OM-D with 20mm and Leica style hood

Olympus OM-D or Fujifilm X-100 really made us lust about retro looking cameras. The rumors now is boiling with the new EP-5 Pen which look much similar to the original Pen F in the 1950s.

Recently I got myself 2 pcs of 46mm metal hood (leica style) on the ebay. The cost is less than SGD $9 for 2 pcs. I used it for my 14mmf2.5 and my favourite 20mmf1.7.

Although Olympus has launched a high end 17mm f1.8 with fast AF speed and silent motor, I still holding on to this classis 20mmf1.7. Although the AF is slow and hunts at times, I still like the slim profile of this lens on OM-D. The image it turns out is still great.

Small Dragonfly

Shot this while searching for butterflies. It just landed in front of me.
By Olympus EM-5 , Olympus 60mm f2.8 ISO640, F5.6 1/80s

Jumping spider with prey

Shot with OM-D and 60mm f2.8 Macro. Done at min focus distance and cropped 20%. ISO1000

f7.1 1/90s. Really good noise control from the sony sensor used in OM-D.

Butterfly in Pulau Ubin

The Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus)

Pale Grass Blue (Zizeeria maha serica)

By Olympus OM-D EM5 and 60mm macro. Flashless

Simple pose

I just love simple pose. Shot with Om-d and 60mm f2.8 macro. CLoudy day.

Creatures hiding in ferns

There is a stretch of green lung between the NSRCC and Tenah Merah Ferry road where a bicycle and jogging track cuts through it. There are lots of nice ferns along that stretch and I soon realised these ferns are a living havens for some insects after I jogged along the track. I came back a few days later armed with my OM-D and 60mm macro lens. Here are some of the shots I have made.

There are some spots where mosquitoes are plenty. It's better to wear long pants or have insect repellent on the body.

Olympus 45mm f1.8 or 60mmf2.8 Macro

This question has been a hot topic for many m4/3 users. Can the new Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro replace the 45mm f1.8?

My answer is yes if you are mainly using it for outdoors(street photography or portraits) and love macro.

A big no if you are shooting in low light and hates to use high iso setting.

I recently used it the 60mm and the 45mm for my church Baptism service. When open wide, both lenses are very sharp. The 45mm gave a better bokeh and great working distance. The real winner is the f1.8. For the same lighting, I can use ISO1000 or ISO1250 without flash and speed can reached up to1/125s , great for action shots. For the 60mmf2.8, the same speed required ISO2000 and above.

However as OM-D has a better ISO performance, doing a ISO 2000 in low light is still acceptable.
But my conclusion is that 60mm and 45mm are gems on it's own. Replacing each other is tough.
For this event with low light, I prefer the 45mm much more. The choice is yours.

1) 45 mm f1.8 (with it's fast AF, this split second moment was capture.

 2) 60mm f2.8 (great for distanced shot)

 3) 45mm f1.8 ISO1250 1/125s ..capturing the action

 4) 45mm f1.8. lovely bokeh.

 5) 60mmf2.8 (very sharp lens, bokeh, I prefer the 45mm. See below)

 6) 45mm- brillant low lens gathering lens

7) 60mm f2.8, nice tight shot

8) 45mmf1.8, the combination of sharpness and bokeh.

Spider and it's prey

With a hour to practice my new 60mm F2.8 Macro, I decided to focus on one or two subjects instead of collecting quantity of species. With this in mind, I feel the photos are much better in quality and the angle of shots are much more better in perspective.

Usually to spot macro subjects, it's good to comb (with our eyes) a small area. Usually I will find a much shady place as if there is direct sunlight, due to the shadows of the leaf and branch, the metering of the camera and fill-in light of the flash are much more challenging.

Shooting many frames, will normally yield a few good shots. It is also important to stay still and movement is minimum so that the insects are comfortable with our presence.

Here are shots of a spider attending it's captured prey.