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The following shots are done at the last Olympus workshop which I conducted. Location is Chow Yang Pasar Malam. Many of us are impressed with the high ISO performance by the Olympus E-PL1. Shots are all done in P mode with auto ISO and many of the shots are at ISO1600. It’s a truly enjoyable camera to use! These are some of my favourite shots:
 Best Mode of Transport  Medicine Man  Pink Theme  Resting  Underaged Drivers?  DVD Seller  Cheap Wardrobe Look Out for our next workshop! Join us and have fun while learning something valuable!
Okay, as promised in my previous post, you shall see my crappy shots in this post. Again, I seriously think my shots aren’t half as good as some of those Olympus Brand Store Guys. But, still I really enjoyed the shooting session with the whole bunch of them. Join me for photography workshop in future. It’s fun!
I have been getting quite a number of questions emailed to me regarding the use of the Olympus digital PEN E-P1/2/L1… so I’ve decided to list down here how I usually “manage” the camera.
1. I shoot in P mode when I just wanna concentrate on getting the shot, the expression, the action, irregardless of the depth-of-field. In fact, I want a deeper depth-of-field in order to quickly capture a moment, minimizing the risk of getting things out-of-focus. “F8 and be there.” Like Weegee said.
2. Using the camera in P mode when there’s sufficient light, i.e. when ISO does not automatically go up to 1600 with corresponding aperture of F3.5-5.6 for the kit lens is fine for the “F8 and be there concept”. Yes, I use Auto-ISO too. Sometimes, when I want more control, I will set the ISO manually.
But for lowlight usage, WATCH your shutter speed. Even with the Image Stabilization (IS) ON, a slow shutter speed CANNOT freeze action. Image Stabilization helps to capture non-moving subjects in sharpness when shutter speed is slow.
3. To speed up the camera, I always TURN OFF the automatic preview on my LCD and use my camera in Sequential Shooting Mode. To capture a certain action, I usually shoot 2-3 frames to get the best shapes and forms. I also hardly “chimp”, i.e. look at previews when I shoot. I don’t wanna lose a moment while “chimping”!
4. In my personal opinion and experience with different brands of digital cameras, I found out that Olympus’s RAW files are not all that “tweakable” as compared to the other brands. I figured out that since I am not getting a whole lot more from it’s RAW files, unlike the Canons or Nikons where the tolerance can go as far as 3-4 stops, I’d rather shoot Olympus JPEGs. I also figured out that the Normal JPEGs are good enough for me for general usage as I find no visible difference comparing them to the Fine JPEGs.
However, if I need to use the camera to shoot any stuff that’s exceptionally important, I will still shoot RAW, more for my mental and emotional consolation. Olympus’s JPEGs are about the BEST you can find in the world. The only other brands which I think can come close to it are Leica and maybe Pentax. Okay, I know I may sound subjective, but look at the skin tones! Any colors on any inanimate objects can lie BUT skin colors DON’T LIE! (If you still disagree with me, okay.. it’s my personal taste, alright?)
5. The E-PL1 has much lesser noise at high ISOs as compared to the E-P1 and E-P2, so I am more confident using it at ISO1600-3200.
6. According to Steve Huff’s review, he complained that the movie-record button on the E-PL1′s back can be easily and accidentally depressed BUT I have since found out that it only takes less than 5 steps to OFF the switch permanently in the menu system! No Issue At All! Just OFF it and use the same shutter button for recording video and stills. (Menu-Button-oFunction-Off)
7. I shoot in A mode when I wanna shoot at specific apertures to achieve the depth-of-field I want.
8. I prefer P mode over the E-PL1′s i-auto mode as I don’t like the i-enhance to be always ON as it does in the i-auto mode. Personal preference.
9. Generally, Olympus JPEGs can be a little under-exposed. So some brightening is usually necessary at post-processing. Or for the E-PL1 users, you can choose to use it’s Live Guide, which is “idiot-proof”. If you know digital cameras, a little under-exposed is definitely better than over-exposed as burnt highlights in digital files can never be restored.
10. When using the Pin-hole Art Filter, images may seem a little under-exposed too, so some brightening at post-processing stage will be good.
