Hi everyone,
I took my new M.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4 PRO fitted to my Olympus E-M5 II for a spin today to test it out. Very impressed with the images, sharp corner to corner and the close focusing is a bonus.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
For my next trips. E-M5 II, M.Zuiko 17mm f/1.8 and my new M.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4 lens. Should make a nice lightweight selection for travelling. 🙂 A weather-sealed body and lens combination and a faster prime for low light/indoor shots. Although generally-speaking I prefer the 25mm FOV I’ve chosen the 17mm because of its wider angle. This is useful in indoors situations and it’s also good for landscapes and architecture. I’m not a street-shooter but, using zone focusing set the aperture to f/5.6 and set the focus to 3m and everything between 3m and infinity is acceptably sharp. I do like to have a depth of field scale on a lens like this. Like some of their other lenses it also has a manual focus clutch which enables switching between auto focus and manual focus very quickly. I’ve always disabled it in the camera settings as I find it far too easy to accidentally move especially when attaching and removing the lens and I prefer a function button dedicated to toggling manual focus suits me better.
You might also notice that I’ve added a half-case to the camera which adds negligible weight. It protects the camera especially the base of the camera, the tripod thread and the somewhat delicate and vulnerable battery door which I’ve already replaced once. It also removes the possibility of the small rubber “bung” that protects the contacts for the dedicated grip falling off and getting lost and as it pretty much covers the rubber cover over the HDMI and USB sockets which I don’t use often, preventing it from accidentally opening and thus further helps with the weather protection. It improves one’s grip without having the added extra bulk and weight of a camera grip and lastly it looks darned smart, the black faux-leather with red stitching matching my choice of camera strap. 🙂
Snug as a bug in a rug for transporting in one of my small Manfrotto shoulder bags.
Kind regards,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Recently I’ve been experimenting a lot with different selections of lenses. Yesterday I took out my PEN-F camera with three lenses, my Lumix 12-32mm and M.Zuiko 17mm and 45mm f/1.8 lenses. For ages now I’ve known what works best for me in nearly all situations and my personal style. All I really need is a “standard” zoom covering moderate wide angle to moderate telephoto and maybe a fast lightweight prime like my 25mm f/1.8. I find the 17mm too wide to leave fitted all the time and, useful as the 45mm focal length occasionally is, and bearing in mind that I don’t habitually do portraiture or people shots, the same is true. The 25mm lens with its full-frame equivalent 50mm, “nifty-fifty” field of view works best for me, probably something that has stuck with me since my film days as most cameras came with one and thus it was one’s first lens and, not by coincidence, it was the first Micro Four Thirds lens that I bought.
Yesterday proved the point to me once and for all, I shot with all three lenses and particularly the 12-32mm but made a point of using the 45mm and to a somewhat lesser extent the 17mm lenses. I was changing lenses all the time, too often for my liking which significantly slowed me down and I missed one of my other standard zooms like my Lumix 14-42mm II, Lumix 12-60mm or M.Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8 PRO all of which are very capable lenses which I’d very happily shoot with. I gave up using the 12-40mm PRO some while back, not because it isn’t a good lens, it is a very good lens and it has weather-sealing but it’s too heavy for me nowadays and a bit front-heavy on my smaller MFT camera bodies. I took my 12-40mm to Malta, Brussels, Rome, Corfu and Prague and my 12-60mm to Bruges/Ghent and Porto/Lisbon and they both performed admirably so I know that a lens in this range pretty much ticks all the boxes for me when travelling.
I’ve chosen to buy an M.Zuiko 12-45mm f/4 PRO lens which I found at a very tempting price. This lens covers the focal length range I most frequently use, it’s lighter than the 12-40mm albeit a stop slower, which doesn’t worry me at all, but it has weather-sealing and a useful close-focusing capability of 12cm at 12mm focal length and, here’s the clincher for me, at 7cms (2.8″) in length and weighing only 254g (9 oz), it’s a fair bit smaller and lighter than the 12-40mm. I have faster standard zoom lenses (M.Zuiko 12-40mm), I have significantly smaller standard zoom lenses (Lumix 12-32mm), I have lighter standard zoom lenses (Lumix 12-32 and 14-42mm) but I don’t have a lens in this range that has this combination of size, weight, performance and weather-sealing. I think this lens is a very good move by Olympus, not all off us want faster, heavier, bigger lenses and dreamy bokeh!. 🙂
I’m really looking forward to trying out the new lens when it arrives, it just could be my new go-to lens, especially when travelling married to one of my favorite smaller camera bodies such as my PEN-F or more probably, primarily for it’s weather-sealing, my Olympus E-M5 II camera. This combination along with my 25mm lens fits in squarely within my self-imposed 1Kg weight limit at 860g or 1.9 lbs. :), marginally lighter than a bag of sugar and every bit as sweet!.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
For ages I’ve been trying to find rain covers for my little Manfrotto bags. They don’t make one so I hit on the idea of buying elasticated shower caps which fit them perfectly and if it’s really bucketing down you could choose to put it on your head but, should you choose to do so, don’t blame me for the looks you’ll get
I would probably advise against putting it on your head for two reasons. In order of personal priority: 1. Your bag would get wet and 2. You’ll look VERY silly. Not that the last point concerns me as much as the first, sadly, when one gets to my age nobody ever mistakes me for a dedicated follower of fashion.
