Frequently you can get discount codes from the creators on there. I think I paid $20 this year.
Durandal
joined 11 months ago
Nebula. It’s a video streaming service that is ad free and directly supports the creators.
Heroic launcher is pretty good alternative. It has a feature to "automatically add to steam" as well that should make a link in the big picture steam deck mode so you don't have to drop to desktop mode to make them work as well.
Remember where you are so you can tell your kids what you were doing before the “xtreme flavor blasted mousepocalypse”.
Legend of Zelda following Twilight Princess.
TimeSplitters following future perfect.
XIII following... the ending of XIII cliffhanger.
Half Life following HL2 E2 cliffhanger... or L4D3... or Portal 3...
Overwatch following Jeff Kaplan
Cave Story following Cave Story 1
Did they try offering a $10 gift card to the other companies? "hah psyche!"
Looks like it happened once... december last year. So likely around the winter sale.
This is something that bugs me slightly about my 18-200 Nikon F DX (APS-C) lens. It is an awesome lens that I’m currently taking everywhere, but I wish it was sharper at times. I guess I will need to get used to switching lenses more often than I currently do. I also might want to experiment with sticking more to fixed focal lengths again. I noticed I always shoot at 28, 35, 50, 85, and very occasionally 105, 135mm full frame equivalent. 300mm or longer for wildlife.
Yeah, you definitely start to find the spots where you need to fill in the gaps. I find that the middle of the focal range is where I notice the biggest need for primes. That 14-42mm is handling most of the "wide to normal" for me right now since I'm not doing full on portraits with this particular camera... if I was I'd probably look into something in the 35mm or 55mm super fast lenses specifically for that task. With birding I've never been able to deal with primes since things change so quickly... I'm constantly using the full range of my 150-600m on my canon... they never stay in one spot lol. I think for a "walking around EDC lens" the 14-42mm has been fantastic. Olympus lenses have surprised me with their sharpness on non-Pro level stuff. Something to think about if you're considering fast lenses in a range and wanting "most bang for your buck" is to consider what the difference is between them in aperture. That 14-42mm at it's widest is f/3.5.... that's roughly 2 stops of light and not a ton of DoF in practice. At it's widest though it's f/5.6 so you're talking about 3.5 stops of light and a more noticeable change in DoF. I kept hearing about the 20mm primes and such.. but since I already had this zoom it felt like it wasn't worth it because I was getting most of what I wanted out of it. I'm still considering that 7artisans 55mm f/1.4 II for a portrait lens because it's gonna offer more of a difference from what I have, but I don't really need it right now.
I'm just rambling off on a tangent though... sounds like you've got it figured out. :)
I would also suggest start looking around for extra batteries. There are some better brands of 3rd party batteries that people seem to like. I've heard really mixed stuff about wasabi... some people love it and some people say it sucks. I've had good luck with neewer and kastar so far. Reason being two fold... 1. if you bought used the battery is also gonna be used and have lower life than it did when it was new and 2. mirrorless cameras use battery much faster than DSLR. I picked up a kastar 2 pack of batteries with a dual charger for my EM5ii for $22 total online. It's been really nice so I can either carry a spare or just swap the low battery for a new one when I get home and not have to wait for any charging. Also aftermarket chargers all seem to work off USB-C which is really convenient as well.
I’ve got a used E-M1 Mark II from my local shop. I found it for fairly cheap ($300, plus $80 for 1 year warranty and tax)
That's a great deal, very nice!
I feel you on that lumix series. I like the way they look and they have good reviews, but the prices are inflated right now for some reason which sucks.
I found a Sony A6100+kit lens for $440 (amazing deal), but after looking into their lenses, I felt like they were too expensive to the point where it wasn’t really worth it getting an entry-level camera.
