Guandong Diamond Jubilee Mug At It Again!!

One year ago I wrote about "Royal Wedding Cup, NOT!"

At the same time, some where in the world; a company known as The Guan Dong Enterprises Ltd is trying to hog off "a beautiful cup to commemorate the wedding of HRH Prince William and his stunning lady bride to be, Miss Kate Middleton."

Now, THE SAME COMPANY; is at it AGAIN!

Olympus ED 75mm F1.8 V Leica 90mm F2 Summicron

I lied ;)  It is not actually a real "V" confrontation because the NEW Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 75mm F1.8 lens is not even in the shops yet!  But what I have are high resolution samples taken by this big deal telephoto lens from Olympus themselves, that to me are good indication of it's quality!

What I do have is Olympus's competitor, my LEICA SUMMICRON-M 90mm f2 short telephoto.

From 1980, for 18 years; this chunky, weighty glass was Leica's most expensive 90mm lens! In 1998 Leica replaced it with the even more expensive but even more spectacular LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-M 90mm f/2 ASPH !!

Lumix 45-175mm f/4-5.6 ASPH X Lens on OM-D

The lens we are trying out is known as...

Panasonic Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 ASPH/POWER O.I.S. Lens

What a mouth full!

August 2011, Panasonic launched two new powered zoom lenses for its Lumix G Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Of the two, the Lumix G X Vario PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6 ASPH/POWER O.I.S. lens provides the longer 3.9x zoom magnification and covers a focal length range equivalent to 90-350mm (in 35mm term).

According to Panasonic...

"This is the world's First Digital Interchangeable Power Zoom Lens."

"Panasonic introducing a new cutting-edge interchangeable lens LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 45-175mm / F4.0-5.6 ASPH / POWER O.I.S. with electric-powered zoom operation from the new premium lens brand “X”.

Crystallizing Panasonic's optical technologies, the “X” lens features a unique Nano Surface Coating for minimal ghosts and flaring and natural atmospheres with remarkable transparency."

OM-D E-M5 How Low (Slow) Can You Go?

 

In my younger years, working as a photojournalist; I often encountered situations where I need to shoot at slow speed.

I learn early how to hold my camera steady when shooting slow speed, how to stand; holding my breath, leaning on wall for support; to ensure my shots are sharp.

With practice I was able to hand held shots as low as 1/8 of a second.

On the left, the majestic corridor of the Assumption University of Thailand was shot at a slowish 1/15 second.

The trick to a sharp picture at slower speed is NOT to jab your shutter release!

SQUEEZE the release down smoothly and only let loose your trigger finger AFTER you heard the shutter gone off.

After 1/8 of a second, the longer exposures are impossible to achieve sharp, hand held pictures; you need a tripod or a monopod.

OM-D E-M5 In Trouble @ Wellington City Library

Way back in late April, I read with interest how the extra wide dynamic range of the OM-D beat the heck out of the other M 4/3 cameras.

Since I now have the fabled E-M5, I am excited to see that wide dynamic range in the real world pictures :)

I decided to test out my new camera at our Wellington City Library (WCL).

Of all places, why WCL?

I thought the shelves of books and the surrounding giant glass windows create a lighting environment that lesser digital sensor find hard to cope.

I was in the library at 10.45am and took a few shots of the shelves of books with my Panasonic 7-14  on the OM-D. 

Prima Facie - Olympus OM-D E-M5

Prima Facie (from Latin: prīmā faciē) is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face" or "at first appearance", from the feminine form of primus ("first") and facies ("face"), both in the ablative case.      -Wikipedia

There were no announcement, no fanfare; no product launch and no excitement. The most talk about, most anticipated; most reviewed Micro Four Thirds camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 quietly appeared on the shelves of camera shops in New Zealand.

I was told by a shop assistant that Olympus has "abandoned" NZ a while back, we do not even have an Olympus distributor here; the shop people have to fill your Olympus order from Australia!

After reading a dozen of reviews on this most publicised camera, I was intrigued enough wanting to find out if the OM-D is really as hot as they say!

I got mine last week from Photo Warehouse for  NZ$1,560.00, that hard earned amount is for the body only!

My friend asked me why didn't I buy a kit?  For NZ$1,980.00 I can get the same black body with the "new" 12-50 power zoom lens, this rather long (non retractable) optics; like the camera body, is weather sealed!

Well, I personally do not have much respect for kid lens... oops, kit lens ;) The Olympus M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50mm f3.5-6.3 EZ received a less than stella  review from DXO Mark.

Here then is my first encounter with this much hyped camera...

The OM-D is a mirrorless camera that trying to look like a DSLR, in this case; Olympus want you to believe it look like their original winning OM series of FILM based SLRs, duh!

Ultra-Wide WC-E75 G12 @ Martinborough Fair

Every year, for twice a year; on the first Saturday of February and March, since 1977; Martinborough  hold her famous fair which attracts ten of thousands visitors to this sleepy small town.

The Fair was scheduled for Saturday 3rd March but due to the Weather Bomb was cancelled for the first time in 35 years. Due to overwhelming demand it is being rerun on the first Saturday in May.

Martinborough is a town in South Wairarapa, a district in the Wellington region on the North Island of New Zealand. It is 65 kilometres east of Wellington and 35 kilometres south-west of Masterton. The town has a population of about 1300 full-time inhabitants.      - Wikipedia

Nikon Admit D4 and D800 Lock Up Issues!!

What is going on?  At least now the Canon fan boys are laughing at all the Nikon fan boys! Ha ha ha...

The following is a statement from Nikon Inc. sent to PDN in response to a problem they had with an early review unit of the 16.2-megapixel Nikon D4, which locked up during usage on several occasions. The camera would only start working again if we took out and reinstalled the battery.

"Nikon has received reports of a small number of D4/D800 users who are experiencing 'locking up' issues, where the camera becomes unresponsive until the battery is removed and reinserted," Nikon's statement reads.

How Canon Fix 5D Mark III Light Leak!

Last month Canon received some pretty bad press on their 5D Mark III’s light leak issue — granted a minor flaw where light from (or through) the top LCD panel can affect the camera’s exposure readings in very dark environments.

Canon finished investigating the issue last week, and reported that only 5D Mk III cameras with a certain range of serial numbers are affected. They also confirmed that the company has implemented a fix for newer bodies.

Canon also announced that service centers would be providing free “inspections” for owners concerned about this issue.

After the announcement 5D Mk III were wondering what high tech fix Canon has came up with ;)