Visiting the past in Virginia (Olympus/Panasonic m4/3 gear)

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bakubo
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Greg Beetham wrote:Sorry Henry I did enjoy your photos of Yorktown fishing, :D Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown Settlement like I always enjoy your photos, (and read all your links) I’m just trying not to blather on (and boring people) as much as I normally do.
You don't bore me so don't worry about it. :lol:
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UrsaMajor
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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bakubo wrote:At Yorktown they fired one of the cannons after first explaining the whole procedure. They told us to cover our ears with our hands, but if I did that I couldn't take a photo. A young woman standing next to me with a Canon 550D and I talked it over a bit and decided we would sacrifice our ears in order to try and get a photo. I quickly searched my pockets hoping I would find a tissue or something to stuff in my ears, but I had nothing and she didn't either. Boy, it was loud! The resulting photo (second one) was not worth the risk to my ears. :lol:
Some years ago I saw a "The Making Of 'Gettysburg'" documentary segment in which the remark was made that the experience of making that film left the speaker with a sense of awe for the soldiers of that era.

He said that even though they had dozens of authentic cannon for the filming, they still had less than half as many as had actually been present, and even though he knew that they were firing blanks with less than half charges of gunpowder, the preliminary "bombardment" that was part of the recreation of the third day's fighting still petrified him with fear.

BTW, for anyone who is interested in history, 'Gettysburg" is a great film, IMO. I find it ironic that the scenes that will probably seem the most like typical Hollywood exaggeration - such as Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine at Little Round Top - are actually very true to history.

With best wishes,
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bakubo
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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UrsaMajor wrote:BTW, for anyone who is interested in history, 'Gettysburg" is a great film, IMO. I find it ironic that the scenes that will probably seem the most like typical Hollywood exaggeration - such as Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine at Little Round Top - are actually very true to history.
Yes, it is an excellent film. I read the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and the movie was based on that book. I remember that I read it while on my 10-week camping safari throughout southern and eastern Africa in 1993. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. If you haven't read it you would probably like it.
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Yes, a great and fairly accurate film. However, if you want to know what happened afterwards, read the book "Debris of Battle" by Gerard A. Patterson.

The book deals with the burying of the dead (men and horses) and caring for the wounded. THAT should make you have a lot more respect for the soldiers of the day!

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bakubo
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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I hadn't heard of that book. I'll have to watch out for it. Thanks.
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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This is an interesting E-M5 review that someone linked to elsewhere. Here is the section with the dynamic range and noise testing info. They provide raw and jpeg comparisons to the NEX 7 and Fujifilm X Pro1 using the Dx0 Analyzer software. I always just look at the raw results since that is what I use.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/camera ... cleContent

Our results from the lab have been compared against the Fujifilm X Pro 1, Sony NEX-7, Panasonic GX1 and Olympus E-P3

Our analysis shows that the Olympus OM-D's raw files (after conversion to TIFF) produce impressive results that beat all the comparison cameras and compare well against models with larger APS-C and full frame sensors. When it comes to dynamic range, the raw file (after conversion to TIFF) results show it produces the highest result so far gained by any compact system camera.


I am finding that the Sony sensor in the E-M5 plus whatever Olympus special sauce hardware and software gives satisfying results.
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UrsaMajor
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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bakubo wrote:
UrsaMajor wrote:BTW, for anyone who is interested in history, 'Gettysburg" is a great film, IMO. I find it ironic that the scenes that will probably seem the most like typical Hollywood exaggeration - such as Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine at Little Round Top - are actually very true to history.
Yes, it is an excellent film. I read the book The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and the movie was based on that book. I remember that I read it while on my 10-week camping safari throughout southern and eastern Africa in 1993. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. If you haven't read it you would probably like it.
I agree with you about the merits of "The Killer Angels". I had read it before seeing the film (I'm a bit of a bookaholic) and was prepared to be disappointed with the film adaptation, but came away quite pleased.

