Saturday, October 24, 2015

Free Camera

Off I went, shopping, for 2nd hand gear again.

I am a wide-angle guy, at least this is what I love for use in street-photography. Having browsed the local stores for a while, I found a Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 (first generation) for just shy of 200 Euros. Actually, the lens was not listed individually; to be precise, the lens was not listed at all. What was listed was a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3, which the 14mm lens attached.
Interestingly enough, another store had the lens itself listed for 200 Euros, i.e. the same price.

You guessed it, I took the one that came with a free camera attached.

The use of the 14mm lens is rather obvious, it will go into my OM-D outfit; this is what I bought it for.

Now, what can be done with the Lumix GF3? The GF3 is a first generation MFT camera with a 12 Mpix sensor. The camera is trimmed to be as small as possible, minimal controls. It is not meant for the prosumer, that's for sure. At least is shoots in RAW, that's a plus.
At its time, the GF3 was the smallest interchangeable lens camera. That title was taken by Pentax with their Q-system not too long thereafter. However, that might actually set the theme of my use of the GF3.

Some of my favorite street-photos where taken with an Olympus PEN E-PM2 and an Olympus 15mm body cap lens (BLC-15). In comparison to the GF3, the E-PM2 is relatively big. Consequently, it might be actually a good idea to fit a BCL-15 to the GF3. After all, the 15mm BCL would be close to the 14mm lens I closed the deal for.
Of course, the GF3 needs to be set to shoot w/o lens, since the BCL-15 does not have electronics built in. Other settings might need revision as to get the best out of the combo.
First shots promise big time fun using the GF3 with a BCL-15.