Panasonic Lumix GX7 and Yashica Makro-Planar in the Punjab by Ibraar Hussain

31 Comments

1. A very engaging set of portraits, beautifully shot with great gear. A rare treat. Thanks for sharing.
   Maybe I should rethink my plan of purchasing the new Samsung NX 500.

   • The GX7 is going for a very good price and I think you should test one out see if you likeit. Thanks again!

2. These are absolutely beautiful shots. The portraits have a warmth and intimacy that says a lot not only about Ibraar’s eye but also his ability to establish great rapport with his subjects. I would like to see more posts from talented people whose work with a $ 600 camera and a $ 600 lens puts many Leica, Zeiss, Voigtlander users with 10 times the equipment cost to shame.

   • Thanks ever so much Tony.
     That Yashica lens cost me about $150! That is a veritable Bargain for a Carl Zeiss Makro Planar!

     • Why CZ Makro Planar and not that good old one Macro Yashinon Tomioka 60mm f2.8 in M42 mount ? (both looks like similar)
       😉

3. Ibraar, as usual I enjoyed your photo set very much. You know how to approach the local people to get stunning portraits.

   • Thanks Hugo.
     I was impressed with the GX7 – it’s a shame my plans were cut short as I would’ve shot many more pictures with it.

4. You write about lenses and cameras a lot, but your real talent lies elsewhere: you get strangers to allow you to photograph them with great result!
   I am, like you, in my forties, and experience the same frustration when using manual focus. I tend to focus on the eyelashes, but often don’t nail the focus perfectly, even though my camera (the Nikon V1) has a really good EVF. Another thing regaring using legacy lenses is that there is no in-camera correction. So I have learned to do these corrections in post (esp. contrast and sharpness). The V1 doesn’t have in-body stabilisation, while the GX7 does, which makes it a better camera than my V1, certainly when using longer lenses.
   I also own the panasonic GH3, their flagship camera, but I find the EVF to be horrible, making it impossible to use the GH3 with legacy lenses, which is a shame. I still don’t get it why panasonic didn’t use the GX7 EVF on their GH-cameras…

   • Thanks Ivan, I’ve never handled the GH3 so cannot comment, though I have benefited from Focus Peaking which helps nail a lot of focus seeing as the EVF’s lack the micro prism type collars normal viewfinders for Manual lenses used to have.
     I reckon the tech will improve with time.
     As for strangers, 🙂 I used to be very apprehensive and shy, but I just chat and then ask if I can snap them without making them feel as if they’re ‘exhibits’ or specimens or freaks to show my Western friends, and the beggars I just had a quick chat and handed a few Rupees!

5. The pictures are beautiful! Congratulations!
   This camera is great especially if you consider at what price you can buy it now. But i prefer my OMD EM1 from a handling perspective.

   • Thanks Peter, I agree the OMD EM1 ihandles better – then again it is a more or less Pro body as far as M4/3 is concerned.
     A shame Olympus decided to make their kit in China though which is not good, as all the other major makers high end gear is Japanese or German made.

6. Gem of a camera.. Unhralded and under the radar of most people. Small enough to fit in a coat pocket. lLove the silent feature. Love the tilting touch screen. Only thing that it misses is no auto ISO in manual mode. And I’m not sure what features you’d sacrifice by not using dedicated Panasonic or Olympus lenses

7. Hope you enjoyed your trip and some nice photos. Not sure what you mean by the *real* Punjab – I’m sure some may consider Punjab state as the *real* Punjab.

   • Of course Punjab is split into two now – but I was just indulging in some ball busting! 😉 winding my Indian friends up a bit!
     As Kipling says in Kim “Whoever holds Zamzama, Holds The Punjab”. Lahore is also or rather was the capital of The Punjab, and the five rivers which give the Punjab it’s name more or less all are prominent in this region.

8. A most interesting presentation. So, thank you! ‘Kashmiri Village Girl’ is my favourite.

   This camera has its EVF exactly where it should be – right in the corner. I wish Sony would have done this in the A7 bodies as it did with the NEX-7. Seriously, there is no need to copy SLRs. And the fact that it tilts – bonus.

   I am a bit interested in the ‘Sain’ boy whom you describe as divinely gifted. Does this mean he is a prophet? Is he psychic? Did you get a chance to talk to him?

