Gary Ayton photography

Sony ups the ante with a new high end mirrorless camera – the NEX 7 and new EVF-styled dSLRs.

Written by Gary on August 24th, 2011

I have not been a big Sony fan when it comes to cameras – largely because of their silly proprietary flash hot shoe which is practically the only one not compatible with 90% of manual flash units ever made, and their insistence on using proprietary Sony memory sticks. Up until now their NEX cameras have had rather limiting feature sets.

BUT, their new NEX-7 has got me excited, mainly because it has included an XGA 2.4 million dot OLED EVF where it should be – on the left hand side so you can use it more like a Leica and use your left eye to keep an eye on the scene.

As good as the new Olympus Pen cameras are, the lack of a built-in EVF has troubled me – sure you can add an EVF to the hotshoe but then you can’t use the hotshoe, and it is a bit clunky.

Furthermore, they have included a tilt LCD screen in the NEX-7 which will be handy, although still not a flip out, swivel one like on the Panasonic G series.

Other features of the NEX-7 include:

24mp APS-C sensor – I am not sure 90% of the population can tell the difference between a 12mp and a 24mp image, but if you have lots of memory cards and hard disk storage space, looks like you are stuck with nice big 24mp files.
magnesium alloy body
built-in flash
proprietary Sony alpha hotshoe
ISO 100-16000
optional electronic 1st curtain shutter to reduce shutter lag from 100msecc to 20msec
a decent HD video at last – AVCHD 1080p 60fps or 24fps but at what quality – is it the 28mbps as with the a77 dSLR? Manual focus is now available during HD video.
IR remote control receiver
2 additional dials and a control button on the top
in-camera HDR
3D sweep panorama
ability to shoot at 10fps but with fixed AF/AE
level gauge
body only – RRP $1200 not much cheaper than their new a77 dSLR body!

A new phase-contrast AF adapter for Sony alpha lenses (LA-EA2):

Olympus and Panasonic are working on similar adapters but Sony is the first to get one out, albeit $US399 and big and bulky
uses a fixed translucent mirror as with its SLT dSLRs, and has a AF motor to drive screw-drive lenses.

New E-system lenses:

24mm f/1.8 (36mm field of view in 35mm terms) – $1000 RRP and 65.5mm long – much bigger and more expensive than the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens.
50mm f/1.8 OSS (75mm field of view in 35mm terms) – $300 and 62mm long – optical image stabilised but 75mm field of view is in no man’s land – the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 giving image stabilised 90mm portrait lens at much the same price seems a better idea.
55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 OSS (83-315mm in 35mm terms) $350 and 108mm long – the Panasonic kit 45-200mm kit lens gives more telephoto (90-400mm) in a smaller package and at wider aperture.

On paper, there is a lot to like about the NEX-7, I hope it handles better than its pre-decessors, and I am sure it will drive Olympus and Panasonic to bring to market their high-end compact mirrorless versions with built-in EVF, improved sensors, global electronic shutter, and a phase-contrast adapter for Four Thirds lenses, and I am hoping too that Olympus produce their 0.5x wide adapter which gives AF capability to legacy OM lenses as suggested by their patent some 1-2 years ago.

A big question is how does the contrast detect AF speed compare with the new Panasonic and Olympus cameras which now have very fast AF for stationary subjects at least.

Furthermore, how silent are these new lenses for HD video and will they be as good as the new Olympus lenses.

As good as the Sony NEX-7 appears to be, the larger lenses mandated by the larger sensor partly defeats the whole purpose of a compact system, and if one is forced to use large lenses, why not just stick with a full frame dSLR?

Perhaps not surprisingly, for this reason, Nikon is looking at bringing out a 2.5x crop mirrorless system which could have smaller lenses than the Micro Four Thirds, and perhaps may even be truly pocketable, but with less image quality and less ability to blur the background,

If you want the above features in a dSLR, check out Sony’s new SLT-a77 and a65 models – these have some fantastic ground breaking features for a dSLR and will entice many would be Canon and Nikon dSLR buyers. I suspect they will be bringing out a similar image stabilised fast shooting full frame model too – but perhaps at 45 megapixels to really up the ante!

Competition is good for the consumer.

Posted in cameras | Comments Off on Sony ups the ante with a new high end mirrorless camera – the NEX 7 and new EVF-styled dSLRs.
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, Sony

A day out in Ballarat

Written by Gary on August 22nd, 2011

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny almost Spring day and I had a day trip to the old gold rush provincial city of Ballarat to view the many photographic galleries on display as part of the Biennale (see my earlier post).

In between galleries, I snuck back to my car and went for a stroll – after all, my Canon 1D Mark III dSLR has been so neglected of late because it is just so big and heavy and my Panasonic GH-1 now does almost everything I need.

So here are a few I took with the Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS L lens.

Tawana Lodge, the blackbird and the man waiting at the bus stop (click to view large image):

Provincial Hotel:

Disused weighing station at the railyards – og I love those clouds – looks like they are straight from the Simpsons:

Posted in photographic subjects and places, photography | Comments Off on A day out in Ballarat
Tags: Ballarat, Canon, Canon 1DMIII, Victoria

Digital camera sensor sizes for the uninitiated

Written by Gary on August 22nd, 2011

For the newcomer to photography sensor sizes and camera lens focal lengths can be very baffling, so I am going to try to shed some light on the matter.

In the days of film only cameras, the early cameras used film plates and these were gigantic 8″ x 10″ and 4″ x 5″ – many photographers still use these “large format” film sheet cameras today for the highest levels of image quality, but they are cumbersome and difficult to use.

