What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Travel Lite Vietnam Edition

December 26, 2017December 26, 2017 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

At this point of time, I have 3 micro four-thirds cameras – the GM1, the GF9 (aka GX850/GX800) and the GX85 (aka GX80).

The GX85 is no doubt the better tool to take better photos among the 3, with its 5-axis in-body stabilization which can work together with the in-lens stabilization for Panasonic’s Dual I.S. The GF9 should also take sharper photos than the GM1 because it doesn’t have the anti-aliasing filter.

But for my trip to Vietnam (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh), I decided to travel light, while still taking a few lenses with me so that I can shoot in different situations – so I went for the GM1.

The GM1 (the one in orange) is actually about the same weight as the GF9, but is the most compact of micro four thirds cameras to date. As I use a waist pouch (fanny pack) to carry my gear for easy access, I chose the more compact GM1.

I use the Pacsafe Venture Safe 100 GII which has wire mesh inside to prevent slashing as well as clasps to prevent pickpockets from unzipping your pouch. No problems fitting the GM1 and the lenses described below.

Panasonic GM1 ~US$450 / C$560 / £370
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Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Pacsafe Venture Safe 100 GII ~US$39 / C$49 / £30
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1. The Ultra Zoom – Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6

My #1 travel lens is the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6. As an ultra-zoom, it gives me the convenience of not having to switch lenses that often. In fact, for my trip to Vietnam, it was on my camera 95% of the time.

Yes, it’s the biggest lens I’m taking with me, but this combined with the GM1 weighs less than half a kg (20 oz) and I have no problem holding this combination in my hand all day, ever ready to snap the next photo.

So here’re the majority of the photos I took during my Vietnam trip with this lens:

If I’m being honest, you can see several low-light shots and that’s where I miss the in-body stabilization of the GX85 and also a faster lens (say f/2.8). So for shots I really wanted, I would take 2 or 3 shots. The throwaways weren’t that many, and I’m sufficiently satisfied with the photos I got.

Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ~US$480 / C$585 / £400
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2. The Ultra Wide – Laowa 7.5mm f/2.0

I brought along an ultra-wide in case the 14mm of the Panasonic 14-140mm wasn’t wide enough. This came in the form of the Laowa 7.5mm rectilinear lens.

This lens came into good use in the limestone grottoes of Ha Long Bay. The grottoes are vast and you really need an ultra-wide to take it all in.

This lens isn’t stabilized. Together with the GM1 which also doesn’t have in-body stabilization, and the low light conditions of the grottoes, taking sharp photos requires really steady hands. The ultra-wide angle helps somewhat.

Laowa 7.5mm f/2 ~US$600 / C$770 / £490

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3. The Fish-Eye – Panasonic 8mm f/3.5

I used to use the Panasonic 8mm fish-eye as my ultra-wide lens. But since I got the rectilinear Laowa 7.5mm, I now use the Laowa as my ultra-wide lens as it doesn’t have the fish-eye effect.

As shared in one of my earlier posts, a fish-eye lens lens has a field-of-view which is wider than a rectilinear lens of the same focal length. So I brought this lens for cases where ultra-wide wasn’t wide enough.

Well, it turned out useful when we climbed up the statue of Jesus in Ho Chi Minh. Only the fish-eye could take in the whole scene from the top of the statue.

Panasonic 8mm f/3.5 ~US$600 / C$730 / £570
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That’s it. Hope you guys found the above useful.

What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Anime Festival Asia (Cosplay) Edition

November 26, 2017December 5, 2019 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

November 2017, I was at a Cosplay (or COStume PLAY) event called the Anime Festival Asia in Singapore. It wasn’t pre-planned. I just had my walk-about combo of my Panasonic GF9 (GX850/GX800) and the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6.

If I’m being honest, this would not be my combo of choice had I known that this would what I would spend the day shooting – Cosplayers posing at an indoor location.

For the camera, I would have chosen my Panasonic GX85 (GX80) mainly because of its in-body sensor stabilization. Most of the location was indoors with less-than-ideal lighting conditions. The sensor stabilization would have avoided camera shake for the shots which required longer shutter opening times.

For the lens, I would have chosen the Panasonic Leica 12-60 f/2.8-4.0. Just simply because it’s a sharper lens than the 14-140mm.

And that brings me to the second reason for choosing the GX85 – the ability to put on an external flash. For the bigger lenses, a shadow would be cast when using the in-built flash, unless you’re really at the telephoto end. You can see some of this in the photos below.

