Photographing Australia

Opera House as viewed from Circular Quay ferry

My husband and I recently got back from a 3-month trip in Australia!  Because we were limited on what we could bring, I brought only my Panasonic LX-5 and it served me well, at least in the land- and urban-scapes department.  There were of course a few times where I wished I had my Canon 20D with a long lens to photograph animals (the animals in Australia are so exotic!).

Total Solar Eclipse near Cairns, QLD

We started our trip in the far northeast city of Cairns, Queensland, where we lingered for a couple weeks to explore the tropical beaches and rainforest, and to be in position to view the Total Solar Eclipse of November 14th, 2012.  We were extremely fortunate that the clouds parted where we were (Ellis Beach) just before and throughout totality.  The moment of totality is so brief (2 minutes!), so I was both trying to enjoy the moment, and to capture it on camera.  I set up the LX-5 on my Gorillapod, hoping to get the both of us viewing the total eclipse, but I under-estimated shutter time required and ended up with only a ghost of myself as I got up prematurely to check on the camera.

Port Douglas, QLD

I'm always a sucker for tropical beaches and palm trees, and the tropical coast of Australia provided.  One unique thing about this coast, though, is that the presence of the Great Barrier Reef effects the nature of the beaches.  There is very little surf, and the beaches seem rather muddy.  Not to mention the deadly box jellyfish and crocodiles that inhabit these waters.

Blue Mountains, NSW

Making our way down the coast, we eventually reached the Blue Mountains near Sydney.  Here we encountered abundant fern and eucalyptus forests, and attractive waterfalls.  Being the rock climbers that we are, we got down to business and tore up our fingertips on the sharp and abrasive cliff faces here.  We of course spent a few days exploring Sydney, capturing images of the iconic Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and the huge cruise ships.

Mount Arapiles

We left the coast to head for the world-renowned climbing areas of Mount Arapiles and Grampians (via the Australian capitol of Canberra).  It is inland where we saw a greater abundance of kangaroos, who love to feed in the grassy fields.  We got in a lot of rock climbing, 25 days total during our time in Australia!

Limestone cliffs along the Great Ocean Road

But even doing an activity you love, it becomes time to move on to see new sights.  We headed west into South Australia then made our way along the Great Ocean Road and Otway National Park. The Southern Ocean is wild and turbulent, and beats along the southern shores of Australia.  For dramatic coastal scenery, the Great Ocean Road is spectacular.  We spent a few nights in Otway National Park, enjoying spotting the koala bears up in the eucalyptus trees.

Australian Open tennis in Melbourne

But finally we had to make our way back to Melbourne, where we were able to watch three days of Australian Open tennis, and alas, to fly back home.

I took hundreds of photographs with my LX-5 while in Australia and I feel the camera served me well.  It was freeing to be a "lightweight photographer" in such a faraway land.

Fall in Northern Arizona

Our recent visit to Flagstaff coincided with one of the most spectacular displays of fall color that can be had in Arizona.  The abundant aspen groves that reside on the San Francisco Peaks were aglow with yellow fire during our October 1st hike up the Inner Basin trail from Locket Meadow.  A few images from my LX5:

The LX5 At Night

Milky Way setting behind Mt. Whitney and adjoining spires

On a recent backpacking trip in the high Sierras of California, it was a no-brainer for me to only take my compact Panasonic LX5 camera and Gorillapod tripod.  After all, not only was I hiking a steep trail (Mountaineer's Route) with a 4750-foot elevation gain in 4 miles, I had to carry the usual backpacking stuff PLUS rock climbing gear on my back!  But in taking this lightweight camera (in a waist pouch), I wasn't giving up very much in capability, even when photographing a night sky.  On our last night camped at Iceberg, I awakened in the middle of the night to find a sky exploding with stars.  Remember, at high altitude there is less atmosphere to block the stars!  Our camp at Iceberg Lake, at the base of Mount Whitney, was at an elevation of 12,600 feet, so not much atmosphere there!  Just enough to breathe, sort of.

So upon seeing this wonderfully starry sky I decided to get out of my warm down bag and start layering all my clothes and try to photograph the stars with my LX5 mounted on my Gorillapod.  My wonderful husband decided to get up too, and was very helpful in assisting me with his opinions and advice for position, exposure, light-painting etc.

I set the camera to Manual mode, set f/number to its widest setting (f/2.0), set ISO to 1600 (ouch), and exposure time to 20 seconds.  Using my Gorillapod, I set the camera on a rock and pointed so that I'd get silhouettes of Mount Whitney and the adjoining granite buttresses against the starry sky.  We spent an hour and half trying different things, including using our meager headlamps to paint Mount Whitney (futile effort) and illuminate the inside of our tent (which just ended up showcasing the high digital noise this camera has at ISO 1600).  But the best result of the endeavor, the photo I post here, is not bad, I think...