Then came along the Kodak brownie camera and eventually film cameras for most consumers and professionals settled upon 6cm x 6cm or 6cm x 4.5cm using 120 film and this is known as “medium format”.

Medium format was great but it had several problems – the film was still quite large, and thus the cameras were generally big and heavy, and if they had a reflex mirror, this was big and heavy and caused a lot of camera shake through vibrations. Furthermore, depending on the width of the image, a roll of film only allowed less than 20 photos before one had to change rolls, and this was not only inconvenient, but for the consumer, expensive.

Then someone had the bright idea of using movie film for still cameras and we ended up with 35mm “full frame” film and much smaller and spontaneously shootable cameras which took the world by storm in the 1960’s onwards. Initially these cameras were met with much resistance from the professionals who felt the much smaller film size equated with poorer image quality. This was partly addressed by better lenses and better film, but in the end, the best camera was the one you had with you.

35mm film cameras were so popular, most people of the pre-digital age still think of lens focal lengths and the apparent field of view, and depth of field in terms of 35mm full frame cameras, such that a “normal” lens was of 50mm focal length, a short telephoto portrait lens would be around 100mm focal length, etc.

Enter the digital age, and digital sensors were very expensive to make and thus 35mm full frame sensors, not to mention almost medium format sized sensors were costing in the $10,000’s (and many still are).

Canon and Nikon took an affordability approach and introduced dSLRs as cropped sensor cameras – cameras with a sensor somewhat smaller than 35mm full frame to save cost – in Canon’s case it was called APS-C and had a crop factor of 1.6, while Nikon called their sensor size “DX” and it has a 1.5x crop factor.

The crop factor is applied to a lens focal length to determine the equivalent lens giving the same field of view and depth of field on a 35mm full frame camera.

Thus if one used a normal 50mm f/1.4 lens on a Nikon DX camera, it would now be more telephoto in field of view, similar to a 75mm (50mm x 1.5) lens on a 35mm full frame camera, furthermore, the depth of field at f/1.4 would be similar to the depth of field of a 75mm at f/2.1 (1.4 x 1.5).

To confuse things, Canon also brought out a professional cropped sensor size called APS-H which has a 1.3x crop factor and thus is bigger than APS-C or DX.

Olympus decided that 35mm form factor was now totally irrelevant to photography and that there was no need to be tied to legacy systems so it discontinued its 35mm film camera system – the wonderful, compact, brilliantly engineered OM system – and as part of the Four Thirds consortium they decided that best edge-to-edge image quality would be attained using a 2x crop factor size sensor, and this would also enable smaller cameras and lenses, and this compact size has finally been realised with the Micro Four Thirds mirrorless system.

Even though the Olympus sensors are 1/4 the area of a 35mm full frame sensor, they are still 6 x larger than most point and shoot cameras and this gives them the great advantage of compact size but with far better image quality than point and shoot cameras which have tiny sensors.

So what do you get with increasing sensor size?

larger and heavier lenses for a given focal length as they need to cover a larger image circle, thus often more expensive, and much more strain on your back, not to mention issues with air flight carry on cabin baggage which is often limited to 7.5kg.
better high ISO performance for a given sensor technology and sensor photosite density as the photosites can be larger
more dynamic range (ability to capture the very bright areas with detail as well as the very dark areas with detail)
allow more megapixels at same pixel density, and thus potentially more image detail but only if high quality lenses are used and they are focussed well with no camera shake.
shallower depth of field for a given lens focal length and aperture, and thus better ability to blur the background, particularly with wider focal length lenses
the shallower the depth of field, the more difficult photography can become as focus choice must be more precise, and the focus must be more accurate – pro cameras have a multitude of customisable functions designed to optimise AF for certain subjects – the casual photographer is likely to become confused and have blurred images for moving subjects by not learning how to use these tools correctly.
shallow depth of field is especially problematic for landscape photographers who generally want everything sharp
shallow depth of field may become a problem in low light circumstances when one is forced to use a wide aperture, although this is partly offset by being able to use a higher ISO and thus a smaller aperture
larger photosite size also means ability to use smaller apertures with less degradation of image resolution due to physical issues resulting from light diffraction – apertures smaller than f/8 should be avoided with 2x cropped sensors, while f/22 and smaller should be avoided with 35mm full frame sensors.
poorer image quality away from the centre – the physics of optics design mandates aberrations increase exponentially the greater the distance from the centre, plus, there is the issues of the outer sensors not receiving as much of the light causing darkening towards the periphery (“vignetting”)
less telephoto for a given lens (this has more to do with pixel density than sensor size but at pressent 2x crop give far better telephoto for lens size than do 1.6 crop or full frame – 800mm handheld is very doable with Four Thirds)
higher cost
ability to print to larger size with same print quality – point and shoot cameras may allow up to 11″ x 16″ prints if carefully used, while 2x to 1.3x cropped sensors print to 20″x30″, and medium format will print to commercial large print sizes well.
the medium format sizes are currently VERY expensive (eg. $25,000 upwards in general), are slow in use (usually only 1 frame per second), have limited high ISO due to the sensor design, and are big and heavy with expensive lenses to match (eg. the Leica S2 lenses start at $US5000 each).

Everything in photography is about compromise.

For most people, a 2-1.5x cropped sensor size is the best compromise in cost, ease of use, portability and image quality – these are good enough to enlarge a print to 20″x30″, and provide adequate ability to blur the backgrounds for most situations. The difference in image quality between 2x and 1.5x cameras is becoming less and less relevant as technology progresses – the far majority of most people’s photographs are taken at ISO 100-400 because no matter which camera you use, the lower the ISO, the better the sensor image quality and the greater the dynamic range.

If you are using these cameras indoors hand held without a flash, it is highly recommended you use a high quality lens with an aperture less than f/2.0 (eg. 25mm f/1.4), and this should allow ISO to be kept as low as ISO 800 for most situations. Don’t expect to take great photos in low light situations hand held without a flash using an f/3.5-5.6 range “kit” lens – give your sensor a chance with at nice wide aperture.

This is why in the Micro Four Thirds, you can now get 12mm f/2.0, 20mm f/1.7, 25mm f/1.4, 45mm f/1.8 lenses – because wide aperture lenses optimise the relative deficiencies of a 2x crop sensor.

Those wanting better high ISO, dynamic range, larger prints, and shallower DOF with wide angle lenses, will need to consider 35mm full frame or larger (eg. Leica S3 is part-way in size to a medium format dSLR).

You just can’t get the same imagery as a 25mm f/1.4 lens on a 35mm full frame camera on a cropped sensor camera – on a 2x crop camera, you would need a 12.5mm f/0.7 lens, and that is just not going to happen!

Likewise, you can’t currently get the same imagery as a Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens with a 2x crop camera, but with a 50mm f/0.95 lens you could get a little close.

But there is no point buying into full frame just for these reasons if you can never afford the $2000 plus price tag for those lenses.

You can get almost identical imagery of a Canon 135mm f/2.0L lens on a Canon 1D camera with a 2x crop camera – just get the really cheap but excellent Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens, or even better, use the super-expensive Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens for even shallow depth of field.

Australia’s Ballarat International Foto Biennale starts today – don’t miss it if you are in Melbourne this Spring – ends 18th Sept 2011

Written by Gary on August 20th, 2011

See their website for more details.

Includes exhibitions by Jan Saudek, Sara Saudkova from the Czech Republic whose works are often emotionally confronting but at the same time demonstrates aspects of humanity which popular culture tends to ignore, and British 60’s pop photographer Duffy, amongst the many photographic galleries.

I will be heading up there tomorrow, Sunday, hope to see you there- and its free!

Jan Saudek’s images such as the following one cannot help but induce emotions:

“The girl I loved”,1995:

Seeing Jan and Sara’s works in print rather just as small images on the web was fantastic, and some are not on their website.

Posted in exhibitions, photography | Comments Off on Australia’s Ballarat International Foto Biennale starts today – don’t miss it if you are in Melbourne this Spring – ends 18th Sept 2011
Tags: exhibitions

What can we expect next from Olympus?

Written by Gary on August 14th, 2011

Consumer sentiment over the past couple of years has suggested that the Four Thirds dSLR system may be reaching end of life based upon the success of Micro Four Thirds and the seeming lack of new Four Thirds cameras or lenses of late.

Of course, one has to take into account a difficult financial and local environment which must be straining the resources of the Japanese camera makers, not just Olympus.

So what can we expect from Olympus?

There is no doubt that their Micro Four Thirds system development will continue at pace as is evidenced by their new Pen cameras and the very nice new lenses they have just announced – the 12mm f/2.0 and 45mm f/1.8 (although it is a pity they couldn’t have given us f/1.4 but then price may have been an issue) which show they have seen the light and realised that wide aperture primes are the way to maximise the utility of the Micro Four Thirds format.

I would think that their next Micro Four Thirds camera would be more of a pro version and perhaps designed more like the Panasonic G3 so that it adequately fills the gap created by their apparent decision to replace entry level Four Thirds dSLRs with Micro Four Thirds models. Personally, I would like to see a weatherproof version with built-in EVF and flip out LCD.

NWP interviewed Sally Smith Clemens, Product Manager at Olympus USA, in July 2011, and essentially she has confirmed much of what most of us already suspect given Olympus has stated in the past that they see the Micro Four Thirds replacing the entry level dSLR market but given it is not as feasable for longer telephotos or large aperture zooms, they will be targeting the Four Thirds dSLR’s at the semi-pros and sports/wildlife photographers.

Sally has confirmed these beliefs and insists Four Thirds will be supported into the future for those needing weather-proofed cameras with flip out LCDs and fast continuous AF for moving subjects, such as the Olympus E5 dSLR, and that there is no need for introduction of new Four Thirds lenses at present given the mature lens line up.

I am hoping her comments does not imply Olympus will not be making a Micro Four Thirds camera with weather-proofing and flip out LCD. Time will tell.

Now let’s look at what is happening over at Four Thirds Rumours website:

seems a successor to the E-30 mid-range dSLR may be coming soon – the E-50, and if so one could expect it to be a non-weather-proof version of the E-5, and thus be similar to the E-30 but have HD video capability.
Panasonic and Olympus appear to be working on a global shutter which will allow better video plus near silent electronic shutter still images – very handy indeed for classical music performances, etc. Hopefully it will also give us faster flash sync and potential for very fast burst rates – at least 10fps in full resolution and allow a range of multi-frame techniques such as in-camera HDR, etc. This may make its way into the GH-3.

So, not a lot of new gear for Four Thirds users at this stage, but at least Olympus appears to have committed to its future, and certainly would not be wanting to give up all that R&D costs on those brilliant Four Thirds lenses just yet!

I would expect the next Olympus lens for Micro Four Thirds would be a wide aperture macro lens with focal length somewhere between 50-100mm – personally, a 100mm f/2.8 macro would be a great addition for nature lovers who want a reasonable working distance, while providing a nice, albeit long, portrait lens – it would give similar macro performance at half the weight as the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L macro lens, while a 60mm f/2.0 macro would also be popular (it seems Canon is rumoured to have one of these in their proposed EIS mirrorless 2x crop system lineup).

Then I would expect they would create a new compact macro flash system for both Four Thirds and Micro Four Thirds to replace their old Four Thirds macro flash.

I wish they could create an AF version of the Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 lens but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that one!

Posted in cameras | Comments Off on What can we expect next from Olympus?
Tags: Four Thirds, Four Thirds Micro, Olympus

Panasonic GH1 and GH2 HD video hacks for the best quality dSLR video quality available

Written by Gary on August 12th, 2011

HD video can be captured with the following options with various cameras:

frame capture rates of 24, 30, 60 fps for NTSC and 25, 50 fps if PAL with 24/25 being preferred for those wanting a more film-like appearance, 30p is not a preferred rate.
if you capture at 60/50 fps then one can get a 2x slow motion video from it. If it was possible to capture 720p at 120 fps you could get 5x slow motion 24p.
video is progressive (p) if all frames are full frames, or interlaced (i) if each frame only captures half the lines on each image.
full HD resolution is 1920×1080 pixels (1080i) while standard HD resolution is 720p
motion jpeg records a series of still jpeg images and thus is easily edited on most computers but does take up a lot of disk space. This also enables it to track high-speed action at 30fps without any of the smeared motion artifacts that plague low-bitrate AVCHD videos. The MJPEG encoder also excels in difficult low-light conditions where the AVCHD encoder cuts down its bitrate to minimum quality levels
AVCHD is a compressed format which utilises the differences between stills, with the 1st image being the i-frame, and subequent frames are stored as P frames but only the data that has changed is encoded. this causes issues with rapidly changing imagery such as a panning camera or moving subjects. The quality is dependent upon various factors including the Group of Pictures (GOP) setting and whether B-frames and D-frames are utilised. Lowering the GOP makes it more like motionJpeg.

the new AVCHD 2.0 specs allow for 1920x1080p 30/50/60 fps 4:2:0 at up to 28Mbps plus 3D support – the forthcoming Panasonic GH-3 is expected to adopt this.

color and brightness can be encoded as either 4:2:2 sampling (requires more processing) or 4:2:0 sampling
sampling quality is generally indicated by megabits per second (Mbps) of image recorded – most current cameras by default record at 13-17Mbps, although the unhacked Panasonic GH-2 records at 23Mbps. Hacking of the firmware is often done to increase this rate to 35-100Mbps but at risk of issues with recording to cards (may require faster cards) and in-camera playback compatibility.
higher quality means you may need a faster SD card, and you should consider formatting the card in camera prior to shooting HD video to minimise card fragmentation.

The AVCHD video of the Panasonic GH-1 gave only 17Mbps quality and this resulted in mud artefacts on motion.

Firmware hacking software for Panasonic GH-2, and GH-1:

Fortunately, the firmware was soon hacked and this hacking has now matured and is virtually risk free thanks to the PTool sofware to the point that it now offers the following features:

works on all Panasonic GH1 and GF1 cameras, both hacked and unhacked
camera switchable between NTSC and PAL modes, in all interface languages.
removes 30min time limit for AVCHD videos
removes limit on batteries so you can buy batteries from other than Panasonic
ability to restore to initial firmware easily or switch between firmwares – just have a different version on each SD card and install as needed!

GH-1 “Reliable in-camera playback patch” offers:

40Mbps FHD mode – AVCHD 1920×1080 24p/25p video (interlaced)
40Mbps SH mode – AVCHD 1280×720 50p/60p video (progressive)
35Mbps HD mode – MJPEG 1280×720 30p video in 4:2:2 color
30Mbps VGA mode – MJPEG 960×720 30p video (iPad-compatible)
apparently recommended for dense foliage, running water
if your main concern is in-camera playback and reliability with great video quality and iPad support, this is the one for you!

GH-1 “Blackout-Powell Native 24p Patch v2” offers:

MJPEG HD mode: 1280×720 HD videos in 4:2:2 color depth, with peak bitrates up to around 60Mbps.
MJPEG VGA mode: 960×720 iPad-compatible videos, with peak bitrates up to 30Mbps.
optional anamorphic lens settings

GH-1 “100Mbps Max Latitude Patch V2” offers:

provides much improved dynamic range
Expanded video and audio buffers to guard against recording failures at high bitrates
15-frame GOP-size in both PAL Native 25p and NTSC Native 24p video modes
Standard patch: 30Mbps iPad-compatible VGA MJPEG mode records in 960×720 resolution.
Anamorphic patch: 65Mbps 2X anamorphic VGA MJPEG mode records in 1920×720 resolution.
apparently recommended for night, or indoor videos
will not playback in camera if MJPEG or if high bitrate AVCHD.
AVCHD 4GB file-spanning for long video takes may not work reliably at high bitrates. For reliable recording of takes longer than about 12 minutes, select the “H” video mode instead of “SH”. This will produce average bitrates of about 24Mbps in 720p25/30 modes.
For extended recording times at moderate bitrates, selecting the “L” video mode instead of “SH” will produce bitrates below 17Mbps.
If shutter speed is set longer than the frame rate (e.g. slower than 1/30 at 30p), low-quality video files may be produced
While AVCHD bitrates may drop to very low levels in extremely dark situations, the 1080p FHD modes should continue to record even in total darkness. 720p SH modes may stop recording if subjected to darkness for over 10 seconds at a time.
see here for more details

GH-2 hacks:

the unhacked GH-2 offers 1920×1080 AVCHD in either 24p (at 17 or 23Mbps) or 50/60i (at 13-17Mbps) plus 720p 30fps MJPEG
according to this web site:
GH2 maintains error-free recording stability at bitrates significantly exceeding those that can be used reliably on the GH1. And where the GH1 struggled to produce FHD-size videos in MJPEG mode, the GH2 can be readily patched to record in any MJPEG frame size, all the way up to 1920x1080p.
On the GH1, MJPEG HD mode could be relied on to produce bitrates over 24Mbps even in dimly-lit scenes. With patch settings optimized for consistent bitrate production, the GH2 can maintain high bitrates of up to 100Mbps across the entire exposure range, producing high-quality images under any and all illumination levels. Combined with the GH2’s low-noise image sensor, MJPEG HD mode can render clean, gradable images in conditions that the GH1 would have found hopelessly underexposed.

GH-2 “100Mbps GH2 Low Light MJPEG 1080p Patch” offers:

100Mbps 1920x1080p 30fps MJPEG
VGA MJPEG mode 960×720 30fps videos at consistent average bitrates of about 30Mbps for iPad
may not be playable in-camera and may have some audio bugs
has higher chroma noise, less detail overall than the AVCHD and a pink tint due to lower NR in red channel.
so it is still early days with GH-2 hacking and it may be best to stick with the superb Vitaliy 42mps AVCHD 1080p hack – see here.

WARNING: Hacking is in a state of flux. Always check the latest information on the patches as the above may no longer hold true. Check the forums.

Posted in photography, video | Comments Off on Panasonic GH1 and GH2 HD video hacks for the best quality dSLR video quality available
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, Gh-1, GH-2, hack, Panasonic, video

The new Micro Four Thirds cameras compared – Panasonic GH-2, G3, GF-3 and the Olympus E-P3, E-PL3 and E-PM1 with some lens recommendations

Written by Gary on August 8th, 2011

The mirrorless digital cameras are really challenging the entry level dSLR market as they offer similar image quality and versatility in a smaller size (and in the case of Micro Four Thirds, much smaller lenses).

Until this generation of Micro Four Thirds cameras, the main complaint has been auto-focus speed – this has now been addressed at least for relatively stationary subjects to the point that Olympus claim their new E-P3 has the FASTEST AF of any camera with 3x kit lens to this point when going from a subject at 1m to a subject at infinity using their new lenses.

Indeed, the many changes Olympus has made with the E-P3 makes it a much more usable camera than any of its PEN predecessors and perhaps the first I personally would consider buying.

I personally own the older Panasonic GH-1 and this has now become my only camera I take on international travels (my Canon 1D Mark III dSLR and its heavy lenses are just too big to carry on flights) and it provides me with all I need. These new cameras have even better image quality and faster AF so should be adequate for most general photography needs if you choose the lenses to suit your needs.

The Micro Four Thirds cameras, although having smaller sensors than other mirrorless cameras such as the Sony NEX and Samsung, have sufficient image quality for most people while allowing smaller lenses, and indeed,have a much wider range of autofocus lenses and camera bodies available to choose from, with significantly better HD video (with the GH-2) and functionality.

The current Micro Four Thirds have a lot in common:

much higher image quality than point and shoot cameras as their sensors are some 6x larger
smaller sensors than dSLRs and thus have marginally more noise at high ISO and marginally less dynamic range capability, but the trade off is much smaller lenses and cameras.
can use almost any lens ever made via adapters in manual focus mode
do not have optical viewfinders but electronic viewfinders
are not weather-proofed (hopefully Olympus will be bringing out a Pen Pro weather-proofed version soon)
have much easier live view and hence manual focus on legacy lenses than dSLRs as there is no need to move a mirror out of the way
are quieter and smaller than dSLRs
are not well suited to hand-holding with large, heavy lenses such as a 70-200mm f/2.8
are best used with either f/3.5-5.6 zoom lenses (as larger aperture zoom lenses are a bit too big at present) or wide aperture prime lenses (eg. 12mm f/2.0, 25mm f/1.4, 45mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.4)
are still not as good as a dSLR for AF tracking of fast moving subjects such as birds in flight.
they lack pro and some other features such as intervalometer, fast flash sync (only 1/180th sec), GPS, auto-HDR, TTL compatibility with Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 radio flash system, etc
all use SD-type memory cards
all can shoot motion jpeg and AVCHD video although GH-2 does it at higher quality

There are some major differences between Panasonic and Olympus cameras:

Olympus cameras have a built-in image stabiliser which can reduce camera shake with ANY lens – you need to set focal length for legacy lenses
Panasonic cameras only have IS if the lens has optical IS – and this means only Panasonic OIS lenses
None of the current Olympus cameras have built-in viewfinder but require an optional one which uses the hotshoe if you want to hold the camera to your eye like I do – I expect Olympus will be bringing out a GH-2-like camera out soon.
Olympus has far better flash capabilities – good manual output control, remote TTL flash, TTL flash with legacy lenses, I just wish they could get flash sync to 1/300th sec like the pro cams.

none of the Panasonic cameras support remote TTL flash while the Olympus cameras do (you need the Olympus flashes ending in R for this to work)
I presume the Panasonic cameras are like my GH-1 and give incorrect exposures in TTL flash mode with legacy lenses – if you use legacy lenses a lot, consider the Olympus cameras as not only you get IS but TTL flash and remote TTL flash.

Different post-processing “ART” filters or “Film Modes”
Olympus has iDetect to preferentially AF on a person’s eye
If you want the best HD video quality or an over-sized sensor for native, uncropped 16:9 images, then the Panasonic GH-2 is the way to go.
If you primarily want to use small manual focus legacy lenses, then the Olympus cameras may be the better option as you get IS, TTL flash, and remote TTL flash and the E-P3 is better balanced with legacy lenses than is the GF-3, but you do miss out on Panasonic’s picture-in-picture manual focus functionality.
The smallest are the Panasonic GF-3 and the Olympus E-PM3 which may suit some who just want much better image quality than a point and shoot, but still a small camera, but these lack important features such as a hotshoe, ability to use an EVF, various controls and menu items (eg. no flash exposure compensation on the GF-3), the lack of which may be very annoying for those who want to get a bit more serious or use flash.
Unlike Olympus E-series dSLRs, none of the current Pens have IR remote control capability, but all except E-PL1 can use the RM-UC1 wired remote cable. The situation appears to be the same for the Panasonic cameras but of course, they have a different wired connector. You can buy 3rd party wired units which allow timer, intervalometer functions as well as radio wireless remote function.

A recent post by Mark Dubovoy on his 1st experience of using a GH-2 on an African safari along with a Leica S2 kit:

“I was surprised by how well thought out this camera is. Far superior to anything Canon or Nikon or Sony or Fuji have to offer. As complicated and feature laden as the camera is, the locations of the controls and the ergonomics (other than the traditional film type shape of the camera which is all wrong, but no manufacturer seems to want to deviate from) are excellent.”
he does not like an EVF nor the plastic feel but that’s part of the price to pay for this type of camera.
“The biggest advantage of the camera is that it is so light and small and the autofocus is very fast”
“Image stabilization is also excellent and seems to be much better than the 35 mm crowd”
“I have used 35 mm rigs in Africa before, and frankly, I did not miss them. As I mentioned above, the pro level bodies and lenses have gotten so big and so heavy that they have become quite a chore to use.”
he mainly used it as a telephoto using 14-140mm and 100-300mm lenses as the longest focal length on his Leica S2 is only 130mm in 35mm terms.

First a comparison of the new Panasonic cameras:

	Panasonic GH-2	Panasonic G-3	Panasonic GF-3
Price at Amazon.com	$US999 with 14-42mm lens	$US599 body only; $US699 with 14-42mm lens	$US699 with 14mm pancake lens
Weight	442g	336g	264g
Size	124 x 90 x 76mm	115 x 84 x 47mm	108 x 67 x 32mm
EVF	eye sensor auto switching	No eye sensor auto switching	No EVF possible
Touch screen LCD	articulating	articulating	fixed
HD video	1080p 24fps 23Mbps quality and 1080i 60fps; 1/16000th shutter	1080i 60fps derived from 30fps HD video mode,17mbps quality; 1/6000th sec shutter	as for GF-3
Over-sized sensor for native, uncropped 16:9	Yes, 18.3mp giving max. 16.1mp	No; 16.6mp giving 15.8mp	No; 13.1mp giving 12.1mp
Burst rate	5fps; 40fps at 4mp electronic shutter	4fps; 20fps at 4mp electronic shutter	3.8fps
Top panel mode switches	AF mode switch; Drive/self-timer switch	No	No
External mic socket	Yes	No	No, and only mono mic
Rear AF-lock button	Yes	No ?use Fn button	No
Subject tracking AF in HD video	No	Yes	Yes?
Pinpoint AF mode	No	Yes	Yes?
Max.ISO	12,800	6,400	6,400
Max. bulb duration	4min	2min
Hotshoe	Yes	Yes	No
White balance presets	5	5	5
Built-in flash	GN 15.6m	GN 11m	GN 6.3m
Exposure compensation	+/- 5EV	+/- 5EV	+/- 3EV, no flash compensation – a big problem if you want to use flash
AE bracketing	+/- 3EV	+/- 2EV	+/- 2EV
			certain lenses may prevent using tripod plates
			dpreview.com’s review here

And, now the new 3rd generation Olympus Pen cameras:

	Olympus E-P3	Olympus E-PL3 “Lite”	Olympus E-PM3 “Mini”
Price at Amazon.com	$US945 with 14-42mm lens
Weight	369g	313g	263g
Size	122 x 69 x 34mm	110 x 64 x 37mm	110 x 64 x 34mm
EVF	optional via hot shoe	optional via hot shoe	optional via hot shoe
LCD	OLED, 614K dot 3:2 fixed, touch. Usable even in bright sun.	460K dot 16:9 tilting, not touch	460K fixed, not touch
HD video	1080i 60fps; 720p 30/60fps; 17 or 13mbps quality;	as for E-P3	1080i 60fps; 720p 30/60fps
Over-sized sensor for native, uncropped 16:9	No; 13.1mp giving 12.1mp	No; 13.1mp giving 12.1mp	No; 13.1mp giving 12.1mp
Burst rate	3fps	5.5fps with IS turned off	4.1fps or 5.5fps with IS turned off
Top panel mode switches	No	No	No, and no exposure mode dial
External mic socket		No
Rear AF-lock button	5 customisable buttons
Subject tracking AF in HD video	Yes	Yes	?
Pinpoint AF mode	No, but has 35 AF zones, eye-detect AF and front AF lamp	as for E-P3 except 11 points only	No
Max.ISO	12,800	12,800	12,800
Max. bulb duration	4min	2min
Hotshoe	Yes, 1/180th sync	Yes, 1/160th sync	Yes, 1/160th sync
White balance presets	12	8	8
Built-in flash	GN 10m at ISO 200; remote TTL master; manual down to 1/64th output;	None, clip on FL-LM1 included	None,
Exposure compensation	+/- 3EV	+/- 3EV	+/- 3EV
AE bracketing	+/- 3EV	+/- 3EV	+/- 3EV
	level gauge	no level gauge	no level gauge
	10 art filters	6 art filters	6 art filters

Now for some of my favorite Micro Four Thirds autofocus lenses to consider:

The kit zoom lens for outdoors, daylight use:

this is largely a matter of choice – I love my Lumix 14-140mm OIS 10x zoom as it is great for walk-around documentary work and is optimised for HD video, but it is a little big and heavy.
Olympus also have a 14-150mm lens but it does not have OIS and OIS comes in handy for video, and if you have a Panasonic camera.
alternatively, one can get the twin kit lenses for smaller lenses – 14-42mm OIS and 45-200mm Panasonic OIS or the collapsible Olympus 14-42mm
Panasonic have just announced two new premium, ultra compact 3x zoom lenses – should be available late 2011 – these may be the best option!

Wide aperture prime lenses:

Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens – very nice for street photography and low light work as well as landscapes, it even features nice manual focus controls.
Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens – a great compact lens for street work, low light and environmental portraits but AF is a bit slow and noisy.
Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 – this should be a very nice lens indeed for low light work and environmental portraits – I have the much larger Four Thirds version and love it.
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 – an affordable portrait lens designed for HD video – I think this will be a must have for most people! $US399 RRP
Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 macro lens – not my favorite, but until Olympus brings out a wider aperture macro, this is the only AF macro lens – look here for other macro lens options.
there are a couple of other pancake lenses but I am not sure I would be bothered getting them – Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8.

Other AF lenses to consider:

Olympus 9-18mm – very nice for travel and landscapes
Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 – very nice lens for creative work but not suited to filters
Lumix 100-300mm f/4-5.6 OIS or Olympus M.ZD 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 – having a 600mm hand held telephoto is something most dSLR users can only dream of!
Lumix 8mm f/3.5 fisheye – well some people just want a fisheye lens.

And a must have manual focus lens for beautiful bokeh and shallow depth of field:

Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 – you can get this in Nikon or Canon mounts and then buy a cheap adapter from Ebay.

The predecessors of the Olympus E-PL3:

Olympus E-PL2:

single core processing engine instead of dual core as with the E-PL3, thus slower AF
LCD screen is fixed 460K dot, not tilting
built-in flash
3fps burst rate
no AVCHD video, only 720p motion jpeg at 30fps
no SDXC memory card support
heavier at 362g

Olympus E-PL1:

as for E-PL2 but LCD screen only 2.7″ 230K dots, min. shutter 1/2000th sec not 1/4000th sec, slower AF, max. ISO 3200 not 6400, no iDetect to AF on a person’s eye, an older version of LiveView and a little lighter at 334g.
no wired remote possible.

Olympus E-P2:

as for E-PL2 but better build, more controls, orientation sensor, 8 art filters instead of 6, but significantly, no built-in flash and no remote TTL flash
no IR remote but compatible with RM-UC1 wired remote via USB connector.

Olympus E-P1:

the 1st digital Pen, as for E-P2 (ie. no flash) but no EVF option, only 5 WB presets not 8
no IR remote but compatible with RM-UC1 wired remote via USB connector.

Posted in cameras, photography | Comments Off on The new Micro Four Thirds cameras compared – Panasonic GH-2, G3, GF-3 and the Olympus E-P3, E-PL3 and E-PM1 with some lens recommendations
Tags: Four Thirds Micro, Olympus, Panasonic

Magnificent Melbourne – a Flickr gallery

Written by Gary on August 7th, 2011

The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne (III):: HDR

Magnificent Melbourne, a gallery on Flickr.

A gallery of some of the best images I have found on Flickr that demonstrate various aspects of my home town, Melbourne, Australia.Enjoy.

Posted in photography | Comments Off on Magnificent Melbourne – a Flickr gallery

3 macro ring flashes compared – Olympus, Sigma and Canon

Written by Gary on August 2nd, 2011

I have Olympus, Panasonic and Canon cameras and like using ring flashes not only for macro work but as a shadowless fill light for general use such as portraits – but note, they are not large enough to be beauty lights for portraits!

I now have all 3 of these macro ring flashes and offer some points of comparison.

Clearly, if you want TTL flash you need to use the flash that matches your camera, but as Canon, Olympus and Panasonic have similar flash hotshoes physically, you can use either of these in manual flash mode on either camera EXCEPT the Sigma flash will ONLY fire if it is mounted on a Canon – a very annoying design.

If you want the easiest to use flash, with easily the best manual flash control, and a true ring flash – then the Olympus wins out – just need to work out how you will mount it on your lens if it is not designed for it.

All of these ring flashes could have been designed much better:

the Canon should have had a larger internal diameter for more versatility, and it is not really a full ring flash but for most purposes, this is splitting hairs. BUT the BIGGEST issue is that it’s manual flash mode only allows changing of output in 1EV increments – this is disastrous when you have a set magnification and thus flash to subject distance, an optimised aperture for your subject and you need to give just a little less or more flash!
the Sigma has a nice large internal diameter and can be fitted to many lenses but it can only be used on a Canon camera, and remote TTL slave flash must be a Sigma flash – very disappointing on both issues. Manual flash output increments as for Canon – very disappointing!
the Olympus should be MUCH smaller, especially now we have Micro Four Thirds cameras, and they need to make adapters so it can fit to a 72mm filter thread – for many lenses it needs to be hand held!

Interestingly, Olympus, always the innovator has brought out a cute little twin light for macro flash on its Pen cameras – very cheap and fun to use but only for macro use.

Metz do have a 15 MS-1 ring flash slave unit but this requires a master TTL flash to function – see here.

If you have a Canon 580EX or Olympus FL-50 flash, and want TTL ring flash on the cheap, you can get an off-camera TTL flash cord (the Canon will work for both Canon and Olympus even in TTL), plus the Orbis Ring Flash adapter – this can even be used on the Olympus ZD 7-14mm ultrawide zoom – see here and here.

Nikon don’t make a true ring flash for their system, but have taken a different approach to macro flash which is quite interesting – a ring which attaches to most lenses up to 77mm filter thread, upon which you mount up to 8 wireless compact macro SB-R200 flashes which are then controlled via TTL by the camera’s flash, of if there is none, a Nikon flash mounted on the camera. This gives a cost effective, versatile macro flash system without any need for a large controller unit (if your camera has inbuilt flash), but although it can simulate a ring flash, you won’t get circular catchlights as with the Olympus ring flash.

	Olympus Ring flash SRF-11	Canon MR-14EX	Sigma EM-140 DG for Canon
TTL flash	Olympus, Panasonic Four Thirdsand Micro Four Thirds – note Panasonic cameras are not TTL compatiblewith legacy lenses!	Canon EOS cameras	Canon EOS cameras
Remote TTL master	No	Canon flashes. Auto with 1group; Manual with 3 groups;	Yes for Sigma flashes only
manual flash output increments	awesome: 1/3rd EV	terrible: 1 EV	terrible: 1 EV
Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 radio flash	Manual flash only	Remote TTL or manual	Manual flash only
Main controller can power TwinFlash too	Yes	No, separate twin flash unit	No twin flash available
Flash type	True ring flash	two almost half rings	NOT a ring just 2 twins mounted
lens mount type	Bayonet, need adapter for ZD50mm f/2.0 macro. Only fits a couple of lenses including the ZD 35mm macro lens.Note the original ZD 50-200mm lens did allow attachment of this ring flash but the later SWD version of this lens does not allow it to attach!	Click on, adapters for filterthreads 52-72mm	Click on, adapters for filterthreads 52-72mm
Internal diameter of ring	70mm	57mm – major issue with 72mmfilter thread lenses such as the 135mm f/2.0 but said to be compatible with the 180mm f/3.5 macro.	72mm – adequate for EF 135mmf/2.0 lens
main controller size	very large	reasonably compact	large
manual flash usage	Olympus, Panasonic and Canon cameras without adapters	Olympus, Panasonic and Canon cameras without adapters	Canon cameras only!

Ring flash

Panasonic GH-1 with Olympus ZD 50mm f/2.0 macro, flash adapter and Olympus Ring Flash. The hand grip on the GH-1 is very handy here.

Sigma EM-140 DG macro flash

Sigma EM-140 DG ring flash – more details on the Sigma flash here.

Posted in flash, photography | Comments Off on 3 macro ring flashes compared – Olympus, Sigma and Canon
Tags: Canon, Four Thirds, Four Thirds Micro, Olympus, ring flash, Sigma

In celebration of the wonderfully smooth bokeh of the Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 manual focus lens – another demonstration of its amazing qualities

Written by Gary on July 31st, 2011

Compare all 6 images from this series – see them on my Flickr set.

The amazingly cheap Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 manual focus lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera (The Panasonic GH-1) bokeh and CA test on an extremely challenging subject – a strongly backlit wax mannequin with a multitude of highlights on the pearls – a challenge for any lens wide open – but this lens passes it easily – even with a cheap UV filter and no lens hood!

This image is to show how good the rear bokeh is for out of focus areas at f/1.4 but at closer focus than the others in this series to give even shallower depth of field – look at the pearl highlights in the rear.

AWB in artificial light.
No cropping.
RAW file with no post-processing performed other than Lightroom export with resizing and compressing for the web and its default standard sharpening.

This len gives me similar imagery to my Canon EF 135mm f/2.0L lens at f/2.0 on my Canon 1D Mark III camera at 1/5th the price and less than half the weight (see here for my comparisons) – no wonder my Canon stays at home now!

The amazing 1920’s flapper styled wax mannequin and pearl-beaded head piece belong to Ken Gray and Alister Reid Gallery of Melbourne who created the pearl jewelry and kindly consented to me photographing it in their store, as well as creating unique, high quality, individualised jewelry which can be re-fashioned from your existing jewelry – if you are in Melbourne, check their work and gallery in Collins St.

As I love this lens so much, I bought another one from Ebay tonight – this time in a Nikon mount so I have greater versatility:

I can let my friends use it on their Nikon (it is better than my friend’s mark I Nikkor 85mm f/1.4)

I can use it with AF-confirm adapter on my Canon 1D Mark III as a 110mm field of view f/1.4 (it is way better wide open than my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 lens)

I can use it on my Four Thirds dSLR and gain image stabilisation as well as AF confirm giving me an effective 170mm field of view f/1.4 IS lens.

I can use it on my Micro Four Thirds and have easy live view magnification, and if I want, via the LensBaby Tilt Transformer, I can convert it into a tilt lens.

Posted in lenses, photography | Comments Off on In celebration of the wonderfully smooth bokeh of the Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 manual focus lens – another demonstration of its amazing qualities
Tags: bokeh, Four Thirds Micro, lens tests, portraits, Rokinon