11. When using the Grainy B&W Art Filter, avoid high contrast scenes as highlights can easily be washed out!
12. If you are a fervent Art Filter Fan, I suggest you shoot RAW and choose your desired Art Filter in Olympus Software afterwards so you can enjoy shooting without having to wait for the “almost forever” in-camera Art Filter processing. Those few seconds can mean eternity when you are out there.
Okay, finally, there’s ONE THING I hate about the E-PL1!
It DOES NOT HAVE AN ORIENTATION SENSOR! Which means, I have to manually rotate all my vertical shots! Olympus, is it that expensive to have this included in the E-PL1? This should already be the norm among all digital cameras of year 2010!
Here are my shots from the street shoot, constructive comments are welcomed!
 Drying her hair by the roadside, hip shot.  Pinhole Art Filter Effect  Prostitute outside motel entrance, hip shot. I forgot to watch my shutter speed!  panned shot of man walking past  HOT!  Fierce! Hip Shot. 
 Pin Hole Art Filter  Travelling  My small reflection in-between.  Beggar  Security Guard  Summon! 
 Diorama Art Filter  Diorama Art Filter  Pop Art Filter, shot by manually focusing till patterns appear The following are two shots by the NEW 9-18mm M-Zuiko Lens. This is such a small, compact and sharp lens with good close focusing distance! It’s in stock!
 Shot with NEW 9-18mm M-Zuiko Lens  Another shot by the NEW 9-18mm M-Zuiko Lens Lastly, the bunch of Olympus PEN Street Shooters! Shot by a stranger. Isn’t it great to have an “idiot-proof” camera for a stranger to hold? I’m sure the in-camera IS helped. LOL…
 Malaysia Olympus Brand Store Street Shooters! Related Posts:
1. BEST Street Photography Machine
2. Photo-enthusiasts ROCKS!
3. The Power of Small Cameras
4. E-PL1 Review
5. More about the E-PL1
I am very sorry for the overdue updates to this site due to my busy schedule lately. I actually have the images of the “Mom and Baby Fair” photo kiosk shoots that are yet to be posted… followed by some of the images of last week’s workshop’s night street shoot… and etc..
Not too long ago at Olympus, we had a workshop training with the staff of the newly setup Olympus Brand Store at Mid Valley Shopping Centre Unit #LG068. There were a total of 8 participants and we had a street shooting session at Petaling Street, each holding a Olympus PEN E-P1 with the 14-42mm kit lens. I was using the Olympus PEN E-PL1 with the kit lens.
As I have always said, Images That Speak! Let the images do the talking. Now, let’s see some of these amazing shots and you tell me, is the Olympus digital PEN one of the BEST street photography machine ever made?
Yes, I know… the person behind the camera plays the Major Role in seeing and capturing the images, but we absolutely can’t deny that the Olympus PEN indeed helped us so much in getting what we want! It was a truly enjoyable and memorable street shooting session we had with the digital PEN!
And do you know? It’s not the first time I encounter in my teaching that a student with the least knowledge in photography actually produces the best shots! This is enlightening! If you have been a photographer for many years and if you call yourself a “PRO”, you really ought to think along with me, why does this actually happen, I am saying, a person who knows nuts about photography, takes up a camera and produces a higher amount of keeper shots as compared to someone who’s actually trained in aperture and shutter speed.
The question is, “Are we all too bothered with what white balance to set, which shutter speed to use, which focal length is best, what aperture is better… etc… OR are we more concerned of getting that expression, getting that “look” we saw, getting the moment?”
The following are the selected shots by the 8 participants.
NONE of the pictures are cropped. Only slight brightening is applied to some of the color shots. If you are a PRO who often crops your own shots during post-processing, you ought to be ashamed. All of them are staff in the Olympus Brand Store and they are not PROs. They are not even frequent shooters! Due to the large amount of pics in this post, I shall feature my own shots in a separate post. I seriously don’t think I got better shots than some of these here.
Enjoy!
 Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1
 Pinhole Art Filter in E-P1 
 Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1  Sleeping Guard  Foreign Worker  Asking directions from a monk?  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1, same sleeping guard from another point of view.  Grainy B&W Art Filter in E-P1, I like the tension in this shot.  Pop Art Filter in E-P1 Related Posts:
1. Photo-enthusiasts ROCKS!
2. The Power of Small Cameras
3. Olympus E-P1 Review
4. Olympus E-P2 Review
5. Olympus E-PL1 Review
In partnership with Olympus Malaysia, I’ll be conducting my 1st workshop on 27 May 2010, Thursday evening. This is a comprehensive workshop organized by Olympus Malaysia and it’s open to both Olympus users and Non-Olympus users. Location will be at my studio in Petaling Jaya. The exciting thing about this workshop is we’ll all be going out for a Pasar Malam Night Shoot together and review the pictures after that! (If weather permits) This short 4-hour workshop is gonna cover the basic handling of your camera, practical shooting tips, basic artistic expressions and going beyond making ordinary pictures. I will also be answering all your questions and doing a photo critique. Charges are made very much affordable by Olympus. Please CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
I hardly promote anyone in any of my posts and have never just write a post directly referring you to another blog post or source for reading. But here is ONE I think really deserves it!
I can’t help but to share with you how Robin, my friend has handled the Olympus 70-300mm F4-5.6 lens so well FOR STREET PHOTOGRAPHY! Mind you, it’s NO F2.8 super-professional-expensive-fast-nano-aspherical-weatherproof-whatever lens we are talking about here! Guys and gals, we ought to be ashamed of ourselves if we shoot crap with the Leicas or big Nikons/Canons/what-nought…
Photography is from the heart and from the heart comes the CONTENT! Junk IN-Junk OUT. Shame to all those who only know how to shoot F2.8 bokeh shots of pretty girls on the streets and call that street photography. I am no fan of those shots. I like COMPELLING IMAGES!
CUT the talking, SEE IT HERE: ROBIN WONG
 Olympus E-PL1 with Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.1 via adapter  Side View of Olympus E-PL1 with Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.1 All the following images shot wide open at F1.1 using Olympus EVF2 to manual focus. Hit Rate: 10/10. No Live View Magnifying needed. Amazing EVF! Olympus Engineers must be Darn Proud of this creation!
 Clearing Trash  Bokeh Test - 01  Bokeh Test 02  Closed for Business  Midnight Smile  "Wi-Wa-ers" TEA  Marche "Umbrellas"  Mystery Band  Midnight Melody  Starry Starry Night  No, I shot this on a WEDNESDAY.  Chill Out  Chilling out too  Music DJ  It's a "NO-FOOTBALL-DAY"!  "Stop Smoking, ok?"  White Shoes  White Dresses As you can see, it’s an amazing small little camera! Micro-four-thirds is a system that GROWS with you. From the simplest kit lens usage in iAuto or P mode to using the A/S/M mode to using the built-in ART FILTERS to using Manual Focus lenses via adaptors to using it’s HD Video… … it’s almost limitless! Being much smaller than a typical DSLR, I truly enjoyed my night shoot! Communicating with my subjects was much easier cause I wasn’t using a huge DSLR which looks like a press photographer (Oh, I pray the Press Photographers don’t use such small cameras to spoil my street shoots one day… LOL…) Communicate? Yes, I do try to communicate when I can, mostly by my body language and sometimes a chat.
Related Posts:
1. E-PL1 and MFT experiences
2. E-PL1 vs GF1
3. E-P2 Review
4. The Power of Small Cameras
5. E-P1 Review
I’d like to share what I think I missed out in my previous post about the comparison between the Panasonic GF1 and the E-PL1. Also, I’d like to share a short summary of what cameras I have been using during the couple of months I went missing from this blog early this year.
Basically, from the E-P1, I switched to the E-P2. At first, my initial impression of the E-P2′s EVF2 (external electronic viewfinder) wasn’t so impressive. Yes, up till today, it is the highest quality electronic viewfinder you can ever find on earth, no other brands can match it yet. The Panasonic GF1′s EVF really sucks badly when you compare them side by side.
But in my then E-P2 Review, I wrote that looking through the EVF is no different from watching Live View through a peep hole. In the months when I went missing from this blog, I found out that this wasn’t true! The Olympus’s EVF2 is about the ONLY thing in the world today which can make Manual Focusing of old SLR lenses, Leica M-Mount lenses, and even the C-Mount lenses on the Olympus PEN E-P2 and E-PL1 POSSIBLE!
