I’m Now Taking the Panasonic GM5 with me Skiing

For many years I’ve been skiing with the Panasonic weatherproof TS3 point and shoot camera in my ski parka pocket.  I’ve also taken this camera on fishing trips.  The images have been fine, but whenever I encountered what might make a “portfolio” shot (rarely) I wished I had something with me with a bit more image quality.  Nevertheless, for electronic viewing all is good; but I have found that when printing anything more than perhaps 8” x 10”, the images seem smeared and lack detail in random low contrast areas, even at a normal viewing distance.  That being said, non-photographers don’t really notice this; I wish I could learn from them as it would save me a lot of money on gear.

I could argue that my photos while skiing have been mere snapshots (perhaps with one or two exceptions) for which better image quality was not needed.  After all, the quality is just fine for sharing as jpg attachments to emails and texts, and for posting on Facebook or Instagram.  For all of these uses I never use anything more than a 1,200 pixel wide or tall image, which means cropping or downsizing from the native 4000 x 3000 pixel resolution (12mp). 

The main advantages of the TS3 are (1) size, (2) weatherproof, cold proof, shock proof, (3) 28-128mm equivalent zoom lens (5) one-handed operation. The disadvantages include (1) a zoom toggle located so it is nearly impossible to NOT press it with your right thumb when shooting one-handed, (2) three image bracketing is not “sticky”, in other words you must go into the menu to set it each time you turn on the camera, and (3) images are jpg only which greatly reduces post processing latitude.

Quick link to camerasize.com: http://j.mp/2oSMuBL

So…

This season, after acquiring a used GM5 in the fall, I decided to carry something with the potential for better image quality, albeit at the cost of (1) larger size, (2) no weathersealing, (3) a lens limited to 24-64mm equivalent, and (4) the need to use two hands to operate it. 

But I like the fact that this little mFT camera has a sensor that is significantly bigger (the squared dimension is approximately 8x larger) than the Panasonic TS3.  And bracketing is “sticky” so that once set it is active each time I power up.  I like to bracket when out skiing, as getting an accurate exposure is difficult on the snow.  Rather than fuss around getting the “right” exposure, it is easier to shoot a bracket and worry about it at home. I don’t combine images, I just pick the best of a three shot bracket. I also appreciate that the GM5 has a viewfinder.  In bright sunshine an LCD is hard (for me) to see, making it a nightmare to compose. Though the EVF is quite small, it is acceptable and I prefer it over the LCD.

Here are a few shots I like.  No dramatic landscapes or snowscapes, unfortunately. We don’t have the same huge panoramas here in New England that my friends in Rockies do.