Olympus OM-D - interesting

The Olympus OM-D certainly seems an interesting camera. I am not 100% certain that I like the faux SLR styling from a practical point but it certainly ticks a number of boxes for me. A mix of controls not unlike a film camera with more modern stuff on the back, a fold out OLED display - similar to the one on the E-P3 (which is outstandingly good), an integrated EVF, a tough alloy body and a weather sealed body to go with the lenses.

Olympus OM-D on Facebook

Pity I won't be flush with cash.

The other thing of interest would be the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 which would go nicely with my E-P3. That would give me a fast 150mm equivalent lens with autofocus which would be ideal for one of the jobs I have up my sleeve.

Guess I better start saving.

Using window light – part 1: The basics of light shaping

You can find an interesting article on using window light with portraits here...


Using window light – part 1: The basics of light shaping

Olympus E-P3 vs Nikon D90 (just for fun)

I have two main camera bodies at the moment, the Olympus E-P3 and the Nikon D90. I use the two cameras in slightly different ways with the Olympus being my light, go anywhere camera, particularly useful when I am travelling or need to be discrete. The Nikon gets first choice when shooting ultra-wide and also very long.

Then Nikon also gets the nod for really low light work although coupling the Olympus to the fabulous Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 or even the new Olympus 12mm f/2 and Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lenses, combined with the lovely OLED display and convenient manual focus controls (particularly with the Olympus 12mm lens), the Olympus is a joy to use.

Overall, the Nikon still wins on image quality and generally less work is required during post processing. The Olympus is definitely the fun camera.

Over the past week I have used both cameras in similar circumstances, and here are some of the results.

Olympus E-P3 and Olympus 12mm f/2

And now for one from the Nikon D90 and Nikkor 10-24mm zoom

Of course it is a bit unfair to compare any of these images as the lighting was quite different in each and there are evening and morning shots too.

Despite the camera and the lens, if you know the limitations of your kit, you can work to get great results. Obviously some things can be more difficult with some combinations of camera and lens but that is where your imagination can take over.

Let There Be Light

I bought a light tent on eBay, a 50cm x 50cm model for $23 including delivery. There are plenty of light tents for sale on eBay ranging from around $15 for a 30cm x 30cm size up to over 80cm so the one I got is around the middle size.

It is just the job for photographing small objects and allows you to shoot without unwanted reflections and also enables you to get more even lighting.

The light tent, four base pieces and instructions (help with folding it up), comes packed into a small bag.

Once unfolded, the light tent has a removable front with a slot that you can shoot through and it comes with 4 different coloured pieces to rest your work on, these being white, black, blue and red. These are held in place by Velcro and you can put something under the pieces to raise your subject.

I found shooting for most work, removing the front piece and shooting with a diffused bounce flash worked well. Add a slave flash to one side to minimise shadows or position it at the back when shooting through the white base to help eliminate shadows and creases.

For the very modest sum, this beats mucking around with cardboard boxes, fabric and tape.



I normally do sunrises

I went out last night to Tamarama to do some evening photography of Sculpture By The Sea. It didn’t start out that well as someone nicked my parking space as I did a u-turn to claim it then it started raining as soon as I met up with my shooting companion.

The light was fading fast and the rain let up so I started photographing some strange alien looking creatures in Mackenzies Bay. Good stuff. I look down into the water of the bay and it has turned blood red like some killing field. I look up into the sky and here you find the result. Taken with a Nikon D90 and Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom.

I don’t do sunsets often but I am pleased with this one. The great light only lasted about 2 minutes and I was very lucky to get a shot.

Old-time landscapes in the digital age

I have always liked the old glass-plate photos from the late 1800s and early 1900s. I have tried to create that look here. The weather has been less than ideal for photography so I had to try something different.

This scene is of Mimosa Rocks. Taken with an Olympus E-P3 and 12mm f/2 lens. I have used a HiTech 10-stopper to extend the exposure to 6 seconds and of course given it a black and white treatment. I think I have captured the feel of the old photos.

Oh, something the photographers of old may have not been able to do - the shot is actually a 4-frame panorama taken in portrait mode.

Mini-review of the HiTech Pro 10-stop filter

A moderately affordable 10-stop ND-filter, the new HiTech Pro 10-stopper doesn't have a magenta cast like the old high-stop HiTech filters but under certain lighting a slight green cast (similar to the Lee filters) that is very easy to correct. The filter has a gasket that stops light leaking around and reflecting off the back of the filter or causing a reflection of lens lettering. It is very effective.

As a 4" filter, it comes with a choice of two different gasket fittings for Lee filter holders and HiTech filter holders. One drawback of the gasket is that it is stuck on to one side of the filter making it a little more difficult to clean. I trick I learnt recently to clean filters is to rinse them in luke-warm water and then blot off the excess water until dry. It is rare that this does not remove any marks. The gasket does extend the drying time a little but doesn't seem to retain water.

In this example, there is a little bit of vignetting caused by using an ultra-wide lens and filter. The outer corners of the image have light coming through at around 45 degrees which causes the darkening. This is typical of ND filters on ultrawides.

All up, a great value filter that works well.