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Tag Archives: Olympus 14 – 150 mm lens

Walking with a 45 mm Prime Lens

13 Feb

In earlier posts I talked about the advantages I have found in using 14 mm and 20 mm prime lenses while touring in Ireland, etc.  I’m not going to repeat the advantages of touring with prime lenses since you can read them in many of my earlier posts.  What I’m addressing today is why I have added another prime lens to my daily walks … the 45 mm f/1.8 Olympus lens which gives me an effective 90 mm focal length.

In Ireland the 14 and 20 mm lenses were ideal for the wider landscape pictures that I took, but I learned that while walking around Hanover city streets, the things with the most character were found in the smaller details.   To capture this I decided to get the 45 mm f/1.8 lens to obtain a greater reach.

The question I’m sure you want to ask is “why not use my 14 – 150 mm zoom lens?” since it would give me a lot more focal length flexibility.  The primary reasons are that it is bigger, weighs more, doesn’t have as good low light capabilities, and isn’t as sharp.  The 45 mm lens is sharp at f/1.8 and the sharpness is quite good, and consistent at f stops between f/4 and f/8.  If I wish to focus on details with the further stuff blurred, I can set the aperture at f/1.8 … can’t do that with the 14 – 150 mm f/4 to f/5.6 zoom lens.  If I’m interested in maximum detail and depth-of-focus I can set the 45 mm prime at f/5.6 to f/8 and keep shooting without any thought.  In addition, since the 45 mm is so sharp, and since I display my pictures on digital devices, I can crop-zoom significantly to home in on the details thus negating the need for a longer zoom.  If I need to take a wider shot and don’t have a wider lens in my pocket, I can take a panorama with two or more pictures and then join them when I get home.

The only potential disadvantage of shooting with prime lenses is the occasional need to change them and this raises the possibility of getting dirt on the sensor or dropping a lens; but I haven’t found this to be a problem.  My practice is to choose the best lens before going out depending upon where I’m going and what I’m shooting.  In doing this I am almost always able to change lenses while sitting at home or in my car, and almost never need to change them while walking.

Since this is a different focal length than I am use to using, I have tried to learn more about shooting with it by walking around close to home.  Above is a picture that I took while testing the lens under the conditions I expect to encounter.  I’m showing the same picture below in B&W.  That is another aspect of my pictures that I’m exploring; i.e. displaying the older buildings, etc. in B&W.

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Hanover PA, Photography

 

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Bearna, Ireland

13 Jan

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2012 in Ireland, Travel

 

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Center Square in Hanover, PA, USA

06 Dec

The Borough of Hanover, Pennsylvania is a small town (population 15,289) located about 5 miles north of the Mason Dixon Line and the State of Maryland and only 15 miles from Gettysburg.  It was named after the German city of Hannover, and you still find a lot of people of German descent.  It was settled in about 1730 and incorporated in 1815.

The picture above shows The Center Square on a Sunday afternoon.  Normally the roads are packed so I stopped on a Sunday when I could find parking and wouldn’t have too many cars cluttering the scene.  The fact that all roads lead to this Square, make for a lot of traffic, even though it is a small town.

On the square is a statue commemorating a battle at Hanover on June 30, 1863 between Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s 3rd Cavalry Division, Army of the Potomac, and Major Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s Cavalry Division, Army of Northern Virginia.

On the opposite corner of the Square there are two cannons describing the Army of the Potomac troop movements on 30 June and 1 July, 1863 leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg.

 
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Posted by on December 6, 2011 in Hanover PA, Photography

 

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Morning Pictures, 4 Dec 2011

04 Dec

I used the Olympus 14 – 150 mm lens on the E-P3 for these shots.  I hadn’t used this lens since our trip to Ireland and I thought that I would give it a try on the E-P3.  It performed quite well.  It is a much larger lens than I normally use and it isn’t as sharp as my prime lenses, but it does make a nice long zoom lens for walk-abouts with the E-P3 when you need a variety of focal lengths.

 
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Posted by on December 4, 2011 in Hanover PA, Photography

 

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My E-P3 … My Go-To Camera System

02 Dec

I bought my first micro 4/3 system when I was having difficulty walking and carrying anything.  My Pentax K-7 (my primary camera at the time) was too heavy.  I was planning on a trip to Tunisia and was trying to travel as light as possible.  I also needed a camera that was easy to use for those occasions when I had to use a cane.  To meet these challenges I purchased an Olympus E-P1 and took it to Tunisia.  The pictures from that trip are on this blog.  Later I purchased an E-PL2 and took it to Ireland.  Those pictures are also on this blog … and now I have replaced the E-P1 and the E-PL2 with the E-P3.

