My Experience with Four Thirds Glass: 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko EZ Zoom and the 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 ED Zuiko Zoom

Blowing a kiss to my brand new lens

When I purchased the Olympus OMD E-M1, I was given the option to purchase the Olympus MMF-3 weather sealed adapter and receive a mail in rebate for the full cost of the adapter.  If I didn't already have the FL-600r, I would have taken advantage of the free with rebate FL-300 flash. I originally neglected the adapter thinking I would never use this thing, let alone an "old" Olympus four thirds lens, until I found myself a very inexpensive one on ebay.  I made an offer of $40 thinking it would be rejected, but to my surprise it was accepted with free shipping. The 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 Zuiko EZ zoom came right in time for a special event at my buddy's Crossfit gym so I decided to give this lens a whirl.

Some of Crossfit Nerd's super friends

I usually shoot in manual, single auto focus mode, but I didn't want to worry about too many factors given I was working with a new-to-me lens.  I locked the camera in Aperture Priority mode and stopped the lens down to around f5.6 (I wanted to really test the sharpness of the lens, so I stopped it down a bit).  An important thing to note about these four thirds glass is that they are optimized to work on phase detect auto focus system cameras unlike my original OMD E-M5, which has contrast detect. The OMD E-M1 has a hybrid sensor that has both phase detect and contrast detect (native to the Micro Four Thirds) pixels. Unlike what I am used to, most of the phase detect pixels reside within the center of the sensor, so all the focus points are within the middle of the frame.  I found a brief description on dpreview regarding the differences between the two and it's summarized below:

"Contrast-detect autofocus uses the image sensor and tells the camera to keep changing focus until the contrast from one pixel to the next is the highest possible"

"Phase-detect autofocus uses a completely different sensor that splits the light into two images and focuses until the two images come together on the focus sensor ... it can measure how far apart the 2 images are and knows which direction to focus."

Why you may be using your kit lens incorrectly.

I have been preaching about this from the very beginning, using primes lenses is the best way to learn about composition and the nuances of different focal lengths.  It boggles my mind when I see salesmen push cameras without a prime lens. Canon and Nikon have one of the best and affordable 50mm primes on the market. These plastic fantastics can be purchased for as little as $100 and in my opinion is one of the best investments a photographer can make besides purchasing a flash.  

The first lens I would recommend for the Sony Alpha line - the 50mm f1.8.
It's cheap, it's plastic and it resolves well. 

So you now own a kit lens with your beautiful new camera. A typical kit lens covers focal lengths anywhere from 12mm to 55mm and unfortunately has a variable aperture.  A kit lens at the wide end will always have a wider aperture than at the long end. This essentially means you will have less light gathering capabilities as you zoom the lens in.  I can't explain why this happens (from a lens construction standpoint), but all I can recommend is to be mindful of this as you shoot in low-light situations.  The kit lens that came with my OMD E-M5 was a 12-50mm with an aperture range of f3.5/6.3.  So the widest aperture at 12mm is f3.5 and the aperture starts to close down as you zoom in to 50mm (at 50mm the widest aperture is f6.3).

Sam Fu demonstrating a perfectly executed sumo deadlift - shot with my
12-40mm @ 17mm (35mm full frame equivalent)

Friday Night Lights at Paradiso Crossfit - Something a Little Different

Sometimes you just want an excuse to go out and shoot and I used our local gym's competition as a means to do something different. I typically go out to Paradiso Crossfit with intentions of shooting the athletes in motion.  This time around, I wanted to just take portraits of the amazing people that make up the gym. I thought it would be neat capturing people post workout, but decided to integrate an idea of giving people a voice.  Not only did I have a great time doing it, it was well received by the Paradiso community. Below are some of my favorite shots of the night.    

A rant about sensor size and why you shouldn't care about it

Before I decided to get into photography I was, and still am, an avid paintballer.  My time on the field has been limited due to work and other side projects, but I still to try to make an effort to get out and play whenever I have a free weekend.  My brother first introduced the sport to me back in 1995 when fields were opened in the outskirts of Los Angeles.  Acres of empty land were transformed into simulated battlefields, all peppered with makeshift bunkers for players to hide behind. I never purchased my own gear or played on a regular basis as the financial barrier to entry was just too high at the time.  Fast forward 10 years - Smart Parts, formerly a powerhouse maker of professional paintball markers, released their first entry level, tournament grade gun called the Ion. It was the first gun, sub $300, to offer "professional" level features all in a lightweight plastic body. This was it.  This was the gun that I could finally afford to get into sport.  

