July 5th, 2026

Lumix G80 & Lumix G 20/1.7

Time to Hit the Fields

The recent crazy weather in Poland hasn't exactly made cycling photo trips easy. We’ve either been dealing with heatwaves pushing past 35 degrees, or, like recently, violent storms with gale-force winds. As it happened, last Sunday was rainy for most of the day, but some sun finally peeked out after 6:00 PM. The clouds looming in the south looked a bit menacing, but I’m not made of sugar. I threw on some sweatpants, grabbed my camera, grabbed my fanny pack, and… tossed it all into my bike basket. Why? Because I gave my ride a little tuning, but more on that in a moment.

I set off into the fields toward my favorite roadside shrine, and the first thing I noticed is that it’s the year of the corn. It’s everywhere again. It’s getting quite tall, and it’s fiercely green. The incredible thing is that the ground was so bone-dry from the recent heatwaves that, despite the fresh rain, it wasn't nearly as muddy as I expected. The soil practically soaked up everything.

I rode up to the shrine. The corn isn't quite tall enough yet to give a nice background separation, but the little bench next to the shrine looks pretty good against it on its own. Some cyclist left an empty water bottle behind. Quite a spendthrift, considering they introduced a bottle deposit system here this year.

And here is my pimped-up ride. I attached a basket to the back and another one to the front. Now the bike looks like I stole it from my wife or daughter, but I don't care. Grocery shopping is way more convenient now. Plus, these baskets are surprisingly spacious. Each can hold a camera bag, and the rear one can even fit a backpack. For this trip, I packed my camera and phone into my fanny pack and chucked it into the front basket. Very handy. And when I took off my hoodie (yes, it was chilly enough that I left the house in a hoodie - Polish summer in a nutshell) and tossed it in the back, it was really nice to have a soft spot in the basket to briefly rest my camera on. As long as the bike is standing and doesn't tip over, that is - which is why I recommend doing this on stable ground. One downside of the rear basket is that getting on and off the bike now requires the agility of Jackie Chan. I have to swing my leg super high, like I'm doing a roundhouse kick. No big deal, though - I hit the gym, I’ve got the skills.

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Pylons in the Corn

There are quite a few high-voltage pylons out in these specific fields, so I decided to hunt for some cool compositions again. Unfortunately, I won't be able to get a summery, compressed shot of these pylons like I did in the winter. Those cheeky bastards planted corn, and from the exact spot where I framed my shot at 210mm, the corn completely blocks the view. Bummer.

I brought along my Lumix G80 with the 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens. It’s a Micro Four Thirds sensor, giving a field of view equivalent to a 40mm lens. So roughly the equivalent of what I'd get with my Canon 6D and the 40mm f/2.8. Only half the size. Is it more comfortable? The G80 actually has a pretty great grip for such a little guy. I generally prefer an OVF on a DSLR, but the fully articulating screen on the Lumix comes in handy. That, and the image stabilization, which I used for some of later shots. Funny enough, I've been taking advantage of these perks a lot more lately. In the past, I preferred just bumping up the ISO, especially on my bulletproof Nikons.

I wandered around the area a bit looking for some phallic compositions and headed toward the lake. You can sometimes find cool stuff there, and it figured to be empty since it had been pouring all day. Now, as I look at these photos from the fields, I have to conclude that these 16-megapixel M43 sensors render colors really beautifully, and they are quite a joy to work with.

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The Lake Known as the Silesian Sea

Just as I expected. A bit more mud under the trees and not a living soul in sight. I rode up to my favorite stairs, messed around there for a bit, and took a shot I’ve already taken dozens of times. And once again, I like it. It's the classic Engineer Mamoń's Law. Here’s a wink to Kuba and every other Polish reader out there; to the rest of you, I have to apologize for the obscure cultural inside joke.

But I must admit, the light was really on my side that day. I love how this camera combo handles highlights. I even like that rainbow flare in the bottom right corner; it blends into the frame quite nicely.

The golden, backlit highlights behind the tree in this shot are also really neat. I leaned into these idyllic, pastoral shots somewhat out of necessity. As luck would have it, the Garbage Goblin hasn't visited in a while, so the area is actually relatively clean.

I did, however, take a lot of photos of birch trees. Birches are always fun to photograph. It's just a shame there are no wild zebras or Dalmatians roaming around here.

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Time to Head Home

The whole ride took me a little under two hours. Mostly, I rode to the very end of the shoreline, right up to the dam, and tried to hunt down some interesting angles there too.

Because of the earlier rain, the greens in these photos are noticeably more vibrant than usual. Per tradition, I also kept my eye out for geometry and shapes. I tried combining different splashes of color. It even got me pondering whether I should get back into building and painting dioramas. Even just tiny vignettes, a few centimeters across, meant for a single miniature. I get the feeling that after all these years of photography, I’d be much better at it than I used to be. It’s pretty solid motivation to finally clean up my workshop.

That’s all for today. See you soon!

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