Zuiko and Olympus E-620 Up Close

I went to the Olympus E-system luncheon... and had a very close encounter with the E-620!!!

E-30 with Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm f2.0 SWD

35mm, f/2.0, 1/80s, ISO500, Pin Hole ART Filter

Such a petite camera.. but don't let its appearance full you!! It's jam-packed with features that will make many envy!!! The viewfinder is luxurios for such a small package!!! And the HLD-5 grip is just marvelous for its size!!!

This is a shot showing the size in the hands of an average Asian guy. His left hand is cusping the battery grip, and the lens attached is the standard kit 14-42mm lens.

This is one baby you got to see to believe!!!

The flippable LCD is something this baby has in common with its bigger brothers E-30 and E-3. And all I can say is that, this is way so COOL!!!

Zuiko and a Fire Hydrant

While I was waiting for my wife at work, I did a short walkabout at KL Sentral.

Near Hilton, I found a fire hydrant. The location was perfect to get some shots; blurred shots effects! I sat at the railing adorning the 5-foot walkway, and shot away inconspicuously using Live View and the flippable LCD.

E-30 with Zuiko Digital ED50mm F2.0 MACRO

50mm, f/5.0, 1/13s, ISO100, Pin Hole ART Filter

I wish our Pos Laju service is as fast as depicted in this image!! Sigh....

The E-30 and Zuiko Digital 50mm F2.0 MACRO proved to be the perfect choice to have the frame just right from my vantage point. I chose the E-30 Art Filters mode and shot away; CLik! CliCk! cLIcK!

Other interesting shots of the fire hydrant...

  

Zuiko and Urbanscapes

E-510 with Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 & Hoya C-PL 72mm

11mm, f/4.5, 1/320s, ISO100, -0.3EV

The taxi cab was making a turn, and I figured this added a good element to the image.

The point of view from below added impact with the strong blu sky as the background. The colorful posters addorning the building were the main attraction. It was very striking!

Polarization was at the maximum to further saturate the strong colors. That was the key element to this image. Colors, colors & colors!

Zuiko and a Wedding

Wedding photography! A type of photography that I would categorize as chaos. Not in a sense of the photographer losing his/her mind, but in the sense that the whole event is just chaos.

I would say that most of the time, the photographer has no control of the situation and must make the best out of it.

In this instance, the best way to approach it is through a technique known as wedding photojournalism.

The principle is simple. The photographer will use all the resources at hand to capture any artistic opportunity without the bride and groom's awareness. So called candid, but with a complete story to tell!

A good start to do a wedding job is to use the E-3 or E-30, with a very good zoom lens either the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 or the Zuiko Digital ED12-60mm f2.8-4.0. A strong flash is a must; thus, only the FL-50R qualify. The battery grip will be also helpful to double the shoot rate and to assist in portraiture framing. Carry spare batteries for the body and also the flash. A high capacity memory card is recommended such as the SanDisk Xtreme III 4GB or 8GB.

Additional lenses to assist include the Zuiko Digital ED50-200mm f2.8-3.5, Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 and the Zuiko Digital ED50mm f2.0 Macro. Though, I would say that the normal zoom lenses will be main workhorse and will cover up to 80% of the total shots.

This was a wedding I did about 9 months ago. It was only for 1 session, the groom's reception.

This image is the typical classic couple wedding shot. With the E-3, Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 and FL-50R. The focal length was 54mm with aperture of f/3.5 and shutter speed of 1/100s. The sensitivity was set to ISO400.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 and FL-50R

23mm, f/5.0, 1/25s, ISO400, -0.3EV

Another important aspect of wedding photography is the post-processing workflow. Typical album is a 22-page 8RW layout, with an assortment of photos up to 150 shots!! It is up to the photographer to finalize the layout. And the amount of work is double the photo shoot job!! So, be prepared!!!!

Please click for full album.

Zuiko and High Dynamic Range

High Dynamic Range... what does that mean?

If we understand the Zone System, a HDR image should be able to capture up to 11 stops from Zone O to Zone X. Thus, the image will have tonal gradations of up to 2048 shades. This is quite high for a sensor to capture, and in most cases, if the image is shot in JPEG, only 8 stops are captured. As such, to get HDR image, it is imminent to use multiple images to stretch the dynamic range.

E-3 with Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5

11mm, f/5.6, 1/640s, ISO200, -0.3EV

This is a shot of Tanah Lot in Bali, Indonesia. The sun was setting, and the landscape struck a chord for an HDR scene. Click on the image to see a bigger picture.

I used the E-3 with the Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 lens and captured in RAW format. Knowing that the E-3 is able to capture up to 9-10 stops of dynamic range, I opted to use 1 RAW file to make a composite of 3 JPEG files in different exposure compensation. Then, I processed the JPEGs in steps of +2.0EV, +0.5EV and -1.0EV.

Using the GIMP software, I merged the 3 JPEG files using contrast masking procedures, and VOILA!!! A bit of advice: Watch out for color shifts. This can be very difficult to correct if got it wrong in the first place.

Introducing the Olympus E-620

Hmmmm.. this looks more like E-420/520 replacement.

What I like most from the specifications are:

1. 7 AF points, with 5 points being cross-hair sensors
2. Flippable LCD screen
3. External White Balance sensor
4. HLD-5 battery grip

What I am bit disappointed are:

1. Smallish Optical Viewfinder
2. Not weather-sealed (hey, Pentax can do it!!)
3. No dedicated DoF preview button
4. Only one command dial

In all, this is a good range for the E-system.

A New E-SLR Cometh?

I was taken by surprise when I received this invite from Olympus Malaysia for a lunch gathering on the 28th of this month. First of all, I was been told upfront about the gathering due to my review of the E-30 back in late December 2008. But, the first line item on the agenda was really a surprise!!!

I was told by a very reliable source that the new E-SLR will be between the recently launched E-30 and E-520. Another TWEENER?

I hope it will have something different to offer from the rest of the E-family. Really, really different!!!!

E-30 with Zuiko Digital 50mm F2.0 MACRO

50mm, f/5.6, 1/125s, ISO250

There are also some news in the forums that Olympus France will be announcing on the 26th of this month! Hmmmm... interesting times ahead, definitely.

Ah well, I have to wait for the microFourthirds announcement a little bit later, then. Maybe in June??