Unpopular Camera Brands

Lupin - Pentax K70 + Pentax 135mm f3.5

Reputation in the world of cameras, is a strange thing. It can build from having been a quality producer/manufacturer for generations. It can come from famous people endorsing the brand. It can come from a sense of self belief. You can however make top quality products that can equal or some times, out perform the popular ones and this goes unnoticed.

If you are a camera manufacturer, particularly one of the big three (Sony, Canon & Nikon), you appear to fail to see what any other camera brand is doing. You work at your own pace, introducing new cameras and lenses at your own speed. You endeavour to make the best product you can to appeal to your loyal fanbases.

The second tier of brands (Fujifilm, Panasonic, OM systems (Olympus), Sigma and Pentax) have to work harder to get the attention of professionals and enthusiasts. They have to show it’s feasible to switch from the big three and trust their products.

Then there are the top end manufacturers (Leica and Hasselblad) who produce high end very expensive and exclusive cameras and lenses. They can charge exorbitant prices for their products as they are hand made and carry a certain caché that commands a high fee.

Old Town above Hebden Bridge - Panasonic S5II + Pentax 28mm f2.8

Certain YouTubers, poke fun at the second tier manufacturers attempts to sell their cameras and lenses. It’s as if they have to compare themselves to the output of the big three in order to gain some degree of approval. They compare the latest camera or lens with one from the high three and ask you to wonder if it is as good as a Canon/Nikon/Sony equivalent. You have to match their standards otherwise, they don’t quite reach their lofty heights. Don’t get me wrong, the big three make some really beautiful cameras and lenses. They sort of deserve their positions as the go to brands but is it all smoke and mirrors? I have tried cameras from pretty much every main brand apart from Nikon. For a long time, I was a Fujifilm user and loved their quality cameras and lenses. I have used Sony, Canon, Leica, Panasonic, Olympus (briefly) and Pentax. I now shoot with Panasonic and Pentax. They do everything I need them to and are both more than able of producing top rate images to the limit of my capabilities (who sometimes makes a mess of things).

Nutclough Woods, Hebden Bridge Pentax K70 + Pentax 50mm f1.7

At one time, Pentax were probably the leading camera manufacturers in the world. Their cameras and lenses were the envy of most other brands. Nowadays, they occupy a corner of the camera market usually in the shade. They do however, continue to make top built, rugged, feature packed cameras. Their lenses render colour and detail beautifully and they have the added advantage of being backwards compatible with their lens mount. You can attach a Pentax mount lens from the 1970s to their modern bodies without an adapter. I think the only other brand that boasts that is Leica but correct if I’m wrong.

Panasonic Lumix make stunning, weather sealed cameras that out perform some of the big three as hybrid cameras. They are well known for their ability to make excellent video cameras. As stills cameras, they are criminally underrated. Some of my favourite shots were taken on Lumix cameras. They do the simple things well and make highly capable cameras and stunning glass.

Rochdale Canal - Panasonic S5 + Panasonic 50mm f1.8

However much you point out the excellent build quality, the feature packed camera bodies and lenses and the manufacturers desire to listen to its customers, the big three will always hog the limelight because that’s how they keep there. Ricoh Pentax , Fujifilm and Panasonic LUMIX tend to listen to users and introduce features that photographers have asked for. I’m not sure that any of the big three ever do this. They tend to approach photographers as customers who should be happy to receive whatever new innovations they have come up with and just be grateful for what they’ve got.

Quick Break Haifax - Panasonic S5II + Panasonic 85mm f1.8

I have ended up happily using two stellar cameras from Pentax and Panasonic. I don’t feel as if I’ve compromised in any way on quality by going with these cameras. I never felt as if Fujifilm were the poor relations of Sony/Canon/Nikon. Now I’m in the business of taking photographs professionally, I wonder if the camera I choose dictates my ability to work as a professional photographer? Results are ultimately what gets you work and I am trying to focus on honing my craft rather than what tool I use to perform in the craft. I use 40 yr old lenses that stand up to the latest and greatest advances in lens technology. I see this as a bonus afforded to me that the major players would sniff at. Would I like to own a top of line Sony camera or Nikon, maybe so? Until that day comes, I say give the also ran guys a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised!

Start of Summer

It’s beginning to feel like Summer. I was never really a big fan of the season but in recent years, I’ve grown to love it. I embrace warmth, long days, sheltering from the hot sun in cool shade. My photography seems to be reflecting that which is around me. Fields and meadows bursting with delicate flowers.Long grass dancing in the summer breeze.

All the images on this post are made with the Pentax K70 and various lenses. It is a joy to use, reliable and with great image reproduction. My main gear is as ever, evolving. I won’t be updating on any changes in gear as I would prefer my work to be judged on its creative merits rather than any fancy camera or lens. You see the world through the eyes of a photographer as you do with a painter, illustrator and in general, all artists. It is an interpretation of that world which the recipient is able to make a connection. Photography is as much of a valid art-form as any other. We as photographers, try to capture moments and produce our interpretation of that moment.