Absolutely where I ended up. I knew I could get myself in at a certain point and then upgrade and swap things around later as needed, so it wouldn't be wasted. I've been getting really good deals on some quality budget glass for the olympus. I did end up picking up that olympus 40-150mm for $80 in what appears to be perfect condition from mpb. I can tell it's a more budget lens because of some of the stuff being plastic... but the clarity of the glass is absolutely exceptional for that price... and it weighs nothing. I'll include the first couple pictures I took with it here.
For a lens that is half the size of a can of soda, it has that 80-300mm FF equivalent. I can see why people rave about this one as a starting telephoto.
I still don’t own any M43 lenses to test the camera outside, but I’m inclined to get:
Compact kit like the lens you own (14-42mm); All-purpose kit for travel/hiking (14-150mm or something); To be determined between: fast and manual prime (wider angle, ~9-17mm-ish), long reach telephoto (~300mm-ish), or macro (~60mm-ish).
So just so you can see the size of things... That's a Rokinon / Samyang 7.5mm Fisheye, then the 40-150mm Telephoto, and the 14-40mm EZ on the camera next to my computer mouse.
The only thing about those super zooms like the 14-150 is that you can sometimes sacrifice quality. IDK that much about that lens, but I got myself a little camera bag that's like 12 x 8 x 5 with a cross body shoulder strap for idk.. $15-20 online. It holds the camera, the lenses, the flash, the cleaning kit, the filters, the batteries, the charger, and the filters... and there's still room left lol. So Carrying a bunch of M43 lenses is super easy and light weight. Doesn't make me feel like I need to worry about super zoom coverage like I did with my canon. Always boils down to what kind of photos you think you'll be taking. My tactic was to get the 14-42mm based on recommendations online as a "walking in the park lens" to get used to the camera and then I've just been filling in the blanks as I go. Going on MPB and UPP and just poking around there's so many fun lenses in that $60-150 range that it's almost impulse purchases at that point. I'm still considering some of the manual ones from 7artisans as well... even new they're cheap and I keep hearing how they're good. I'm considering picking up extension tubes for my EM5ii to do macro shots at some point like I did for my canon. I still kind of want that 7artisans 3.5mm fisheye but I absolutely don't need... but it seems fun.
I honestly don’t know how wide of an aperture I’ll need yet, but I’ll likely have an idea after feeling how the camera performs in low light with the kit lens.
It's been interesting for me. For fast action in lower light... there is no escaping needing good sensors and fast lenses. But because of the IBIS and some of the fun tools olympus puts in their camera software (live composite is so cool... pretty sure the one you're getting has that)... I have been able to take stills in lower light by using longer exposures and still getting cleaner shots. So I had to kind of reset how I thought about the exposure triangle settings.
I will keep you posted and update the original post soon relating my experience!
I'm excited for you. Using this olympus from 2015 has convinced me that I absolutely want to get a modern flagship M43 camera at some point.
I’ve been watching an insane amount of M43 videos lately.
haha.. I feel you. I binge watch videos about stuff when I'm researching it.
Right now, I kind of feel like that the performance beast (high image quality days) + pocket rangefinder (travel or daily carry) is a really attractive setup, like Lumix G9 plus GX85, or E-M1X plus E-M5 III.
I really couldn't come up with a "perfect camera" that covered every base... and honestly I think it's physically impossible for me. I like the feel of the larger full size DSLR bodies in hand and I like the little tiny M43... so having two makes the most sense for me. Since I'm fine with older bodies the prospect of getting two cameras for less than buying one new camera is appealing. Just a note.. the Lumix GX8 is an upgrade over the GX85 in a few ways without being THAT much bigger, so might look at that. I really leaned into picking a "system". I love my EM5II so far... but I know these lenses will work if I get a Lumix G9II or OM-1 later on so I feel better about investing. It's the same with my canon.. I've almost exclusively gotten EF glass so it can be used on a full frame body if I got one down the road. Practicality aside... I'm also just enjoying having different stuff with a different feel to mess around with so swapping systems (canon and olympus) is more fun than chore.