I bought the Olympus E-P3 camera since it is the best all-around compromise for my uses.  I wanted a camera that had good image quality and was light enough and small enough that I could take it most anywhere without causing any additional strain on my back; and I like the look and feel of it.  It is a tool that I enjoy using.

Most of my photography falls into the category normally referred to as travel photography.  I need a camera that is light and easy to travel with, no matter whether that is on a plane or just taking a walk around the block.  I like to capture the scenes around me and that includes everything from vast landscapes to people going about their daily life.  I have also found that the smaller the camera-lens setup, the less threatened people feel, making it easier to get candid environmental portraits.

I chose the E-P3 for a variety of reasons.  It makes a small, light system because it has a micro 4/3 size sensor.  They are slightly smaller than APS size sensors; but vastly larger than the sensors in pocket point & shoot cameras.  Being slightly smaller than APS size sensor, along with it being a mirror-less camera, means that the lenses are a lot smaller than those on DSLR cameras with APS size sensors.

I chose the Olympus micro 4/3 system rather than the Panasonic system because Olympus has Image Stabilization (IS) built into the body while Panasonic has it in each lens, but not in their small pancake lenses.  IS shouldn’t be necessary in the wider pancakes, but given my advancing age and problems, I felt that I could use all the help I could get.  This is especially true since I often shoot with one hand.  This also meant that I needed a camera that focuses quickly and reliably and the E-P3 is fast.

I primarily use my E-P3 as my walk-about camera, taking pictures as I see them.   My normal mode of carry is on a Domke strap around my neck.  When the weather requires a jacket I hang the camera from around my neck under the jacket so that it is protected from the weather and is out of sight.  Sometimes I use a wrist strap and just carry the camera with a pancake lens on it in my jacket pocket.  Rarely do I take a camera bag with me when out walking.  My preferred mode is to just take one lens on the camera and an extra memory card and battery in my pocket.

I usually transport my camera and lenses in a Domke 803 satchel style bag.  Occasionally I will carry the bag on my shoulder with the camera in the bag if I’m not expecting to be shooting often.

When I’m traveling with a tour group I need to be able to take my pictures quickly.  This means that I usually shoot in auto ISO mode (200-3200) and in the program “P” mode so that the camera makes the decisions for me; but, when I have the time I need to be able to change the settings to suit the scene.  With the E-P3 I can do this quickly and easily with just a roll of the thumb.  I have often found that when traveling and using the aperture “A” mode that I would adjust it for one scene and then forget to change it for the next scene if I was in a hurry.  Since I turn the camera off between scenes, it always comes up quickly with an appropriate compromise setting if I leave it in “P” mode.  I also find that the flash comes in handy as a fill flash occasionally.

In order to keep the camera weight to a minimum, and facilitate carrying it as I described above, I have become accustomed to shooting with prime lenses.  I tried this while touring in Ireland and found that it served me well, and have continued to shoot that way ever since.  I also appreciate the faster primes when in low light situations since it enables me to shoot at lower ISOs.

Here is a picture of my system.  It gives me a range from 28 to 300 mm in 35 mm effectiveness.  Most of the time I leave the 20 mm Panasonic lens on the camera … that is a 40 mm equivalent in a 35 mm system.

 
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Posted by on December 2, 2011 in Photography

 

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My Perfect Camera ?

21 Nov
(For all of my pictures you can see it larger by clicking on the picture and then choosing the larger size at the top.)

The perfect camera system doesn’t exist, and probably never will be built, but let me tell how you how I’m approaching a compromise solution.  When I think about a new camera for the future, I think in terms of the overall system, and then look for the best compromise.

Those who have read my blog for a while know that I’m concerned about the overall weight and volume as much as the technical capability of the camera in terms of dynamic range and image quality.  I’m not the kind of hobbyist who goes around with a tripod and a large camera bag filled with multiple lenses, etc.  I usually pick a camera and one lens and put an extra battery and memory card in a pocket when I go out.

