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Unfortunately my wife’s started to feel unwell so, as that’s my main priority, I’ve decided not to go out tonight to this event. Maybe I’ll get another opportunity soon to do some night shots.

Hi everyone,

Tonight there’s the Bognor Regis Christmas lights switch on. I went last year, although it certainly isn’t Oxford Street it was pretty good with a stage with a live band, street entertainers as well as street traders and a good chance to get some night shots. Last year I took my M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 lens and K&F 1/4 black mist filter. This combination was too tight and the filter was a bit too much so this time I’m taking my Olympus PEN E-PL8, Lumix 14mm f/2.5, one can always crop if required and K&F Concept shimmer diffusion filter which gives a subtler more localised halation effect. As it looks like it’ll be raining this evening I fitted on of my cheap plastic rain covers with a slight modification. I don’t like draw strings when one’s walking about as they always either slip forward on a smooth lens hood and block the lens or slip back and expose the lens to the elements so to prevent this from happening I cut a rubber ring from one of my rubber lens caps which fits pretty tightly and grips nicely. This combination of camera and lens makes for a nice inconspicuous, lightweight walkabout street setup. I’ve chosen the 14mm over my Lumix 20mm f/1.7 as the later, despite being an optically excellent lens, is prone to hunting a bit too much for my liking in low light, fast moving situations. For a bag I’m taking one of my small “rubberised” shoulder bags which doesn’t scream “camera bag”. If it does rain I might get some nice shots of reflection on wet pavements etc..

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

As I really like the design of the bigger capacity JJC case that I recently bought for storage and travelling I thought I’d get its smaller sibling for day-to-day use whilst they have them onAmazon Black Friday week. This one comes with a small wrist strap to which I’ve attached one on my Tile bluetooth trackers as well as fitting some foam that I cut out and attached with some narrow double-sided tape to make my Olympus BLN-1 type batteries a tighter fit.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

Another test shot from yesterday. I wasn’t interested in trying the CPL to reduce my reflection in the window as I thought it might add a bit of fun to the shot 🙂 . This time I didn’t apply any sharpening or unsharp mask only lens and converging vertical corrections as I wanted to get the full softening effect from the Tiffen filter. I also had to try and be a bit stealthy as they don’t like people taking shots of it thus my position to the side of the entrance. 🙂

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

Over the course of the last year or so, with the occasional exception, I’ve been getting very minimalist with my gear, just a camera and one or other of my prime lenses plus the bare essential accessories. This started with and is partly due to necessity with my mobility issues but has grown because I’m very much enjoying the liberating fun feeling which this has promoted or maybe that should read “restored” as well as my increasing interest in night photography. You’ll note that I’ve added a very low-tech modification also known as an elastic band 🙂 to my battery and memory card case to prevent the contents falling out if I’m stupid enough to open it upside down despite the prominent “This way up” labelling that I’ve added to the hinged lid!. 🥴 In doing this have I missed a shot or two?, almost certainly yes, do I care?, no not in the least. 🙂 This has been more than balanced out by the shots I’ve been able to get through prolonging my stamina and mobility and, as I mentioned, it’s a lot of FUN!.

All the best

Leigh

Hi everyone,

As here in the UK we’re in Autumn heading towards Winter my thoughts once again turned to camera rain protection. All the rain covers that I’ve tried seem to suffer from one common problem. In use they all seem to slip down the lens exposing it to the rain or snow and/or bunching up and getting jammed interfering with the zoom mechanism and requiring tedious frequent readjustment. They all seem to be designed for mounting a camera statically on a tripod and not carrying it around. I thought I’d try something different, I asked my wife to sew on four small hooks from a hook and eye set in an approximate north-south-east-west orientation to the end of one of my rain covers. These hook onto the end of the hood and, by also using the inbuilt elasticated draw string cinch cord, the cover stays put much better. Tightening the cinch cord pulls the hooks into the front of the hood making for a secure tight fit that can’t slip back towards the camera body. I’ve tried this with lenses with a square/rectangular lens hood as shown below and also tulip style hoods as fitted to most of my zoom lenses like the one shown here. I’ve yet to try it with circular hoods which I suspect will possibly be less effective as the cover could/would slip around the circumference of the hood?.

They say necessity is the mother of invention 🙂 ,sometimes a simple modification can make life a heck of a lot easier. 🙂 It’d probably look a bit better with black hooks but this was a quick proof of concept try out. Once fitted this baby isn’t going anywhere!. 🙂 It’s very quick to fit and remove, once the cover is fitted place the hooks over the end of the hood, tighten the drawstring and that’s it and vice-versa to remove. I’m going to leave it fitted and take it for a walk in a local park tomorrow where there might be some interesting Autumnal foliage and there’s also a distinct chance of rain to test it out in action. I have added one very low-tech modification a rubber band behind the lens hood just in case the cinch cord should work loose when carrying it around. 🙂

Update

I replaced the lens hood on my M.Zuiko 12-50mm lens with a 52-67mm step up ring and an oversize 67mm tulip-style hood that I had. This hood better shields the front lens element from rain, knocks and flare and makes it virtually impossible for the hooks on the cover to slip round as they fit neatly into the recesses in the hood and it doesn’t vignette. The hood takes a 62mm lens cap.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

These look like a neat idea for one’s camera bag, tech bag, backpack etc.. I always pop some silica gel packets in but these seem good with a USB C socket to dry them out and reactivate them. Obviously they need to be in a confined space to work as intended like a bag or case, box, cabinet etc.. I ordered a couple to try out in my camera bag and tech bag. Sure, small silica gel sachets are smaller and lighter but how to you know when they’re saturated? and they’re not reactivated. The USB C socket fits in well with my 100% USB charging philosophy which always works brilliantly when travelling. The only downside to these that I’m aware of is that they can take 10 hours plugged in to completely reactivate but I suppose that this can be done in more than one session if more convenient. Probably better to do it like this as it keeps the heat to a reasonable level. From a safety point of view I never leave anything plugged in and charging overnight or unattended with no exceptions. Compliments my Nitecore Blowerbaby BB2 air blower. Blow the water off, wipe down the camera and lens thoroughly with an absorbent microfibre cloth and let the dehumidifier inside the camera bag absorb any residual dampness. Thanks to my mate Jimmy Cheng for the heads-up. 🙂 . Looking forward to getting more shots in the rain when the opportunity presents itself. Also enjoying my night time photography, maybe get some nice night time rainy shots sometime.

Kind regards

Leigh

PS. It fits nicely inside my Billingham Hadley Digital camera bag with the addition of a surplus to requirements narrow padded velcro divider from one of my tech cases to hold it in place without totally covering the holes in the case grill. I put the other one in my tech bag which I take with me when travelling.