I find the Panasonic 14-140mm sharp anywhere from f/8.0 and bigger (i.e. down to f/3.5). I set my camera to Aperture priority and a setting of f/4.0. At the tele end, the camera would automatically go up to f/5.6 as that would be the widest aperture for this variable maximum aperture lens.

Ok, so I may have lost a few shots due to camera shake, and the in-built flash did cast a shadow. But the results show that the combination of the GF9 (GX850/GX800) and the non-professional 14-140mm can produce some really sharp results. Hope you agree (^v^)

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365

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Pacsafe Venture Safe 100 GII ~US$39 / C$49 / £30

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Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ~US$480 / C$585 / £400

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November-December 2018

All right. So it’s a year later, and this time it was a planned visit to the Anime Festival Asia, so I brought along the combination which I said in the writeup above from last year.

Panasonic GX85 camera body with the Panassonic Leica 12-60mm, and a Godox TT350o flashgun.

Firstly, something about the flashgun:

With a big lens in front of the GX85, you cannot use the in-built flash, as it will cast a shadow on your subject. Secondly, the in-built flash isn’t nearly strong enough for the reach you’ll need.

The “o” at the end of the model number TT350o signifies that it is compatible with Olympus cameras, but that also means it’s compatible with Panasonic cameras as both are micro four thirds. Note that there’s a TT350P, but that’s for Pentax cameras and not Panasonic cameras.

Although I have the more compact Panasonic DMW-FL200L, I bought the Godox mainly because it has high-speed sync, where you need the flash to fire when you’re using higher shutter speeds. More relevant for bright outdoors and not for today’s indoor event.

When you get familiar with using an external flash, you’ll find out that it’s best to use flash in manual mode. This is because you will want to set both the Aperture as well as the Shutter speed. In general:

– The Aperture will determine the brightness of your subject in the foreground. The larger the aperture (smaller f-stop number), the brighter your subject.

– The Shutter Speed will determine the brightness of your background. The slower the shutter speed, the brighter your background.

For this event, as I was photographing cosplayers, the background didn’t matter and I wanted to blur it as much as possible. So I used the largest aperture of my Panasonic Leica 12-60mm, which varies from f/2.8 to f/4.0 depending on the focal length.

To get a visible background so that the environment can be seen and felt, I found that I needed to use a shutter speed of 1/30s and even 1/20s.

That brings me to the camera. For this year, I brought the Panasonic GX85 which has in-body image stabilization. At shutter speeds of 1/30s and slower, I really needed this, which was lacking in the GF9 (GX850/GX800) which I used last year.

And finally, the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm gave me a variable aperture of f/2.8 to f/4.0, which is just a tad better than the Panasonic 14-140mm which gave me f/3.5 to f/5.6.

This year, I was also a bit more heavy-handed with the post-processing, cos I felt that these anime (cartoon) characters lent themselves well to “unnatural-looking” editing.

So here’re some of the shots I took this year:

November 2019

I was back at the event in 2019, but as I took quite a lot of photos and am running out of space at this blog site, I’ve included this update at my new blog site. Do check it out!

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520

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Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £682

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Godox TT350o ~US$79 / C$108 / £69

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What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Singapore GP Edition

September 18, 2017September 22, 2019 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

Singapore GP 2017

Along with the F1 race, the Singapore GP also includes races with Porches and Ferraris.

Lens of Choice: Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8

During my first race, I decided to go with the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8.

a. It’s a night race, so I thought that a lens with a fast aperture is ideal. The Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8’s maximum aperture of f/2.8 will be put to good use.

b. To get a good view of the cars with a comfortable seat, a grandstand seat is ideal. Seats are assigned. Although you can move to a seat that is not occupied, you won’t know if the focal length of a prime lens will work. A zoom lens would be ideal.

c. The grandstands don’t allow monopods or tripods, so I won’t be zooming in to capture the faces of the drivers as they zoom past, nor will I be doing any panning. Consequently, I don’t need a telephoto lens. The 12-35mm will do.

Camera Settings

Aperture: Set to widest at f2.8 or f3.2. This is so that shutter speed can be set to fastest allowable for these fast-moving cars.

Shutter speed: As fast as possible to reduce the motion blur of the cars. For the night race, I could only set a shutter speed of 1/600 seconds, which actually isn’t enough to avoid motion blur.

Focus: Manual on the desired area. Aperture is set to widest, so focus needs to be spot on. Manual focus also means that the camera will respond faster when you press your shutter.