An old shot from my days with Bolo Brigade. 

Before the Cheetah Lights, there was the Olympus FL-600r - an Enthusiast Review

Before I purchased the Cheetah lights, I bought the Olympus FL-600r to go with my OMD E-M5.  If there was one piece of gear that helped improve my photography, I would say this flash was it. When I first started shooting, I was obsessed with getting the best and newest lens whether it be a prime or zoom. I lie, I still obsess about glass and I am currently drooling over Panasonic's 42mm f1.2 lens, but I digress. Adding a flash was and continues to be the great equalizer.  A particular lens' strength in sharpness becomes less apparent when I stop down the aperture and introduce specular highlights from an external light source like a flash (the strobist blog explains specular hightlights extremely well).  For all m43 users, nothing can beat the versatility of this accessory, save for the re-badged Panasonic versions and the third party offerings from Metz. Below I have outlined of all the strengths and weakness of the this particular unit and you will see I have added more from my previous post.

"Better lighting trumps better gear" - wise words from my friend Joe Gunawan. 

Pro:

1. Compact - a great complement to my OMD E-M5 and currently the E-M1
2. Effective and smart TTL and TTL-FP mode (essentially high speed sync)
3. Built very well and feels like a quality product
4. Great RC/Slave mode for studio work or off camera photography (Still has TTL mode when set off by the proprietary clip on Olympus Flash). Giulio from Small Camera Big Picture has a terrific explanation of how to use the RC mode with the OMD E-M5 - here
5. Ability to control the power from the camera in RC mode
6. Syncs perfectly with the E-M1 at 1/250th of a second in manaul mode and 1/200th of a second in TTL
7. Power is controllable from the OMD and up to three are programmable from the camera
8. Lasts a long time off one set of batteries.  
9. Built in LED lighting can be activated for video (though I have never used this feature)
10. Locking flash head positions.

Shot using TTL mode 

Cons:

1. Optical Slave does not work well in bright sunny days
2. Abysmal recharge rate from half to full power.  This gets worse as the battery starts to drain
3. True guide number in the mid 30s at ISO 100.
4. Takes AA batteries.  OH How I HATE AA BATTERIES   

So how does this flash fit into my workflow? I always believe in using the right tools for the job and I believe the FL-600r really shines with event photography where your subjects are in a constant flux. For the following shots, I rely on TTL or through the lens metering to give me the power I need to light my subject. However, I rely on manual shutter, aperture and ISO control to determine not only my depth of field but the amount of ambient light I want to capture in my photo. The following shots were all taken at various events (see caption below for my technique). 

This shot was taken on the top deck of yacht.  I wanted to expose for  the killer sunset

leaving my model pretty much under-exposed.  The light from the flash balanced 

out the ambient and subject.  In this situation, it would have been impossible to 

capture this shot without adding light.  If using only available light, I would 

either have a nicely exposed background with an underexposed subject or a nicely

exposed subject and a blown out background. 

For this shot,  I had very little light to work with.  I wanted to create some bokeh 

(also known as background blur) from the twinkle lights behind the subject.  

Pointing the flash directly at her would not have been very pleasing, so I opted

to bounce the flash using the low, white ceiling above me to soften the light.  

Isolating the subject was my goal for this shot.  So I decided really bring down 

ambient light by increasing my shutter speed (increasing the speed also helped 

with capturing this shot, as it did not last very long). For this shot I used a stofen 

flash diffuser to help soften the light.  

This was honestly a difficult shot for me, as this capoeira performer was 

about 60 feet away from me and was moving an extremely fast pace. I did

not dare shoot manually with my flash and relied on TTL to help expose for the 

shot. I started out with the flash head zoomed out to 24 with a stofen modifier,

but noticed I was not getting enough reach. So I decided to remove the 

modifier and zoomed my flash head to 105mm to focus the light and got this

interesting shot with a vignette built in.   

I rarely use this technique, but find it quite fun to use when people are dancing. 

In this shot, I purposefully set the shutter to 1 second and rotated my camera 

upon pressing the shutter release to create this ethereal look.  I had to stop

down a bit, as not to over expose the ambient light, but the flash of light "froze"

the subject.  I use this sparingly, but throw it in to mix things up a bit.

Although I prefer to shoot manually whenever I can, I see the importance of having a unit that has TTL capabilities. I don't always have the luxury of time to take multiple exposures to get it right in camera and the metering system is highly capable of getting it right or good enough. This flash unit is a great complement to any micro four thirds camera, especially if you have one of the larger bodied ones.  Don't get me wrong, it is a very light weight unit, but would be taxing on the hands if you are using a GX-1 or an E-P5 for extended periods of time.  