PS. I guess they’re a standard size but, if you can find one, look out for the extra-large “politicians” size.
All the best,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
I love pancake lenses, these tiny little lens are great. I fell in love with them some years back and they are so light that one doesn’t know that one has them in one’s camera bag/jacket pocket and fitted to the camera and, by virtue of their small size and weight, they make excellent travel companions.
I retro-fitted fitted lens hoods, although they add a bit of length to the lenses, my camera rain cover, when fitted, needs something for the cinch cord to grip the front of the lens and I also prefer to have a lens hood fitted.
Kind regards,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
I’ve decided to try out this combination of gear specifically orientated towards travel. Seen here on my Olympus E-M5 II/Ti camera, my Olympus M.Zuiko 14-150mm II plus my M.Zuiko 9-18mm. I’ve taken the 14-150mm on my travels a few times abroad and in the UK and I’ve been consistently impressed with the quality of the images produced by this lens. The body and lens combination is weather-sealed, something that’s always nice to have when travelling as one never knows what the weather is going to be like and the focal length range is very useful as it avoids having to change lenses as much as possible especially in the rain. The 9-18mm lens isn’t weather-sealed (unfortunately) but it’s another favorite of mine which excels at wide landscape, architecture and interior shots. Both lenses are slow and not constant aperture but with the amazing higher ISO performance of these cameras if required plus excellent image stabilization coupled with some great de-noising software its never presented me with any insurmountable problems. I added some “bling” to the E-M5 II. Well actually it’s not bling at all as I managed to loose the flash sync socket cover (again) and rather than replacing it with a boring black one I thought I’d choose a hi-vis red one this time, theory being that at least I’ll spot it’s missing when I surely next loose it 🙂 and it forms a part of the body weather-proofing.
A few images taken with these lenses, first the 9-18mm.
Some taken with the 14-150mm lens.
Best wishes,
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Beach huts in Felpham. I had some fun yesterday with a short local trip to Felpham, W.Sussex, just down the coast from here. I took my E-M1 mk 1 and two lightweight lenses, my Lumix 14-42mm II and 45-150mm. If I substitute my PEN-F or E-M5 II camera bodies I’ve now got the weight of my kit down to about 1.5 lbs which is quite remarkable. 🙂
Have a great day, best wishes.
Leigh
I replaced the shoulder strap on my small Manfrotto shoulder bag with a neoprene one by OPTECH that I’ve had for some years. It’s proven to be much better for me in combatting my neck and shoulder pains. It really helps cushion the weight and it is anatomically shaped to fit into one’s collar bone/shoulder blade and, unlike the supplied strap with a shoulder pad it doesn’t slide up and down on the strap which I find a bit annoying.
I put my M.Zuiko 9-18mm and 35-100mm Lumix lenses in a couple of my small neoprene lens pouches. This gives them a bit of added protection from knocks and moisture whilst in the bag and I can also just remove them from the bag and pop them in jacket pockets to spread the weight around my body and get it off of my shoulder and upper torso.
I replaced the plastic petal type lens hoods on the two Lumix lenses with 46mm metal screw on ones for five reasons. Firstly I think that they offer better protection against knocks. Secondly, they’re a better shape/grip when attaching my camera rain cover. Thirdly, they have a 58mm filter thread on the end so I can attach a 58mm clear filter when using the rain cover and thus remove it and clean it easily if and when it gets wet. Fourthly, it reduces their diameter and thus permits them to fit into the neoprene lens pouches. Lastly it enables me to leave the hood permanently fitted and eliminates having to reverse it every time when transferring the camera with lens attached to and from the bag. I’ve also taken to using my Dymo label machine to add arrows to the lens caps which make it easier and faster to see the positions of the side-pinches with less fumbling about.
This will be the kit that I take with me on my trips to Cornwall and Prague.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
I’m looking forward to putting my new Lumix 45-150mm through its paces. Bought second-hand at a great price. Seen here with my other “holy trinity” lenses, my M.Zuiko 9-18mm and Lumix 12-60mm. The beauty of this lens is that it is actually a tad shorter than the 12-60mm and that lens will go into my small camera bag attached to the camera body as will the 9-18mm and thus so will the 45-150mm too. 🙂 . You’ve got to love the compactness of Micro Four Thirds gear!.
Kind regards
Leigh
Hi everyone,
Following on from my recent travel photography post I did a short video.
Best wishes,
Leigh
📷 Digital Art Photography 🎨 : "Paintography" ✈ 👍 