I am Very Impressed by the Panasonic 25mm f1.7

I am very impressed by the Panasonic 25mm f1.7 as it is exceedingly sharp even from f1.7. Normally in post I always apply a little sharpening to my photos but so far on the OMD E-M5 Mll with both the 12-40mm f2.8 and this Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7 I don't have to do a single bit of sharpening because the raw files are already so sharp that any more just simply isn't necessary.

I took the bike pic below while out on a ride this morning, it is shot wide open at f1.7 and it's tack sharp on the bike. The second pic is a 100% crop from the same photo.

Olympus OMD E-M5 Mll 40mp High Resolution Mode

When researching the E-M5 Mll online I saw a lot of talk about the cameras high resolution mode and because I like product and landscapes/cityscapes so much I felt that this was a BIG plus for me and of course I was keen to give it a shot and see what happens. Below I posted four images, the first two unresized so that you can delve right in and pixel peek. If that's your thing. Lets face it, most of the cameras in the world are sold to people who fair yearn to view an image at 100% to see if it "measures up". Like it's important or something... and then they post it to Facebook where it will be viewed mainly on mobile phones. 😀

The first photograph is the 16mp file, the second is the 40mp from the high resolution trick mode. I took these both on a tripod, both in jpg format. I downloaded them to my computer, ran them both without adjustments through DXO Photolab to get their special hoodoo, then added a quick url text to the bottom left corner.

Ok, I tried to get a 100% size pic to show but blogger obviously resizes during upload and so they both look the same... for now. I'll see if I can work around this somehow.

16mp

40mp

The next two pics are screen grabs directly from Picasa zoomed in at 100%.

16mp at 100%

40mp at 100%

As you can see the high resolution mode obviously works and works very well. Aside from the higher resolution I am also seeing higher dynamic range. Wins all around!

 I am really looking forward to putting this mode to good use with some controlled lighting in a studio environment.


I am totally having fun with this little camera from Olympus and at the end of the day that is probably the most important reason to delve into the mirrorless world. Carrying around a lot of heavy stuff takes the fun out of even the best intentions...

K&F Nikon to MFT Converter

The day after I ordered the camera I also ordered a cheap K&F converter to use my Nikon lenses on the Olympus... and voila, it works! The first lens I tried was the DX 40mm Micro. At the bottom is a coin.

The aperture ring works but I have no idea how to tell which aperture it is in. Just look at the screen, manual focus, shoot and hope for the best.

Not bad for a hand held shot in bad light.

Olympus E-M5 Mll & M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO - Low Light Test

I normally never bother with the Black Friday sales as mostly here in Europe they are not such great value. However an ad popped up on the BBC news website with a deal I could not pass up, an Olympus E-M5 Mll and M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2.8 PRO combo at about half normal price! I have been contemplating a mirrorless camera for some time now and so I jumped in feet first. After fiddling with the rather special menu system for a few days I finally got it set up the way I wanted so today I headed out into town to give it a whirl.

There are a few things I really like about the E-M5, starting with the rather diminutive size. It is tiny compared to the Nikons I have been used to for so many years, but they still manage to squeeze in more external controls than I realistically will ever need. The second thing I like is the viewfinder, it is big, bright and great for chimping on the move. The preview of what the pic is shaping up to look like is fantastic.

DxO FilmPack 3 Essential - Tested

This morning I posted a link to the DxO website where they were offering a free license for DxO FilmPack 3 Essential. Since then I installed it and in use it looks like this:

Screen Shot of DxO FilmPack 3 Essential in use.

It is very easy to use and does what it is advertised to do. It makes digital photographs emulate various types of film, and it does it quickly and with the minimum of fuss. The film purists will no doubt scoff and say that none of these look anything like the results you can get from simply using real film and having it processed the original way. I agree. I also think real film has a look of it's own and the results from programs like this don't quite match up... but then these sort of programs are also simpler, faster, and cheaper than shooting film in our modern world. This topic can lead in a whole other direction very quickly, so I will leave it at that and move quickly on by showing what DxO FilmPack 3 Essential can do.

Book Recommendation!

I just posted a thank you letter to Kirk Tuck on his Visual Science Lab blog. Instead of posting something different here, I'll simply repost the letter. I highly recommend the book by the way!


Hi Kirk!

I finally found out about Amazons Kindle software for PC yesterday, (a little behind?) so I checked out your books on Amazon and finally got to purchase "Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Studio Photography". Now via Kindle's pc software I can open and read it on my laptop! Hooray!

I am already about halfway through the book and have found it to both practical and informative, written in language I can understand! Thank you so much for showing that studio lighting is not as mysterious as it can sometimes be made out to be.

Although I already employ some of the techniques you explain there is a lot of info detailing (for me) new ideas, or old ideas in a new way, or just simply ideas that make me want to kick my own butt wondering why I didn't think about that!

I look forward to reading your other books in time, and learning even more!

Have a great day!

Lanthus Clark
www.thephotophile.com


You can purchase the book here: Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Studio Photography [Kindle Edition]