I get as high as 10/10 hit rate in terms of nailing my focus using the EVF2 on my E-P2, even when I was using the Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1.1 lens wide open! Using Live View to manual focus is just too time-consuming, too tedious and too slow!
Yes! The Micro Four Thirds Mount can mount almost limitless types of lenses on it via adapters! And China make most of these adapters at really affordable prices! The Micro Four Thirds System shall rock the world of photography!
I shall write more about using these various lenses in my next few posts, so stay tuned.
After switching to the E-P2, I started my indulgence into using the EVF2 to manual focus with all sorts of manual focus lenses (including old Olympus SLR OM lenses, of course). This is addictive! At the same time, I tried out the Panasonic Lumix MFT lenses.
And finally, the road led me to the E-PL1. (For buddies who have been hanging out with me, they also saw my indulgence into many other types of cameras… Leica being one of my favourites! Haha… sinful… )
An overall experience told me that for AF lenses, my favourite is the Lumix 20mm F1.7. As for MF lenses, there are quite a few I really like: the Nokton 50mm F1.1, and the C-Mount Ampex 25mm F1.4 TV lens in particular.
I prefer the look and feel of the E-P1 and E-P2, but I think the E-PL1 is currently the most practical choice for me. The E-PL1 is a more intelligent camera, produces sharper and nicer images, is smaller and lighter, and more comfortable to hold. However, I really hate the menu system. According to Olympus, this camera is supposed to be simpler and easier to use. But I find it otherwise.
 Fiddly Menu in the E-PL1, CW trying hard to find out how to switch apertures. This image is captured with my iPhone. Both CW and I were having a hard time trying to find out how to switch apertures. We, like most of you out there, don’t read menus! Haha…
And on a separate occasion, I passed the E-PL1 to another of my photo-enthusiast friend to try out, he had a hard time trying to change ISO.
What is this??? Is it just us being “too advanced” to understand the “simpler” menus in the E-PL1, or is Olympus misunderstanding what the consumers need? Sometimes in trying to make something simpler, we made it more difficult. Less is More? Simpler is Complicated? Hahaha….
Just to share some E-PL1 shots here, all with minimum tweaking, Olympus is famous for beautiful digital images straight out of camera!
 A quick shot of the busy Satay Man. ISO1600, F5.6, 1/20s.
Trying out the POP UP FLASH in E-PL1 … …
Personally, I wouldn’t bother much about pop-up flashes, since all pop-up flashes in the world do not produce as pleasing results as external hotshoe flashes which can bounce. Bad lighting? I’d rather not shoot. Pop-up flashes aren’t gonna make it much better.
 Shot by CW.
The E-PL1 is also perfect for hip shots:
 Hip Shot of Uncle, a little post-cropping done. ISO200, F7.1, 1/250s.
 Corn Salesman. Shot from hip level using Live View. Something not possible with my Leica M6 and M8. ISO200, F3.2, 1/200s.
The above images speak for themselves Olympus’s image qualities!
I imagine one day, I show my son a photograph of a morning glory and teach him what’s purple, he replies, “It’s BLUE!” And I will say, “Oops! That’s Panasonic!”
I’d rather go for the E-PL1. :p
Related Posts:
1. GF1 vs E-PL1
2. E-P2 Review
3. E-P1 Review
Take a break man… … have a currypuff and talk to your loved one!
I have been taking a loooonng break from blogging, and I really owe many an update of what I have been doing. To put down in words all that I have been busy with is gonna take a few pages and so I’m just gonna talk about the basic stuff I did.
Stuff I did:
1. Exploring even more cameras, beyond Olympus, beyond the common brands, beyond digital
2. Thinking hard on what I really wanna do for 2010
3. Learning from photo enthusiasts!
4. Understanding the people I shoot, namely the strangers on the streets, I try to make them friends
5. Learning from my child. He has double portion of my bad DNA. “Retribution”. But God taught me the most through him.
Stuff I really need to do now:
1. Share more knowledge online!
Photography is a lifestyle. It should progress beyond shooting pretty girls, testing lenses, shooting for money, shooting what others have achieved, shooting to impress, shooting to compete, shooting for the sake of shooting, shooting to cover up our insecurities, or shooting just because you like the camera shutter sound and it’s functionality or complexity.
