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.

Tuna the cat, sceptical

Took this today with my compact flash on the camera, but turned back- and upwards with using the table cloth as a reflector. Tuna looked sceptical – maybe she knew that I would underexpose it by about one and a half stop?

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Tuna the cat, sceptical

Thanks for viewing.

Pictures from paradise

My colleague Arno and his wife are on Ko Samui, and our colleague Nabil is on Phuket. Some ten days ago, Arno sent a picture which he took with his phone, writing that he doesn’t really want to come back…

Reminded me of our last time in Malaysia, which is five years ago already. Well, paradise, yes, maybe. For us. But first and foremost, it’s hot. You’re sweating without doing much:

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Zuleikha, Malaysia 2010

So after noon, you sometimes just sit around, feeding keropok to the cats:

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The kids – here are some of our relatives – play and pose, but even under the trees in some other kampung further North, it’s hot – and at night, you’ll get eaten up by mosquitoes:

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Finally, here are two portraits I made during that holiday (I’ve shown them before). The first one is of Comel who is now married and has a baby boy herself:

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Comel, July 2010

And the second one is of her brother, who sadly isn’t amongst us anymore:

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Mohammed Haniff, July 2010

So is Malaysia, or is Thailand paradise? Like I wrote above: Well, paradise, yes, maybe. For us. But that is only because first these people – relatives or not – will do everything they can to make it paradise for you, and second we’re ignoring most of their problems.

Have to go back there soon…

A “featured” image

Never tried this until now, so I decided to have a look at blog posts with a “featured” image.

The one you see here is one of myself, but it is not a “selfie”. It was taken by Mélanie Gomez in February, two days before my birthday. She used her Nikon D800 camera and one of my studio strobes (and grey background) to make this.

Merçi encore, chère Mélanie!

Of course I had to take some of her as well. Here’s one I took using my E-PL5 with the 45mm lens, also with studio strobes:

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Mélanie Gomez, February 2015

Thanks for viewing.

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.

Another photo of Tuna the cat

Took this one for Zuleikha yesterday, so she could blog about it:

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Tuna the birthday cat

By the way, I used Mitchie’s Panasonic Lumix 20mm/1.7 lens here, at an aperture of f/2. Still love that one – it’s the perfect lens for the µ43rds system IMO, and this and the Oly 45mm/1.8 would be more or less all you need for a starter kit for general and portrait photography. Highly recommended (and I get nothing for recommendations).

Alternatives would be the 25mm lenses from both Panasonic (f/1.7 or f/1.4) or Olympus (f/1.8), or the 17mm/1.8 Olympus. But 40mm-equivalent is very close to the sensor diagonal, so I consider this one as the real standard lens for the system.

Thanks for viewing.