The M.Zuiko 12mm f2

It’s one of the most beautiful lens I’ve seen. I know it’s not something you say to a photographic tool every day. But seeing the lovely metallic sheen, the cool, smooth and sturdy feel in my hands and the very snappy mechanical zone-focus is really a joy to use. Yes, finally Olympus delivered on a High Grade lens for the Micro Four Thirds in the form of the all-metal Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm F2. I had the chance to take this baby in the streets, albeit short, I was able to see how it performs.

The 12mm on hand is small

The M.Zuiko 12mm F2

The lens is very small for a wide angle 12mm lens (24mm in 35mm) yet very solid with its metal build. The ribbings are in the right places for proper contact on the lens and for the manual focus once the focus ring has been pulled back to enable manual focus. A feature I wish future M43rds lenses would have but that would of course raise the cost of the lens.

All-metal vs faux-metal

The M.Zuiko 12mm f2 only weighs 130gm and has a 0.2m close focus distance which I thought was pretty good. The lens really is an eye turner. Side-by-side with the stellar M.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 you could really see the difference from the 45mm f1.8 faux-metal finish.

The Olympus E-P3 with the 12mm lens

Impressions

So I took the 12mm lens with the E-P3 and shot at the streets of Hidalgo. I know the short span of time won’t be enough to really gauge the capabilities of the lens but here are my initial impressions.

• Focus speed is fast and accurate
• The snap manual focus is really responsive making me use the feature once in  awhile even if I’m used to Autofocus
• Noticed some slight distortions but can be corrected on post-process

Man with funny hat (1/160, f4, ISO 200)

Sample Photos

I had the lens for a week but with the lousy weather and lots of things to do I couldn’t take it out on the field. Here are some shots I took on the streets of Quiapo for an hour before I took the lens back. Light condition was gloomy.

The Olympus M.Zuiko 12mm f2 is now available in the Philippines for an SRP of P36,000

Hidalgo Vendors (1/125, f3.2, ISO 200)

Fan Vendor (1/200, f4.5, ISO 200)

Candles (1/250, f 3.5, ISO 200)

Fan Ladies (1/200, f3.5, ISO 200)

Fortune teller (1/200, f4, ISO 200)

Lucky Charms (1/125, f2.5, ISO 200)

Quiapo Church Interior (1/80, f2.2, ISO 1600)

Fruit vendor (1/100, f2.5, ISO 200)

The Fireworks in Makati to welcome 2012

Good bye 2011! It has been a good year but 2012 holds a lot of promise. The recent holiday season, we had a lot of foreign relatives visitng our humble home in the Philippines, it was fitting that I stay in the metro but it was a fun staycation. I decided to welcome the new year in Makati for their Magical! Musical! New Year’s Countdown 2011. it’s the second time for me to welcome the new year here but it was a lot better, organized and more extravagant. The stage and the lighting was awesome, I was also able to catch The Dawn’s pumped up performance and the fireworks, the whole 15 minutes of was magnificent. A great way to enter the new year. Sharing here soem photos from that night.

The awesome stage at Ayala Avenue

The Dawn still knows how to rock the crowd

Jett Pangan of the Dawn

The Crowd at the booths

Blinking little items

The fireworks along Makati Avenue

More Fireworks

And more fireworks!!

Happy New Year! May you all have a blessed and prosperous 2012! For more photos you can check my SmugMug Gallery!

Mangrove at Canigaran Beach

Caught this beautiful ray of light during sunrise at Canigaran Beach, Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Print available here.

The Olympus E-P3 with 14-42mm Ver II

The new generation PEN came a bit late here in the Philippines but like they said, its better late than never. I had the chance to try out the Olympus PEN E-P3, the current PEN flagship camera from Olympus. It was only a little over a week which clearly for me was such a short time since I wasn’t able to really take it out on a trip which I usually do the test. And also the weather at that week wasn’t really cooperative. But hey, I was able to take some shots with the E-P3 and play around its new functions and menus.