I know that some enjoy photography because of the photographic equipments. Me too, I enjoy each individual mechanical or electronic built. I know that some enjoy shooting pretty girls so they can enjoy looking at the images after that. Me too, who doesn’t like pretty stuff? I know some enjoy photography when they win awards. Me not really, I’d rather not be obsessed with shooting to win the favor of judges / or shooting what others want.
I wanna shoot for a cause. A competition for an exhibition of images for a good cause, yes!
And I believe photography should develop into a lifestyle. Photography, my sketch book. I sketches my life in it. What I see, what I feel and what I want others to see, feel and know. I just hope that my images speak, and that my images last, no matter how insignificant my images may seem to be. I am insignificant, just like a tiny grain of sand on the seashore. Yet, I’ll still shoot to share. Who does not shoot to share? He should give up photography if photography remains in his closet. Fear of others “copying” your works??? Who do you think you are anyway? A Bigger Grain?
2010 Plans:
1. I am gonna get more active in sharing photography! So, you are gonna see more of my face in workshops, more of my works online, and more of my outspoken thoughts (never meant to offend, just treat my blog as my online diary, you can have yours too!).
2. I am shooting more for others, rather than just for myself selfishly, and I mean commercially, as many still love my wedding and portrait works. Now, I must say for any artist, repetitive works are never what an artist wants. That’s why I mentioned “shooting for others”. But, that does not mean I shoot mindlessly without emotion for my clients, it’s about achieving “the pretty shots” my clients always wanted. That’s part of sharing too! And I still have my fiery passion in shooting portraits and especially actual day wedding events when so many “decisive moments” are waiting to be captured.
3. I hope that I can have an exhibition of some of my works. It’s really tedious in organizing all that I have been shooting in 2009, and it’s accumulating in 2010… and I have so much to share. I have been shooting almost everyday, and sometimes it’s just one frame per day.
My encouragement of the day: Be a Photographer! Not just a Businessman.
I always remind myself:
Good Businessman creates his own opportunities. Lousy Businessman copies what others do.
Good Photographer creates his own works. Lousy Photographer copies others’ works. (Have some pride lah! Not shy meh? When others say you copy.)
Keep me bookmarked! For those who are interested to participate in my coming workshops, please email me at dcpweddings@gmail.com or drop a comment below.
I will have more updates very soon.
In the midst of my busy schedule lately, I have to “steal shots” in between the day to enjoy photography instead of going out to do an exclusive 3-4 hours shoot without distraction. Currently, I am exploring in the different ways of “earning-a-living” in Malaysia. The wide differences, legal and illegal, ethical and unethical, successful and not-so-successful. It is mind-boggling to define success when there’s no absolute standard for eveyone. What is your success? Below are just some random street shots from recent weeks. Each potray a different lifestyle. Whether each individual is really happy with their own life or not, I don’t know.
 Rojak Seller  Typical driving scene for the office executives  Mobile Stall Food Seller  Jobless? This shot is for your free imagination.  Loanshark "Advertisements". I would love to do a close-up shot of a loanshark. Any volunteers?
Basically, the new added features on the PEN E-P2 are quite minimal. The main differences of the E-P2 vs the E-P1 are:
1. Two NEW ART FILTERS: Cross Process and Diorama,
2. A hot shoe for the highest quality Electronic External Viewfinder currently in the market, in which the same hotshoe is used for the Olympus external mic to collect the best quality sounds during HD video recording,
3. Focus-tracking (it locks the focus on a moving subject. Unfortunately, I tried engaging the continuous-shot/sequential-shot mode but it failed. Focus-tracking can only be used on single-shot mode.),
4. I-enhance mode (if you are a MAC user, it’s like the “enhance” button in “IPhoto”. It does improve the colors.),
5. You can now use remote control to control your slideshow-viewing when the camera is connected to the HDTV via HDMI cable.
