Emmental view on Alps
Taken with the Panasonic GF1 plus 14 - 45 kit lens
My wife and I were out on Sunday afternoon taking pictures and the weather was great and the view absolute breathtaking. Normally I prefer to take my PEN or my E620 when shooting important images like this. Well, it did so happen that I took the Panasonic GF1 with the Panasonic 14 - 45 mm kit lens plus Panasonic 45 - 200 mm lens. I thought high of the 45 - 200 mm, and were happy to keep it until I saw the images below. It is a screen print of my Bridge view showing the images I took the day.
I think we get spoiled with our Olympus lenses and the outstanding image quality one get from them. I never saw this level of vignetting from an Olympus lens. What I also find really difficult is to get a reasonable color from the GF1 images. They not like the E-PL2 images that literally jump of the screen at you. I thought I will hang on to the GF1 but after seeing this I am not so sure. Its now a few days later and while having a free moment I was thinking about the vignetting I saw. One option will be to remove the lens hood because most images I saw to date was without using the lens hood on this lens. I will continue testing the GF1 kit and will not let it go as quick as I thought. The main reason being I saw a flood of GF1 cameras on auction recently and that really pushed the prices down. For those interested getting this camera its now the time to get it....
New M14 - 42 cm II Kit Lens
It’s different and it is Fun.....
I decided to buy the three adapters, mainly when I discovered the Fish Eye Adapter on one of our local auction sites. The price was much lower than normal and I took it thinking, I will write about it and if I found it is not good then it will go on auction again. I have seen similar adapters when I traveling in Asia, its almost the first photographic accessory the tourist see, walking in the streets of a city like Singapore. I often considered taking one but never did because those adapters screw into the filter fitting on the lens. Olympus is different because its m4/3 adapters use the lens hood fitting on the lens.
Before I continue I think it is important to say right from the start these adapters are not for the pixel peeper. They are purely intended for the artist or the person just enjoying photography. For a small budget the E-PL2 kit delivers stunning quality. In the above picture I used the late afternoon sundown exposure to try the E-PL2 fitted with the special macro lights and lens macro adapter. One can regulate the spot light position for each of the two light tubes plus the unit has two light intensity positions. It is therefor possible to create amazing effects with this system.
The Olympus E-PL2 owner only needs little space or a small bag.....
I cannot help saying that this can only be a back packer’s dream. My recommendation is to get yourself the following minimum kit. From all the PEN cameras I recommend the E-PL2 plus the above lens plus adapter set. Next you can get the 14 - 150 and finally the the 9 - 18 mm lenses. I have the 17mm pancake and prefer that to the 20mm Panasonic prime. Make sure you get the Olympus lenses because they a lovely fit to the Olympus camera plus these lenses use top quality class glass elements with coatings only seen in much more expensive lenses. Can you see the difference? Surely these Olympus lenses does make a difference.
The image above and the image below was both taken using the unique flash tubes plus the Macro adapter fitted to the kit lens. Once you sit down and start playing then an hour can go past very quick and interesting, I find it so relaxing.
The macro adapter can also fit onto the 14 - 150 lens. As you will appreciate the 14 - 150 has a more powerful zoom and its macro ability is just great. The flash tubes are powerful enough to create stunning effects while using this lens. Worst case you might have to use your “paper” reflectors a little more. Next I like to show you an interesting comparison between the field of view of the 12 - 60 mm lens at its WA or 12mm end, the Fish Eye Adapter with the kit lens at its 14 mm end and last the Wide Angle Adapter with the kit lens again at 14 mm. Again this “test” is not for the pixel peeper but more for the person interested to see how wide these adapters really go.
This is how I did the test.....
I fitted the 12 - 60 on my E620 which was on my tripod. I took a picture with the E620, then I rested the E-PL2 kit on top of the E620 and with each of the adapters I took the same image again and again. In Photoshop I did the minimum adjustments and prepared them for the web. The E620 image out the camera had better contrast and one could see the lens is really good. The E-PL2 images required a little more contrast, typical for the lesser quality of the kit lens. Before you run away saying I said the 12 - 60 is better please remember this test was not done to see which is better. The E-PL2 images for example has so much detail and information that the artist will have a ball with those files.