Shutter mode: High burst. As the cars are moving fast, burst mode will give you a better chance of getting the cars where you want them.

Here’re some shots I took during the practice sessions:

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 ~US$730 / C$900 / £560
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Singapore GP 2018

Ok, so I suppose the shots I took during my first outing weren’t all that inspiring.

I attribute that to the fact that I was using as fast a shutter speed that I could so that everything would be frozen and result in a sharp image. But a frozen race car is an oxymoron. Race cars are meant to be moving fast. To get that effect I had to do some panning.

Panning is where you follow the car with your camera, so that the car would be sharp, but the background would be blur. This would give a sense of movement of the car.

So let me talk about the challenges I faced in doing panning shots at the Singapore GP.

a. The Fence

Sure, it’s for the safety of the spectators, but there’s a fence all around the track. So it’s something you’ll have to deal with. There are spots which have gaps in the fencing, but then may not be ideal for panning shots either.

b. Manual Focus

If you’re shooting through the fence, then your auto-focus would more likely than not, focus on the fence rather than on the cars. So pre-focus on where you’d like your focus to be, and don’t move your focus ring.

c. Posts

The fence isn’t all thin wiring. There are thick posts every few meters. So what could have been an epic shot could be ruined by having a thick post in the middle. Like so:

d. Camera / Lens Stabilization

I believe that the camera/lens stabilization uses the fence as a reference for stabilization, which is not what you want for panning shots where you want to move with the car. So for my panning shots, I turned all stabilization off.

e. Shutter Speed

The key setting for panning shots is the shutter speed. The faster the shutter speed, the less the desired motion blur of the background. The slow the shutter speed, the less likely you will get a sharp image of your subject as your shutter is open longer as you pan your camera.

So I start out trying 1/400 seconds. The hit rate was quite good, but I really wasn’t getting as much motion blur of the background as I would like. I just didn’t find the shots dynamic enough:

So I tried 1/250 seconds for a short period of time:

Yes, the shots at 1/250s were much more dynamic. But for the night practice with F1 cars, I decided to go even slower to 1/160s:

Yes, I’ll say I really loved the effect of the shots I got at 1/160s, but I must also say that the hit rate was very very low. I think that for my next outing, I’ll stick to 1/250s.

f. Panning Technique

a. Use the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). I actually just find it more stable (pressing against my face) than only holding my camera in my two hands and looking at the LCD screen.

b. Start position of camera would be beyond where I want to get the shot. This is so that I can start moving the camera at the speed of the car before I fire off the first shot in burst mode.

c. Cars move relative fast when they’re right in front of you than if they’re a distance away. So the panning movement is not at a constant speed. It starts slow (car still some distance away), then gets faster (car right in front of you).

g. The Gear

I used my Panasonic GX85 for these panning shots. Yes, it has in-body stabilization, but as mentioned above, I turned all stabilization off as panning shots means I want to move the camera while taking shots, and the stabilization may use the stationary fence to stabilize, which would oppose my attempt to track the car.

For most of my shots, I used the Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0. I sat at the first few rows of the grand stand, and 60mm is as far as I need to get the cars to fill the frame.

Okie! So enough about the cars. Here’re some shots in and around the Singapore GP:

I also watched the Jay Chou (famous Taiwanese pop singer) concert at the end of the practice sessions:

Hope you found the above useful!

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520
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Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £682
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Singapore GP 2019

In 2019, I was determined to improve the panning shots I took at the Singapore GP.

a. The Gear

I had recently bought the Panasonic GX9. Compared to the GX85/GX80 I used last year, the main advantage is the 20MP sensor vs. the 16MP sensor. The increased resolution allowed me to crop in more when needed. There’s also a marginal improvement in continuous shooting speeds of 9fps vs. 8fps.

b. The Fence

I did try to find a location where my shots wouldn’t be blocked by a fence, but didn’t manage to do so. I did shoot from a different location this year, though.

c. Camera/Lens Stabilization

I tried all 3 options of stabilization: (1) Full stabilization, (2) Only up-down stabilization (left-to-right movement is not stabilized) and (3) No stabilization.

Panning is where a lot of shots will have motion blur, because we’re intentionally moving the camera when the shot is taken. From my tests, I felt that option 2 (only up-down stabilization) gave a better hit rate.

d. Shutter Speed

This year, I started with 1/250s and largely stayed there throughout. This is because I wasn’t too happy with the hit rate and so hesitated to slow down the shutter speed. I suppose I did do so for the Ferrari & Porsche races, but certainly moved it back up for the F1 cars.

