Water Splashes With Olympus & Yongnuo

I have this post as a draft since the first of July. It is one of the most daunting posts (for no apparent reasons) for me to write. But here we go. Click through for the full post.

A Fun E-Mx Comparison

 

It has been a long time since my last post, and I am sorry for for not giving prior notice, but I have been traveling ever single weekend for the past month, and I still have a couple more weekends to go, this kills any spare time I have for posting here, but I am able to squueze some time to share a few fun photos with you. As you might notice, I don't have my regular signature on the photos, and the photos are larger than usual (do click them to see a larger version), the reason is that I have prepared all this post on the iPad, the collages in this post (with the grungy color effects below) were prepared using Autodesk's Pixlr+ app, resized to 2500px, and uploaded and posted using the Blogsy app.

A New Audio Toy: Zoom H2n

 

I am getting more interested in video shooting, especially after getting the EM1, which has a significantly better video codec than the EM5 with cleaner shadows. And a major part of having a good video is to have good audio recording, and this is where this post comes in.

Olympus E-M1 Touch Focus for Stills & Video

 

A quick post to illustrate the different options for touch screen focusing on the EM1, also applicable for the EM10 as far as I know. There have been a very long discussion on dpreview between me and one of the forum members regarding this topic, and I have created this video to illustrate the options, and we seem to have reached a final conclusion at last.

The only thing not mentioned clearly in the video is the touch focusing mode, since there are 3 modes in stills mode and two during video recording, so here's a copy & paste from the original post:

When you enable touch screen in the EM1, you have three options:

1. Turn touch screen off.
   
2. Focus only, but not trigger the shutter.
   
3. Focus and trigger the shutter at once.
   

In video mode, there are only options 1 and 2.

Posted with Blogsy

Fishing with the E-M1 and the 12-40 f/2.8

Colorful Rocks

As you've seen from my previous post, the EM1 encouraged me to start going out and take photos again after a long stall. This time I accompanied a few of my relatives on a fishing trip (which doesn't quite interest me, as I don't have a lot of patience), declared beforehand that this is a photographic trip for me (i.e. no one shall expect me to do any fishing), and decided to try out a few new items that I acquired recently. Here's what happened.

Dorifto Kingu Egypt (or how well the EM1 can track drifting BMWs)

 

So by now you already know I've bought an E-M1 (turns out it is an E-M1 and E-M5 all this time, and not EM-1 and EM-5) I thought about for too long. I sold my E-M5 and 12-50 lens to one of my friends, who in turn sold his Nikon D7000 and 35 1.8G to use a smaller camera after seeing me use it for more than a year. I bought myself the E-M1 with the 12-40 f2.8 lens (there was a $200 discount), and of course, buying a new camera requires buying a new camera bag, so I got the Thinktank Mirrorless Mover 10, and the Tamrac Velocity 7x, after all, I sold my Lowepro Apex 100AW with the E-M5, what would a man do without his camera bag? So you see, there is a lot of potential for future gear related posts, not taking into account my delayed 75 f1.8 review.

Anyway, I will delay my first impressions of the E-M1 for a later time, and jump directly into today's post, and one of the main reasons I upgraded to the E-M1, and that's focus tracking, so how does it work? Hit the jump.

Say Hello To My New Friend

 

Finally! More to come later.

Posted with Blogsy

I'm Back, Olympus 75 f/1.8 & Some Camera Musings

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long hiatus period, I was (and still am) deeply bothered with the events taking place in Egypt, and with a 7 pm - 6 am curfew, which has been in effect for almost a week now, and shall continue for 3 more weeks, there is barely an energy outlet for me or my family, especially the young kids who get bored by sitting still for just one minute.

That's why I decided to spend a few nights (despite my heartache) taking photos at home, and posting on this blog again instead of going crazy. As for Mic, he's quite busy nowadays and has no time to post here, I (or he) will let you know if there are any updates, but for now, you'll have to bear with me.

I received my Olympus 75mm f/1.8 last Saturday, and it's given me enough spark to ignite my interest in photography again during these hard times. As expected, I didn't have enough time to shoot with it in real world situations, so I will keep the full impressions for a later time. The lens feels quite hefty and well-built, and with a relatively huge front element, it looks classy and very cool, it immediately reminded me of the Canon 85 1.8 and the 200L 2.8 which both have a large front element. As all reviews have mentioned, it is very sharp wide-open (it might even beat the 200L, but I have yet to shoot more photos). Focus is not as instantaneous as the Olympus 45 1.8 or the PanaLeica 25 1.4, but I consider it a quick focusing lens, considering that I only shot with it indoors.

And to let you know how lucky US citizens are when it comes to purchasing electronics and gadgets, here's a snapshot of what I paid for the lens (by the way, after I placed my order on Amazon, the lens price got reduced to $799 the day after, lucky me).

The "Our Fees" part are the fees of the shipping company, and I ended up paying $15 for international shipping fees, it is calculated after the item arrives and gets weighed, you pay $7.5 for each 0.5 kg. And at the end of the day, you don't get local warranty because it is bought from the US of A. And no, it is not available from Olympus Egypt (which doesn't exist).

You've all seen the new Panasonic GX7 camera, now that's a well-specced, very good looking camera, especially the silver version. I've said before that I would buy the OM-D EM-5 successor which was rumored to be announced next month. Would the GX7 be a worthy upgrade for me? Reviews said it has comparable image quality to the OMD, a viewfinder inferior to the Olympus VF-4 (which is the major point for me), inferior image-stabilization system compared to the EM-5 and the EP-5, and it doesn't have phase detection auto-focusing. Additionally, my Olympus flash and intervalometer would probably not work with it, so it is not worth the hassle.

However, if I were in the market today for a new high-end MFT camera, I would consider the GX7. The EP-5 is a great camera, but when you add the VF-4, it becomes oddly large and expensive, and the VF-4 takes up the hot-shoe, I use my OMD a lot with my Olympus FL600R flash mounted on top. And that brings us to the upcoming Olympus camera, the leaked OM-D EM-1, it will supposedly sit above the EM-5 and cost somewhere around $1,500!!! It better has some super capabilities at this price point. Rumors say the EM-5 successor will come some time next year, hmm.

I would consider the EM-1 if it achieved the following points (sorted by order of importance to me):

• Size not larger than the EM-5 with the hand grip installed.
• PD focusing that works and can track moving subjects like a DSLR can.
• Similar EVF to the current VF-4.
• Lower base ISO and higher maximum shutter speed.
• Better video options (mic input, manual audio levels, focus peaking, touch to focus, 1080p @ 60 fps, etc...)
• Better image quality (they say it won't have an anti-aliasing filter).
• Uses same battery as the EM-5.

Otherwise, I would wait for the EM-5 successor, or wait until GAS hits me. Which brings us to a more important point. With the increasing price points of high-end MFT cameras, and the expensive quality glass, what edge does the MFT system have over an APS-C camera other than the obvious size and weight difference? You can get a D7100 or a 70D body for $1,200, and you'd get a larger sensor, more resolution and higher image quality.

As I see it now, high-end MFT systems are facing tough competition, with a few advantages that can be argued both ways, but I will leave that to another topic. I will be away for a while. I am preparing a guest post for 43rumors.com that will take some time to finish, I will let you know when it's up.