So now the big question, would I recommend this to a professional event photographer?  I give this a qualified yes.  As an advanced amateur, I would say it is perfect for my needs, as I only shoot a handful of events a year and I value its small, but powerful-enough stature along with it's TTL FP or High Speed Sync mode.  I don't think this cycles fast enough for those photographers who run and gun with their shutter.  Wedding photographers will not get many bursts at full power, but may be able to get away with low burst speeds at under half or quarter power.   For these particular situations, I would recommend looking into a micro four thirds Metz flash.  I hear they are a lot more powerful and have a faster re-cycle speed, but sacrifice size and weight.

Metz 50 AF-1 on an Olympus OMD E-M5.  Thank you Fed for the photo.

If I had any say in the creating an updated version of the FL-600r, I would make the following recommendations to improve the speedlight.  

• Please ditch the AA batteries and move towards a lithium ion battery pack so we have faster recycle times. Please follow Godox's lead and possibly have the BLN power the flash. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, it would be sublime to have one set of batteries for my OMD and FL-600r.
• Allow for the built in LED light to be used as a focus assist light for stills photography that coordinates with the shutter release on the camera.  
• Built in receiver for radio control. I believe the Yongnuo brand of flashes have this and is quite impressive
• A GN rating of 50 or higher at ISO 100 (or Low on Olympus cameras)

I hope this blog post about the Olympus FL-600r helps you determine whether or not this speedlight will fit in your workflow and/or needs.  For the occasional event photographer, this is the flash for you.  Thanks for stopping by.

So say we all,

Dino

Welcoming a New Member to Our Family...the Olympus Pen E-P5

Introducing the Olympus Pen E-P5

When I sold my OMD E-M5 to my brother to purchase the E-M1, I told myself that if the E-M5 ever went on sale for under $600, I would jump at the opportunity to get it back.  During the last Presidents' Day holiday weekend, Olympus offered a 20% discount on all of their reconditioned gear.  Well, the better featured (well, in my opinion that is) Pen E-P5 fell way under that price and I jumped on it.  Think of the E-P5 as a smaller OMD without the electronic view finder.  

Twin dials 

Some of the major selling points to for me were the following:

• Wifi connection to my phone/tablet for pulling files on the go and wireless control
• Max shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second
• Flash sync speed of 1/320th of a second (similar to the OMD)
• Twin Dials
• Sexy retro look

This camera is gorgeous with the Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 prime lens

When I first opened the package, I was surprised to see the camera look pristine and brand new, as if it never left the factory.  The main difference I saw was the packaging, which had "Reconditioned" stamped all over the box.  I was also shocked to see how much heft there is to this body; definitely feels high quality. I'll be out shooting at a local crossfit gym to document the 2014 Open competition.  Expect a review once I give the Pen some time. Thanks for stopping by.

So say we all,

Dino

A weekend with the Cheetah V850 and the Barebulb CL-360 (and more Importantly Nathan Shrake)

In my last post (see blog entry HERE), I was raving about how amazing the Cheetah/Godox lights are.  In theory, they are everything I could ask for in a portable lighting system:  they are light weight, powerful and user friendly. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of not only trying out these lights, but helping a friend with a photo shoot. This was a perfect opportunity to really see what these lights were capable of doing.  

For this shoot, being nimble was of utmost importance since we had to move from location to location.  Just in case you were curious, here's what I brought for the shoot:

1. 2 FT-16 Triggers/Receivers for myself and Rachel to remotely fire the lights
2. Cheetah CL-360 with the PB 960 batter pack
3. 2 Cheetah V850s
4. 2 lights stands 
5. 2 umbrella style soft boxes
6. OMD E-M1 shooting primarily with the Olympus 75mm f1.8

Our first location was at the Getty Museum, down here in Southern California.  It was an overcast day and the available light was flat and unflattering; a perfect opportunity for these lights to give us a bit of drama and dimension. I originally set up the CL-360 on a light stand and soft box, but was quickly asked to break it down as it was considered professional equipment and they had zero tolerance for tripods (clearly they don't know what a tripod is and were fine with us hand holding the flash).  I didn't know light modifiers were so threatening and professional.  Mind you, we were outdoors and not shooting anywhere near any paintings or sculptures (needless to say, it was a rule that had a number of holes in it). I decided to switch to the V850s as it was easier for our photo assistants to hold up and I had more options as far as zooming the flash in and out.  