As experienced last year, 1/250s doesn’t produce all that much motion blur. Only on the occasion where an F1 car was going at full speed would I get the amount of motion blur I would like. I suppose for next year I’ll be more adventurous and start with 1/200s.

e. Aperture

With a shutter speed of 1/250s, I had to set my aperture to f8 or even f11 during the day in order not to overexpose the picture. F8 is good as I can get much of the track which I pan across in focus, although I normally don’t like to go above that as the photos get a bit soft at higher apertures.

During the night, the opposite occurs. I have to go down to f4 in order to let in sufficient light. I regretted setting my maximum auto ISO to 3200 as there was too much noise for my liking. I’ve now set my camera to a max ISO of 1600.

f. Panning Technique

I felt that the lag of the Electronic View Finder (EVF) did not allow me to track the actual position of the cars as I panned the camera. I found that taking my eye off the EVF and panning by just pointing the camera at the cars did slightly better than using the EVF.

If I’m being honest, I still felt that my hit rate was rather low. Of course, ideally the EVF could be much faster like that on the Panasonic G9, but I’m still trying to see how I can get better results with my GX9. Maybe for next year, I’ll use the EVF but keep in mind to pan faster than what I see through the EVF.

Shots taken during the day:

Some shots of the events and people in the circuit:

And the shots during the night:

Panasonic GX9 ~US$680 / C$760 / £600
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Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £682
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What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds River Safari Edition

September 11, 2017September 2, 2018 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

The Singapore River Safari features some of the most exotic wildlife which can be found around the rivers of the world.

You can see most of the wildlife reasonably close, so my main micro four thirds lens would be the Panasonic 35-100 f2.8. Admittedly, sometimes I would have to crop in a little, but not so much that my photos really lose their detail.

Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8:

Together with my Panasonic GF9 (GX850/GX800) camera, people familiar with full-frame cameras would know that the sizes are not comparable with an equivalent 70-200mm lens which would be much larger and heavier.

For the animals in good light, I would prefer to shoot at an aperture of f3.2 as I feel this gives the sharpest images. In auto mode, the camera would mostly default to wide open at f2.8.

As several of the animals were moving, I would shoot in Manual mode. Other than an aperture of f3.2, I would also set the shutter speed of 1/500s or faster so that the images would not suffer from motion blur.

Alritey, then. Here’re some images from my outing at the River Safari:

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 ~US$700 / C$930 / £700
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On another occassion, I decided to raise the stakes. The camera body I took was the Panasonic GX85 (GX80) which has in-body stabilization. The lens is the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm. The combination gives Dual Image Stabilization which is where the stabilization in the camera body cooperates with that in the lens for even more effective stabilization.

Yes, it’s a much bigger setup, and if I’m being honest, I didn’t really need the full range of the 100-400mm. But this lens is sharp, and because I wasn’t zoomed all the way in, I had much less to worry in the form of camera shake. That wasn’t the case when I was using the GX850/GX800/GF9 which did not have in-body stabilization.

So here’re some of the photos I took with this camera-lens combo:

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520
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Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 ~US$1,236 / C$1,566 / £1,160
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And on yet another occasion, I just popped in after a visit to the Singapore Zoo which was just next to the River Safari. On that occasion, I wanted to be able to go wide as well as reasonably long.

So I took my ultra zoom in the form of the Panasonic 14-140mm. Although it’s a lens which has been around for quite some time, it still works with my GX85 for Dual Image Stabilization. I was pleasantly surprised and was also reminded how sharp this non-pro lens is, even when compared to some of the newer Panasonic-Leica lenses I had acquired more recently.

I said that when I was using my 35-100mm f/2.8 lens that I had to crop in my images sometimes. But not for the 14-140mm at the River Safari. So here’re some of the photos I took with this camera-lens combo:

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520
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Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 ~US$480 / C$585 / £400
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In September 2018, the River Safari was having an event with Tokidoki titled “Mermicorno meets Manatee,” so I decided to pop by.

This time, I brought along my Panasonic Leica 12-60mm, mated to my Panasonic GX85 (GX80).

There were “life-sized” mermicornos as well as mermaids swimming together with the manatees:

This probably wasn’t the best lens to capture the mermaids swimming with the manatees. My Panasonic 35-100mm would be a better choice as it as a constant f/2.8 aperture which should allow me to use faster shutter speeds to reduce the motion blur.

