Hi,

My beloved, faithful Olympus PEN-F shown here with M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 lens. With its iconic retro rangefinder styling and homage to the original PEN-F film camera. Looks are one thing but it has everything that I require in a camera and it’s always an absolute delight to use. It’s also the only PEN series camera that they made with a built in electronic viewfinder which I regard as essential. If they ever did a mk 2 version I’d get one in a heartbeat, mind you with its 20 MP sensor, electronic shutter and other great features it’s only really weather-sealing that would tempt me. You’d think that it’s attracts attention which I certainly don’t want but, if anything, it has the opposite effect as it just appears to be some old geezer with a film camera, little do they know!, about the camera that is. 🙂

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi,

I thought I’d get one of these, this time for my BLS-5/BLS-50 batteries as used in my Olympus E-PL5 and E-PL8 cameras and some later models of OM-D series cameras. I tested it quickly and it charged two pretty flat batteries in approximately 2.5 hours. I like the built in hard-wired USB cable terminating in a USB A male connector which stores in the base of the charger when not in use although be aware that it is very short, they do supply a short (40cm) USB extension cable with it but it’s a tight fit and doesn’t really add much to the overall cable length so I used one of my longer USB extension cables with it for this test. Not an issue if the charger is sitting on a desk next to or close by the USB power source eg. my Anker 5-port USB charger or one of my USB power banks, laptop etc. but something perhaps to consider if using another power source such as a USB port in a vehicle or a USB charger plugged into a raised wall socket. I like the red charging indicator LEDs, one for each battery slot, which blink once for charge up to 25%, twice for up to 50%, three times for up to 75% and light solidly when fully charged. They do them for all sorts of camera battery types so, I’m guessing that they all behave roughly the same. Here it is next to one of my older USB single battery chargers for comparison, As you can see it’s very slightly taller but overall pretty much the same size as the single battery charger.

Best wishes,

Leigh

Hi,

As an alternative gear choice for the increasing number of days when my osteoarthritis in my legs and lower back is particularly bad and I know that I won’t be able to carry very much weight for very far. My Olympus E-PL8, my “other” Lumix 12-32mm lens and my Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.8 lens. I think this type of setup would also make for a very compact lightweight day out travel setup.

Best wishes,

Leigh

Hi,

In keeping with making my kit as light and compact as possible I hit on the idea of using some of those small, soft, velvet? pouches that one can get cheaply online that they sell for jewellery etc. for my filters. Shown below on the left, my 62mm CPL filter and on the right my 62 mm UV filter both with XUME filter adapters fitted. I chose two colours of pouches to easily and quickly distinguish between the filters. Additionally, I fitted a 62mm-67mm step up ring to the CPL filter which makes it easier to grip and adjust and it shades it a little. These afford all the protection needed as they fit snugly and securely in two of the inside elasticated mesh pockets in my Wandrd tech bag that I’m using as my camera bag.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

I don’t believe that I’ve been blogging for nine years, not bad for someone that’s always considered himself a non-blogger 🙂 . I hope that my blog is still of interest, I try and post as often as I can and mix things up between my shots, techniques, gear, travels and occasionally some posts about things that I’ve bought or adapted and find useful in my photography or maybe my feelings and observations about photography in general in the hope that they’re of interest to someone. Thanks, as always, to those that continue to follow my blog. There have been lots of ups and downs along the way, not the least of which has been COVID, our move to the coast, health problems, financial worries etc. but I’m still here and still taking photos. 🙂

Best wishes,

Leigh

PS. I’ve never been read in Greenland though, so if you know of anyone living in Greenland please let them know 🙂

Hi everyone,

Firstly let me start by saying that I’m a firm believer in using lens hoods, something that I’ve been doing for many many years and all my lenses have hoods. Panasonic, unlike most of their other lenses, doesn’t supply a hood with the lens as they don’t reckon that it needs one. My instinct was to fit one of my metal screw in after market hoods which has been fine. I was keen to test the lens without a hood, it’s not easily knocked as it’s a pancake design and, equally importantly, it is not prone to flare even in strong light.

This got me thinking about adding a 46-62mm step up ring to the lens which in turn has one on my 62mm (magnetic) XUME lens adapters attached. This still gives a little shading and protection to the front lens element and still makes the lens considerably shorter and thus takes up less room fitted to the camera when in my small camera bag. A nice side effect of this is that my silicone lens cap now fits right down flush to the camera body and completely encases the lens mount. I’m not claiming that this water proofs the lens in transit but it doesn’t do any harm. An unexpected benefit to doing things this way is that my somewhat voluminous but effective rain cover, which has an elasticated front end stays on much better and can’t easily slip off the front of the lens as the step up ring arrangement prevents this unlike having the smooth metallic lens hood fitted.

Now onto my filters, my preferred (slim) CPL filter has a 58mm thread so I first fitted one of my 62mm XUME filter adapters and then a 62-58mm step down ring and then the filter. Because the step down ring makes the filter somewhat recessed and fiddly to adjust I then fitted a 58-62mm step up ring which makes the filter easy to adjust and also provides a little shading to the filter. I’ve tested and with this arrangement fitted it doesn’t cause any vignetting as it’s still considerably shorter than using the hood. I’m also packing a 62mm clear filter and XUME filter adapter to quickly snap on the lens to protect the front element should I need it in harsh environments, rain, snow (with my rain cover fitted), dust etc.. Easier, quicker and safer to clean the filter than the front lens element when required.

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hi,

Just taken delivery and quickly tested my new 2-port USB camera battery charger. I like that it has both micro USB and USB-C connections and isn’t appreciably larger than my single port ones that I’ve used for some years, a tad larger but still as light as air.. It looks like it’ll do the job nicely. I’ll probably travel with one of my single port chargers in my hand luggage as well at least for a while as a backup. Shown here charging one of my Olympus BLN-1 batteries, haven’t had need to try it with two yet and shown side by side with one of my single port ones for comparison. I expect that they probably make them for other battery types. I have now finally achieved 100% USB-C charging Nirvana! 🙂

All the best,

Leigh