12 . 60 mm Image at 12mm Wide Angle setting
14 - 42 MKII Kit Lens fitted with the Wide Angle Adapter
14 - 42 MKII Kit Lens fitted with the Fish Eye Adapter
The last image was with the fish eye adapter and I wanted to illustrate the typical fish eye effect one can get from a lens like this. The effect is not as powerful as that from the Olympus 8mm fish eye lens. Its possible to create the effect and with a little practice one can do stunning images.
Conclusion
I said somewhere in this article it is the back packer’s dream and I can repeat that after spending time with it. Also for those visiting friends the days of pulling a huge heavy camera bag with you is past. This setup can deliver stunning quality images plus it is great fun in use. In a next article I will discuss what are my preferred settings on the E-PL2.
Siegfried
Lanscape Image with my Panasonic GF1
The image was taken in Aperture Mode. I used the RAW file and edited it using Capture One. I find it difficult to get the colors right with the GF1. Using Capture One seem to be one of the better options. Will be interesting to see DxO results from a GF1 raw file. I only did the utmost minimum settings to get the final image. White balance, upped the shadows, reduced exposure, slight S curve and sharpening in C1.
RAW Power combined with the Canon 5D Sensor
In this short article you will see both the excellent sensor performance of the 5D plus you will experience the power of working with RAW files. Before I start please allow me to briefly talk about DR (Dynamic Range) and what minimum know how-you require to make dynamic range a part of your image taking routine. This article will help you to make the right decisions when setting up your camera for a picture.
Dynamic Range
What is dynamic range? Simply put it is the range between two points. In photography these two points are fixed and they are dark (black) on the one side and bright (white) on the other side. The file format we use determine what the range are between these two points. The well known jpeg file format used by the in-camera processor has a “8-bit” range, meaning there are 256 points between the black and the white points.
A well exposed image means good quality image information in the bright areas, in the darker areas and all information in-between. When I say all information in the bright areas then it means in such a way that all the information is clearly visible in the image. You will be surprised to see just how challenging it is to properly record all the information in a picture. At this point I cannot help to ask the question, if I do not manage to record all information, is that my mistake or is it the sensor size of my camera?
In the above two images, the left hand image (Image A) is an example of an image that exceeded the dynamic range of the jpeg file format and Image B shows a correctly exposed image. The red arrow in picture A helps you see what it looks like when the dynamic range is exceeded. The moment one exceed the dynamic range of the jpeg file, those parts effected turns “white.” Typically the information that was in those “white” areas are lost. No matter how hard you try, the lost image information cannot be recovered from a jpeg file. Lost information in a jpeg file does not necessarily mean the sensor could not record the information. If the sensor dynamic range was exceeded, then only one can never recover the image information from those white parts. On the other hand information “lost” as a result of the jpeg file format can be recovered when the user has a copy of the RAW file format of that picture.
In a similar way it can happen that one exceeds the dynamic range in shadow or darker areas of the image. When exceeding the dynamic range in the dark (black) areas then those areas effected will turn black and as with bright (white) areas, the image will have no data in those black areas.
When you look at the histogram on your camera then you can see when the dynamic range was or will be exceeded. Black is represented on the left side of the histogram and white on the right hand side. In-between and including the black and white parts, the histogram has 256 varying grey scale parts that starts from black to white on the right side of the histogram. When the image exceeds the dynamic range of the 8 bit jpeg file then the histogram data jams to the right (bright) of the histogram or to the left (dark) of the histogram. The 256 variations of grey from black to white is determined by the 8 bit jpeg file format. A 16 bit file will have 65536 different shades of grey between the white and black points of the histogram.
In the above image you can see a well exposed image on the left (Picture A) and an over exposed image on the right (Picture B). You will see how the image data jammed into the right hand side as of the histogram in picture B. In the histograms showed you can see the three main image colors, red, blue and green and not the typical black or white color histogram we more familiar with. Don’t be scared, if you go back to the article on color I wrote on this site then you will see that the color image is build up from the three main colors, red, blue and green. Like with black to white, each color also has 256 variations of green, blue or red.