The tank was also quite blue, so I had to adjust the white balance in post so everything didn’t look so blue. Not difficult since I shot in Raw format and knew that the “trees” in the tank were grey and one click gave the adjusted white balance you see above.

So here’re the other shots I got that day with this body-lens combo:

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520
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Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £682
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What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Bike Show Edition

August 18, 2017August 18, 2017 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

So I went to a bike show and decided to only take one lens with my Panasonic GF9 (GX850/GX800) camera – the Panasonic 20mm 1.7.

This lens is known to produce sharp pictures. I’ll include some samples below.

The bike show was indoors, where lighting was sub-optimal. The f/1.7 aperture of this lens allows it to perform well under these conditions. When necessary, I can use the in-built flash without casting a shadow when using this pancake lens.

This lens is also known to be slow to focus and is noisy when doing so. But as the models would pose for me to take my photos and I wasn’t taking any videos, this would not bother me.

Alritey, then. Here’re some of the photos from this outing:

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 ~US$270 / C$320 / £250

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What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Motor Show Edition

August 2, 2017February 5, 2020 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

Every year in Singapore, there is a major motor show. Not only are there car models on show, there will be quite a few human models as well.

The show is held indoors, so the lighting is usually not excellent. As the models (cars and humans) will be there for you to take your best shot, you will want to get as sharp an image as you possibly can.

For 2017, I used my Panasonic GX850 (aka GF9) with two “professional” Panasonic f/2.8 lenses. Most of the time, I would be using the 12-35mm as I should be able to get up close. But should I want to take a headshot, then I’ll use the 35-100mm.

These lenses certainly produce sharper images than the kit lenses. Their fast f/2.8 maximum aperture is also necessary for the less-than-ideal indoor lighting.

Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8:

Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8:

Versus the Primes

There are prime lenses which are faster (have bigger apertures and hence allow more light in) and produce sharper images than the f/2.8 lenses above. Examples are the portrait lenses like the 42.5mm f/1.7 and even the 42.5mm f/1.2. But for the setup of the motor show, it is usually difficult to use prime lenses.

There will be many photographers on site, and they will form an arc around major subjects of interest. As a courtesy, you cannot step in front of them and block their shot. You can only compose your shot from the arc. That’s why a zoom lens is necessary.

Here’re some of the shots I took during the 2017 motor show:

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365

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Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 ~US$730 / C$900 / £560

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Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 ~US$700 / C$930 / £700

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The 2018 Singapore Motorshow

For the 2018 show, I had acquired the Panasonic GX85 (aka GX80). The main advantage of this camera body is the 5-axis in-body stabilization. This can work together with the Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) in the lenses for even more effective stabilization.

I also acquired the Panasonic DMW-FL200L flash. This is because I found that the venue was not bright enough even for the f/2.8 lenses I used last year. I also didn’t want to use the in-body flash as they were not that powerful, gave an undesirable blueish tint, and was uneven if light delivery.

I also got myself a new lens. The Panasonic Leica 12-60 f/2.8-4.0. The main advantage of this lens is that it allows me to take wide shots (including car and human model), and zoom in for the close-ups without needing to change lenses. The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 was just too short for that purpose.

The Panasonic GX85 (GX80)

Yes, the 5-axis dual image stabilization (combining camera body and lens stabilization) is very much of an advantage over my previous GX850 (GF9) which did not have in-body stabilization and hence solely depended on the 2-axis stabilization of the lenses. I had much fewer throwaways due to camera shake.

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520

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The Panasonic DMW-FL200L

I chose this flash because it was the smallest and most compact, but it should meet my requirements. I was not disappointed. I did not have to use any compensation to bring up the power of the flash. It was more than adequate.

I did have the need to use the wide panel not because my lens was wide, but because it makes the flash more even. This is the white plastic piece that you put in front of the flash. During the show, I simply used this flash in TTL (auto) mode.

Panasonic DMW-FL200L ~US$228 / C$369 / £220

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The Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0

It is clear to me that the images I got from the Panasonic Leica f/2.8-4.0 are sharper than my Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8, but I would still say that my Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 is my sharpest lens, but just by a very slim margin.

It is sharp anywhere f/4.0 and below, and I’m happy to leave it in auto mode when shooting.

Panasonic 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £621

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OK, so here’re the shots I took from the Singapore Motorshow 2018:

The 2019 Singapore Motorshow

The Panasonic Leica 12-60mm worked well for me the last time around, so I sticked with it on my GX85. I decided to use a new flashgun that I got, the Godox TT350o. I got this new flashgun more because of its high-speed sync feature, which doesn’t really come in useful in the dim lighting of the motorshow.

