Hi everyone,

Just for fun I decided to compare my Panasonic Lumix 12-32mm “kit” lens set at 25mm with my Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm. I took two shots with the camera tripod mounted and a cable release fitted at ISO 200 f/5.6. Here are two 100% crops, I think they compare very favourably and I’d be happy with both, I think that the Olympus is perhaps a tad softer but there’s very little in it and nothing that a little sharpening couldn’t sort out. Of course the prime lens has a faster maximum aperture of f/1.8 compared with the slower zoom. But as someone who primarily shoots landscapes and stops down then that difference is largely irrelevant.

Lumix 12-32 @ 25mm.

Olympus 25mm.

Olympus Corner crop

Lumix corner crop.

Where the Olympus does win out is in the corners but again nothing that I can’t live with and nothing that a little sharpening can’t fix. Actually I don’t think that difference is purely softness it’s more to do with a slight difference in depth of field as the two images have a little different field of view as the zoom is set to be 25mm and they don’t line up exactly. If you look at the writing on the microphone cable in the foreground for example then the Lumix is noticeably sharper. Perhaps worth noting that, at the time of writing, Amazon are listing both lenses new within a few pounds of each other with the Olympus being sold at £90 below its list price. I paid £89 for my Lumix, used in great condition and full-price for my Olympus new. I might repeat this comparison tomorrow with the Lumix set at 12mm and my Olympus 12mm f/2 lens which, for me, might be a more interesting comparison because I often shoot my landscapes at this focal length.

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hi folks,

My two Lumix 12-32mm lenses mounted on my PEN-F and E-M5 mk II. I still haven’t managed to fully test the new one but I’ve done some testing and it seems just as sharp as my older one. I went out earlier to get a few test shots to a local common type area which was very heavily waterlogged after all the rain we’ve had of late, slipped with the camera in my hand and got myself and my gear thoroughly covered in very slimy mud but shot nothing of interest. 🙂 On my return I wiped it down first to get the worst of the mud off, removed the lens, fitted a weather-sealed one and thoroughly washed the camera (the E-M5 II) down, dried it, and after gently cleaning the lens, refitted it, as good as new, you got to love Olympus’ weather sealing when you need it!. 🙂 I always buy lens hoods for all my lenses, I think that they’re an essential accessory, these ones, by JJC, have the benefit of having a 58mm filter thread on the front and thus accepting an easier to attach filter like my variable ND filter and lens cap which, as they’re screw-on lens hoods is a very useful feature as you don’t have to remove them to fit a filter, a neat design feature I think.

I did a couple of test shots indoors of some ornaments, I love art deco 🙂 , and our music room AKA dinning room, “Eat to the beat” 🙂 , she loves Elvis, I tease her that there’s always been three in our relationship. 🙂

And, as they used to say in Blue Peter TV program when I was a kid, “here’s one I made earlier” in pre-lockdown Bognor Regis, shot at f/5.6 ISO 200 as a five-frame handheld HDR, which I think that you’ve seen before which does nicely illustrate how sharp these lenses are.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/leighkemp/50791211762/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

All the best,

Leigh

Hi everyone,

I’ve never bought two of any piece of major photographic gear before. Firstly I most certainly can’t afford to do that and secondly I have to justify my purchases and spend my money carefully and choose gear which extends my photographic options but I’ve made an exception to this. I’ve come to love the tiny Lumix 12-32mm pancake lens so much for its compact size, light weight and sharpness, especially when stopped down to f/5.6 or f/8, it’s a “gem” of a lens, that I’ve bought another one as this has, nine times out of ten, become my go-to lens. The first one I bought as a white box, split from kit purchase and, like a lot of my gear, this one is a used item at a fair price. It also has the benefit of, when married to a small Micro Four Thirds body, being very lightweight and inconspicuous, which suits me just fine. 🙂

But you don’t have to take my word for it. 🙂

I love this:

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hi folks,

I got myself a crystal ball!. Okay, just to make it clear, I’m not turning into “Mystic Meg” nor have I any desire to look into the future even if I could. What I have got is an 80mm crystal ball to have some photographic fun with whilst stuck indoors. I did a quick test shot with overhead LED lighting and my E-M1 mk 1 and M.Zuiko 30mm macro lens. I think that this will be a fun thing to pass some time. They’ve been around for years apparently but I’ve only recently stumbled across them. I’ve probably never come across them before because this isn’t my interest in photography and for a tenner from Amazon complete with stand I thought it worth a punt.

“Biggles having ball”

Kind regards,

Leigh

Hi everyone.

I know that it looks quite a bit like something out of a SCIFI movie 🙂 . A while back I bought one of those cheap helping-hand things and also some small battery-powered clip on LED spotlights. I thought I’d combine them and here’s the result for a fraction of the cost of a similar proprietary one that I saw advertised. Cheap and cheerful but effective. 🙂

Kind regards

Leigh

PS. Mk II version  I added some PVC tape to the cross bar so that the lights grip better, don’t slip and stay as set.

Hi folks,

Hope that everyone is staying safe, greetings from my “Bunker in Bognor” or so it feels as I’ve not left it for over a week now, AKA my Man Cave 🙂 and I’m going more than a little stir-crazy. As I can’t get a haircut I’m also starting, more and more, to resemble a Yeti. 🙂 .

I’ve been giving some thought to my passion for processing my images (still hate the word). If someone offered me some money to spend as I wished on photographic equipment, as unlikely as that ever might be, I’d choose to spend the lion’s share on software. My passion for photography really starts when I’m working on my images, Subjective as of course it is, I just couldn’t go out, take some shots and not work on them. I’m fortunate that I don’t have deadlines to meet or have to mass-produce images to a formula but even a few simple adjustments will bring one’s imagery to life. I’ve raved several times before about Viveza, part of the NIK collection of software plugins now owned by DXO with it’s selective adjustment control point technology and I think that it’s an absolutely fantastic piece of software that has been the most useful and creative software that I’ve ever purchased, I use it at some stage in every image that I work on.

Stay safe, kind regards,

Leigh