At this point I like to give you an interesting nugget on dynamic range and file format. You will see that the in-camera analog to digital conversion typically uses a 12 bit converter. Please do not confuse this with something like the 8bit jpeg file format. The analog to digital conversion applies to one channel only. That means the 12 bit A/D converter in the Olympus represents a 36bit RAW file. That means instead of the 256 shades of gray, the RAW file will have 68,7 Billion shades of gray between the two points black and white. I cannot help to ask if you think one will really notice the difference between a 16bit or 12 Bit RAW file?
How does this effect our decisions practically?
From the above brief description I tried to show you that there are three main components directly linked to the image dynamic range. The sensor, the RAW file and the jpeg file format we all use. The sensor as you can see has an absolutely HUGE dynamic range compared to the miserable 8-bit file format of the jpeg file. How does one fit the sensor dynamic range into the jpeg file? The secret process is referred to as Tone Mapping. Those who does HDR photography knows this process and often use it with software like Photomatix and Photoshop. Tone mapping basically decides what information and how it will be “compressed” into the jpeg file. Depending on what compression the manufacturer decided for, we will see an end result that should look close to the original scene.
Our reviewer friends then takes the jpeg files from the different cameras on test, analyze them in depth and then tag each reviewed and tested camera with a DR value. All I can say is guys it does not give the full picture. Please do not believe all you read. I can write another 10 pages on DR and still it will not help you to take better pictures. All I do hope for is that the next time you read an Olympus camera has a small sensor and therefor a small DR that you then will understand and know, the writer most probably never read this article.
Practically speaking you can do three things to “reduce” the dynamic range of a scene. The first is to use ND filters in really bright sunlight days, use the RAW file format, use 16 bit TIFF files in critical cases and finally I think it is really worth getting to know HDR photography. What also works well is to use the manual or M-Mode of your camera in combination with the histogram on your camera. In fact I personally always use the histogram on my camera.
Having said that, you will be surprised to see just how the histogram is implemented on your camera. I believe the histogram will tell you if the manufacturer is serious about photography or if its just about marketing and gimmicks build into the camera. In many cases the histogram in record mode represents the histogram of the final image and in other cases the histogram in record mode represents the histogram of the image on the sensor or something similar. The latter example one cannot use because it does not show the effects of the adjustments or changes you make on the exposure level of the image. Olympus for example use a wonderfully advanced histogram on the E-P2 with a number of handy support functions to help the user expose an image perfectly. On the other hand with the GF1 one needs to change to review mode after taking the image to see the real histogram and to see if the adjustments was OK. No need to describe the painful process of using the histogram on a camera like the GF1.
The Canon 5D example
My son came to me one saturday just prior to leaving for a wedding he was doing. He asked me to download his memory cards of the wedding he did the day before and to keep that for him on my hard disk. I love these moments because it so rewarding to help out my son with his 5D images;-))
I promised not to look or play with the files and off he went. What you see here is an unofficial copy of the wedding dress that was unfortunately completely over exposed. I know my son exclusively shoot in manual mode and I knew that this level of over exposure will never come from the 5D internal image processor. I asked my son and all he said, don’t worry he was setting up his 5D.
In the above image you can see what happens when the dynamic range of the jpeg file format is exceeded. Almost everything turns white and no image details are visible. I included the histogram of the image in the picture. You can see how the information jammed into the right of the histogram at point A. I added the vertical RED line to help you better understand what happens at this point. It is as if the information spills over to the right of the histogram as seen by the arrow marked B. The information are available it is just outside the range of the 8 bit file histogram.
Figure B is exactly the same image as the first. (Image A) The only difference is I took the RAW copy of the file and re-processed it in a RAW editor. Doing that I was able to tweak the way the original RAW file will be “compressed” into the 8bit file format. This is not always a straight forward process and does require a lot of experience and practice. The companies developing these RAW editors all use different “engines” to generate the jpeg file. They not all the same and it is important to look for the better RAW editor when considering getting one. My preference is the RAW editor from DxO followed by that of Capture One and Bibble. These are all dedicated and excellent RAW editors.
I am a Photoshop user and has been using it for many years. The most recent RAW editor I have from Adobe is that of CS4. Unfortunately Adobe does not support clients with older version software and hope people will change to the most current version I think. Other companies do support their clients and I stopped upgrading at CS4 and Elements 8. The RAW editor “engines” in those versions are not as powerful as those I listed above.
