Olympus mZD 75mm f1.8 Medium Telephoto Lens

Recently, Olympus has launched a new telephoto prime lens for the Micro Four-Thirds (m4/3) System. It is the mZD 75mm f1.8 lens.

Picture courtesy of Olympus Imaging

Ain't it a beauty? Full metal body construction with fast f1.8 aperture. It takes very sharp pictures from wide open till stopped down. Its performance matches the Four-Thirds System's ZD 150mm f2 SHG (Tuna) lens. Those familiar with the Tuna's performance will be in awe from what this new kid on the block can do.

MTF Chart courtesy of Olympus Imaging

Olympus Malaysia has sponsored a walkabout to celebrate the launching of this lens in Malaysia and I was one of the lucky participants. Using an Olympus PEN E-P3, a couple of shots were taken with this amazing lens.

The end-to-end sharpness is amazing and it handles flare very well. It is difficult to get any flare even when I deliberately tried to.The bokeh created is very smooth and creamy. Excellently produced for great portraitures.

This is one of the lenses to be in many, if not all, PEN and OM-D owner's wish or must buy list. I am drooling on it as well. Anyone game to buy one for me as a birthday gift?

Miki F @ Bukit Jalil Park

Armed with an OM135 f3.5 lens from many many years ago - I believe the lens MIGHT be older than myself - comes the time when we move forward one step and brace the world of everything in manual. Gone is the time when you will hear the "beep beep" of an AF lock. Gone is the time when the lens will move itself to get everything in focus. Gone is the time when A and S values will somehow be in sync to what you want.

It is very important that you are able to see things in focus through that small little viewfinder of the camera. There is also a need to have the brain control the hands in twisting the focus barrel of the lens while your eyes interpret what is being seen. This is where even the most sophisticated electronics will never be able to match the power of how our brain works in tandem with other limbs and senses.

It is a great feeling able to embrace what senior photographers from the film days feel while in a photo shoot.  Even though we have the advantage of being able to manipulate images easily post shutter click, nothing beats getting it right the first time! Setting the perfect exposure and focus based on instinct then clicking the shutter, the feeling is priceless. The adrenaline flows when you see that same picture on the camera LCD for a short review and found out that it is what you have imagined in the first place.

There is no doubt that lens quality from the olden times still perform strongly in the digital age. Pristine glasses from days of old work perfectly till the present day. The built quality of the olden lenses still beat those of the new, in terms of toughness and sturdiness. Those old lenses are made to kill! Imagine throwing one onto someone's head!

Oh yeah, have I mentioned that the bokeh from the old lens is SUPERB! It beats new digital lenses easily. It is so smooth and creamy, not to mention more pleasant to the eyes. The bokeh quality can only be matched by digital lenses which cost 10-15 times more. Oh! Those creamy bokeh just melts my heart each time I see it...

This is the first but definitely not the last photo shoot which full manual is used. The joy of controlling and deciding all aspects of getting things right the first time is just great. Satisfaction guaranteed!

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with OM135 f3.5 lens.

Spring Is Here...

Spring is the time where flowers bloom and birds chirp. Can't get any bird shots so I went to take the easier one of the two...

Took these at the public garden just opposite the flat in Southsea during Spring time...

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 35 f3.5 Macro lens.

Angel T @ Thean Hou Temple

Sorry for the delayed posting as I was in the transition of being posted overseas for an assignment. However, please find below the introduction of Angel T.

 

 

 

 

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lens and FL-50 external flash.

Ice T @ Thean Hou Temple

As Chinese New Year (CNY) approaches, out goes the ferocious Tiger and let's welcome the cute Rabbit, I would like to post a recent portrait shoot I took at Thean Hou Temple in Kuala Lumpur with the rest of the MyChiaroscuro members. Every year during CNY, it will be lighted up with lots of lanterns and for this year some nice miniature landmarks.

There were 2 models for the photoshoot. First up I would like to introduce to you the cool Ice T (pun intended) while I will introduce the other in the next blog post. The photoshoot was conducted in the morning but the sky was cloudy and gloomy that day. Enough talk, let's get on with the pictures...

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lens and FL-50 external flash.

Mei Yan @ The Aperture Studio

Did a promotional shoot for a beautiful part-time model at The Aperture Studio. The shoot is lighted by 2 strobes with soft box on the left and right.

The Aperture Studio is located at Bandar Saujana Putra and is available for rental. Do contact me for details.

The rest of the pics can be viewed here. All images taken using Olympus E-3 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lens.

Suicide of a Fair Maiden

This series was actually taken more than one year ago but I can only finish processing them now. Yeah, I know, I'm a very lazy bum! Sorry about that.

This series deals with the case of being dumped by a boyfriend after being impregnated by him. Sadly, the victim chose suicide which is the easy way out. More sadly is that this type of scenario is not uncommon.

Pictorial is cut short so as not to bombard the thread with too many photos.

This series has a green cast to the pictures and there is nothing wrong with your monitor. :p It is just to add an ambiance to the sad theme, maybe a bit ghastly too. I would like to apologise should the colours don't suit your taste.

#1 Preparing the meet up

#2 He promised to come in his text

#3 What will be his reaction?

#4 This wait is killing me...

#5 I need to take a rest

#6 I've been waiting for so long

#7 Is he gonna come?

#8 This is unbearable

#9 What am I gonna do?

#10 Why is he still not here?

#11 The decision

#12 There is no turning back

#13 The anguish

#14 The end

Thanks for spending so much time and bandwidth in viewing. The full pictorial can be viewed here. All images taken using E-510 with ZD 14-54 f2.8-3.5 Mk I and ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 Mk I lenses and FL-50 flash.

Nelly G

Set in an office environment, we had the opportunity to photograph the lovely Nelly G. No studio lighting was present and lighting was handled through the external flash in a bounced setting.

 

The rest can be found here. All images taken using Olympus E-510 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 lens and FL-50 flash.

Fashion on 1 @ 1U

It has been awhile since I did a fashion shoot in a local shopping complex. 2 years ago I was at 1U to shoot Fashion on 1 and got the chance to do it again this year. I have always liked 1U's stage. It is brightly lit with a combination of spotlights and natural light. And the same with previous years, they are gracious to provide photographers a platform to take pictures. This year, I travel light with minimum gears on my shoulder as I didn't bring along my big backpack. My main reason being there was shopping! :P

The rest can be found here. All images taken using Olympus E-510 with ZD 50-200 f2.8-3.5 lens.