The Olympus E-5 is here

At long last, the successor for the ageing flagship has arrived.



From the initial specs, it is easy to assume that the E-5 is actually an iteration from the best of 3 Olympus cameras: the E-5, E-30 and E-P2. Let's checkout the specs:

From E-3 comes the body construction, weatherproofing and 100% viewfinder.

From E-30 comes the 3" screen, AF calibration and Live View AF.

From E-P2 comes the 720p HD video, SD card and the latest Art Filters.

Well, there are other features that are inherent in E-5 predecessors, but I only listed the obvious ones to my mind.



Topping all the current features are some things that may shed high interest.

First is the newly designed image processor, aptly named TruePic V+. I hope this processor provides better sharpness, color and noise control. The only way to know is for me the get hold of one as soon as possible. Hope Oly Malaysia is reading this blog and already reserve one unit for me. :)

Next is the new 920+k screen. This is already standard for some manufacturers and I am happy Oly is doing this for E-5. I just hope the contrast is good at strongly lit sunshines and will not drain the battery easily during Live View shooting.

Lastly the so-called I-FINISH mode that supposed to provide control to Art Filters. I am not sure what this means, but I hope this is a killer feature.

I know that my statements with regards to the E-5 are pure estimates from my experience with its predecessors, but it serves as some expected benchmark of what the E-5 can do. Hope to see more image samples, and also if lucky can review the unit soon.

Till then....

The Olympus E-5?

Well, the picture of the purported E-5 is out in cyberspace.



It doesn't surprise me one bit for it to be very similar with the E-3. The silhouette image in my previous entry sure is the E-3 form factor.

Compare the E-3 with E-30 for ergonomics, the E-3 wins hands down for me.

But, what's more important is what it can do. From the purported specs, I can see the mashup of E-30 and E-Px technologies. There's no standout advancement feature so far, but there is rumour that the optical viewfindef will have "translucent technology" which means the LCD display can be seen on the optical prism. In fact, I am a bit sceptic about this.

Well, too much rumor mongering is not good for anybody's health. I would just wait for the official announcement tomorrow.

Now, where did I put that Olympus Malaysia business card??

Olympus E-5: The New Flagship

Lately, there is a strong buzz about the upcoming E-5 at Photokina. Come 15 November, Olympus will unveil its latest flagship camera to the world. It won't be Full Frame camera for sure. However, I bet it will be next level of technology Olympus like to showcase; namely by merging E-3 ruggedness, E-30 sophistication and E-P2 brilliance, not to mention an additional bag of trick or treat into the new E-5.





For me, the goodies sound nice. But will it be good enough to satisfy the hunger of my 4 brilliant Zuikos? E-30's 12MP resolution does not boast a challenge to the 14-35mm F2.0 optical prowess. Neither does the E-3's optical viewfinder to detail the 7-14mm uber wide coverage. The E-P2's 720p video won't do justice to the 35-100mm cinematic potential. Maybe the E-5 can solve the 50mm Macro focus limiter problem, though. Well, hopefully the E-5 adresses at least one of these problems. Or maybe not.

Will the E-5 boast at least 15MP? Or will it support EVF functionality?

As an insecure Olympus shooter, I am asking for things that is outside the ordinary. But what the heck! I see Olympus has the technological will to do many things, but it really lacks the commercial will. Somehow, being a small company with limited resources really dictates the do's and dont's of things. How sad!

Well, enough rambling from me for now. In just a couple of days we will know.

Hang on tight. If I am lucky, Olympus Malaysia may spare me a review unit!

Such exciting times ahead...

Zuiko and Fruit Fest

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14mm, f/3.2, 1/800s, ISO200

The majestic durians in abundance

Recently, my company hosted a Fruit Fest for all staff and family members. Local fruits were abundant, ranging from durians, mangosteens rambutans, langsats, longans, bananas, local fruit ice creams, and topped with fresh coconut drinks.

