Old streets of Singapore

As many agreed, Singapore is a fast pace country. Buildings, roads and infrastructures are fast developing. New shopping malls and condominiums are coming up our skyline fast. People hang around shopping centre, queuing up to buy handphones. These structures to me have no souls. I prefer to see our old streets which are not many left nowadays. These streets usually will have unusual shops and unique decorations etc. Some of the streets I recommend to walk are Little India(Serangoon), Joo Chiat, Haji Lane, Keong Siak Road, Bugis, Chinatown. There are some quiet cafes  to relax and nice unique shops to see.

Here are some photos to share on some of our old streets. Taken on Olympus OM-D (25mmf1.4 or 14mm F2.5)

Accidental entry to Lomography-FED5B Russian

Planned for another walking trip along another old street in Singapore - Keong Saik Road. This street has many preserved old shop houses and currently many use it for restaurants/hotels and businesses. There are still some old tenants staying put. One of the shops we explored was an old antique shop. I saw a old rangefinder and bought it after the shop owner persuaded me. My mind was thinking to get it as a display set as I thought it may not be working any more. . Checked the shutter and the exterior, still looks good. Test further on the aperture opening and different shutter speed, seems to be working 100% good. Only a speck on fungus was found in the lens.
Bought 3 rolls of negatives from a Lomography shop near Chinatown, I started to load it. It was 10 years ago since I last touch a film camera (SLR with motor winder)and the first time I load a manual camera since 20years with my Dad's OM-1. Ok, everything went smoothly.

The issue come now as my modern OM-D Olympus , there is a exposure meter built in but this 1977 Russia rangerfinder (fixed lens 55mmf2.8) does not. So I got a bit lost..ha ha. Now I realised how modern DSLR or camera has made us so easy to know the exposure setting. Nevertheless, I just shoot with a iso100 film, set the aperture at f2.8 and play with shutter speed 1/60s to 1/125s in the day light. I still remember that negative film has a higher tolerance of exposure compared to slide colour film and digital.
I came home and search the web to see how to use this old russian camera. Seems to have alot of info. Will develop my 1st roll and see how it goes. FIlm has it's fun and no rules mindset .I still think digital is the way to go for it's convenience and instant result. Film Lomgraphy has a increasing fan base worldwide and I can understand why.

3 lenses 1 OM-D

I brought my family on a walking trip down the Singapore's Little India district, Serangoon. It's the time our Indians community is preparing to celebrate their festive Deepavali.
Little India is a place where one can feel the uniqueness of the culture and livelihood of the people. There are markets, street vendors and plenty of food stalls / restaurants.
I brought my trinity lens (14mm/25mm/45mm) out and there are also lots of photography opportunities. As the place is crowded, I shoot mostly with one hand and the other hand, I was holding either my son or daugther. I am glad I have the OM-d as it is a tiny camera and with it's bright lens, shooting with one hand was good enough. This cannot be said to the heavy DSLR and lens.

OM-D EM-5 with 45-200mm Raynox 250 Macro

For the past few years, I began to prefer using smaller sensor bridge digital cameras like the Canon G10, Panasonic FZ30 to shoot macro stuff. Adding a Raynox 250 close-up filter, the possibility of achieving good image with deeper depth of field (due to the smaller sensor) is realised.

I began to move up to Olympus DSLR E3 and E-30 with 40-150mm lens with raynox 250. Results were great. However, due to the old technology, the iso setting requires to maintain below iso400. This is to prevent too much noise and detail lost on the photo.

Come 2012, with the OM-d's great sensor made by Sony, the image quality is great and I have able to use iso800 with no noise or detail lost. However, I still keep between 400-640 to get the best quality.

With the new lenses like the 45mm f2.8 Panasonic Macro and Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro, shooting serious macro is much easier. The OM-D 's 5 axis image stabiliser works well. I have not purchase these lenses as I still prefer using a zoom with raynox for flexibility.

All shots will done by hand-held and using AF mode. This cannot be done with E-30 or E-3. The AF on OM-D work great even with the Raynox 250.

A mid-budget Trinity lenses of m4/3

There are many forms of trinity lens combo in the world of m4/3. Many would deem that have these 3 lenses will complete the system with high quality images and high portability package.

Last year it was the Olympus 12mm f2, Panasonic 25mmf1.4 and the Olympus 45mm f1.8 (or the Panasonic 45mmf2.8 Marco). Total cost for this lens set is around ($1000+ $800+$420= $2220 (singapore dollars)).

For budget conscious photographer, the other system is the Panasonic 14mmf2.5, Panasonic 20mmf1.7 and the Olympus 45mm f1.8 ($300+$450+$420= $1170)

In 2012 this year, this trinity term is more difficult to define due to the entry of the Olympus 75mm f1.8 and in 2013, Olympus new additional of the 17mm f1.8 that replacing the old 17mm.f2.8 is introduced. These are great news for m4/3 users like me.

For myself, I finally settle with the 14mm, 25mm and the 45mm f1.8.  ($230+$800+$400=$1430). I got it at a used price for my 14mm and 45mm.

Old Bidadari Cemetery (Mt Vernon)

This old cemetery is located along Upper Serangoon Road. Most of the graves have been exhumed for redevelopment. Probably by end of 2012, it will be used for housing development.

This site is a very peacful place. As it will not last long, I decided to shoot some photos before such beautiful place in Singapore is lost to the urban development. We will be seeing high rise concrete buildings soon. What a waste.
All shot with Olympus EM-5 (45-200mm lens and 25mm lens). Will continue to explore this area before it's gone soon.