I have been using a Canon S95, an Olympus E-P1, an Olympus E-PL2, or a Pentax K-5.  I have various lenses for the Olympus PEN cameras.  I have the Lumix 14 and 20 mm primes, the Olympus 35 mm prime, the kit 14-42 mm zoom, and the 14-150 mm zoom.  For the K-5, I have the Pentax 40 mm prime, the 18 – 55 mm zoom, and the 55 – 300 mm zoom.  That is more than enough to cover the range of limited shooting that I do.  In fact it is too much, and I would like to reduce the amount of “stuff”.  Ideally I would prefer one camera system and while I hope to eventually get there, for now, I’m seeking to reduce the above to two camera systems: the K-5 and the ???.  In addition, I have been finding that I have a preference for using small, pancake prime lenses, and using the longer focal length zooms less and less.

Before I get around to picking my other system in addition to the K-5, I need to bring up image processing.  Two subjects that you often see in the forums discussing compact cameras are dynamic range and lack of high ISO quality.  They are correct in that most compact cameras suffer in these regards when compared against APS size sensor cameras, but how big a problem is it?  I don’t think that it is as important if we shoot in raw formats and then use processing software to address the problem.  I now shoot in raw and use Adobe Lightroom software to process all of my images.  If you look at the picture above, and are familiar with this kind of picture, you know that it is hard to get an image with the tonal, or dynamic range that we like.  In the above case, taken with the E-PL2 and the 20 mm lens, I tweaked the exposure and other aspects to produce the image … and partially overcame the limitations of the older micro 4/3 sensor.  Also take a look at the following two images.  They were taken in good light … one with the K-5 and the other with the E-PL2.  If you are a pixel peeper, you will note differences; but for use on the web, you don’t notice extreme differences– after processing with Lightroom.

Getting back to the camera-lens portion of the system, you will find that many of the new APS sensor size cameras are as small as micro 4/3 sensor cameras, so why not just choose one of them?  I’m thinking about the new Sony NEX cameras and the new Samsung NX cameras.  The answer is that while they might have better sensors, they are still saddled with the larger APS size lenses and have limited pancake prime lenses available.  As a system (camera plus lenses) they are quite large and heavy to haul around, as compared to the micro 4/3 system.

There is another aspect about the ideal camera that I would like to point out.  Many of the newer, small APS size sensors also have much higher pixel counts.  There is a significant (at least to me) disadvantage with so many pixels.  It takes much longer for the cameras to write to the memory card, and it takes much longer to read the images off of the memory card, and it takes a lot longer to process the images on my computer.  I weigh this as a significant disadvantage for me unless I wish to also upgrade my computer.  I find that the 12 to 16 MP sensors are good enough for anything that I do.

Since I have used and liked the micro 4/3 Olympus PEN cameras in the past, and have a range of lenses, my first choice to replace the E-P1 and the E-PL2 cameras is the Olympus E-P3.  I have one on order to try out.  The E-PL2 has been OK, but I prefer having the upper thumb wheel of the E-P1 or E-P3 and the slightly improved operational details of the E-P3.  I should get it later this week.  After I try it out I’ll let you know if I think it is the one for me as a daily carry-with-me camera.  My next desire, if I don’t think the E-P3 is the one for me, would be to try the Fuji X100 and make do with its’ single lens.  Actually I have fewer reservations with the lens and have more uncertainty about learning to live with its’ operational quirks.  If it had cost less, I might have tried it instead of the E-P3.  My best alternative might be to just continue with what I have and wait for another new camera to try.  Hmmm, I still feel like I’m waiting for Godot.

 
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Posted by on November 21, 2011 in Photography

 

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Connemara, Ireland … Kylemore Abbey

25 Jun

Connemara is a land of wild and barren landscapes with bogs, valleys, mountains, and glacial lakes, punctuated by a lonely cottage from time to time.  On 26 May 2011, we drove through it and stopped at the Kylemore Abbey which is a turreted castle.  It was built in 1861 by Mitchell Henry as a gift for his wife.  In 1920 it was purchased by the Benedictine Nuns, who transformed the crumbling structure into a boarding school for girls … which it still serves.  The tourist revenue generated by the Abbey goes towards keeping the school and grounds in good condition.

After visiting the Abbey and eating lunch there, we drove on through this rough region with spectacular views of the Twelve Ben Mountains on one side and the pounding sea on the other.  As usual (at least for us) it rained off and on until late in the afternoon.

After we returned to our Galway hotel we ate dinner in a local restaurant in Galway town.