The E-P3 front with the 12mm f2 lens

The Look

The styling hasn’t changed since the E-P1 which is good since I like the all-metal retro styling of the camera. The notable changes on the outside are:

• the control function wheel has been moved to one side to give way to a built-in pop-up flash
• the bigger touch-sensitive OLED 640,00dots screen
• a direct movie button at the back
• a small AF illuminator at the front
• detachable and customizable grip with screw

The camera rear and controls with the new large OLED Screen display

Inside the Machine

While there are no drastic design changes on the exterior, it’s the internal workhorse that’s been given a major upgrade. Here are the significant changes

• Updated (tweaked) 12MP Sensor
• Dual-Core TruePic VI processor
• Which results to a brand new 35-area Superfast Auto Focus System
• Touch Shutter and Touch Focus with Magnification
• 1080i60p AVHCD Movies (which I wasn’t able to test out)
• Now Auto Gradation can be tweaked to a certain degree

The Control Mode Dial have all been moved to the right top to give way for the flash

Speedy Focus

If you’ll ask me one good reason to upgrade or jump in to the new generation of PEN line, it’s their new Autofocus System. The PEN has been criticized for its mediocre AF but this new 35-Area Autofocus System makes the whole camera competitive in all rounds. During my test focusing was astonishingly fast especially with the new lenses like the 12mm and the 14-42mm Ver II kit lens. And as I promised on my 45mm f1.8 review, the lens indeed focus more accurately with the new AF system. The Touch Shutter is also very responsive. Too responsive I guess that I had to make sure it’s off since it activate when it comes in contact with your body while the camera dangles on your neck.

While it has improved on a per shot basis, continuous shooting at burst mode and tracking movement has improved a little. Shooting RAW + JPG still slows down the frame rate sooner than expected that’s why when I attempt to shoot action I just shoot JPGs. I would also recommend Memory Cards with faster writing benefit to reduce the buffer time. Clearly the PEN is not ideal for sports but still it’s not impossible with perfect timing once you get used to it.

Touchy Screen

A feature that’s coming into new camera nowadays is the touch screen. While some may think it’s a novelty, when properly used it can be a powerful tool. Let me say first that the OLED screen on the E-P3 is a pleasure to view seeing the crisp colors and details. The Touch Shutter and Touch Focus features are a welcome addition. The Touch Focus enables you to choose a focus point on screen and magnify. This would be great for stills and macro work.

Playback viewing is also enhanced by this touch screen as you can scroll through the photos with the flick of a finger and zoom-in on them.

Olympus E-P3 using 45mm 1.8 (one touch WB, 1/100sec, f 1.8, ISO 2500)

Image Quality

I have no clear-cut way to measure the technical improvements on this generation of pens aside from my eyes. Though I can say it’s not that big, probably only a notch from the previous generation since it uses only a tweaked sensor and a better processor. The 1600 ISO which is the limit I use from my E-PL1 is a lot cleaner here and the lower ISOs still retain an excellent amount of details as usual. The good thing with the E-P3 is that the user can also customize the degree of sharpening and noise reduction on the images.

100% image crop of the bottle

Metering is well balanced, white balance is still spot on and colors straight out of camera are still punchy as usual. Auto-gradation or Shadow Highlight controls also have a degree of levels to choose from.

E-P3 with 12mm (f2.2, 1/80sec, ISO 1600, WB Auto)

Verdict

The Olympus PEN E-P3 is really a head-turner of a camera and is still an enjoyable photographic tool to use similar to previous generations. The blazing fast autofocus is a great enhancement and will surely make the camera more appealing now. The E-P3 now also has a built-in flash, AF illuminator and a handy touch screen feature. But there’s a quandary for owners of the previous PENs who are looking for major improvements in terms of Image Quality because there isn’t a big significance here. So if the newly added features aren’t such a big factor to upgrade, better stick with your old PEN for a while. But if you are looking for a well-rounded and capable camera and is jumping on the mirrorless or compact camera system, the E-P3 is an excellent choice given an already good range lenses on the Micro Four Thirds system.

