Zuiko and Birthday Wishes

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Wow... I didn't touch my DSLR for quite a while. Having the S90 in the back pocket did not help the situation at all. But, for this occassion, I had to shoot the DSLR. I knew the S90 won't cut it! My son's birthday was 12 days ago, and I confessed that setting up the DSLR gears took quite a while for me to do!

E-30 with Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm F2.0 SWD
31mm, f/2.8, 1/160s, ISO800, -0.3ev

Making a child happy is the greatest thing any person could do. It's the most wonderful feeling. The moment, the innocence, the cheeriness - everything is shown through their eyes. Seeing and feeling it with him is wonderful, and to capture the right moment is magical.

Birthdays are easily one of the things that make a child happy. Having his friends around him celebrating in joy, the presents, and the fun of it all. To see them mesmerized with the event and immersed with the love is just bliss!

And, make sure the flash batteries are all charged up, coz I forgot mine! Maybe due to the monthlong isolation from serious photography has made me a forgetful photographer. And, somehow without motor drive mode, I managed to get the shot! Talk about luck!

Zuiko and Evolve

Recently, Olympus Malaysia has created a website titled http://www.evolve.com.my/. There was some hype in Facebook and Mychiarosuro.net websites.

9 days to evolve? Hmmmm...

There's rumor everywhere on the unveiling of the new E-5, or even a new line of E.. the E-700 series. No matter what it is, I really hope this will be something that is really, really good for us Fourthirds users.

Nonetheless, I have a feeling it's not for the Fourthirds... I am guessing it's for the microFourthirds E-PL1 camera. This is considering the expected launching of the E-PL1 in March 2010.

Ah well... let's wait and see.

Zuiko and a Self-Portrait

A simple self portrait I did with the E-30 camera and the Zuiko Digital ED7-14mm F4.0 lens.

I used a two-light source, main at high point, fill at low point; with self portrait composed using real-time Live View screen and triggered with a wireless remote.

I tried to do a macho look, so-called a self-portrait of the ultimate maleness in myself. Hmmm... I think I didn't do quite a good job.

The thing is, when I was doing this, I solely relied on two features in self-portrait shooting. 1. The remote trigger, in this case the usage of the RM-1 remote trigger. 2. The flippable LCD, in this case I used the LCD screen flipped facing me so that I can compose myself into the frame (this was done in full Live View mode).

Oh yeah, I used full TTL shooting with the Olympus wireless flash system; with the main using FL-50R and fill using FL-36R. The E-30 was mounted on the Manfrotto 709b table tripod for a very low angle shot.

Well, these feature made shooting self-portrait much easier. But, it still did not solve the problem that I was not a very good model.

Ah well....

Zuiko ED50mm F2.0 Macro

I love this lens. It serves 3 purposes. And it is small too, just mere 300 grams or so.

Firstly, it's a macro lens. Based on the specification, it can do 1:2 magnification. Roughly means, it can frame up to 36mm by 27mm. That's quite a good magnification, considering the size matches a Full Frame 135 size sensor.

Secondly, it's a fast lens. The F2.0 maximum aperture ensures its capability to shoot in low light scenes. The above shot is rated at EV2, or F2.0, 1/20s, ISO2000. Typically EV2 is like shooting a total eclipse of the moon. That's low light!

Thirdly, it's a portrait lens. It has a telephoto angle of view similar to 100mm in 135 format. The bokeh of this lens is excellent, along with the razor sharp performance. It may pose a problem with skin details, but better be sharp than blur.

Well, there's no perfect lens. Optically, this lens is flawless - no problems in matching the Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm f2.0 and ED35-100mm f2.0 twin zooms. However, the 50mm lens suffers with Auto Focus performance. Unlike the 35-100mm lens that has a focus limiter, the 50mm does not have it. And considering it is a macro lens, the focus performance can be a real nightmare. Miss focus, and it will travel to and fro such a long focus range that is highly annoying.

Despite this one flaw, I love this lens.

Zuiko 11-22mm f2.8-3.5 Wide Angle Lens

Historically, this lens was the my first purchase into the 4/3 system. Long before I got an E-system camera. Sounded like I was a lunatic, but back then, getting an 11-22mm lens in the shops was quite a rare occasion.

I loved this lens. It really has no equal. Large aperture, reasonably wide, and weather sealed. Put it next to the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f2.8-3.5, and you'll be hard pressed to choose which is which. To the experienced user, the front element is the differentiator. It is a bit weird for it to have the 72mm thread, since the 14-54mm and 50-200mm sport the same 67mm thread.

At wide open, this lens is stellar. It has little barrel distortion, and has excellent flare control. Optics is top notch. The shortish 2x zoom factor is not a real issue, since it is 22mm at the long end and is pretty much a normal lens at f3.5 maximum. Not bad at all.