In case you are not aware of it, Michael Shaara's son Jeffrey wrote two other "docudrama" novels about the US Civil War, "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure". "Gods and Generals" was made into a film in 2003, and has Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as one of the central characters. Until the theatrical and DVD release last year of the "Extended Directors Cut", the film did not include Antietam, which was in the book and was filmed, but was not included in the original version released to the theaters. The extended version is now available on Blu-Ray.

With best wishes,
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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UrsaMajor wrote:In case you are not aware of it, Michael Shaara's son Jeffrey wrote two other "docudrama" novels about the US Civil War, "Gods and Generals" and "The Last Full Measure". "Gods and Generals" was made into a film in 2003, and has Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as one of the central characters. Until the theatrical and DVD release last year of the "Extended Directors Cut", the film did not include Antietam, which was in the book and was filmed, but was not included in the original version released to the theaters. The extended version is now available on Blu-Ray.
I remember seeing the Gods and Generals movie a few years ago. Thanks for the info about the extended version on DVD.
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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DxO has released their E-M5 review so I did a comparison of the E-M5, A700, and Canon 60D (since those are the cameras I have used in the last 4 years):

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Camera ... d3%29/Sony

I have been quite satisfied with the results I am getting from this camera so the results are in line with what i expected to see:

E-M5
Score: 71
Color depth: 22.8 bits
Dynamic range: 12.3 Evs
Low-light: 826 ISO

A700
Score: 66
Color depth: 22.3 bits
Dynamic range: 11.9 Evs
Low-light: 581 ISO

60D
Score: 66
Color depth: 22.2 bits
Dynamic range: 11.5 Evs
Low-light: 813 ISO

Of course, the details in the charts have more and better info. The new Sony m4/3 16mp sensor in the E-M5 compares pretty well to the Sony APS-C 16mp sensor in the A57:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Camera ... 29/Olympus

E-M5
Score: 71
Color depth: 22.8 bits
Dynamic range: 12.3 Evs
Low-light: 826 ISO

A57
Score: 75
Color depth: 23.4 bits
Dynamic range: 13 Evs
Low-light: 785 ISO

I had been wanting smaller/lighter gear for a long time, but before the E-M5 it seemed you had to give up too much if you went with a 4/3 size sensor. Of course, APS-C sensors are larger so the same tech and same number of pixels will mean they should always be better, but the difference doesn't have to be so large anymore. I was mostly pretty happy with the A700 and 60D images so the boost in the E-M5 is just gravy. :D As I said in this thread a few months ago though I think that for people who don't care about size/weight that an APS-C DSLR is better since a lot of the bodies and lenses cost less than m4/3, they have fast PDAF, the sensor is a bit larger, etc. For my uses the E-M5 is working out okay though, but I still haven't gone on any trips with it and that is the acid test. I have been procrastinating a lot about travel lately. We were out of the country for 6 months and then went on a long road trip on the mainland before getting back to Hawaii a couple of months ago so maybe that is why.
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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I will soon find out how well the m4/3 gear works for travel. A couple of days ago I bought plane tickets to go to Nepal for a month and will leave on 11/6. I hope the new gear meets expectations. To get an idea of the size difference take a look at these 2 travel camera bags:
IMG_6119.jpg
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The small one on the left is the one that I expect to take with me to Nepal and the one on the right is the one I have been using for the last few years for several trips (Egypt, Guatemala, Vietnam, Mexico, etc.). Several years ago it took me awhile of looking around for a camera bag that had sufficient interior space while not being overly big on the outside. Most camera bags have way too much thick padding that I don't need for my uses that causes the bags to be very bulky. I just want something that has a bit of padding and interior dividers to prevent lenses and bodies from knocking together. Actually, I would like something more like that bag, but smaller, for my m4/3 travel bag but I haven't found one. The one I have will work though. It is the bag I bought in 2002 to use with my Minolta D7i.