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2011 in Ireland, Photography, Travel

 

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Dublin to Galway … Clonmacnoise

25 Jun

On the morning of 25 May, we left Dublin to head to Galway in the west, considered by many to be the most “Irish” or Ireland.  We first stopped at the ruins of the 6th century Clonmacnoise, the most important monastic site in Ireland.  Located on the east side of the Shannon River, the monastery occupied a central position in Ireland and was chosen as the burial site of the Kings of Connaught as well as those of Tara, including Rory O’Connor, the last High King of Ireland.  At one time the site was also the most illustrious school in Europe, predating many universities.

After we left Clonmacnoise , we headed on to Galway, walked some of the older streets, visited the Galway Cathedral (note the mosaic of JFK), and St. Nicholas’ Collegiate Church.

I suggest you watch this in 1080p and at full screen.  Some had problems with the previous video stopping so I made a minor correction in settings and I think from now on they will all work at 1080p and full screen.  Also remember that with YouTube videos you can stop them at anytime, back it up, etc. with the controls at the bottom of the screen when it is playing … if you don’t see the bar, hover your cursor over the bottom and the control bar will pop up.

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2011 in Ireland, Photography, Travel

 

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Traveled with a Prime Lens in Ireland

08 Jun

I recently took a two-week trip to Ireland.  I took the tour “Enchanting Ireland” with Odysseys Unlimited.   We started in Dublin and then made a circle staying in Galway, Killarney, and Kilkenny with lots of stops and side trips to see the country.  I’ll tell you more about the trip and show you some of the pictures in later postings.  For now, I would like to tell you about some of my experiences using the cameras and lenses I took.  My goal was to travel relatively light but still get some good pictures.

First off, I’ll say the environment was a good test for travel photography.  The weather varied quite a bit with lots of wind, rain, dark overcast skies, and even a few days of bright sun, blue skies, and large white clouds.  We even had some hail one day but it happened while we were on the coach and I wasn’t out taking pictures.  The biggest, unexpected challenge photographically was the extreme wind.  At times it blew so strong that it was hard to stand upright, made it very difficult to try to hold a camera steady, and blew the rain horizontally.  I was also taking a lot of pictures inside dark churches and old buildings as well as dark pubs.

My cameras consisted of two Olympus micro four-thirds cameras:  the E-P1 and the E-PL2.  I took the E-P1 as a backup camera.  Fortunately I didn’t really need the backup camera but two other tour members suffered damage to their DSLRs, in one case making the camera inoperable … so it really pays to always have a backup.  The lenses that I used were the Panasonic 14 mm and 20 mm prime lenses, and the Olympus 14 – 150 mm zoom.  My intent was to see how well I could do with just a prime lens, but I used the 14 – 150 mm zoom one day so I could evaluate the differences.  For the rest of the time I generally used the 20mm as much as I could … especially inside pubs, churches, etc. when the light was really low; but I also used the 14mm when I thought that I needed the wider view … usually while walking in the towns.

Result:  shooting with a prime lens in that environment worked great!  I hung the E-PL2 with a prime lens from a Domke neck strap and kept it hanging from my neck all the time.  Since it was quite cool, windy and raining most of the time … or at least raining on and off at unpredictable times, I always wore a Gore-Tex rain coat and kept the camera under it except for when shooting.  This kept the camera dry and kept the camera out of sight when I wasn’t shooting.  If I had used a large DSLR, this wouldn’t have been as easy.  With the E-PL2 and a prime lens I never noticed the weight of having it around my neck all day and evening.  In addition, I was able to take it out and quickly take a shot holding the camera in one hand … a technique that I used a lot!

I’m still working on the pictures, but my initial response is that the image quality was great with the 20 mm lens, slightly less with the 14 mm, and even less with the 14 – 150 mm zoom.  After shooting with the zoom one day and evaluating the IQ from the LCD (the differences in sharpness were noticeable), I decided to put it away in my bag and not use it for the rest of the trip.  This decision was based on the facts that some of the pictures didn’t seem to be as sharp, that I really didn’t need the zoom, and that it was a lot more cumbersome to carry.

The range of lighting extremes did prove to be a challenge for micro four-thirds.  But, I shot all of my pictures as raw files and have been using LightRoom to develop them, and so far the pictures have been acceptable.  There have been times that I have noticed that I would have been better off, image wise, if I had been shooting with a Pentax K-5 which has a greater dynamic range, a much higher ISO capability, and good weather resistance … qualities much appreciated for Irish weather and lighting conditions.