These images aren’t all the sharpest I could provide. The camera, lenses and photographer are all capable of producing pin sharp photos but I chose to not go for that. Summer isn’t always the sharpest season, in that light and nature are sometimes more of a feeling than an observation. A field of wildflowers with a hazy background can be as evocative as a clinically in focus photo of a flower, tree or landscape. Cloudless skies, strong shadows will make sharp images and I’m a fan of those ; but just because of that admiration, it doesn't exclude more subtle images. Maybe this is part of my creative evolution? I know I can do sharp, I choose not to do so.

The other thing I’ve noticed in the last week or so is how much green there is. All shades of green, some subtle, some vivid but there’s a lot of it. We endure winters where trees and shrubs are stripped of foliage, preserving their energy for surviving in cold, dark inhospitable conditions. These couple of months when trees come into full bloom are the greenest they will be. Later on in summer, the trees show signs of having too much of a good thing.

I like summer. I really like summer, it’s probably my favourite season partly because autumn follows on from summer. Autumn, with its oranges, yellows, browns is often thought of as the top landscape/nature photography season. So many Lightroom presets are created to help you find the perfect edit for your autumnal images. I get that, I understand the allure of those photos. I love capturing them, eating them, printing them. Summer however, is a great time to be out in nature. You wear less, you have longer days to work with. I am fair skinned and the sun likes me. I burn easily but these days, I learn to live with it and compensate for it. I really love observing hot sun from a shady spot. I get all the visual benefits of summer without the downsides of being out in full sun. Ultimately as creatives, we have to work with what’s available and within the confines of our environment and season. The start of summer is a good time for me and let’s hope it continues for the next few months!

Change Is In The Air.

Seasons often meld into each other. When does autumn end or when does winter begin? In the UK it is officially the 1st December and lasts until the end of February. That seems pretty clear. The weather often says otherwise and winter conditions can come early and appear well into what is thought of as spring. Climate change in the past 20 years has exacerbated these anomalies so it is not uncommon to now experience mild winters and late cold spells well into March and even April. There does not seem to be clear demarcations of seasons any longer which can cause problems for photographers. We like reliable weather, not good weather but just reliable. The UK is not known particularly for its reliability but as a rule, we can work around whatever weather appears. As I say on every blog, I am no landscape photographer. I love taking landscape photos, some of which turn out well. I am more of an outdoor photographer, at home in both urban and rural settings.

I really like a moody sky, can cope with rain and wind. I’m uncertain in snow as I haven’t taken enough to hone any skills in those conditions. Autumn suits me down to the ground. Good skies, pops of colour making the options for images all the more plentiful. I have been on a camera gear journey that has proved to be more turbulent than I had hoped. I want a rugged camera that will be at home in bad weather, take detailed images with lots of depth and be reasonably affordable. Panasonic has been very good nearly for all of that. I am however looking at Pentax full frame. Not the most common gear these days although it has a stellar history in photography. It was one of the pioneers of SLR cameras, of IBIS or SR (shake reduction in Pentaxian). It has always had a reputation for producing high quality cameras and lenses. The K1 is apparently, a beast. It has 36.4mp, practically every bell and whistle a photographer could wish for. it’s a pretty lousy video camera but I’m primarily a photographer.

I do wonder if I am satisfying some hidden need for satisfaction by changing my gear as often as I do. I know a new camera won’t make me a better photographer but it might just get me further along the road. My plan is shoot photos with the Pentax and Ricoh GRIIIX and shoot video with the Panasonic S5. The video will contain You Tube videos so I need a good video camera. The S5 is a great photo camera but as I said earlier, it lacks a certain something. Soul is maybe overstated but there is something about the camera you have in your hand. The Ricoh GRIIIX excites me. You feel as if there possibilities where there were not before you picked it up. I recently and briefly owned a Leica SL which managed to do that. Unfortunately, I also felt unworthy of owning such an expensive piece of kit, plus I needed the help of IBIS which it did not have.

Like the seasons, I feel a change in the air. I have been a serious photographer for a couple of years now and have acquired a degree of technical competence. I want a piece of kit capable of easing my ambitions as a photographer. I don’t care if the technology is a few years old, as long as it’s really good. I have been in a creative autumn and now feel the onset of winter. Winter isn’t a bad thing in my book. I love the challenges that winter throws at you, I don’t mind the cold and find it easier to be in snow as long as I don’t have to drive anywhere. It has been tough year in some respects, losing my mum, changes with my family, uncertainties of our future. My partner and I are happy to change and live with change. I have a new grandchild and another imminently about to appear. I love being a grandpa, not at all bothered being one. Next year is a big milestone for me and I suspect, more change will come. I feel my professional photography career is about to take off. Just need to make sure I don't screw things up before it begins!