Author Archives: TV Smith

Transit of Venus 2012

Posted on by
Reply

Transit of Venus

Transit of Venus photographed from Kuala Selangor, Malaysia at 10:24 am (+8 GMT)
Olympus OM-D EM-5, ISO 200, f 9, 1/4000 sec (with Cokin ND8 x 4)

A once in a lifetime spectacle unfolded this morning. Venus passed directly between the Sun and Earth. This very rare event has happened only twice this century. The next occurrence will be in 105 years (2117). I am lucky to be able to witness and photograph both the transits that took place this century. The last one was in the year 2004.

It took 4 ND8 filters to rein in the raw sun. Even then, the camera was already pushing its maximum 1/4000 sec and lowest ISO to achieve a fairly optimum f 9. Venus appeared as a small black speck sailing across the gigantic sun. Spectacular nevertheless and impossible to view with the naked eyes due to the intensity of the rays.

OM-D Venus set-up
Olympus 75-300mm tele lens paired with the OM-D. I shot the crossing handheld since the speed was already so high. Gear photographed with Samsung Galaxy S3. The picture was sent directly from the OM-D to my Sony S Android Tablet via the PenPal bluetooth accessory (seen here on the hotshoe). From there, it was cropped, resized and uploaded to the Internet. No laptop or PC was used in the work flow.

Click on image to see the BIG PICTURE

The Kite Park

Posted on by
Reply

There I was flying a kite, minding my own business, on a Sunday evening. A breathtaking sunset had to unfold…

The Kite Park

Silhouettes in the wind. You know a good sunset when you see one.
Olympus OM-D EM-5, ISO 200, f 2.5, 1/1250 sec with Pana-Leica 25mm f 1.4 lens

Layan Layang Layang

Layan Layang Layang. Good thing I always have the lightweight OM-D with me.
Olympus OM-D EM-5, ISO 500, f 8, 1/60 sec with Oly 12-50mm kit zoom

Kicks and Kites

Kicks and Kites. ISO performance is pretty decent considering it was already quite dark around 7:30 pm. Metropolitan Park is located along the MRR2, near Kepong.
Olympus OM-D EM-5, ISO 2000, f 4.2, 1/400 sec with Oly 12-50mm kit zoom 

Click on image to see the BIG PICTURE

The New Olympus OM-D

Posted on by
1

Olympus Malaysia launched its much-awaited OM-D (E-M5), a day after its worldwide unveiling. Inspired by the legendary OM-4 film camera, the classy OM-D is built around a new Live MOS Sensor with 16.05 megapixels and TruePic VI image processing engine.

The new Olympus OM-D (E-M5) in 2 colours

The new Olympus OM-D (E-M5) in 2 colours

A newly-developed 3D Tracking AF system, 5-axis image stabilization, rapid 9 frames-per-second burst shooting and weather-sealed magnesium-alloy body are some of its headline features. The new built-in EVF system has a quick response display at 120fps for minimal lag. It does look better than my VF-2 when I did a brief comparison. For me, the magic of this new camera is its feel and handling.  All the buttons and dials falling in place, naturally.

The new OM-D is inspired by the original OM-4 film camera

The new OM-D is inspired by the original OM-4 film camera

During lunch, I had a chance to catch up with Mr Toshiyuki Terada (Manager, Group Leader of Product & Marketing Planning Group). Mr Terada, as expected, was tight-lipped when I asked him for more information on the sensor and would only say it is new and that there are some obvious improvements over the current m4/3 Pen E-P3. According to him, the new E-M5 has +1 stop noise improvement, +1/3 dynamic range improvement & 30% faster AF speed.

Mr Toshiyuki Terada (right) and Mr Tan Tick Boon, MD Olympus Malaysia

Mr Toshiyuki Terada (right) and Mr Tan Tick Boon, MD Olympus Malaysia

I also asked him about the relatively ‘slow’ speed of the new 12-50 mm weather-sealed lens . He explained that they designed this lens optimised for weight and size. Any brighter, it will have a weight payload, off-setting the compact advantage of the m4/3 system. He also said the camera’s firmware was still being fine-tuned at that time and thus I was not allowed to take home any sample pics. Nevertheless, their PR agency promised a review model the soonest.

Surprise, surprise. The optional VF-2 finder for the Pen fits and works

Surprise, surprise. The optional VF-2 finder for the Pen fits and works

The new model is expected to arrive at shops here in Malaysia some time end of March. Prices and any bundle will be announced later. Look out for some sample pics and a review of the exciting OM-D here soon…

Update: You can see my pics with the new OM-D starting from here