With this setup of the GX85, the 12-60mm, and the Godox flashgun, the whole setup is a bit heavy to carry in my hand for half a day, so I got the Panasonic DMW-HGR2 hand grip which really made it easy to carry in one hand:

So here’re the shots I took during the 2019 Singapore Motorshow:

As I’ve run out of space in this website, do go over to my new blog site for my subsequent visits to the Singapore Motorshow.

Panasonic GX85/GX80 ~US$490 / C$740 / £520

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Panasonic 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ~US$660 / C$840 / £621

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Godox TT350o ~US$79 / C$108 / £69

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Panasonic DMW-HGR2 ~US$73 / C$98 / £67

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What’s in my Camera Bag – Micro Four Thirds Wildlife Lite Edition

July 31, 2017November 20, 2019 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

So once again, I’m not a professional photographer. My idea of wildlife photography is where I take shots of wildlife during my jogs.

Since I’m jogging, I’m not about to bring a big bag with me. So once again, I’m bringing along my trusty fanny pack with just one camera and lens:

This is the Panasonic 100-300mm on my GF9 camera. Yes, the combination is not really that small, but I still manage to jog with this in my waist pouch. The combination weighs just under 800g or about 1.75lbs. I’ll admit it’s a bit heavy, but I think it’s worthwhile for the shots it lets me take.

The Panasonic 100-300mm isn’t a particularly sharp lens, especially when you zoom all the way in. Here’re my tips on using this lens.

a. Manual mode

Yes, I usually stay away from manual mode when I’m traveling, but I need to be on manual mode to get sharp wildlife images with this lens.

b. Aperture of f/7.1

When fully zoomed in, the larger apertures give quite a soft image with this lens. Setting an aperture of f/7.1 works best for me.

c. Shutter speed of 1/1300 or faster

When fully zoomed in, any small movement of the camera will result in motion blur. Add to that the fact that I don’t carry a tripod. I set a minimum shutter speed of 1/1300 seconds or faster if the light allows. I avoid hand-holding and try to rest the camera/lens against a fence or tree if possible.

d. Pinpoint focus

When fully zoomed in, the depth of focus is actually quite small (not much of the image is in focus). So I use the pinpoint focus mode, put the cross-hair on the subject to lock focus.

e. Spot Metering

When photographing wildlife like birds, their white bodies are usually very bright when compared to the surroundings. I choose spot metering so that white birds are not over-exposed because the camera chooses to adjust for the darker background.

f. Burst mode

Wildlife move, and the image you get can be different every split second. I use burst mode so that I can choose the best captured moment.

1. Versus the Panasonic 45-200mm

I initially had the Panasonic 45-200mm instead of the 100-300mm as the latter was considerably more expensive. Although the 100-300mm is not a particularly sharp lens, I’d say the 45-200mm is even softer.

2. Versus the Panasonic 45-175mm

Of my telephoto lenses, I think only my 45-175mm is acceptably sharp. It’s also smaller and lighter (210g / 0.5 lb) than the 45-200mm (380g / 0.8 lb) and the 100-300mm (520g / 1.1 lb). It also doesn’t extend when zooming in.

Unfortunately, 175mm doesn’t give me the reach I need to get a good shot of the shy birds in my area.

Here’re some shots of the Panasonic 45-175mm, 45-200mm and the 100-300mm:

Hope the above helps. So here’re some photos I’ve taken with the Panasonic 100-300mm. Yes, professional photographers will get better photos, but I’m jogging with my camera and shooting at 600mm full-frame equivalent without a tripod.

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365

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Panasonic 100-300mm f/4-5.6 ~US$432 / C$562 / £332

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Panasonic 45-200mm f/4-5.6 ~US$290 / C$370 / £330

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Panasonic 45-175mm f/3.5-5.6 ~US$300 / C$420 / £300

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Panasonic has since come up with Version 2 of the 100-300mm. Although I had already gotten the more premium Panasonic Leica 100-400mm which has a longer reach, I was still using my 100-300mm quite regularly as it was significantly smaller and lighter than the Panasonic Leica. So I got myself the 100-300mm Mk II.

It’s hard to tell the difference between the 2 versions of this lens. I suppose the most significant difference (both visually and optical performance wise), is that the new lens has the newer Power Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) versus the older Mega OIS.