The durians were of the D24 variants, with luscious thick yellow meat and sweet tart taste. The smell, oh yeah, the most deplored smell in the aviation and hospitality industries was fully savored. What is a durian without the trademark pungent smell?

Kids enjoying the fruits.

And, when there's durians, the mangosteens were there too. Such a royal couple! It is the perfect fruit to counter the repulsive nature of the durians. Sweet and refreshing, rich with antioxidants, the mangosteens we had were not really sweet, rather bland sourish. I bet it was plucked semi-ripe, as the skin was not dark purple and not watery when it was broken open. At least there were no purple stains on the shirts.

Well, the other fruits were just sidelines to the King and Queens of fruits! I won't dwell much to write about them...

Then again, it was a mystery why there were no mangoes, jackfruits and chikus. Ah well...

Local fruit ice-cream, the kids got the durian and chempedak flavors.

My family really enjoyed the nature's bounty, and a great occasion to spend quality family time.

Playing with Slow Sync Flash

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7.5mm (35mm equiv.), f/8.0, 1/5s, ISO500

Slow sync Flash, +2ev

One guy told me that his brother knew a little trick to make the portrait shot has a spinning background. He didn't know how his brother did it, but I told him that I can guess the technique.

Quickly I whipped out my S90, and made the shot. Well, to make a perfect shot, more samples must be taken. This was just made with one shot!!

He was impressed, and told that's exactly what he say his brother did.

Zuiko and Sports Day

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Friends in arms.

35mm, f/4.0, 1/160s, ISO800

A few weeks back, my daughter's kindy held a sports day at the MPSJ sports complex.

It was drizzling with rain when we arrived there, and the event was delayed by up to nearly half an hour. Knowing that I had to shoot this in the open, I opted for the Olympus E-3 with the Zuiko Digital ED35-100mm f2.0 lens. The lens gave me the distance coverage I needed as there was a large crowd of parents and friends encircling the telematches. I couldn't get close enough!

Boys Brigade provided the marching tempo

The old Zuiko motor was able to track the fast marching

On your marks!!

Hard at work collecting the bumper crop.

A medal for the effort!

There's nothing much to say, except that shooting in an uncontrolled crowded situation is very tough. Gotta be fast to get the best location. In this type of shooting, location, location & location is very important!!

Also, notice the compression effect in the pictures. Thanks to the sole usage of the telephoto lens, the effect of people bunching up together within the frame is further magnified.

And my son had a blast too playing with the umbrella!

Byee......

Zuiko and the Sony Experia X10

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For the past few weeks, I was busy with a new toy. Regrettably, I was left with little or no time to spend time with my Zuikos or even the nimble Canon S90. The Sony Experia X10, equipped with Android Donut 1.6, loaded with applications and features, was my focus of attention.

One of the nifty applications is the Retro Cam. I downloaded it last week, and got a good time playing with its 4 different camera effects. With the ability to hook the pictures directly with Facebook and Flickr makes my usage of this little contraption ever more worthwhile. The X10's 8MP sensor, with the right photographic situation, delivers enough resolution to rival the Canon S90.

Let's look at what the Retro Cam can do...

Effect with Xolaroid 2000 camera

High X-processing, blue/green cast, high contrast, glossy instant frame

Effect with pinhOle camera

Low saturation, multi-color swirl, medium-high contrast, full-bleed film

Effect with Little Orange Box camera

High X-processing, red/purple cast, high contrast, square damaged frame

Effect with The Barbl camera

Low saturation, red/purple cast, high contrast, square damaged frame

Well, the SE X10 won't be able to match the S90 overall output quality, or so much to challenge the Zuikos top notch optical performance. Nevertheless, the complete package offered by this smartphone is more than enough to not let me spend some time with other cameras. Nothing beats the instant capabilities to upload the pictures to Facebook and Flickr via high speed HSPA connection!

No worries, I will continue blogging away with regards to my Zuikos; but this new toy is so time absorbing!!