Conclusion
This is a complex topic and requires the user to read up on over and over. In time it becomes more clear and the benefit is one then better understand exposure plus one see which reviewers know what they talk about and which are those who only follow the rest. As you can see from the above small sensors are not responsible for poor dynamic range, there are other more profound reasons for poor dynamic range.
Siegfried
New DxO FilmPack 3 Provides Unrivaled Film Fidelity
New DxO FilmPack 3 Provides Unrivaled Film Fidelity and Opens Up Boundless Creativity Opportunities
New features include redesigned User Interface, and extended connectivity with Lightroom, Photoshop and Aperture. DxO FilmPack 3 is available at launch with up to 30 percent discount. Paris, France - June 15 2011 – DxO Labs today announces DxO FilmPack 3 for Mac and Windows, the latest version of its reference software simulating silver halide film rendition based on DxO Labs’ unique 10 years of recognized expertise in calibration. DxO FilmPack 3 allows photographers, from experts to beginners, to recreate the magic of dozens of black & white or color film stocks in one click, offering limitless creative options for their digital images.
Unrivaled Film Fidelity
Leveraging its worldwide known scientific expertise in image quality measurement, and working with world class film processing facilities, Picto - Paris and Duggal - New York, DxO Labs has developed a unique film profiling process, ensuring the most precise film simulation available on the market today. Users can easily give their prints, including large format fine art prints, the appealing grain, color and contrast of famous film stocks, recalling the deep history of photography and rich legacy of each film look.
Legendary black & white film photographer Sebastio Salgado, who recently migrated from film to digital, says “DxO FilmPack has become a must have step in my photographic workflow to render the unique Kodak Tri-X grain on my large format prints.”
“In cases such as Kodachrome, the film is not available anymore, and our painstaking work to accurately portray the unique attributes of each stock in DxO FilmPack 3 is the only way to achieve these characteristics,” said Cyrille de La Chesnais, Director Sales & Marketing for DxO Labs’ Photography business.
Page 1 of 4Extended creativity DxO FilmPack 3 introduces ten new film looks and ten new color filters to explore additional looks, and even create film looks that only exist in customer’s imagination, with the addition of several new controls including:
- Hue/Saturation/Luminance sliders for additional color creative control
- Channel mixer for extended Black & White rendering styles
- Creative vignetting to give images a particular look
- Noise removal tool for more precise grain control
Ease of use
For easy integration of DxO FilmPack into customer workflow, the software will be available as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS, Adobe Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and DxO Optics Pro. A standalone application will also be provided. These versions can all work in batch mode, allowing users to process hundreds of image in just a few clicks of the mouse. In addition, DxO FilmPack can be used as a Smart Filter in Adobe Photoshop for optimal flexibility.
In the third party plug-ins and in the standalone version, the interface has been revamped with a modern and slick design enhancing the picture and providing several new functions. At the heart of these new functions is a new visual preset system that allows photographers to easily choose from the many built-in film presets, and to save and share their own customized looks. To enhance the user experience, noise removal and grain effect are now visible at all zoom factors.
Exceptional Introductory Discount, Availability and Editions
DxO FilmPack 3 is available in two editions, Essential and Expert (Mac or Windows), which differ in terms of available features. Each DxO FilmPack 3 license includes
- a standalone application
- a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop CS4/CS5
- a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom 3
- a plug-in DxO Optics Pro v6.6 (and higher)
- and for Mac, a plug-in for Apple Aperture 3
Each can all be simultaneously installed on two computers. DxO FilmPack 3 standalone and DxO FilmPack 3 plug-in for Photoshop/Lightroom/Aperture will be available in the summer of 2011.
New DxO Optics Pro v6.6
New DxO Optics Pro v6.6 announced in Paris, France - June 15, 2011 - DxO Labs is pleased to announce the immediate availability of DxO Optics Pro v6.6 for Mac and Windows, which provides improved image correction, along with RAW support for:-
- Nikon D5100 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Olympus E-5 (Elite edition)
- Panasonic DMC GF1 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Panasonic DMC GF2 (Standard or Elite edition)
- Pentax K-R (Standard or Elite edition)
Further, more than 100 new DxO Optics Modules are now available to DxO Optics Pro users, covering numerous Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony cameras. With this version, users with cameras supported by DxO Optics Pro will be able to easily command more control over noise in their JPEG images thanks to a newly extended range of the chrominance noise slider. Additionally, noise can be manually reduced from JPEG images taken with any camera. With this new capability, all corrections available for supported equipment are now available in manual mode for any unsupported equipment.