Image Quality

Optically, I couldn’t tell any difference between the two. Both perform almost identically in terms of image sharpness as well as other softer aspects of the image quality. So, in using this newer lens, I still kept to my preferred aperture of f/7.1 where I find that the image is at its sharpest. So image quality wasn’t the selling point of the Mk II.

Focus Speed

Yes, I found that the focus speed is noticeably faster with the Mk II. As shared above, I use point focus especially when at 300mm as being slightly off at this focal range would mean that I would miss the focus. I certainly noticed that the “hunting” for focus was much quicker with the Mk II.

Image Stabilization

One of the main challenges of shooting telephoto is that your images would be more prone to motion blur caused by any slight movements of the camera/lens. This is exacerbated by the fact that I use the Panasonic GX850 (GX800) camera body (because I want to limit the size and weight that I carry) which doesn’t have in-body image stabilization.

If I use my Panasonic GX85 (GX80) with this lens, the in-body stabilization would combine with the Power OIS of the lens to give Dual IS which basically means better stabilization.

Common wisdom is that if you’re shooting at a 35mm equivalent focal length of 600mm (2 x the micro four thirds focal length), then your shutter speed should be around 1/600 seconds to avoid motion blur. But for the following pictures I took of a heron, these were taken at about 1/80 seconds but the results are as sharp as the lens can give. BTW, these shots are at the full 300mm and heavily cropped – the height of the heron was originally only about a quarter of the picture frame.

I didn’t use such a slow shutter speed to show off. I basically had to use such a slow shutter speed because the light was low and I wanted to use an aperture of f/7.1 for the maximum sharpness this lens would give. Fortunately, the heron didn’t move around much.

So I’m happy with the new Mk II 100-300mm. It allows me to acquire focus of my fleeting subjects much faster, and I don’t have to worry so much about motion blur due to a slow shutter speed.

So here’re some more shots I took using the Panasonic 100-300mm II:

More recently, my usual jogging path was undergoing some renovations so I took a longer path which pleasantly surprised me with a variety of herons:

Yet more updates… there’s evidently resident monitor lizards at the pond I now frequent…

I had an occasion where I had an activity near the pond I frequent, so I brought along my Panasonic Leica 100-400mm lens to compare the shots with that I’ve been taking using my Panasonic 100-300mm.

I think the biggest difference in IQ is the contrast and “Leica look” with the Panasonic Leica lens. Sure, it’s quite a bit sharper too, but it’s not a lens I’d carry during my jogs.

Panasonic 100-300mm II f/4-5.6 ~US$460 / C$425 / £495

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Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 ~US$1,089 / C$1,440 / £1,000
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M43 Travel Lens #3 – Panasonic 8mm f/3.5 – the Ultra Wide

July 31, 2017August 12, 2017 / microfourthirdssite / 6 Comments

The Panasonic 8mm is my choice for ultra wide use. There are several reasons why I bring along this ultra wide lens on my travels:
a. Selfies
b. Cramped indoor spaces
c. Wide landscapes
d. Interesting perspective of fish-eye lens

1. Versus the Rokinon 7.5mm

The Rokinon 7.5mm used to be my choice for ultra wide use. The biggest difference between this and the Panasonic 8mm is that the Rokinon is a fully manual lens while the Panasonic is automatic. Oh, and it’s like less than half the price of the Panasonic.

It’s just cumbersome to change settings on a manual lens.

The Rokinon is sharpest at an aperture setting of f/4.0 to f/5.6. Not a problem for landscape shots, but when taking a selfie, either the people or the background will be in focus. To have both in focus, you need an f/8.0 setting and focus set further away from the infinity mark.

For the Panasonic, I just need to switch the camera’s mode to Aperture priority and snap away, cos my usual setting is at f/8.0. Selfie done.

An automatic lens also allows the camera to detect that there are people in the frame and will automatically increase the exposure so that the people in the frame are properly lit, even if the background is a little over-exposed. With a manual lens, you would have to set the exposure compensation yourself.

2. Versus the Laowa 7.5mm f/2.0

While I was still on the Rokinon 7.5mm, I didn’t mind the fish-eye perspective as I found that it made very interesting photos. But my wife obviously didn’t like it, often asking me to crop in so as to reduce the fish-eye effect.