   • There “Sain’s” in general are thought to give good luck and pretty much taken care of nicely – in my western mind this lad seems to be mentally and physically disabled – but this disability is seen as a Gift – not sure why.
     I didn’t talk much, just listened to him chatting to the stall holder, I said hello and then asked if I could photograph him.

9. Hello Ibraar. I love your photos as always, well done!
   On the GX7 – you should look at the settings some more. I had mine set up for manual lenses to aperture priority with auto iso, back dial to exposure compensation and push back dial for magnification. worked well for me at least.
   Good luck and all the best!

10. This is a wonderfully moving album of portraits. I pause to think about people living so far away from me. The colors are especially striking, and the square format works exceedingly well online. A remarkably affecting report. Thank you.

    • Thanks Stefan, I’m glad you like the Square format – I find it to be so easy to compose for and very forgiving.

11. Wonderful set of protraits! Very nicely taken and composed. I am using EM1 and I totally agreed with your statement about DSLR APC. May be for full frame DSLR, I simply will never go back to the bulk size and continue my investment with the wonderful m4/3
    I am curious about your Sigma and comments I read, did not say it is good or if you think otherwise. Care to say a few words more about this lens? Love its size. BTW, I am also thinking of a second body to my EM1, it is either a silver color EM1 or a GX7. I love that tilting EVF feature very much.

    • The Sigma gives 60mm in 35mm terms, bit too long for a standard lens but is very good for people pictures as it’s very sharp with good contrast.
      There’s also a 120mm equivalent f2.8 Sigma DN and one that is a nice standard length of 38mm f2.8 too. Very nice japanese made compact lenses.

12. I have really enjoyed seeing your images. Of course, I knew this as soon as I saw your name in the heading! I love your travel images and narratives.

13. When i read the name IBRAAR HUSSAIN on Steve’s site, i have a little smile on my face, oh yes ! it’s gonna be a good day ! Thank you for this new and wonderful chapter of the adventures of Hussain

14. A wonderful collection of photos with plenty of ‘pop’. Did you do any other post processing, if not, all the more impressive.

    • Only slight USM, resized to 1200 and added a border in Photoshop.
      All basically OOC Jpegs at Vivid setting.

15. Thanks Ibraar. I found it very interesting and liked the portraits.
    I would like to ask you how you find the GX7 for landscape photography. I like very much how compact it is, and also found it very sharp even with the X zoom lenses. However I found the dynamic range of the GX1 too short, and then I bought the A7, which requires bigger lenses.
    Julio.

    • Hi Julio, I haven’t shot any landscapes with it – well, wide ones anyway – I did one or two at longer ranges such as this:
      https://www.flickr.com/photos/71817058@N08/16645120040/
      I find the DR/Latitude very good, and it can be adjusted in Menu.

      Excellent camera.

      • Thanks Ibraar

16. NB. Picture 10 (The Rail Passenger) was shot with the Sigma, and Picture 22 (the Kashmiri school boy) was shot with a 40-150mm M Zuiko ED I have (and hardly used).

17. Just wonderful set of photos! Really nice feel to the renders that Yeshiva gives. The biggest benefit to mirror-less is the endless amount of legacy glass waiting to be uncovered out there! 🙂

    About the exposure compensation on the GX7. When I first got mine I had the same issue and complaint at first. There is 2 ways to fix this.

    In the main custom menu there is a function called “Dial Set” Here you can change what the dials do and add a dedicated Exposure compensation to either the the front or rear dial that is active during A and S priority settings (maybe more).

    The other tidbit I figured out, and forgive me for not remembering if this is a default setting or not, but you can actually press “in” the rear dial like a button. This brings up the Exposure compensation table that is then adjustable by the front dial. I believe this works in all settings P/A/S/M/SCN etc and once you get used to it, its actually a clever way of adding a third function to 2 dials 😉

    Hope that helps!

    P.S. I think the GX7 is very underrated m43 camera. If the IBIS was a tad better and worked in video mode it would be hard to beat even by the newer cameras.

    • Thanks man, I did work it out eventually, but I absolutely dislike those SLR type jog dials and if Panasonic had included an old skool compensation dial it would be the icing on the cake.

      Thanks again

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