic wildlife! Lesson learned for handheld shooting is higher ISOs than I've ever used for anything!

I shot some teens practicing for rodeo competition with my GX7 on electronic shutter. For fast moving objects and panning, a "slant" was induced. In some shots the horses looked like they were falling over. I suspect that the graceful, artistic and beautiful curve of the rapidly moving hummingbird wings has some of the electronic "rolling shutter" effect. Had you used mechanical, the wings would likely be straighter, still blurred, but not necessarily more photographic.

I suspect my "normal" selection will be electronic shutter. It has the benefit of allowing the selection of "silent" operation. I have small collection of some granddaughter shots in a school play that were shot silently. The people around me were unaware of the camera sitting in my lap firing bursts of her brilliant performance.

Keep shooting!

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

[quote=bsprague]Too bad crows are not regarded as primary photographic wildlife! Lesson learned for handheld shooting is higher ISOs than I've ever used for anything!

I shot some teens practicing for rodeo competition with my GX7 on electronic shutter. For fast moving objects and panning, a "slant" was induced. In some shots the horses looked like they were falling over. I suspect that the graceful, artistic and beautiful curve of the rapidly moving hummingbird wings has some of the electronic "rolling shutter" effect. Had you used mechanical, the wings would likely be straighter, still blurred, but not necessarily more photographic.

I suspect my "normal" selection will be electronic shutter. It has the benefit of allowing the selection of "silent" operation. I have small collection of some granddaughter shots in a school play that were shot silently. The people around me were unaware of the camera sitting in my lap firing bursts of her brilliant performance.

Keep shooting![/quote
Good point about the electronic shutter distortion. I do now remember reading about that. My test shots were stationary so didn't see that and I haven't done too much with birds in flight- good to keep in mind. The hummer wings were a a happy coincidence :)

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Yes! But to do that I'm going to have to figure out how to aim this thing!

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

Another example of the overall look of this lens. Shot at ISO 1600-

(Download)

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Bill, respectfully not sure how one gets 1250mm from a lens rated by the M4/3 manufacturers as having a crop factor of only 2x the nominal focal length. I did view the Vimeo clip - it's outstanding! My sincere compliments! Can others explain to me - in words of one syllable that I can understand - why using the lens in video mode makes that crop factor math any different?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Thanks for the compliments!

The 2x M4/3 crop factor is based on still photos using the entire senor. The easy way to explain more for 4K video is that it uses only 8 megapixels per frame. That allows the opportunity to use the sensor like it was smaller. Small sensor cameras like the Nikon P900 have effective focal lengths of even greater. My confusion comes from the GX7 menus that allowed you to turn it on and off for 1080p video and JPEGs. In the menu it is called "EX TELE CONV".

Further confusion comes from the difference between how the current version of Lightroom reports it and how the (hard to understand) Panasonic manual describes it.

Bill