Based on customer feedback, a new color control slider has also been added to preserve the depth and colors of objects with certain saturated colors. DxO FilmPack 3 plug-in for DxO Optics Pro, made available today from DxO Labs’ e-store, extends the product’s scope by providing up to 60 color and B&W film renderings with unrivaled precision, and powerful B&W conversion controls.
Comment:
DxO Pro has become my own favorite. It is powerful, uses a great “RAW Engine” and the results is good. The disadvantage is that not all camera models plus lens combinations are supported. Those that are, enjoy access to the best RAW converter on the planet I believe. Second best and also a favorite of mine is Bibble. Why that and not Capture One or Lightroom you could ask? Bibble can do just that little more the others can’t and the most recent update moved Bibble into the Super RAW converter league.
A series of decisions....
Over the last few months I have been considering letting my 4 Thirds kit go in favor of my Micro 4 Thirds camera system. The latest Olympus E-PL2 camera is so good that I find it has become my camera of choice. I think also important to say is, I do not require a full SLR camera system anymore because my style and requirements changed significantly over the last 1 to 2 years. During his final school years my wife and me realized my son has good talent plus he wanted to pursue a career as artist and photographer. That was my main reasons for building up my original SLR system. My son and myself have spend hours together, doing photography, talking and just enjoying our time together. That was also a time I used to teach my son basic photography skills plus basic business principles that would help him on his initial business plans. The fist few years was scary and often my wife and me thought we should have pushed him towards something else? Today it looks different and his photography business has taken off and the year on year growth is more than what we expected. At this point I can only tank the Lord for giving us the Wisdom to make the right choices plus I am also very proud of my son who really worked hard to achieve his goal.
The next decision I had to make rather quick was to press the buy button on our local web based auction. I was looking at the hits I had on the 4 Thirds SLR equipment when I saw a brand new GF1 placed on the web. The seller basically bought the camera in kit form together with the 20mm prime and he then kept the lens and sold the body again. Being brand new at a really good price I decided to take it.This basically means my camera bag is now fitted with the Olympus E-PL2 plus the Panasonic GF1.
Over a period of a few months I have bought the Panasonic 14 - 45 mm kit lens and later the 45 - 200 zoom lens. Both were at really good prices plus they were relatively new. No need to say that when I decided to buy the GF1 these two lenses were a perfect match. As you most probably imagine I could not wait to feel and see for myself just what the GF1 is like. Is the focus speed really that much quicker than what we used to on the E-PL2? Is the image quality really better than what some claim on the photography forums?
My first moments with the Panasonic GF1
Similar to the E-P2 the GF1 is a great camera and the level of workmanship and finish is good. The E-P2 does have the edge and mainly because it has much more detail in its design and body parts. The E-P2 is a beautifully crafted camera. The GF1 is also a well build camera but in a more traditional sense. I think Panasonic took the more conservative path and it also worked well for them. I think many traditional SLR users were more comfortable with the look and feel of the GF1 compared to what they would have been with the E-P2. Small things like the high resolution screen and the adjustment wheel at the back of the GF1 were absolute top ideas.
It was when I inserted the battery and memory card that I realized just how well the Panasonic engineers implemented the micro 4 thirds concept into the GF1. The autofocus is fast or at least it creates an illusion of being similar to that of a SLR camera. I need to investigate my suspicion a little more but what I suspect is that the Panasonic engineers really took the time to study the user experience on a SLR camera. That they then engineered into the GF1. The E-P2 on the other hand reacts exactly the same as a compact camera plus the complete autofocus look and feel is that if a high end compact. If you care to use the same lens then the differences in speed between the E-P2 and the GF1 does not seem that significant.
As you will appreciate there are much more one could say about these two great systems. My choice is the E-PL2 and the reason is I know the camera plus I know it's capability. I found the GF1 to be very different plus it will take time for me to get use to. Is the image quality really that good on the GF1? If yes I will keep it and if not it will leave as quick as it came.