Pizza Shot: ISO 25,600 with the m4/3 sensor on the Panasonic GM5

I took this photo at Joshua’s Restaurant & Tavern in Brunswick, Maine just to document for my wife and me that we’d had some good pizza there during a little two-day December vacation-between-holidays.

[I also made note of my new favorite beer, Chaga Stout, brewed by Lone Pine Brewing Company in Portland, Maine. Maine has become quite the place for craft brewing.]

In no way does this image have any value to me, other than documenting our evening out.  But what amazed me is how nice it looks, even though the iso was 25,600! Your mileage may vary, of course. And I have to admit that perhaps the texture of the main subject, the pizza, may be hiding some of the noise, and I did move the noise reduction slider in Lightroom Classic CC to a very conservative 25. 

GM5 Panasonic at ISO 25,600

I had in the pocket of my down jacket (it is cold in Maine in December!) the little Panasonic GM5 with the 12-32 kit lens. This shot is at the 12mm focal length. Aperture priority was set at F8 (though I don’t know why I didn’t shoot wide open at F3.5 so as to get another 2+ stops of light!)  Shutter speed chosen by the camera was 1/15 which I believe is the slowest speed when using aperture priority. Auto ISO chose 25,600.

I think this looks pretty good for such a high ISO. Let me point out that this camera model is now four years old. I'd expect the newer m4/3 to perform better.  But then, this is all I had with me other than a cell phone.

Ten years ago when I started with 4/3 gear (Olympus E-500), which used the same sized sensor as m4/3 bodies, I would never have imagined getting a shot at iso 25,600.  I can’t remember, but the highest setting back then might have been only 3,200, and even at that the colors and noise blotches were terrible.

All that being said, if I were to be in the same situation again, I’d try to get the ISO lower.  Wide open at F3.5 would have brought auto ISO down to perhaps 6,400. 

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.

A Memorable Two Day Stay at the Brunswick (Maine) Inn

Last week we thought it might be a nice break in the holiday madness to head to Maine to a bed and breakfast for a couple of mid-week days.  We chose Brunswick because it is an area where we may relocate one day.  We’re already somewhat familiar with the area because we drive through it on old Maine Route 1 several times a year, though never has that drive been in winter.  

The Brunswick Inn was wonderful.  With light Pandora-powered Christmas music in the background and ample decorations in the rooms, we felt like we were on the set of a Hallmark Christmas movie.  The home was built in 1849 by the president of Brunswick Savings Bank.  As an “esteemed” citizen of Brunswick, we read that Robert Bowker shared a pew at the First Parish Church with Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  That’s a nice little piece of Brunswick history.

The large addition in the back of the house, which can be seen in the photos below, was built in 1922 by a Bowdoin professor of International Law who wanted to hold student office hours and conduct seminars at home.  This area is now the dining room.  As you might guess, it was once lined with bookshelves, though as you can see only a few of the shelves remain today.

The house became a bed and breakfast in 1984.  In the early years it was a four room inn.  It has now been expanded to 15 rooms, each with a private bathroom.  The current owners are Eileen and Jim Hornor, who have owned the property since May, 2009.

Comments about my photos:

All of these “Inn” images were taken with the diminutive Panasonic GM5 and Panasonic/Leica 15mm F1.7 prime lens, both thanks to an eBay purchase this fall.  I enjoyed using the combo without a strap.  I just slipped it into the pocket of my fleece vest.  The camera has some limitations of course, in particular if you are looking for 4K video.  I also don’t like the fact that there is no minimum shutter speed setting.  When using aperture priority and auto ISO, it wants to maintain 1/60 second.  Generally that is a good minimum speed, but with a 15mm (30mm equivalent) focal length, a slower speed like 1/30 could be useful. In Shutter Priority mode, 1/30 can be selected but of course you lose control of your aperture setting (the aperture ring on the 15mm becomes non-functional in Shutter Priority mode). 

A partial workaround when shooting in light that requires an ISO higher than the base 200 (as in all of the indoor images here), is to use Manual Mode, setting aperture on the aperture ring at the desired setting and the shutter speed to 1/30.  Auto ISO will then provide a reasonable exposure, the downside being that there is no way to select EV compensation with this configuration.

In Lightroom Classic CC, I only applied the new "Auto" tone feature.  Just a 1-click adjustment!  I did not touch the default Lightroom sharpening and I applied no noise reduction.  I was quite pleased with the shots taken at high ISO.

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 640

ISO 800

ISO 1250

ISO 1600

ISO 2000

ISO 4000

Panasonic GM5 With An Olympus FL-LM3 Flash

The last two posts have been about the Panasonic GM5 camera with the tiny 12-32mm kit zoom and the little Olympus FL-LM3 flash.  They worked well for me indoors at Thanksgiving.  Because both items were new to me it was my first experiment with this gear.  