E-P3 with 45mm (f1.8, 1/40sec, ISO 1600, WB Auto)

E-P3 with 12mm (f2.5, 1/125sec, ISO 200, WB Auto)

E-P3 with 45mm (f1.8, 1/100sec, ISO 1600, WB Auto)

Up Next: More E-P3 Samples Images with M.Zuiko 12mm f2 lens

The Olympus PEN E-P3 is now available in the Philippines. The SRP for the E-P3 body with 14-42mm ver II kit lens is P44,750.

Old Bagan in the morning

With over 2200 temples spread out on a dusty 26-square mile plane, Bagan is a stunning landscape of temples dating as early 11th-13th century. As dawn breaks, light paints a dramatic play of shadows and gradients on the vast land of temples and trees. For a moment, the horizon is like a sea with a sharp waves from the temples coalescing harmoniously.

Shot in Old Bagan, The Sea of Temples is available for print here. Property and Copyright by Ferdz Decena.

The Olympus 45mm f1.8 lens

I’m loving prime lenses more and more. Lately I find myself using them a lot often when I travel. It started when I got the excellent Panasonic 20mm Lumix pancake and now the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm f1.8 added another dimension to my shooting style. Spending 3 weeks with the lens on actual travel made me learn more about its quirks, its strengths and handling. From the initial unboxing, I knew this lens was worth the money I spent. Now here’s my assessment of the lens and some real world samples to boot.

Ananda Pagoda Kid (E-PL1, f1.8, 1/160sec, ISO 200, WB Auto)

Ananda Kid 100% crop

Build

I have pictures comparing the lens to the size of the 20mm pancake and attached to the Olympus E-PL1. It’s light and compact. Its plastic build and painted finish made me question the integrity or quality of the lens. It worries me that I may easily scratch or peel the paint after several uses since I’m quite torturous and rugged on my gears but I had no problems so far. It has a small 37mm filter ring which can be challenging to find. I also didn’t notice until I was shooting with it for a few days that it has a detachable ring at the front covering the lens hood attachment. I almost lost that ring as it was easy to loose so throughout the trip I decided to just remove it and place it in a secure pouch. The focus ring is quite fluid as well.

Pyin U Lwin Girl (E-PL1, f2.5, 1/250sec, ISO 200, WB Auto)

Pyi U Lwin Girl 100% crop

Focusing

I think the E-PL1 isn’t the ideal camera to gauge the speed of this lens. While I thought it was a lot faster than the Panasonic 20mm, I found that on rare occasions, the camera doesn’t focus where I want it to be, making me refocus again , especially if the lighting wasn’t as bright. What I would do is just select the focus point I would need for the shot. I’m not sure if it’s the old E-PL1’s focusing fault but I’ll be able to try the lens on the new PENs (E-P3, E-PL3 and E-PM1) soon and give an update.

Monk's Robe Weaver (E-PL1, f1.8, 1/160sec, ISO 800, WB Auto)

When shooting portraits, I found that enabling face detection does help in making the focus precisely even if all the focus points on the E-PL1 are active. When shooting objects, its best to direct the focus point on where to focus, especially when shooting wide open where it’s easy to miss the correct focus having too shallow a dept-of-field.

Caysaysay Kid (E-PL1, F2, 1/320, ISO 200, WB Auto)

The 45mm isn’t a Macro lens though and the closest focusing distance is .5m (which is actually better than other lenses of same focal length). Though I wish it was able to do macro but that would surely shoot the price up on this already affordable lens.