I want to feel the improvement, but without breaking the bank
The EM5II is from 2015... and it's so feature packed that I'm still learning the toys in it. The IBIS alone is a game changer for some stuff. Also "focus peaking" which is giving you focus indicators on manual lenses opens up a lot of manual lenses that I might have avoided before... which are dirt cheap comparatively and often lighter weight.
Yes, I would aim for 450mm+ full frame equivalent. From experience, I feel like 450mm in full frame is great, 600mm isn’t much of an upgrade, and 800mm is awesome (but heavy).
Yeah, absolutely has to do with what you shoot for sure. I have a 70-300 and felt it just was always a little too short for me so the upgrade to the 150-600 was worth it.. even though it's like a bag of bricks to carry lol. But I'm using it for long distance wildlife, mostly birds. The size and weight are definitely something I have to consider before I leave the house though... so it will be interesting to see in a couple years if I fully transition to M43.
I guess the deeper depth of field and image stabilization is a huge plus for handheld macro, even though a full frame setup (with a different lens) will clearly capture more light and push the ISO further (or use a flash).
Doing some macro stuff you can just shoot. If you really get into macro shots though... you will want a flash, and a diffusion hood no matter what camera system you use. Since I didn't want to invest in a ton of new glass for the occasional macro shot, I picked up an inexpensive set of extension tubes for my canon setup to do macro shots. I'm considering getting a set for my Olympus as well. It's a nice "hack" because it turns any lens you have into a macro (to different degrees) for $20-40 total.
I would probably get one of those “do-it-all” lenses you’re talking about, as well.
There are pros and cons with everything. A wide to telephoto is great for versatility but is going to be larger and you won't be able to get as fast of a lens overall. So it will come down to what you end up doing. If you end up getting a smaller camera that you carry everywhere, you might find you're leaning into one or another style and enjoying certain things more or less. I never liked prime lenses that much until I started carrying one around more but I have come to appreciate them. Also... with your discussion about low light, a prime lens will likely be good because they are so fast... especially once you start getting into the longer ranges. I really like this little 14-42mm but it's like f3.5-5.6... so I'm considering getting a really fast prime. 7artisans makes a 55mm f1.4 that's tempting me for around $130. Looks like it's on sale for $107 right now.. huh.. I'm not sure if I'm saving money or not because these are all starting to go into the "well... it's not THAT much" territory haha
That’s exactly why I’m hesitant to commit to one system or the other. I’m asking myself “do I really need something this light and tiny? Maybe I don’t, perhaps my current setup is already small enough and I won’t care much about a smaller camera. But maybe I do, and it will be a game changer when I realize it”.
I feel you there. I played that game for a loooong time. That's how I talked myself into getting an older body and investing in the lens system. I haven't regretted it yet, if that helps heh. I will point out that MPB has a 14 day return window... so if you get it and a week later you realize "wow.. this isn't it..." there are options. I don't know if there are any catches... I don't think so... but I'd make sure. I believe UPP does as well. No clue on KEH but their prices can't match MPB and UPP most of the time.
Options are too volatile right now, on all platforms: Craigslist, eBay, Roberts Camera, KEH, MPB, etc. I’ll have consider my options carefully when I get my money from KEH.
For me I ruled out everything but the "reputable" sites because I had a limited budget and if something like craigslist or ebay was a lemon it would be wasted money. With MPB and UPP... they warranty the items and are giving it a once over before they even list it... which gave me a lot more peace of mind. My camera body from UPP fell under a 1 year extended warranty even which was cool.
I’ll start with one of those bodes plus an all-purpose wide to mid range zoom and see how I like it for “everyday” stuff.
That's a good starting point. You might also consider a small prime lens like a 20mm or 35mm because they're so freakin' tiny and you can get a very fast lens in those sized for a reasonable price, they will be fun for shooting while wandering and if you go with a M43 you could probably stick it in a pocket (jack or cargo pants at least heh).
If you do finally decide on something I'd love to hear back and see how it goes. :) 📷
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I hope we get pictures of bumblebees on nickels soon.. five bees a for a quarter I'd say.