An early discovery was that there is a flash limitation with the GM5.   I discovered that no matter how I set the camera (P, A, S or M mode), shutter speed could not be set faster than 1/50th.  It could be set lower, but not faster.  I later verified that indeed the flash sync speed is a paltry 1/50th.  I thought perhaps the electronic flash might give me a higher sync speed; but the flash is inoperable with the electronic flash and/or silent shutter.

That being said, what worked well for me was Auto ISO and Aperture priority with the aperture set wide open.  At full zoom of 64mm (equivalent) this meant F5.6 and 1/50th.  Setting the camera’s flash setting to TTL (not manual), the camera would choose an ISO that was typically one stop lower (sometimes two) than I would need without the flash.  For example if without the flash I would need ISO 2000, with the flash the camera would choose ISO 1000.  This means ambient light was cut in half and the flash provided the other half of the light requirement.  To me, using the flash meant a higher quality light (half ambient and half flash which I could bounce in any direction), better color (the flash is close to daylight temperature), and a cleaner file due to the lower ISO.

[The same results can be achieved by using M mode and setting the camera manually to F5.6 and 1/50th. Again, I found Auto ISO worked nicely.]

The flash operates in thousands of a second (1/2,000 ?) and froze most of the subject movement, but since some of the light was ambient light being gathered at 1/50th second, there were one or two occasions where I got a blurry subject and a frozen subject, all rolled into one. One of the examples is below.

In this photo our granddaughter was jumping from the chair (which is why the top of her head is out of the scene, unfortunately).  Notice that the flash froze her left hand during the first 1/2,000 (?) second of the 1/50 second exposure, but the remainder of the 1/50 exposure allowed too much movement to prevent blurring. There are essentially two exposures at work, the flash exposure (very fast) and the ambient light exposure (somewhat slow).

Personally I would not want to change any of the camera settings for this particular shooting situation.  The 1/50th limitation was fine… for snapshots of even active grandchildren at family indoor events.  I am a fan of small flashes.  Even though they require high ISO adjustments, this gives a nice balance between ambient and flash.  It looks more natural this way.  Had I used a more powerful flash, set ISO at base 200 and blasted a bounce flash, ambient light would have been eliminated and the result would look like a flash was used, with a bright foreground and a dark background.  Importantly I also couldn’t put a camera and big flash in my pocket like I did with the GM5 plus FL-LM3.

My "New" Panasonic GM5

My “New” Panasonic GM5 

I am in love with this little camera. This really surprises me, as it and it’s predecessor, the GM1, did not appeal to me when released (October 2013 for the GM1 and September 2015 for the GM5). The GM1 did not appeal to me because it lacks a viewfinder. And I think I was turned away from the GM5 originally because the reviews suggested it was simply too small for the user to be able to ergonomically manage the physical buttons.  

The purchase of a used GM5 on eBay for $360 last month was a rather spontaneous purchase. I’m happy I pressed the “buy now” button. The copy I received is in mint condition. Separately I bought the Panasonic additional grip for $50 which I find to be an essential accessory for a secure hold. 

So far, the small size has not bothered me.  If it were my primary camera perhaps I’d be frustrated with the single small control dial, and the weight imbalance if I use my bigger Olympus and Panasonic glass.

GM5 with available grip (attached to a base plate)

So far, what feels good and decently balanced on the camera is the Panasonic 12-32, 45-175, and 15, and the Olympus 25 and 60.  The 45-175 and 60 seem rather long (3.5” and 3.2” respectively), but they are light. The heaviest lens of the group is the 45-175 at 7.4 ounces. This weight seems to handle nicely on the GM5 with the grip attached. But perhaps that is partly because it zooms internally.  This means that it does not extend when zooming, thereby keeping the center of gravity closer to the camera body. The Olympus 60 weighs 6.5 ounces and does not extend either, as you’d expect for a prime lens. All the other lenses are short and featherweight at less than 5 ounces each. The zooms mentioned above are stabilized.  The primes are not.  The GM5 does not have in-body image stabilization.

What I like is the high quality images I am getting from what is not much bigger than a point and shoot camera, and which fits easily in my jacket, ski parka, or even the hand warming pockets of the LL Bean fleece pull-over I wore during Thanksgiving when I took the photos below.

I made my life easier for the images below by bouncing straight up to the white ceiling.
Arguably, better lighting is obtained by bouncing up 45% from horizontal and
off to one side or the other... or even angling rearward.

All but the first image below were taken with the little Olympus FL LM-3 flash, which I had modified to work on the Panasonic body (see prior blog post). My family is used to me using a flash indoors, so it didn’t seem to interfere with the activities and the antics of the children.  Yes, it would have been nice to have not used a flash at all, as that would have also allowed me to shoot in silent mode. On the other hand, the flash kept the ISO lower (about half) than what would have been needed with ambient light alone. As it was, except for ISO 500 for the first image (and only non-flash photo in the group), these shots are at ISO 800-3200. Without a flash, these ISO numbers would have been 1600-6400.