Today’s Post by Joe Farace
A bargain is something you have to find a use for once you have bought it.—Benjamin Franklin
If you’re a regular reader you already know that I am a fan of buying used and refurb camera gear. That’s because my philosophy has always been, “I’m going to use’em anyway…”
For some reason I seem to have more Micro Four-thirds camera bodies than might otherwise appear sane and for similar reasons I have few, if any, really good lenses. That began changing recently when I added the M.Zuiko Digital 25mm f/1.8 and the M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro lenses to my collection. Both of these tenses were refurbs I purchased directly from the Olympus refurb webpage, which since being run by OM Systems may not be a place to get bargains on Olympus cameras and lenses as it once was. (I purchased my beloved Pen F there before the change of ownership.)
Over Coffee
One day, my pal Barry Staver and I were sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts (back when I used to eat donuts) at Dunkin’ and talking about lenses for the Micro Four-thirds cameras we both love shooting. Barry had just purchased two new Panasonic Lumix Leica zoom lenses and we got talking about our favorite lenses. I told him that I loved the Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 Asph. Mega OIS lens, which‘s was a lens I tested for a print magazine back when they were a thing. There many things that I love about the Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro lens, perhaps it’s also its usefulness as a portrait lens too.
My only problem was with the lens’s price tag but later, over breakfast on Saturday morning, Mary asked me about this lens and she poked around on her iPhone and discovers that used versions could be found on KEH Camera for under $400. She encouraged, well insisted, that I buy it right then and there. (I have been told that not all wives are this supportive of their husband’s camera gear purchases but Mary has always been like this.) It turned out that KEH would also give me an extra five percent off the price when signing up for their newsletter, which I did bringing the price of an EXC quality used Leica 45mm f/2.8 lens down to $373.53, which seemed like a heckuva deal to me. I used Mary’s iPhone to place the order and in the past I’ve found that most eCommerce sites really aren’t that usable on a cell phone but my experience with KEH’s site was smooth and painless.
How I made these shots: I photographed these little bits and pieces of car at the monthly Cars and Coffee event that is sponsored by the Vehicle Vault in Parker, Colorado. The Dodge Ram hood ornament was photographed using the Panasonic Lumix G9 (that I no longer own, hoping to replace it with a Mark II) and the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 Asph. Mega OIS lens wide open with an exposure of 1/4000 sec at ISO 320 to emphasize the lens’s bokeh. The engine compartment shot at right used the same gear setup with a Program mode exposure setting of 1/640 sec at f/8 and ISO 320, my go-to ISO choice for outdoor car shows.
One of my favorite books—and maybe the best one on the subject—about photographing cars is James Mann’s How to Photograph Cars. It’s available on Amazon for just $22.95 with used copies starting around fourteen bucks.