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Olympus Tag

18 Apr

Posted at 09:06h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Make up your darned mind. Those of you with children or cats who stand in the doorway will now exactly where the title of this post comes from. But it is also a muttered undertone for a lot of photographers - and that included me over the weekend. I'd taken a Fujifilm X-E2 camera along to the in-laws for Saturday luncheon and was intending to take some group pictures. It was even attached to the little Sirui tabletop tripod I use for reportage at shop open nights. Beautiful combination - but only when there is electricity in the battery to work it. There was electricity in the battery when I put it into the bag at home  - but it had all run out and run away by the time I got to Mandurah. The wretched on/off switch had been activated as I loaded it and the camera was switched on the whole trip. The first indication that something was wrong was the fact that it was red-hot inside the bag - and the little red dead-battery icon confirmed it. The lunch was...

05 Jan

Posted at 09:29h in Blog, Education, Reviews by [social_share]

Extensive audio setups are passe, especially when everything is going compact and portable. Portable audio and voice recorders are a highly versatile alternative to typical audio setups that are complex. Whether you are a vlogger or a podcaster, having an audio recorder in your kit is an essential add on. These top-notch portable devices are handy and easy to use, especially if you’re recording on the move. In addition, you’re assured of a professional outcome every time you use these devices to record interviews, speeches, vlogs, podcasts, or music in your home studio.     Why Use Portable Recorders?   Audio recorders are packed with the best features and come at an affordable price! You can use them at home or in the field, and they will deliver just as well in both scenarios. In addition, these audio recorders have a simple user interface making them perfect for beginners too. The best part about these portable audio recorders is that you can carry them effortlessly wherever you want to. You no longer need to lug around heavy audio systems; all you need to carry is a sleek...

10 Mar

Posted at 07:44h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Because the new Olympus Zuiko 100-400mm 1:5.0-6.3 lens is in the Stirling Street shop for sale - and none of your privacy is safe. Not that it has been in these last few years of digital development - the camera makers have all tried to add longer and longer lenses to their sales line-up and this urge has extended into the zoom range as well. No names of other makers in this Olympus column, but they've all been at it. And mostly they have been at it hard and heavy. Again no names, but consider the fact that in most cases the lenses made for the keen wildlife and bird photographers have been long, awkward, and massive. In most cases, they've had to feed an image onto an APS-C -sized sensor or a 24 x 36 one. In the case of the medium format systems some truly memorable lenses have been produced - all with great aplomb and seriousness - but they have been beasts to carry. I know - I owned a 500mm Hasselblad lens once complete with shoulder stock and...

15 Feb

Posted at 09:21h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Can be greater than some of the parts. Put another way, you can mix and not have to match. Let me show you. I found the following in the Murray Street show cabinets: A 17mm Zuiko f:1.8 lens. Equivalent to a 35mm lens on a full-frame. An Olympus Pen F camera body. Equivalent to any good mirrorless camera. An Olympus hand grip - equivalent to any Arca-Swiss grip for any system. Note the rails on the LHS of the camera body. Also, note the central tripod screw attachment. This grip seems not to be made in precisely black colour and I suspect it is really intended for one of the other OM-D EM camera bodies. But no matter. Bolt 'em together and you have: As good a little fighting reportage or studio camera as anyone else makes. The swinging screen at the back will have to be negotiated past the horns of the Arca-Swiss rails, but if you're fussy, you can unbolt the side rails. If you do not need to do this, those rails can be the foundation of an entire series of accessories. I...

25 Sep

Posted at 10:16h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Well, the new computer was full of the new program - Photoshop 2019 - and I didn't understand 1/50 of the commands and shortcuts - but the YouTube teacher had shown the two or three steps to engage the focus stacking machinery - and I followed from an iPad as he did it. I took a series of pictures of a model airplane from the machine gun tripod - changing the focus with the lens ring along the model as I went. I used manual focus and just watched the red focus indicator line move along the wing from closest to furthest, producing 15 separate exposures. Fortunately the Elinchrom lights I use are very consistent from one shot to the next if you give about 5 seconds for a re-charge between shots and then 5 minutes for a cool-down at the end. I'd shot RAW images and then passed them through Lightroom for correction and onto Photoshop for the stacking. PS tries to automatically align the 15 shots - dead easy if the subject and camera are static. Then it makes masks...

03 Aug

Posted at 09:28h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Don't wince. This isn't a bulletin with viruses or politicians in it. It's concerned with cameras. Briefly, Olympus - the makers of the Zuiko lenses and the Olympus OM-D micro 4/3 cameras - will be selling their imaging division to a Japanese consortium in September. Some people have imagined that this will be the end of Olympus cameras - I suspect it will be nothing like that at all. The consortium - Japan Industrial Partners - is very likely to get the camera division in toto - and that will mean R&D, plans, tools, machines, patterns, materials, and perhaps even factories. I would think that it will also receive the bulk of the optical workers that the camera division has been using for the last decades. it would make sense to transfer the people skilled with the brand at the same time. So what does this mean to you, the Australian camera user? I would suggest that it means you'll have an opportunity to get some very good camera gear and lenses in the next few years: a. There will be a flurry of...