Hi everyone,

I[‘ve Just taken delivery one month ahead of schedule! of my new TT Artisans 17mm f/1.4 lens. My friend Jimmy Cheng was right, this lens is very sharp. My only slight criticism and it’s not a big one and something that I’ve noticed with other Chinese MFT lenses is that it is a very tight fit but the quality, especially stopped down to about f/5.6 is outstanding and no hit of chromatic aberation!, I’m impressed and looking forward to being able to get out and properly put it through its paces. A quick test pic as I ‘m housebound today. and a 100% crop.

Kind rergards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

I picked up one of these bags https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06XVSZ128/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It’s quite nice for the money, probably not the best made bag in the world and highly unlikely to last you a lifetime but it’ll last a fair while and it is lightweight (one of my main pre-requisites) and fairly versatile and roomy. I added a CADEN padded camera insert that I had lying around and also a patch and some carabiners to taste. Not show in the picture below, it also has a large zip-up inside pocket at the back. I very much doubt if it’s water-proof but my National Geographic NG A2560 rain cover fits it very well.

I’ve also ordered one of their tactical MOLLE Phone Pouch Bag Gear Waist Belt Packs (catchy title) 🙂 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Q2VJQGC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to go one one end. This is detachable and will attach to a belt and serve as second pouch to hold extra stuff, a smallish lens, a mobile phone or maybe second camera like my TG-5 and spare batteries etc..

Small, shallow, vertical opening zip pocket on the left, I’ve put business cards in there. Double pocket, one with zip into which I’ve stored my rain cover and one larger pocket beneath it secured with buckle into which I’ve put my NEEWER 4 battery pouch. MOLLE loops and built in carabiner and a velcro loop patch.

Small side pocket with MOLLE loops.

Large back pocket probably best suited for flat items such travel paperwork, grey cards etc..

End with MOLLE loops to which I’m intending to attach the separate pouch that I ordered.

Inside with the CADEN camera insert fitted. The grey pouch on the end contains my small lightweight fold up rucksack.

NOTE the insert doesn’t come with the bag, I purchased this separately.

Kind regards

Leigh

Hi everyone,

Heath Robinson would like this 🙂 , my latest pistol grip mod, added one of my SLIK ball heads with quick release and an optional detachable stand. Obviously this isn’t going to work with big heavy kit and needs an even surface. I’m looking for a similar base but a tad bigger but it works with my lightweight gear like my PEN-F and smaller lenses.

Best wishes,

Leigh

Hi everyone, most of you already know that I like to experiment with my gear. As the pistol grip has a tripod thread on the bottom I attached it to two of my small tabletop tripods to try it out. The only thing that I dislike about the grip is the positioning of the lock button which is far too easily accidentally pressed and, as I don’t require it for my interests, I’m going to glue it in the off or unlocked position.

Kind regards

Leigh

PS. The lock button is no longer a problem since I super glued it 🙂

Hi everyone,

For my last two local trips out I decided to take my relatively little used Olympus E-PL5 camera and Lumix 12-32mm as I had other things that I needed to do and carry and I didn’t want to carry around some of my other somewhat more bulky camera gear. I dug out my tiny Samsonite Trekking camera bag and managed to squeeze in a fair bit of gear.

Firstly, to get a sense of scale, here’s the bag sitting on top of an A4 sheet of paper.

In the main compartment my E-PL5 with lens attached and my EV-4 electronic viewfinder ready to attach and in the top mesh pocket, a 58mm ND filter.

In the the front compartment, my Holux GPS data-logger, two spare camera batteries and, in the front zip-up mesh pocket, my Nikon Coolpix A-100 camera with my Manfrotto mini tripod attached in a red waterproof pouch so I even managed to fit in a backup camera!!. 🙂

Lastly I attached a very small tabletop tripod through the two belt loops and used one of my handy Thinktank red-whips to secure it tightly. Behind this is another zip-up pocket into which I put a few lens wipes sachets and a lens cleaning cloth.

Amazing what one can get into such a tiny bag. 🙂 . As for the weight, I don’t know, it was so light that it didn’t even register on my electronic bathroom scales!.

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hi everyone,

Another short video today.

Here’s an alternate loadout, Olympus E-M5 and M.Zuiko 14-150mm, a snug fit width-wise but doable. 🙂

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hang the bag containing the camera, four lenses and a couple of spare batteries from my thumb. Oh the beauty of the Micro Four Thirds system! 🙂

All the best,

Leigh

Hi everyone,

I thought I’d do a quick post on my recent outings to Bognor and Chichester. A short while back I did a video and in it I promised that I would do a post with some images taken with my chosen camera and lens selection.

For the trips I managed to squeeze one more lens into one of my small Manfrotto camera bags. In addition to my Olympus PEN-F, M.Zuilko 30mm f/3.5 ,Lumix 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 and 35-100mm f/4-5.6 lenses I also took my 20 mm Lumix f/1.7 but in the end I didn’t find the opportunity to use it but, when I do I’ll post some images here.

All packed, but where’s the 20mm ? 🙂

Well, it’s below the Lumix 35-100mm attached to it using my MOVO lens changer. This device did come with a strap which I quickly discarded, one because it didn’t look that great a quality and two because I don’t want my lenses hanging from my neck or shoulder but one could do so if one wished. Instead I fitted a small wrist strap for added security when changing lenses. The main advantage to me in using this is that one can dispose of a couple of lens back caps thus reducing the chances of loosing them and, primarily, the lenses don’t bang against each other in the small bag. I’ve also fitted JJC lens hoods to 20mm, 30mm and 12-32mm lenses and the 30mm lens is in a small soft lens pouch..

I’ve posted most of these shots previously but I’ll repost them here. First some taken with my M.Zuiko 30mm f/3.5 macro lens.

Now some shots taken with my Lumix 35-100mm lens, a very sharp, compact little lens.

A few (of many) taken with my favourite Lumix 12-32mm lens.

Hope this is of interest, with the exception of the 12-32mm lens, both the camera and lenses have all been purchased used in great condition and, as always, I travel compact and light. 🙂

Kind regards,

Leigh