I put the following in the bigger bag when I took it on travels:

Sony A700 + 2 batteries + charger
Sony 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 + UV filter + polarizer filter + lens hood
Sony 11-18mm f4.5-5.6 + UV filter + lens hood
Sigma 24mm f2.8 + UV filter + lens hood
Minolta 50mm f1.7 + UV filter
Sony F36AM flash + 4 AA nimh batteries
several CF memory cards
several SD memory cards
lens cleaning kit

I also carried the following separate from the camera bag:

Sony A100 + battery (backup body)
Canon A590IS digicam + 2 AA nimh batteries
AA nimh battery charger

This is what I expect to put in the bag for Nepal:

Olympus E-M5 + 3 batteries + charger
Olympus 14-150mm f4-5.6 + UV filter + polarizer filter + lens hood
Olympus 9-18mm f4-5.6 + UV filter + lens hood
Panasonic 14mm f2.5 + UV filter + lens hood
Panasonic 20mm f1.7 + UV filter
Olympus FL-300R flash + 2 nimh AAA batteries
several SD memory cards
lens cleaning kit

I will also carry the following separate from the camera bag:

Panasonic G3 + battery + charger (backup body)
Canon S95 digicam + battery + charger

You can see the size difference. I would estimate that the new gear is about 1/3 the weight. Of course, I don't carry the camera bag around with me when I am out and about. I just carry a subset of the stuff with me. This is also where the smaller/lighter gear will be nice since that subset of gear I have with me almost all the time.
Last edited by bakubo on Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Birma
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Interesting comparison Henry - it is a lot smaller and handier for travel. Do you think you will use the primes much?

Nepal! I am really looking forward to your pictures from there. I hope you'll be able to gives us some progress updates 'in country' :)
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Greg Beetham
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Nepal now Henry, that’ll be exciting and different, one thing I read about Kathmandu runway 02 that is different is that it’s lined up with a 7500 ft mountain about 10Km from touchdown which isn’t as bad as it sounds as the runway is at 4313ft itself so they only have to miss a 3000ft lump in effect and the many lumps to the left and right are all higher than it so they know which one is the right one. It might pay to pack a parka, it will be cold, icy more likely, it’ll be winter in the Himalayas starting about now and that makes it far too cold for this black duck.
According to this http://www.peregrineadventures.com/blog ... tive-guide the Everest area is where the Sherpas/Buddhists live so if you go there you might even get a snap of the big E in the distance, and apparently the Gurkhas come from around the Annapurna area.
Camera wise it looks definitely like you can pack more into a smaller space with that setup you’ve got there now for sure, I saw recently that some photographer did Vietnam with a smart-phone, I didn’t read the article so I don’t know how good the photos were, probably not too many poor light shots in the mix.
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bakubo
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Birma wrote:Interesting comparison Henry - it is a lot smaller and handier for travel. Do you think you will use the primes much?
I don't expect to use them a lot, but I always end up using the 50mm f1.7 and/or 24mm f2.8 on the A700 when I travel for some photos, mostly at night. I leave the other stuff in the room and take the A700 + one of those lenses and walk around at night. I figure the 20mm f1.7 and/or 14mm f2.5 would get used in the same way. These 2 m4/3 lenses are so much smaller than the 2 FF lenses that I could keep one or both in my pocket all the time. Not sure I would do that though. The 14mm is so small/light it would be reasonable even in a shirt pocket.
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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Greg Beetham wrote:Nepal now Henry, that’ll be exciting and different, one thing I read about Kathmandu runway 02 that is different is that it’s lined up with a 7500 ft mountain about 10Km from touchdown which isn’t as bad as it sounds as the runway is at 4313ft itself so they only have to miss a 3000ft lump in effect and the many lumps to the left and right are all higher than it so they know which one is the right one.
It will be cool to see that when I fly into Kathmandu. Speaking of Kathmandu, some may remember this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd3Mt8JBBBg

:D
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Re: Visiting the past in Virginia

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bakubo wrote:
It will be cool to see that when I fly into Kathmandu. Speaking of Kathmandu, some may remember this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd3Mt8JBBBg

:D
How can we forget? Besides being a Seger fan from way back, it's the theme from "Mask", the only good movie that Cher ever did.

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