Scattered Thoughts . . .

My new used Panasonic 45-200mm, f4-5.6 lens mounted on my new used Panasonic G3. Capturing crisp photos of wildlife requires considerable knowledge, skill and years of practice as well as the physical ability to effectively control the appropriate camera gear. Having the right photography gear for this task, or any particular task for that matter, helps considerably just like having the right tools for a carpentry job helps a carpenter get the job done effectively. Using a hammer and a screwdriver to drill a smooth hole just won't work!  Needless to say, I am always researching to learn the best tools for each task I hope to accomplish and for the knowledge to refine the skill needed for each task. As I've written in previous blog posts, I needed a long telephoto zoom kit that would be suitable for shooting photos of the wildlife here in our neck of the woods so I did a lot of research and searching online for available products and finally ordered a used Panasonic kit

A Panasonic G3 in the micro four thirds format... As most of you know, one of my many hobbies is photography. As most of you probably do not know, there is no one camera that can do everything. Each camera has its strengths and each camera has its weaknesses. As a result, I have quite a little collection of gear, each piece sporting its own advantage. I have a very limited budget so I often pick up used gear at very tempting prices rather than buy new at unattainable prices.  A number of months ago I decided to drop my Olympus gear and upgrade significantly by getting some full-frame Sony gear.  "Full-frame" refers to the size of the sensor and this full-frame size is huge compared to most cameras. The sensor on this Sony camera is the same size as a single 35mm negative frame... hence the name "full-frame". By comparison, compact cameras have sensors the size of a pencil eraser... and higher quality cameras have sensors somewhere in between the two in

For years and especially the past few weeks, I've been agonizing over getting my hands on the best telephoto lens I can afford on a very limited budget. Our time at the lake house is quickly approaching and this is where I use both my widest lenses and my longest lenses... wide for full-view landscapes and long for zooming into wildlife. I have the wide end covered but the long end has always been a problem. There are great lenses out there but spending as much for a lens as I would need to spend to purchase a good car is not an option.  That leaves me with only a few low cost options... Rather than spend more money I don't have to spend, I decided to do a quick and very unscientific test this morning with four camera bodies using the best lens paired for that body. I have to say that the results were a bit surprising in some areas.  This unscientific test was shot in quite poor light as it was snowing.  My target was the little airplane on a mileage sign in our driveway