Category: gear

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A simulated film look

Yes, I sometimes use film in my Olympus OM-2N camera. And so does Zuleikha in her Olympus OM-1. But how do you get close to the look of film when using digital cameras? Easy, you say: buy Silver Effects, bind it into Photoshop or Lightroom, done.

Not so fast, young lad…

Last week, Olympus came out with their digital reincarnation of the Pen-F camera they once had (and which used film, but made two exposures on each 24x36mm frame in portrait mode). This new Pen-F has both colour and black & white film emulation modes, like some other cameras (Fuji for instance) had it before. And then there’s the Leica Monochrom of course, and people love all these. Film look out of the camera; perfect.

So does that mean that you have to spend money on a new Pen-F, any of the Fujis or even that Leica? Or spend money for Photoshop, Lightroom plus 3rd party plugin software?

Not really. Since a while we have that in open source land as well – Pat David and some others created a very nice “film pack” for both Gimp and also RawTherapee – see his website for all the possible emulations.

I have that in RawTherapee since a while as well, so let’s have some Kodak Tri-X look on two of yesterday’s photos:

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Both taken with my Olympus OM-D E-M10 camera and the Zuiko Digital 50mm/2 macro lens at f/2.8. “In-camera” black and white conversion simulating an orange filter, which you can also apply afterwards in Olympus Viewer 3 (I’ve got the brand new 2.0 version today, for free). Film simulation with RawTherapee, and the “film pack” described above.

No, it’s not film. But it comes close.

Oh, and Zuleikha took my photo – danke Schätzchen!

P.S.: here’s another one which I took some minutes ago. Same processing, same Tri-X emulation:

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Thanks for viewing.

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Trying different focal length lenses

Olympus Germany has some special offer which runs out tomorrow. You can get some of their single focal length lenses (primes) for Micro Four Thirds discounted, between 50€ and 150€ cheaper than usual.

I thought about the 17mm for a while, but we have 14mm (me) and 20mm (Mitchie). I also thought about the 60mm macro, but we have two 50mm macro lenses, one OM which is still a manual one, and the ZD 50mm/2 macro from my Four Thirds camera which has autofocus and a one stop advantage over the newer 60mm one.

And then there is the 75mm/1.8 on offer, and it’s about 30% cheaper than usual. Surely an incredible lens, and a very good offer, tho it still costs some serious money – more expensive than any of our camera bodies for instance.

So like I usually do, I take some of my kit zooms and try them on the focal lengths on offer. Did (and showed) a 17mm portrait of my colleague Arno lately, and today I was testing my longer zoom at 76mm inside of our flat.

And that is the keyword: indoors. I knew from my days with a film camera that a 135mm lens was always a bit too long for me, at least when using it indoors – so during that time I always wished for a 100mm or even a 85mm. And today? Let’s see:

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Tuna with 76mm

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Tuna with the 50mm macro lens

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Zuleikha with 76mm (across the dining table)

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Zuleikha with the 50mm macro lens (same distance)

I’ve tried some more, but what I found is the same as some 30+ years ago: indoors, a lens of 135mm or even more (the 75mm Olympus one would have an angle of view like a 150mm lens on film) is good for only one purpose: really tight “head shots”. If you don’t keep some distance you have to use it in portrait orientation to even get the shoulders.

Which means that my 50mm macro or the 45mm/1.8 M.Zuiko lenses we have already are much more useful when space is restricted.

That 75mm lens would be wonderful to have for things like half portraits (belly-up) outdoors – when used wide open at f/1.8 that would blur your backgrounds quite nicely, almost like that 135mm/2 from Canon which can really separate things from the backgrounds. Or rather like a 85mm/1.8 on film (most of which aren’t as sharp as this Olympus when used wide open).

But indoors? I think we can be glad with what he have already.

Technical: the first three photos were taken with a mix of daylight and some lights which were switched on during the day. The last one was taken using two studio strobes, one from above through a gridded beauty dish, and one reflected from a wall on the other side of the table.

P.S.: here’s another one I took using my 50mm macro today, a still life:

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Oh, and before I forget it: since late last year, an Irish photographer sold a photo of a potato for 750.000 Pounds (approximately a million Euro or Dollar), I’m offering this one on Alu Dibond under Acryl in 30x40cm for the sum of 2.000.000,-€, no negotiations possible. And all those who don’t have that much can still download it in full resolution on Flickr – see side bar or click on the picture to get there. If you have it printed yourself, you’ll save some spare change, which you can send to us. SCNR… 😉

Thanks for viewing.

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Cameramen

It all began when my colleague Arno asked me about a camera. And this time his question was about a real camera, a Sony A6000.

Well, I told him, that one is at least as good as mine – its autofocus should be way faster especially on moving subjects, the sensor is APS-C, so a bit bigger, dynamic range could be better, whatever – you know the drill. No built in image stabilization was the only contra argument I could memorize without comparing actual spec sheets. Oh, and – how many – 20 Megapixels? Anyhow, more than enough of these as well. The fact that it’s not too expensive – in the same ballpark like an E-M10 or -Mark2 – was an additional plus. Everybody’s darling, I told him, and that he should get one if he saw a good offer.

A week went by, then another one, and finally I asked if he bought it, and he said no. He still wanted to make financial plans for this year together with his CFO 😉

In the end I decided to lend him my Olympus E-PL5 together with its kit zoom and the VF-2 electronic viewfinder. That would still leave the E-M10 in my bag, so I could live with that for a while.

Well, it never actually happened. He was about to take the camera – which he put into a bag first – into his car after having a smoke together with me, but he forgot to take his car keys, so we stood outside, smoking, bag with camera in his hand.

“See?”, he asked, adding “I guess I would never take that camera with me, it’s just too big, you cannot put it into a pocket, so it would probably stay at home all of the time”.

Ok I thought, thinking about alternatives. If my camera was out of the game, then so was the A6000 he had asked about, and I recommended a Sony RX-100 instead.

“Ask Basti”, I said, “he has one. First generation, they should be quite affordable by now”. Short internet check when we were up again – yep, slightly above 300€, fits. And Basti offered to bring his camera as well, so Arno could have a look before making a decision.

And that is what happened today. “Perfect”, was Arno’s comment, “that is the camera I want”. And so during our lunch break we took some photos:

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Cameraman (my colleague Arno, trying Basti’s – or Nadine’s? – camera on me)

He really seemed to like that thing. While I took one photo of him, he took three of me (and several more):

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Don’t directly compare these with the one I took. The Sony pictures are out of camera, while I “developed” mine from the Olympus raw file (.orf). Plus I had the 45mm/1.8 M.Zuiko lens on my camera – the Sony has a very good Zeiss zoom, but it can’t be opened that wide – and it’s of course way shorter to fit the 1″ sensor inside that camera.

Still, pretty good detail as far as I can tell – and these should have detail, 20 Megapixels of them. More than enough, like I told him.

Always glad if I can help. And thanks to Nadine and Basti who helped as well.

Thanks for reading.

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Trying my 25mm lens for product shots, and for portraits

I’m still thinking about Michael Johnston’s OC/OL/OY project. And my last images like Tuna through the sewing machine, or my self portrait were taken with my 25mm lens which would fit his recommendation of a “fast fifty (equivalent)”. Here are some from yesterday and from today, all using a studio strobe as the main light:

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Finder scope

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Zuleikha

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Zuleikha

I was also reading about the life of Vivian Maier, whose real name probably should have been Vivian von Maier. She used a Rolleiflex medium format 6x6cm camera as soon as she could afford one, so two of my three images above are square as well. Found her story via the New York Times Lens Blog, which is required reading, or at least always interesting.

Thanks for reading my blog, as always.

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The Tools and Toys 2015 list

The staff over at Tools and Toys just posted their list of some favourite things they’ve found or bought in 2015. Some of that stuff is expensive, but it’s still a worthwhile read. And at the bottom of their article, I’ve found their test of Mitchie’s 20mm/1.7 Panasonic lens which I have on one of my cameras since a while. Took this one of our cat today using it:

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Tuna the cat – full, nice, and warm

In fact what they tested is the version 2 of the Panasonic Lumix 20mm/1.7 lens, and they also have tests of some other lenses we have, like the Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm/1.4, and the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm/1.8.

This end of the year period is always the time when lots of people make such lists, and LensRentals is no exception. Their list of most rented and highest rated new stuff is even a bit more on the expensive side, since many people just rent what they can’t afford (or don’t need so often that buying the stuff would calculate right).

Hoping that this might be useful for someone, as always, thanks for reading.

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The camera. The lens.

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E-M10 with 20mm lens

In my last blog posting, I praised the virtues of Mitchie’s Panasonic Lumix 20mm/1.7 lens – and not for the first time. Together with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 which I’ve got for my birthday this year, it’s – for me – the ideal combination for general photography.

I took this photo with my Olympus E-PL5 camera which has exactly the same sensor as this E-M10, and with the Olympus 45mm/1.8 lens – another one you’d really need for portraits, or for product shots like this one.

Together – again, for me – they’re unbeatable. Except of course when I give this lens back to Mitchie, and use my Panasonic Leica 25mm/1.4, and the 14mm/2.5 as well.

Owning all these, we’re “happy campers” as the Americans say.