I’ll let you decide about the quality of the images, many of which I plan to be posting through-out the summer.  I hope to get to more postings with them later in July since I have a lot of other chores, etc. associated with coming surgery next week, taking up my time for the rest of June.  For now, I’ll leave you with the following scene that tends to represent the environmental conditions … raining and windy, and cool.  It was taken from the Cliffs of Moher on the Island of Inismor which is one of the Aran Islands.


 
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Posted by on June 8, 2011 in Ireland, Photography, Travel

 

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Lightweight Travel Photography

02 Apr

If you have read my blog you realize that I have moved from a heavier Pentax DSLR, the K-7, to a couple of Olympus micro four-thirds cameras.  I have been downsizing the weight and volume to a level that is more manageable for carrying while at the same time maintaining sufficient image quality with my cameras.   My intent was to carry two Olympus cameras, the E-P1 and the E-PL2 with me as I travel to have total interchangeability and a backup if anything goes wrong with a camera or lens.

While my latest micro four-thirds camera, the Olympus E-PL2, is quite small and very good, it is still not a pocket camera … unless it is a jacket pocket.  While it is smaller than the K-7 system, the camera still feels like you have a small brick in your jacket pocket.  In addition there are times when I don’t expect to be taking pictures, but still desire to have a camera with me, so I started thinking whether I could reduce the volume and weight even further … and found that I could.

If I replaced one of the micro four-thirds cameras in my travel bag with a point & shoot (P&S) camera I could go lighter.  The problem with this approach is that while I have had many P&S cameras over the years I always eventually became dissatisfied with their image quality; but, I decided to take another look.  I started researching current P&S cameras (those with much smaller sensor sizes) to find which was the best and if they were good enough.

I found in the literature that the Canon S95 is the smallest, pocket-able camera with the highest image quality.  Another feature that was desirable was a camera that took raw files as well as jpeg since that would give me a little more leeway to process the pictures and the S95 does.  Rather than for me to go into the specifications of the camera, etc., I suggest that you look here: S95 on the web.  Make sure that you look at its’ competitors since they all have something different and the S95 might not be the best for you.  In particular, this ePHOTOzine article shows some of the differences quite well.  For me, the Panasonic LX5 was not as easily pocket-able due to its’ slightly larger size along with the protuberances, and the new Nikon P300 doesn’t take raw pictures.  I also looked at the Olympus XZ-1 but it is also larger than the Canon S95, more expensive, and there are some questions about the XZ-1′s image quality.

One of my favorite web sites has this article about the S95.  It pretty well sums up the advantages as they relate to me.  But, it takes more than a good review to convince me to spend that kind of money on a P&S.  I was still concerned about the kind of images that could be taken with it by ordinary photographers, so I kept looking for more information and came across this web site … s95.com.  It has many pictures submitted by S95 users.  Take a look through the pictures and I think you will see why I decided to give the camera a try.

The following is a photo of the S95 along with my E-PL2 and the lenses that I most use on it.  As you can see, the S95, with 28 – 105mm effective optical zoom, is smaller than the E-PL2 with its’ lenses.  I just got the S95 and haven’t taken any pictures yet.  I’m still waiting for the weather to warm up and stop raining so I can put it in my pocket and go for a walk.   While you can see the size differences below, it also translates into a noticeable difference in weight when carrying in a pocket:  193 gm for the S95 versus 480 gm for the E-PL2 with the 20mm lens.

From your left is the 14mm lens for the E-PL2, then the Canon S95, then the E-PL2 with the 20mm lens on it, and on your right is the 14 – 150mm lens.  Notice that I have the wrist strap on the E-PL2’s left side.  I have done that since I find it easier to carry it in my left hand by the lens when the 14 – 150mm lens is on the camera.

These are the lightest, smallest, travel-light, walk-about camera systems that I have found (so far) that gives me sufficient image quality.  When I’m not expecting to be taking pictures I can just put the S95 in a pocket in case I do see something.  When I’m traveling, or just out to take pictures, I will use the E-PL2 with one or more of the lenses shown above with the S95 for backup.  I won’t take the 14 – 150mm zoom unless I know I will need it since I’m growing more fond of just shooting with primes.

 
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Posted by on April 2, 2011 in Photography, Travel

 

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