Applying Thanaka (E-PL1, f2, 1/320sec, ISO 200, WB Auto)

Applying Thanaka Crop 100%

Handling

For my shooting style, I find the mid-telephoto range of 90mm appropriate when shooting on the streets as I just need a moderate distance from my subject. Not too close for comfort nor too far like a paparazzi, just enough to get involved with the subject for some friendly chitchat. I also find that its size as an advantage as it’s less obtrusive and intimidating with people.

Umbrella Offering (E-PL1, f3.2, ISO 200, WB Auto)

Umbrella offering 100% crop

Image Quality

Don’t expect this to be a technical review but I’ll let you judge for yourself by the photos I post here, 100% crops with no sharpening and accompanying data. But what I do know personally is that even shooting wide open at the largest aperture of f1.8, it produces sharp images and good overall details at the centre and it just gets better as I stop down even up to f2.5. Color rendition and contrast looks excellent from my eyes and has that natural look. I found I don’t have to adjust as much on my RAW images. Bokeh is simply stunning and it definitely produces the sharp isolation between subject and the background (even foreground). Something a lot of photographers look for portrait shots.

Monastery Monks (E-PL1, f1.8, 1/100sec, ISO 320, WB Auto)

High ISO shots up to 1600 still has a lot of details to show and the large aperture plus in-body image stabilization of the pen is an ideal combination when shooting lowlight handheld.

Myazedi Bathing Buddha (E-PL1, f3.5, 1/400sec, ISO 200, WB Auto)

Myazedi Bathing Buddha 100% Crop

Conclusion

The Olympus 45mm f1.8 is something to celebrate about since it is the first lens from Olympus 43/m43 system to go below f2. And for a large aperture lens, its diminutive size packs in a performer that produces excellent output straight out of the camera. But is everything bright and shiny with this lens? Not really. The build could be better and adding macro capability would be a welcome addition, but that’s asking too much already for its $400 price tag. Besides, its plastic built doesn’t hinder from producing images with tack sharp images with creamy bokeh and swift focusing speed.

Shwedagon Candle Lighting (E-PL1, f1.8, 1/60sec, ISO 800)

SMUGs Metro Manila Photo Walk visits a Panutsa Factory in Caysasay

The SMUGs Metro Manila had it’s first Photo Walk in Taal Town, Batangas. It’s been two years since I last went to Taal Town. While it is declared as a Heritage Town, two years ago I was disheartened on how it was neglected – the Taal Basilica was dilapidated, the stream along the Sta Lucia Well was flowing with trash and the streets were dirty. Returning with a group of fellow photographers through Smugs Metro Manila, I found renewed hope for this town. The Basilica is being renovated with freshly painted walls, the streets a lot cleaner and alas! The Sta Lucia Well is free of garbage. I also noticed there were a number of tourist coming and going wherein before I think we were the few who was there. Who ever the people in charge of restoring the grandeur of the town, I must commend them.

Restoration and renovations being done inside Taal Basilica

As for the walk itself, despite the heat and humidity it was a fun and enjoyable walk. We left Makati only 10 in numbers via our rented van then the Bajema family caught up with us at Shell Station SLEX and convoyed all the way to Taal Town. We visited a couple of churches, 2 ancestral houses, ate the local delicacy of panutsa and tawilis fish and visited a Panutsa factory. It was a full afternoon but we went home with some keepers. If you want to join us on the next SmugMug Photo Walk, join in on the conversations at our SMUGs Metro Manila FB Page and keep updated on events at our Meetup.com site.  In the meantime enjoy some of my favorite shots here. For more images from the photowalk check out my SmugMug Gallery.

Taal Basilics Trio Walk in the Hall

Our Lady of Caysasay Church with playing kids

A young Familia Candle Vendor at Caysasay Church

Boiling Panutsa Mixer

Panutsa being placed within thin bamboo loops

Picking out the dried panutsa

Beautiful interiors in the Villavicencio Mansion

Dramatic twilight over Taal Basilica

Group hug at Agoncillo Mansion (Photo by Oggie Ramos)