Put a polarizing filter, and the bright colors blossom in abundance. This lens has very high contrast and color tones. Primary colors are punchier.

I would like to keep this lens till today, but my desire to get the Zuiko Digital ED35-100mm f2.0 lens meant that I had to sell it off to fund the purchase.

I only wished I did not sell it...

S90 at the Playground

Shooting with P&S has its advantages.

Rather than having to lug around 1kg or more of gear, a mere 165g was all I needed for some action shots. And, the capability to sync flash at higher speed also meant that I did not have to scratch my head to get the flash to work to freeze motion. Think 1/500s. With a DSLR, I definitely need to get the external flash to work in FP mode. That's additional weight and size on the already heavy camera & lens setup.

6mm, f/7.1, 1/500s, ISO80, -0.7ev

It was about 10.10 am, and the sun was still low to get some shadow effects. I got the camera at higher angle, which was easy with live view (DSLR live view still can't beat P&S, except for the E-330) and focus on the shadow positioning. The sun was strong, and I needed to reduce the contrast. I simply set the fill flash to Auto with -2/3ev flash exposure compensation to get the balance right. As for focusing, all I needed was to pre-focus on the location of the subject, and just wait for her to move just the right moment for the composition.

Oh, yeah.. to get similar results with the 135 format the focal length would be 28mm with f/32 aperture. Or with the 4/3 format, it would be 14mm with f/16. To get 1/500s, the ISO would higher, too.

Hmmmmm...

Zuiko and a Talent Contest

I was asked to cover a talent contest, and it would be in a very dark and small auditorium.

Immediately I assessed the situation:

1. Fast lens with high ISO and high shutter speed setting was a must
2. Working in compressed and limited area was inevitable
3. Lighting and white balance would be very difficult

Wow, this was going to be tough! And since I was using the Olympus E-system - a system that anyone would say won't cut it for such an event. I took this as a challenge, it's good to see how it would fare in those situations.

Show some 'ttitude, bro!

35mm, f2.5, 1/80s, ISO1000, -0.3ev

And at the same time, I had the E-P2 on loan from Olympus Malaysia for me to test out and write a short field review. Thus, I knew that I had to limit my E-system setup so that I would not bog up my gears. The E-30 was chosen for its better high ISO performance than the E-3, and I paired it with the Zuiko Digital ED14-35mm F2.0 SWD and ED35-100mm F2.0 PRO lenses. I also had the FL-50R flash for any flash situations.

Being a corporate event, it wouldn't start until the CEO arrived. Not much protocol, just a handshake between the organizer and him sufficed.

14mm, f2.0, 1/60s, ISO640

The house was immediately set rocking with the Heavy Metal performance of Linkin' Park's New Divide. Throughout the contest, there were variations of musical genres that encompassed Rock & Roll, Bollywood, Local, Latin, and even Hip Hop!

E-P2 with the 14-42mm 3.5-5.6 did a great job here capturing the energy of the event.

I got the main spot at the front stage, just a few feet away from the performers. And just mere 3 feet back was the auditorium's seating area. It was very cramped! The vantage point was mostly shooting upwards, and during in-between performances, I quickly snapped candid shots of the VIPs attending the show.

No doubt shooting was tough. Fast action performance with audience provided the same level of energy, it was electric. Fast pace, low compromise shooting was a definite challenge!

I nearly messed up this job! Half way through, my batteries both in the HLD-4 extension pack were dying out, and very fast!!!! I told the client, and she panicked!! I assured her, there's enough juice, but may not be enough to cover the prize giving ceremony. To reduce power consumption, I flipped the LCD screen inwards and I used the top panel to check my camera settings. (I couldn't believe I shot without chimping for most of the time!!)

Latin number with classical guitar accompaniment was just immaculate!

100mm, f2.0, 1/60s, ISO2000

In between shots, I sometimes swap the 14-35mm with the 35-100mm lens for those long range shots. But most of the time, the 14-35mm f2.0 lens was the workhorse. The E-30 managed to tame the 14-35mm erratic AF, and I did get a high hit ratio.

Overall, I believed I did a good job. I did a bit of post-processing, mostly on the tone curves correction and USM sharpening. The final image was resized to 3200 x 2400 for the client. The images turned out alright, and the client was pleased.

Shallow depth-of-field with low shutter speed, a challenge to get sharp shots

f2.0. 1/80s, ISO1250, -0.3ev

Her husky voice and pro-like performance lived up to her snazzy jazz number!

Throw white balance down the drain when everyone's turned green!!

I messed up this shot with low shutter speed, luckily I realized it!

14mm, f/2.2, 1/13s, ISO200

Rock and Roll was alive in this beautiful rendition.

Thank you for the music! This was a great show!