Two new camera "launches" this week. One interesting and one a new iteration of an existing design.

Lou, scan. Medium format neg. Happy photographer.

 I went out after lunch today to make some "fine art" photographs but all I ended up doing was spending money at REI. I meant to be a good and ambitious art photographer. I had my camera all set up for cutting edge, artsy, street photos but I was waylaid by the heat, humidity and general malaise that comes from an ozone rich environment. And the wrong shoes...

I'm sure everyone has done this at one time or another but I was so sure I could quickly break in a pair of Birkenstocks that I just left them on for my imagined walk instead of defaulting to known, comfy hiking shoes. Not a good idea.

But, being ever able to rationalize shopping I had the idea that if I walked a couple blocks east I could drop by my favorite outdoor, retail outfitters, REI, and pick up a pair of socks to act as a buffer between my feet and my yet to be conquered sandals. When I left the store an hour later I had so much fun stuff in my bag. New short pants, a new long sleeve, UV resistant hiking shirt, a couple pairs of SmartWool socks, some small flashlights and other stuff that I can't even remember as I sit here typing. My "adventurous walk" morphed into a $200 shopping event. Ah well. Stuff happens. At least I hit the store on the week of their "biggest sale of the year...." 

Then I realized that it would be a lot less fun walking around with a camera over one shoulder and a shopping bag full of new purchases in my opposite hand as I looked for photographic opportunities. So I headed back over to the car to stash the bag. On the way there I admitted to myself that a gray, ozone-y sky, 95° of heat, and an oozy, cloying blanket of humidity just plain sucks the fun out of tromping through the streets (actually, we should call this genre: Sidewalk Photography, since that's where most of it gets done) with a camera. So I headed home. Defeated. Or, as the result of a brilliant, on the spot, change of strategy, well conserved. 

The camera I was trying to leverage into greater glory? That was the Sigma fp. Why the fp?

Well, when I woke up and looked at the web this morning every photo site from YouTube to Bob's Photo Hut was all hot and bothered about a newly launched camera from Panasonic. The camera is called the S9. I'll never be able to figure out their naming convention but if the S1 is the top of the line and the S5 is a good compromise in the mid-class section of their cameras then I guess something with a higher number is...less exciting and less endowed with photo magic. And that seems to be the general consensus from camera reviewers/photo-hustlers/YouTube influencers and breathless vloggers world wide. A mediocre camera aimed at....well... the jury is still out. (seems to be a national phrase here in the USA lately....). 

So, what exactly is an S9? Well..... take a much smaller camera body, jam in a full frame sensor stolen from the parts bin of the S5ii cameras, add in-body image stabilization, strip off the vital EVF capability. Take away the hot shoe. Take out the mechanical shutter. Add back the tilty-floppy screen. Hobble the high-end video capabilities and then add a baffling LUT control button to the back of the camera and you essentially have Panasonic's economy version of a Sigma fp but without the bulletproof body, the raw video capabilities, the Sigma fp color science and, well, that's about it. The one thing the Panasonic does better than the tiny fp is deliver more battery power. The battery for the S9 is the same one used on the various S5ii models. It's actually very good. So is the sensor..

The giveaway that let's you know the camera is aimed squarely at the rubes (besides the lack of an eye-level viewfinder) is that the S9 is available in four different, "exciting" colors. And I'm sure there will be more colors to come. It is an imaging "step up" from photographing or taking video with your phone (I guess, unless you've got a really good phone...) But early reviewer, Hugh Brownstone, was up front about the rear screen being nearly unusable in bright light. Too much reflection, not enough rejection of reflection. Un-see-able in daylight situations, ie: out on the street where a camera like this might venture. 

But look at the bright side, a really, really bad rear screen experience just opens the floodgates of opportunity for a legion of "entrepreneurs" to step in and make hoods, loupes and other light controlling gadgets to elevate the rear screen and make it acceptable for daily use. Good for Panasonic. Making new jobs for other people in the photo industry. 

I have to be honest and say that I haven't had the chance to hold one or shoot photos but here's my pressing and sincere question: Why would one spend $1500 on a crippled camera when,  for a few hundred dollars more, they could have the S5ii, or, for a limited time (while supplies last...) a photographer could spend a few hundred less doll-euros and buy a new in the box, original S5? Either of which is a far more flexible and usable imaging tool for both video and still photography. Is the colorful camera wrap really that valuable?  Is this reverse Veblen wherein people rush to spend more money to get a crappier camera mostly because it's not as good? The one thing the camera is reported as doing better than its much more capable siblings is that it can transfer images to your phone quicker and with more ease. And we know how gut-wrenchingly important that is... 

Color me cynical. but it is a full frame, tiny-ish camera for under $2K. I'll reserve final judgement until I actually get to play with one. But who knows when they will actually arrive in stores? Not me. 

The second launch this week is just the announcement from Leica that they will have a new compact camera out by July. It's a new permutation of the classic Digilux 7, which is mostly a rebadged Panasonic LX100ii. The new camera is slightly wider and is designed to look (from the front anyway) like a miniaturized Leica Q2. It's still a micro four thirds sensor with 17 megabytes of usable resolution and the same 28-75mm equivalent zoom lens on the front but Leica would like-a you to believe that it's been tweaked (the whole package) to deliver outstanding image performance like you've never seen before. Truly fantastic. People have said...

The styling is nice right down to the leatherette which pretty much matches the look of the body wrap on the Q2. The controls on the back of the camera are absolutely minimalist. The camera will come packaged with a small flash. I wish it was more exciting but there is an advantage to be had in that the target for 99% of the images that will come out of these cameras will be the web. And it will still out perform the ability of most people's computer screens to show meaningful differences between good, better and best cameras. 

The sensor is not as sexy as the full frame sensor in the Panasonic S9 but then again, you get a smaller camera, an EVF, a hot shoe, and a very pretty red dot on the front of the cameras. The price for the S9, by the way, is with no lens. That camera takes interchangeable L mount lenses. The Digilux 8 comes complete with its own lens. They are quite different products. 

One more massive screw up by Panasonic that I should cover here... In conjunction with the S9 camera, and sure to be included in any kit offering, is an odd 26mm pancake lens. It's really tiny. That will make some camera-weight-phobics happy, right? Well, until they discover that this focal length copy of a smart phone's angle of view "features" a whopping, super-fast, f8.0 maximum aperture. And if you want to grab the focusing ring and manually focus the lens you will need tweezers to get a grip on the tiny ring. Price? $200. No hood included. Can't imagine doing low light/after dark photos with it. If you must buy the S9 save yourself a bit of trauma and buy it with the Sigma 24mm f3.5 iSeries lens instead. Sure, it's bit more money but it's also two and a third stops faster, all metal, comes with a metal lens hood and two lens caps, and is a proven performer. Much lauded even by Leica enthusiast, Sean Reid. You gotta do something smart to save that camera...

So, here we are with two cameras I will probably never buy and a failed walk to boot. But...the flashlights I got are small and cute. The short pants have promise for the Summer. And we got a blog written before the end of the day. A multi-win, win if I've ever seen one. 

Lunch. An arugula and kale salad with radishes and nuts covered with a sprinkling of EVVO. Stay healthy out there...