Engagement Session Teaser with the Olympus OMD E-M1

The Royal Couple - taken with the 75mm

A simple and short blog post dedicated to two good friends of mine.  I don't normally do engagement photography, but was honored to do a session with these two wonderful people.  In a following post, I will give my thoughts on using both the Olympus OMD E-M1 with my newly acquired Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 lens.  Spoiler alert, this lens is fantastic and has replaced 2 of my primes.  

I was extremely nervous about doing this shoot because I had never done one and feared missing THE shot. But having confidence in your gear, a game plan and a decent relationship with the couple went a long way.  The photograph above is her favorite and mine too.  I still have a several more to edit, but once I'm done you will definitely get a field review from me. Thanks again for stopping by.

So say we all,

Dino

Long Exposures and HDR with the Olympus OMD E-M1

The moment we booked our trip to Orlando, I knew I would be taking a ton of pictures to document our experience/pilgrimage to Disneyworld.  Among the many things I wanted to do, taking long exposures and creating HDR shots was something I really wanted to delve into as I hardly get the opportunity to do so.  When the OMD featured a dedicated button to help facilitate taking bracketed shots, I was ecstatic because it was such a chore to get into bracketing mode with the E-M5.  I think the worst part of it all is I would forget that I left it on and would be wondering why my shots would be so over/under exposed.  I welcome this one click on/off feature on the E-M1. 

So this post does not come without any frustration, which is mostly my fault and I'm not talking about lugging around 3.5 pound tripod for 8+ hours a day.  Going into this trip, I knew I would be taking long exposures, ranging anywhere from 1 second to 60 seconds depending on the time of day.  I normally always set my camera to reduce noise for long exposures (or LENR - Long Exposure Noise Reduction) as a default.  I know many people on micro four thirds forums have complained about the hot pixels and snow effect that the E-M1 produces on these long shots and I can confirm this has happened to me.  It is a fact that the E-M5 handles these types of photos a lot better whether or not the LENR is turned off (some even think that off does not necessarily mean off, but I haven't found evidence to prove this). Some expect the removal of the Low Pass filter is the cause of this, but I have definitely ruined some shots by not turning this feature on.  See the sample shot below to understand what I am talking about.  You will clearly see both the hot pixels (Red and Blue), in addition to the white specks littered throughout the building and sky.

 Take a closer look and you will see issues - White Snow and Hot Pixels

This effects are really only a problem at exposures 10 seconds or longer. I can confirm that turning on LENR does solve any problems I had. I performed two tests: 1)Taking a 30 second shot with the lens cap on and 2) Taking a 60 second shot with very little light.  The files are clean and free of any unusual noise.  So what does that mean for me or for you?  Does this make it a deal breaker for the E-M1? For me, I can say absolutely not.  With LENR turned on, it takes double the time to process a long exposure shot, so a 30 second exposure will take 60 seconds to completely write on your memory card.  This may pose a problem to Astro Photographers and I can see how this is a massive let down for a flagship camera.  Even as a self-proclaimed Olympus Fanboy, I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I know that cameras are tools and you always have to use the right tool for the right job, but it's a shame that I would, in theory, have to switch over to the E-M5 if I ever wanted to delve into shooting the stars.  At the end of the day, I would still pick up the E-M1 99% of the time, as I feel this small setback does not outweigh its plethora of improvements.  

Another view of Cinderella's Castle, but from the back - Truly sexy clouds

To a certain extent, I feel the forums have blown this issue way out of proportion, since you can remedy the problem with one simple move in the settings.  I understand how this camera is not usable to some because of this issue, but you have to ask yourself how often you plan on do Astro Photography or any other photography that requires a shorter window between shots.  The beauty is we have options and that's a good thing.  I will continue to praise and recommend this camera to both pros and prosumers alike.  Will I continue to take Long Exposures and bracketed shots at night? You bet.  Lucky for me most of my shots are static.  

When I come back, I will be eating here at Be Our Guest in the Magic Kingdom

The LENR feature can be found in Section E of the E-M1 menu, under the heading Noise Reduction.  I will be sure to post an update after spending a little more time with the camera.  Thanks for stopping by.