Below are some shots I did with the new Art Filters. To show the effects of Cross Process, I did an extreme comparison with the Pop Art filter to show the differences in color rendition. To me, Pop Art gives a “Leica-like” or color slides kind of saturation. Traditionally, if you print a color slide on a photographic print, you get real saturated colors. “Cross Process” brings the colors to another extreme.
 Comparison between Pop Art Filter and Cross Process Filter Cross Process Effects:
 Uncleared mess from a torn-down building with apartment flats in the background  Reflection on the ground  My Reflection  Now I know some helicopters have 5 propellers  A Corridor View of a Typical HDB Flat in Singapore  Malaysia LRT  View from Overhead Bridge, Malaysia LRT  Boy waiting on staircase In film days, cross-processing is done by either shooting color slides and processing them using color negative chemicals OR the other way round. Today, this is still very much loved by the lomographers and myself.
Below are some shots done with Diorama Art Filter. It mimics the effects of a tilt and shift lens. If you shoot subjects from a distance, the images give you a miniature effect, like the name “Diorama” describes. I also wrote about a friend purchasing the tilt and shift lens HERE before. To show the difference between Diorama and ordinary images, see below.
 Image shot in Natural Mode with No Diorama Art Filter applied, somehow I found that the E-P2's Natural Mode does not produce as rich colors as the E-P1, this is probably due to me using a pre-production E-P2 with firmware not upgraded yet.  Image with Diorama Art Filter applied Here are some other images shot in Diorama Art Filter Mode:
 Singapore HDB Flats
Singapore HDB Playground and Recreational Park
 Children playing soccer
 Another view of the HDB Recreational Park, Singapore HDB Flats are like condominiums! Just for comparison, here are also some samples of similar effects created with a 5Dmk2 and a 45mm tilt and shift lens shot by Mr Peh:
Summary:
1. I find the two new Art Filters very interesting and useful especially the Cross Process Art Filter, since I love the cross-processed look. The Diorama effect also can freshen up perspectives and inject new inspiration into shooting.
2. The Electronic External Viewfinder is like looking at Live View through a peep hole. It is of very high quality 100% viewing but to me, it does not make much of a difference since I hardly shoot in extreme sunlight glare conditions and so I’d rather use Live View. I have found that using Live View freshens up my perspectives in shooting by offering a whole new range of possibilities and angles achievable! I have no complaints at all on the high quality LCD Live View offered on both the E-P1 and E-P2. Don’t you forget, Olympus pioneered Live View among all other brands! And of course, now they created the highest quality external electronic viewfinder you can ever find in the market. For all those who have this thing about using viewfinder to shoot and “hate” Live Views, the E-P2 is a good option.
3. For video lovers, the E-P2 will be a much better choice since you can get much better sound quality using external mic and also have the option of using the 2 extra Art Filters plus Manual-exposure mode in the video mode for creativity. Almost all the Art Filters are useable in the HD Video Mode except the Pin-Hole Art Filter which does not produce a smooth quality video (video-recording is stunted) and also the Diorama Art Filter which records in 2 frames per second but playback in 15 frames per second. However, the Diorama Art Filter Video gives you another creative option to record a “Charlie Chaplin” kind of comical effect, but in color and creative blur. Even videos shot using Pin Hole Art Filter can appear artistic. It depends on your creativity.
4. Focus-tracking is great but I will love to have it more functional in sequential/continuous-shot mode as it’s better to shoot a few more frames for moving subjects. It’s a pity that when I use it in sequential-shot mode, the frames slow down quite a bit, in which I find it not useable.
5. And as for the i-enhance mode, it’s another great option for nicer colors (actually I find that Olympus’s colors are already very nice by default). The HDMI remote feature frees you from sitting inches-near to a HDTV if you often do on-the-spot presentations. Nice option for family get-togethers if you are often the family photographer.
Olympus is selling the E-P1 alongside with the E-P2 together, so I don’t think E-P2 is a replacement model. At about RM1k more (RRP: RM3799), it’s worth the difference if you are fanatic over the two new Art Filters OR you are a creative video person who would want to use the new Art Filters for Video and get better sound quality OR if you “MUST SHOOT WITH VIEWFINDER”. I believe the E-P1 still caters for the majority in terms of pricing.
Lastly, if RM1k is no big deal to you, BLACK IS NICE! I love BLACK! Cheers!
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