Oh, in case you wonder about the lens hood: this is a third-party one. The brand name is JJC, and it’s made of metal. Very cheap, very nice.

And just in case you’re also wondering about the lights I used here: these are two Simock studio strobes with 300Ws each, one from front/above with a 20″ beauty dish at 1/8th power, the other one from behind the camera, a bit to the right, at 1/32nd. Again: very cheap, very nice. Triggered by Yongnuo CTR-301P radio remotes. Aperture measured with a Sekonic light meter. Custom white balance made with a ColorChecker – so the picture is just like out of the camera.

Having the right tools is always fun.

Thanks for reading.

Update from Friday, December 11th, 2015:

Imaging Resource just finished their test of this camera’s successor, the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark 2. And they call it “the most capable all-around camera in its class“. The same was (and still is) true for mine, which is an incredible offer right now as I write this. It’s 599€ vs. 427€ for the body. These prices will change over time of course, but I’d know which one to get.

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Sennheiser HD598 SE

This one has a bit of history, for context…

First you’ll have to know that when I was younger, I used to be a musician. I played bass guitar (and my brother Willi even had an acoustic double bass). I was in the studios (EMI Electrola, no less) at the age of 19, so I’m used to good amps, speakers, and headphones and know how music sounds either directly or through very high end equipment.

Some years ago, we needed headphones for Mitchie, and so I bought what I knew was good: AKG K-240 – we’ve used that one in the studios a lot. But for Mitchie it was a bit big and heavy, so later I ordered a slightly smaller K-141 Mk2 for her, and I took the big one.

Alas, it broke. Without any apparent reason. And I thought wow, they used to be a lot more sturdy during my times. Mitchie had some smaller earplugs which she preferred, so I got her K-141.

But that one has a problem as well – it loses its colour on your ears, and it even gets sticky during summer when it’s hot – can’t be healthy, and I thought damn, they now cost more in Euro than they used to cost in German Mark, and still they’re much worse than they were in the good old days. Definitely some cost savings through cheapest material going on here, so AKG doesn’t seem a good choice for the next one…

The next ones were Sennheiser in-ears. I was used to and knew Sennheiser as well, but I’ve never tried in-ears before. And I must say I don’t really like them as much as my brother does. They’re like a plug in your ear, something which disturbs me – don’t know if I could get used to that.

At work I have a Sennheiser HD201, and I bought a second one which Zuleikha uses at her digital Yamaha piano, so she can practice without disturbing anyone. Looks like this:

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These are cheap (around 20€) and sturdy, and they’re good for the purpose like at work or on the piano. But I still was thinking about some better ones.

Our friend Thorsten from Bonn knew that I was looking and found the perfect ‘Black Friday’ deal for me. These ones:

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These are called Sennheiser HD598 Special Edition, and right now while I write this they are offered for 229€ at Amazon Germany, or for $164.72 at Amazon.com. I’ve paid 99€. So how are they?

In a word: fantastic.

I’ve read that they would lack some bass, so what I tried first was – of course – some bass. Started with Ham Hocks and Cabbage from the Christian McBride Trio album Out Here, and wow – that is some double bass! Nothing missing at all, and I thought hmmm whoever thinks these lack bass probably never heard, felt, or even played one. But maybe they meant something like dynamics? Ok – next I tried Panther from Marcus Miller‘s The Sun Don’t Lie. And again, wow, shake yer booty baby, this was almost unbelievable. Hm, something more melodic? Next was A Remark You Made from Weather Report, with the unforgettable Jaco Pastorius, and by now I was convinced. This was music like it should sound, nothing missing and nothing added, just perfect.

Ok, something else. Maybe guitar? I started Ulf Wakenius‘ Bretagne, followed by their very percussive Breakfast in Baghdad. The guitar was perfect, as was Vincent Peirani‘s accordion (and scat vocals), and – again – the double bass played by Lars Danielsson. For comparison, I chose the same song with vocals by Youn Sun Nah, and after that it was Momento Magico, which Ulf Wakenius composed just for her.

Wonderful. Smooth and high-endy, very detailed but never too much of anything, so you can just close your eyes and concentrate onto the music. Definitely the best headphones I’ve ever had, and that by a large margin. Oh, they’re comfortable as well, so maybe I’ll try them on the TV (which is attached to an Onkyo stereo receiver) next. The “SE” (for Special Edition) in the headphone’s name stands for the fact that these are black instead of brown, and they come with two cables – one with 1.2m and small plug, perfect for computer or mobile devices, and one with 3m and big plug (and adapter to small) for the tele or wherever you need some distance.

Perfect. Thanks again to Thorsten for finding that offer. They’re better than my AKG were, so even for the higher price they’re recommendable – but for under 100€ that was a steal definitely. Thanks mate!