Some LX5 explorations on the billiards table

One of the great things about the LX5 optics is the f/2.0 lens.  I am curious how much background blur I could get with the aperture wide open, given that the LX5 has a small sensor compared to a dSLR.  I know I'll continue to explore that feature, but I did an initial look on our billiards table.  In the widest angle setting, I positioned the camera very close to the number 4 ball and selectively auto-focused on that.  Below is a side-by-side comparison of f/2.0 vs. f/4.0.  The background is certainly blurrier in the f/2.0 shot, but also interesting to compare is how the number 15 ball is blurry in the f/2.0 shot, but much sharper in the f/4.0 shot.  I should have taken an f/8.0 shot, but since reading that these compact cameras suffer from diffraction blur beyond about f/4.5 I thought I'd "focus" my efforts at about f/4.0.

And just a quick comparison of the zoom range effect on viewing angle.  Note that the zoom range of the LX5 is 24 to 90 mm (35mm camera equivalent).  Obviously I was closer to the ball at the widest angle, but this image is actually also a visual comparison of the closest focusing distance between the two zoom ranges.    I set the camera down onto the table at a distance where it would not focus (giving me red warning indicators), and kept sliding the camera further away until the camera could successfully focus.  I had the macro focus switch on (on the left side of the lens) and used autofocus to selectively focus on the number "12".  Note that when focusing at the closest range possible, the background balls end up blurred at f/4.0:

In macro mode (switch on left side of lens) the closest focusing distance at wide angle is extremely close (1 cm), but when zoomed in at the longest focal length it is much larger (30 cm is the spec I saw).  One way to reduce the minimum focusing distance at longer focal length is to use a close-up lens.  I just happened to have one, a cheap Rolev +2 diopter I bought back in the early 1980's for my Olympus OM-2 camera.  It just happened to have 52mm threads that screw right on to my LX5 adapter tube.  So below is a visual comparison of the minimum focusing distance at full zoom, with and without the close-up lens:

I was concerned that the Rolev diopter, given that it is an inexpensive single-element close-up lens, would cause a degradation in image quality, but in this case I do not see an adverse effect.  I think it's worth continued explorations...

Why I Replaced My Dear Canon G9

Scratched front element on my G9

My Canon G9 was dear to me because in my experience I found that more and more I desired, no needed really, to be a "lightweight photographer".  And the G9 made great images for me for over 4 years.  Now, not so much.  Now there are some awfully deep scratches on the front element that, in some lighting scenarios, just destroys the image quality.  When pointing into a back-lit scene, I would get resultant light spots caused by the sun's light refracting on the scratches.  For a few months I told myself that I could live with that.  But after taking the G9 as my sole camera on a backpacking trip earlier this year into the Grand Canyon and finding that the scratches also degraded the image even in overcast light, I decided I needed to do something about it.

Light spots caused by lens scratches

Light spot on black shorts, even in overcast light

My choices were to 1) buy a lens kit and ask Mark (who's handy with electronics and small parts) to replace it (cost about $50), 2) send the camera to Canon to have them replace the lens kit (cost at least $150), or 3) to look into a replacement compact camera (cost about $370).  I agonized over this decision for awhile because I am naturally a frugal person and I like to use equipment until they die and cannot be resurrected (my only dSLR is the Canon 20D, purchased in 2005 and still going strong!).  I considered option 1 until I simply could not find instructions on the Internet on how to replace the lens element yourself.  I thought there was of course risk inherent in that solution.  Option 2 was tempting, but the cost of repair was starting to approach half the cost of a new camera (thankfully, the wonders of technology are currently acting as a hedge against inflation).  So I started looking at Option 3.

I usually try to be ignorant of the latest and greatest in camera technology because I don't want to find myself tempted by what I "need" to have.  But I started looking at what is out there now, and I found myself zeroing in on the Canon S100.  I was attracted to the compact size, smaller than my G9, and the wide angle capability of 24mm equivalent (compared to G9's 35mm equivalent widest angle).  I have often wished for a wider viewing angle on my G9 so 24mm would be great!  So I wrote up a list of G9 features vs. S100 so I could lay out for myself the additional capability I would get with a new camera (aside from images not marred from lens scratches, of course).  When I started reading reviews, however, some of the blush of the S100 started to diminish as I read about poor battery life.  When I am in the back-country I don't want to be plagued with that.

Then I wondered what Darwin Wiggett (who turned me on to the Canon G9) was using as a compact camera these days.  He did upgrade to a G11 then I gather has since adopted a more minimalist stance and has gotten rid of any extraneous camera gear, including his G11.  But his wife, Samantha, who is also a photographer, found herself choosing a Panasonic DMC-LX5 as her compact run-around camera (I guess they actually share the LX5).  Hmm...I remember when I was looking into a compact camera back in 2008 I was considering I think it was the LX2 at the time.  But what's this LX5 about?

Well, upon further study into the LX5 I decided it was the camera for me.  Though a tiny bit bigger than the S100 (though still lighter and about the same size as the G9), it has some advantages over the S100:  longer battery life, wider aperture at maximum zoom (f/3.3), greater range of exposure compensation (+3ev), and still has the wonderfully appealing 24mm equivalent at it's widest angle.  Oh, and it has a nice solid lens cap to protect that big beautiful Leica lens!

My new baby

So now I'm a proud owner of an LX5, and I intend to use it quite extensively.  And hopefully take better care of it than I did my Canon G9!

P.S.  If you care to see more photos from that Grand Canyon backpack, I wrote a trip report here.