So Say We All,
Dino  

Traveling Light with the Micro Four Thirds

Cinderella's beautiful castle

The blog has been fairly quiet for the last couple of weeks and for good reason.  I recently made a pilgrimage to the motherland. That's right, Disneyworld, out in Orlando, Florida.  I know that Disneyland was the first to open back in 1955, but this was my very first trip back to Florida since the early 90's.  My only real memory of Disneyland was going to Cape Canaveral and EPCOT with my family (special points to those who know what EPCOT stands for without googling it).  Sadly I don't remember much of the trip, so I knew this was going to be something truly special

My girlfriend and I have been planning for this trip for approximately 2 years and wanted to tie this in with our running goals.  Disney offers a special Coast to Coast medal to runners who complete a half/full marathon in California and Florida within one calendar year.  I will save my thoughts about the race for another post, but I highly recommend taking a trip out to Orlando for their night races.  I would say that it's one of the best, if not the best race I have ever participated since I've started running (more on that another day).   I knew that this trip was going to be extraordinary and I wanted to document as much of it as I could.  Deciding what gear to bring was probably the hardest thing to decide, but luckily the micro four thirds bodies and glass lends itself as being the best travel equipment any enthusiast/pro can bring.  It's light, it's fairly durable, doesn't take up much real estate and you don't sacrifice much on the image quality end.  Below was a list of camera related gear we brought along in our backpacks:

- Olympus OMD E-M1 (I was thrilled this came in before the trip)

- Panasonic GX-1 (for Heather)

- Olympus 75mm f1.8 (wanted to bring it for the shows)

- Panasonic 25mm f1.4

- Sigma 30mm f2.8 (a review on this later)

- Olympus 17mm f1.8

- Lenovo Yoga Ultrabook (the perfect travel laptop and workhorse)

- Manfrotto Tripod (heaviest part of my gear, weighing a little over 3 pounds)

Animal Kingdom from Expedition Everest - Do you see the Tree of Life?

Looking at this list, you might think I would need a special carry-on for all of this gear, but I didn't.  At the risk of beating a dead horse, it really was no sweat off my back lugging all of this around, save the ultrabook, the entire trip.  In fact, it was the tripod that eventual got the best of me towards the end.  Not once did I ever complain about having too many lenses or feeling like my camera was too heavy.  It was the perfect companion.  I ALMOST considered running the half marathon with the GX-1 like I did in the last Disneyland 10k (but with the OMD), but decided against it.  In retrospect, I would have brought the camera, especially since the after-race Wine and Dine Festival was just fantastic.

The Spectacle of Lights - Hollywood Studios. Yes, we ran through this as well

I never appreciated the significance of traveling light until I went on this trip. Not only was getting through the airport a breeze, having a light camera set-up with almost no compromises (in my case, absolutely nothing) on multiple 10 hour (plus) days throughout the Disneyworld resort was invaluable.  I am really beginning to believe that mirrorless is the future and will soon be the go-to camera for travelers.  All in all, it was a fantastic trip and I can't wait to share my photos and experimentation with HDR with you all.  Thanks for stopping by.

So say we all,
Dino

Olympus OMD E-M1 - First Impressions

Goodbye ol' friend

It's finally here.  After feverishly checking the status on my pre-order, I am happy to say the OMD E-M1 has shipped to my office and is ready for the weekend.   I have been OMD-less for the last 2 weeks, as I had sold the camera to my brother (wanted to keep it in the family and he was bugging me to finally deliver).  Letting go of the OMD was tough, but I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed with the E-M1.  Although I can't say much about the image quality, since I've only had it for 6 hours, here are some of the things I really like about the camera:

1. Good heft and fantastic grip.  I may be in the minority here, but I love the heavier feel to the camera.  I had the horizontal grip permanently attached to the E-M5, so having an integrated grip with easy access to the battery is a huge plus.

2. The EVF is fantastic.  It is noticeably larger and crisp.  It will definitely make manually focusing easier even without the magnify feature.

3. Focus peaking, oh how I love the focus peaking.  I am a man who loves to shoot with legacy glass, so this is a welcomed addition to the camera.  Can't wait to try out my voightlander 40mm f1.4 on the E-M1.

4.  Buttons have a more tactile feel and are nicely laid out across the body.  The directional pad and center button are no longer mushy/gummy and feel more responsive.

5. Shutter sound is a little louder...I like that.  

6.  The wi-fi and Olympus Share app work seamlessly together.  Installing the app and getting the phone to control the camera took less than a minute to do.  I already shared a couple of photos with my co-workers.  The photo below came straight out of the camera. Pretty cool, right?

Bottom right - worst angry face ever

These are just some of my initial thoughts on the camera.  I plan on doing a more thorough review with a list of pros and cons once I get a bit more mileage with the camera.  You can bet I will be posting a ton of sample pics in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.  Thanks for stopping by.

So say we all,
Dino