So I got the Laowa 7.5mm which is a rectilinear lens (no fish-eye effect). I thought it would meet all my needs of an ultra wide lens, but was disappointed for the following reasons:

a. A rectilinear ultra wide still distorts at the edges

You actually don’t have to go so wide to find that wide angle lenses in general distort subjects at the edges of the frame. The 7.5mm ultra wide just accentuates that. This is a problem because I want an ultra wide to do selfies, and for selfies during travel, the people will be on one side of the frame so that the beautiful background can be seen on the other.

The distortion is exacerbated if the subject is close to the camera, which is the case for selfies. In the following 2 photos, you can see that the subject’s face is elongated when positioned at the edge of the frame.

b. A rectilinear lens is not as wide as a fish-eye lens of the same focal length.

Compared with the Rokinon 7.5mm, the Panasonic 8mm is slightly less wide, which makes sense because of the 0.5mm difference. But the Laowa 7.5mm is even less wide than the Panasonic 8mm. Here’re some sample shots I took with these 3 lenses:

Rokinon 7.5mm:

Panasonic 8mm:

Laowa 7.5mm:

Rokinon 7.5mm:

Panasonic 8mm:

Laowa 7.5mm:

The less wide it is, the less of the beautiful background I can include in my selfies. Add to that my previous point that the Laowa 7.5mm distorts subjects at the edges of the frame and I find the lens unusable for selfies.

3. Versus the ultra wide zoom lenses – Panasonic and Olympus 7-14mm and Panasonic 8-18mm

Then of course there are the ultra wide zoom lenses. But,
a. They’re big lenses which are inconvenient to lug around during my travels.
b. They cast big shadows should I need to use the camera’s built-in flash.

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Panasonic 8mm f/3.5 ~US$600 / C$730 / £570
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Rokinon 7.5mm f/3.5 ~US$250 / C$320 / £150

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Laowa 7.5mm f/2 ~US$600 / C$770 / £490

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M43 Travel Lens #2 – Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 – the indoor lens

July 30, 2017August 11, 2017 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

The Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 is my travel lens for indoor shooting. The main reason is that this small lens does not cast a shadow when I use the in-built flash in my Panasonic GM1 or GF9.

1. Versus the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8

Yes, the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 produces sharper images and is better in low-light scenarios with its f/2.8 maximum aperture. But this cannot compensate if flash needs to be used. When mounted on a small camera body like the Panasonic GM1 or GF9, this big lens would cast a substantial shadow in the frame.

The Panasonic 12-32mm /f3.5-5.6 versus the Panasonic 12-35 f/2.8:

The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8:

2. Versus a prime lens like the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

Primes are typically sharper than the 12-32mm kit lens. But they do not have the flexibility of zoom to quickly frame the shot. The Panasonic 20mm is usually not wide enough for indoor shots and also does not have image stabilization.

Panasonic GX850/GX800/GF9 ~US$420 / C$540 / £365
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Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ~US$170 / C$210 / £150
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Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 ~US$730 / C$900 / £560
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Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 ~US$270 / C$320 / £250

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M43 Travel Lens #1 – Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6 – the Ultra Zoom

July 30, 2017October 22, 2017 / microfourthirdssite / Leave a comment

If I can only bring one lens on my travels, it would be the Panasonic 14-140mm f/3.5-5.6. As an ultra zoom, it allows me to take both wide and telephoto shots.

1. Versus the Vario X Lenses: the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8

Yes. The Vario X lenses produce sharper images and have larger apertures (better in low-light). But:

a. The Panasonic 14-140mm covers the focal range of both lenses and there’s no need to switch lenses
b. The Panasonic 14-140mm is lighter than either of these lenses at 265g (9.35oz) versus the 12-35mm at 305g (10.76oz) and the 35-100mm at 360g (12.7oz).

The Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8:

The Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8:

2. Versus the Panasonic 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 and the 35-100mm f/4-5.6

Yes, the combination of these 2 lenses is actually lighter than the Panasonic 14-140mm. But you can’t beat the convenience of the ultra zoom in not having to switch lenses for the entire focal range.

These lenses do have an advantage in that they do not cast a shadow when the in-built flash is used. That’s why I include the 12-32mm on my travels for indoor shots which very often would do better with the flash on.

The Panasonic 12-32mm f3.5-5.6:

The Panasonic 35-100 f4-5.6:

3. Versus Telephoto lenses like the Panasonic 45-175mm, 45-200mm, 100-300mm

Then there are telephone lenses with longer reach than the 14-140mm, but they are typically larger and heavier, and are not as convenient as the ultra zoom which can go wide when you need it.

The Panasonic 45-175mm, 45-200mm and 100-300mm: