Olympus OM D E M5 Video Review Behind the Scenes

Finally, we have come to the end of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 review episodes spanning about two weeks. This time, we shall divert the attention to a dear friend of mine, Sanjit from FULLCIRCLEPIX who has been with me throughout all my shooting session for the review of E-M5.

I first encountered Sanjit in the year 2008, during one of the first few Olympus User Gathering held by Olympus Malaysia. I remembered vividly attending the first talk that was conducted by Sanjit on Wildlife Photography at Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival, and admiring his photography work as well as his passion to shoot and share his knowledge with the audience. He is one photographer that I have come to respect and look highly onto over the years, and being an Olympus E-System user, there was a lot I can relate to. It came as a surprise and pleasure when I was given the opportunity to work alongside someone as great as Sanjit for the recent Olympus OM-D E-M5 review.

BEHIND THE SCENES OF OM-D REVIEW

Video by FULLCIRCLEPIX

Music by Silent Scenery

As you all know it, I am not a videographer, and I have almost zero skills and knowledge when it comes to video shooting. Sanjit on the other hand is very experienced in video shooting, and has very good sense of art direction. Therefore, it was only natural that I concentrate fully on the photography side of the Olympus E-M5 review, while Sanjit would tackle the video capabilities. His ultimate challenge was to shoot everything hand-held, without any aids such as dolly, tripod or steadycams. It was also his task to explore how feasible E-M5 is as a video shooting camera.

Sanjit has been a great partner to work with, I enjoyed every single moment and adventures with him. I admire his dedication, passion and willingness to work till ungodly hours just to finish up all the videos I have been showing in my blog reviews so far. Believe me the amount of effort and energy sacrificed for the videos was beyond my imagination, yet I never heard a word of complain from Sanjit, and he kept everything on schedule with no delay. My only wish is that we have had more time, so that everything was not so rushed and hectic. Nonetheless, I believe Sanjit did a splendid job in illustrating how well the Olympus E-M5 handles video recording, and I cannot have asked for any better. 

I shall place the spotlight to Sanjit. Head over to his blog where he has written his part of E-M5 review for video shooting, and his write-up on behind the scenes of our review work:

Go to:

OLYMPUS OM-D E-M5: 

VIDEO CAPABILITIES AND BEHIND THE SCENES

by FULLCIRCLEPIX

Please kindly direct your questions and comments to Sanjits blog !! I will surely not be able to answer any questions related to video.

To Sanjit, it was an honor and privillege to shoot alongside you. Cheers mate !!

Special thanks to Olympus Malaysia for loaning us the OM-D. 

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Olympus Stylus XZ 2 Review Nick Davis Live

Important Notes:

1. This is a user experience based review.

2. All images were shot in RAW and converted directly to JPEG (High Quality) via Olympus Viewer 2 

3. General camera settings, Noise Filter = LOW, Contrast/Saturation/sharpness = 0, White Balance = Auto (with an option maintain warm color = OFF), Gradation = Normal

4. Minimal post-processing applied to the images. All images were as good as straight out of camera, with minimal cropping and only minor exposure/contrast correction for better presentation.

This entry is Part 2 of my Olympus Stylus XZ-2 review series. If you have not read Part 1 review and my preview of the Olympus XZ-2, please do so. 

In my previous Part 1, I have brought the XZ-2 out to my usual street shooting session, and found the camera to perform exceedingly well under favorable lighting conditions, delivering amazingly sharp and detailed images at low ISO sensitivities. The amazing resolution captured was due to the high quality Olympus i.Zuiko lens, and also the Trupic 6 image processing engine, producing Olympus signature color and look in the images. 

We all know that ALL cameras perform at their best at lowest ISO settings. So how does the new Olympus Stylus XZ-2 perform when shooting at higher ISO settings? That is the only thing I want to explore in this Part 2 of my review. 

As a reminder, this review will be written from a photography-enthusiast’s point of view, because I am not a professional photographer. This will be a user experience based review, sharing on what I think and feel as I use the XZ-2 in real life shooting situations. Therefore, this is not a technical review as there will not be elaborative technical explanations, which can be easily accessible on many professional review websites such as DPreview and DXOmark. In addition to that, I will not be doing direct side by side image and performance comparisons between XZ-2 and any other cameras. Instead, I will share my opinion on how different the experience was shooting with the new XZ-2. In a nutshell, it is about what I can do with the camera, not what the camera can do by itself.

ISO3200

ISO3200, F/1.8, 1/50sec, Equivalent focal length: 28mm

To test the low light shooting capability of the Olympus XZ-2, I have decided to shoot a local live performance, Nick Davis happening at LUST Bar in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, just earlier this evening. We know well how horrendous the lighting condition is inside a bar, and the setup for this evenings band live performance was surely no exception. It was very dark, with strong color cast lighting that changed every single second. Lighting was very uneven throughout the stage, and the intensity and color changed rapidly, throughout the whole show. It was a situation that would pose a challenge for even high-grade professional cameras, and if I were to use the OM-D or E-PL5, I would be struggling to get good shots too. 

To illustrate the "changing lights every second", and uneven intensity, varying lighting throughout the stage situation, please play the Youtube video below:

Please take note that I took the above video with the Olympus XZ-2 with the intention to show the lighting condition of the stage only. The above video should not be used for video quality review purposes, because all I did was simply press the record button and did nothing else. For video review of the XZ-2, please wait for other reviewers for their commentaries. I am not a videographer, I have no knowledge or background on shooting good videos, hence I shall refuse to comment on the video recording. I appreciate your understanding. 

Now that you have seen how horrible the lighting condition was, how did the Olympus XZ-2 perform? Well, I shall let the images do the talking first. 

Lets have a drink before we start, shall we?

ISO1600

Show Opener

ISO1600, F/1.8, 1/8sec, Equivalent focal length: 28mm, 

IMAGE SAMPLE 1

ISO1600 100% crop from IMAGE SAMPLE 1

 ISO3200

ISO3200, F/2.5, 1/80sec, equivalent focal length: 112mm

IMAGE SAMPLE 2

ISO3200 100% crop from IMAGE SAMPLE 2

ISO6400

ISO6400, F/2.5, 1/40sec, equivalent focal length: 112mm

IMAGE SAMPLE 3

ISO6400 100% crop from IMAGE SAMPLE 3

ISO3200 

ISO3200, F/2.5, 1/60sec, equivalent focal length: 112mm

 ISO3200

ISO3200, F/1.9, 1/50sec, equivalent focal length: 30mm

Considering the use of smaller sized sensor in digital compact cameras typically, image output at higher ISO settings would be inferior in comparison to larger sensor camera systems, such as micro 4/3 mirrorless system, or any DSLR systems out there. It is therefore, unreasonable to expect image quality from a mere, humble compact camera to come close or be compared to those larger sized sensor format cameras. It is crucial for us to establish this understanding, as how we gauge the performance of this Olympus XZ-2 camera in terms of high ISO shooting must be relative to its own category of camera, and should not be mis-matched to unfair comparisons/competitions. 

The Noise Filter I used for all images in this entry is set to "LOW". I provided full size images for download at the end of this blog entry, with samples including "Noise filter OFF" copies. The following is a list of my observations, based on this short, but extremely challenging shooting:

1) Absence of Chroma Noise

Looking at the images taken from ISO1600, 3200 to 6400, I can barely notice any chroma noise. The default JPEG engine of the camera, Trupic 6, which is also the same image processing engine for the latest micro 4/3 cameras (E-PL5 and OM-D) somehow magically suppressed almost all chroma noise, with JPEG images straight out of the camera having almost no trace of chroma noise at all. Yes, it is evident that noise reduction (Olympus calls it Noise Filter) has been applied to a certain extent, but the fact that you get images clean of chroma noise is an advantage not to be overlooked. 

2) Luminance Noise

There was almost no visible Chroma Noise, but luminance noise was present, even at lower ISO settings (ISO400 onward). The luminance noise was not intrusive, and can be reduced by applying noise filter, or being cleaned up in post-processing. The luminance noise was present, alongside very important details, which was not lost or being smudged away. 

3) Very Good Amount of Detail Maintained

In fact, even at higher ISO settings at 3200 and 6400, the detail level captured was a lot less, and images appear "softer", but not the usual heavy smudging or smearing due to heavy noise reduction found typically in other compact cameras, even at lower ISO settings. The images appear "fuzzy", rather than having painting or the water-color look. If the original image taken by the camera was properly exposed, and the image was shot in RAW, I believe that further post-processing can accomplish very usable high ISO results, with good enough amount of details in the images.

4) Noise Grain Pattern like OM-D
When I was reviewing the OM-D earlier this year, some of my readers commented on the grain pattern that did not quite match the usual Olympus older sensors noise pattern, and looked like "irregularly placed lines" rather than dots. You can observe the pattern from the "noise filter OFF" images from the download section. The pattern was reduced in the shots shown in this entry due to the noise filter being set to "LOW". I am no scientist, hence I do not have the absolute answer or explanation to the grain pattern being similar to the OM-Ds. I have two guesses: either the noise grain was the result of the use of same image processing engine Trupic 6, or the use of Sonys image sensor that exhibits the same noise pattern and characteristics. I would want to put my money on the later, but again, this is purely my own speculation with no conclusive evidence. We know how well Sony makes the newer sensors these days, that could be an easy explanation for the impressive high ISO image quality from the XZ-2 !! After all, Sony did pioneer the Back-Side Illuminated image sensor technology, right?

5) Very Good ISO1600, Usable ISO3200
I shall be very careful in making such claims, and bear in mind tolerance to high ISO noise is a very subjective thing that varies greatly. What I am saying here only reflects my own opinion, and I have provided 100% crops, as well as full resolution samples for your own further review. I dare say with the Olympus XZ-2, shooting at ISO1600 is not an issue, it still maintains very good amount of details, with relatively low amount of noise. However, at ISO3200 you must watch your exposure (do not under or over expose), and recommended shooting in RAW for further processing to reduce noise, if necessary. As shown in this entry, even applying Olympus default Noise Filter to "LOW" has reduced the noise greatly and the images appeared more "pleasing". Lets just say, if you are really serious about shooting high ISO and expect better sharpness, less noise output, you should be getting a more powerful camera system, surely not a compact camera !! If you are looking for a serious high-end compact camera, I strongly believe Olympus XZ-2 is no slouch in the high ISO department.

ISO800

ISO800, F/2, 1/60sec, equivalent focal length: 44mm

ISO1250 

ISO1250, F/1.8, 1/320sec, equivalent focal length: 28mm

The following image is taken with comparison between ISO 1600, 3200 and 6400 in mind. The first image was taken at ISO1600, but the subsequent crops were from respective higher ISO settings. Full resolution images available for download, at the end of this entry. 

ISO1600, F/1.8, 1/40sec, equvalent focal length: 28mm

ISO1600 

ISO3200 

ISO6400 

14 full resolution sample images, can be downloaded via the following link, for your pixel-peeping pleasure. High ISO samples with both Noise Filter settings set to "OFF" and "LOW" are available. 

OLYMPUS XZ-2 DOWNLOAD 2 (click)

Id say the Olympus XZ-2 is looking really good so far. Yes, I do have my issues with the camera, and my fair share of complains, which I shall be covering in my coming entries. But so far, having great Olympus Zuiko lens with bright aperture of F1.8-2.5, in combination with very capable high ISO shooting (I dare not say it has been improved, or how much better than XZ-1, but the improvement is obvious, no?), this Olympis XZ-2 should not be underestimated. 

More Parts of XZ-2 reviews to come !!

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to say something in the comment section on this blog entry, or email me directly at hamish7ian@gmail.com

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Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended Registered 100 Working

Review by Wikipedia:

Photoshop CS5 was launched on April 12, 2010. In a video posted on its official Facebook page, the development team revealed the new technologies under development, including three-dimensional brushes and warping tools.
In May 2011, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) was released, with new versions of some of the applications. Its version of Photoshop, 12.1, is identical to the concurrently released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for support for the new subscription pricing that was introduced with CS5.5.
CS5 introduces new tools such as the Content-Aware Fill, Refine Edge, Mixer Brush, Bristle Tips and Puppet Warp. The community also had a hand in the additions made to CS5 as 30 new features and improvements were included by request. These include automatic image straightening, the Rule-of-Thirds cropping tool, color pickup and saving an 16-bit image as a JPEG. Another feature includes the Adobe Mini Bridge which allows for efficient file browsing and management.
CS5 Extended includes everything in CS5 plus features in 3D and video editing. A new materials library was added, providing more options such as Chrome, Glass, and Cork. The new Shadow Catcher tool can be used to further enhance 3D objects. For motion graphics, the tools can be applied to over more than one frame in a video sequence.
CS5 and CS5 Extended were made available through Adobes online store, Adobe Authorized Resellers and Adobe direct sales. Both CS5 and CS5 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite 5. The price for CS5 is US$699 and the extended version is US$999. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS and Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Download Adobephotoshop CS5 Extended Torrent file: Click Here To Download CS5

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Ultimate Ears UE Boom Review

Ultimate Ears (UE) recently launched their spanking new UE Boom speakers. I was given the opportunity to review this and to be honest was quite excited, considering all the raves it has been receiving.

Packed in a sleek casing that comes together when purchased at retail outlets, the UE Boom weighs at 538g. While travelling, the speakers can be placed in a bag or can be hung from your as it comes with an easy to hang hook for those who prefer that. The speakers come with a 15-hour rechargeable battery.

With cool colours of Blue, Red, White and Black, the UE speakers are water and stain resistant. This is a good function to have, in view of Singapore’s sometimes weird weather patterns. This has been tested by Darren (http://www.darrensim.com), but please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! 

(Doesnt it look delicious? Hehe!)

UE speakers are easy to operate and have been created with simplicity in mind, doing away with the typical manuals. One swift press of the button turns on the speakers and another to set it to Bluetooth pairing mode. The huge buttons for the volume make it easy on the fingers when partying! A shortcut, when the volume buttons are pressed at the same time, it will reveal the battery percentage, so that you know when to charge your rechargeable battery. With a 15-hour rechargeable battery, you’d probably not do this too often. 

As an added advantage, a mic is also included for the UE Speakers to be used as a speakerphone.  

For Android smartphones (with NFC capabilities) connecting to the UE speakers could not have been made any easier. A simple tap on the UE Boom with your smartphone is all you need to get connected. For those with smartphones without the NFC capabilities, not to worry you are not left out, connect with Bluetooth, and you’re all set. 

With two drivers, the bass that the UE Speakers give out is apt for its nifty size. Upon connecting with my smartphone, it does take a while for it to hook up with both speakers for the first time through the UE Boom app. Subsequent re-connections yielded better response time. However, you have to connect one speaker first through the smartphone OS and the other through the app. This is also the reason why I got two review sets instead of one.

Another shot taken at the UE Boom launch party. On the left, that is the same speaker that was tested with the tomato sauce and it washed off cleanly with water and... still works!

The other two colours available in Singapore are Blue and Red.

Each UE Boom is priced at S$299 (SRP).

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Imperfections

It is only natural for any sane human photographer to yearn and lust for better gear, more capable and more "perfect" system in hope to take the photography into the next level. That better high ISO performance, faster and more accurate focusing and bigger megapixels. However, I have been reminded by a new friend I have met recently that the "grass is greener on the other side, only because it was fertilized with more bullshit". How true that statement is, and how applicable it is to myself and our general view on photography gear. Chasing perfection is not the solution.

Using the CCTV lens (C-Mount) 25mm F1.2 on my Olympus PEN E-PL1 was quite an interesting experience. The lens exhibits all kinds of technical flaws that all modern digital lenses tried very hard to eliminate. You get ugly barrel distortions, heavy chromatic abberations, soft corners, visible vignetting (more like corner chop-offs if you ask me, rather than light fall off) and very strong prone to flare and ghosting/haze. Worst of all, to use this lens, you need to painfully twist and turn the manual rings on the lens: the aperture ring, and the focusing ring, both together, to get the image right. Indeed, any modern lenses would have avoided such technical flaws, and have autofocus. In the CCTVs lens defense, it offers something rather interesting: the brightness of F1.2, rendering very interesting out of focus background (swirly effect) and at the same time, the center part of the frame, when focused accurately, can be very sharp. 

Why go through all the trouble? Well, photography is not about chasing perfection !! It is a lot more than that. There are many more elements that contribute in forming a good photograph. Not allowing myself to be burdened by the need to acquire technically perfect photographs all the time (which was the main goal in my insect macro shooting), I set aside my concentration to finding more interesting subject contents, and focus on the "photographers vision". Surely there are many other things that contribute to better photographs, such as creative "artistic sense" and also composition. 

All images were taken with Olympus PEN E-PL1 and CCTV 25mm F1.2 lens

Fly

Hand

Stranger

Distorted

Small gap

Fallen

Innocent

Climb

Ideas

Future Greatness. Luke Chua

During my very quick photo walk earlier this evening, I bumped into Luke Chua. I decided to join him for a drink, and we chatted for a bit. He never failed to inspire me in his own ways, and further motivate me to push my photography boundaries. I think we all have something we want to accomplish in photography, that destiny or end-game. I have not exactly set any goals or targets but hey, I think one of the best part is discovering bits and pieces of the whole puzzle as I move along the journey. There is no need to rush into anything for my part, but it is reassuring to see so much passion and determination in another fellow photographer. 

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Jay Chou 周杰倫 New Album 2012 New Song 红尘� �栈 明明就

Good news to all Jay Chou fans here! As we know Jay Chou will be releasing his latest album 《十二新作》 at the end of December and today, 5th December 2012 – Jay Chou had officially unveiled two of his new album song - 《明明就》 and 《红尘客栈》through the HitFM radio.

Jay Chou - 《明明就》

[红尘客栈] is one of the Chinese style (中国风) music in his new album, lyrics written by Vincent Fang (方文山) and compose by Jay Chou (周杰倫). 《明明就》 is a romance song from Jay Chou and it has the catchy lyrics and melody. Without further do, let listen to his two lovely song 《明明就》 and 《红尘客栈》 from his new 2012 albums.

Jay Chou - 《红尘客栈》

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Alvin Jacklyn Wedding Day

I was privileged to be the wedding photographer for a great friend, Alvin. It was a joyous occasion ! I was using both Olympus and Sony together for this shoot, Olympus E-5 with 11-22mm F2.8-3.5 for my wide angle needs, and Sony A350 with 50mm F1.8 for close up shots. I did use flash for indoor shooting, the FL-50R on Olympus and a third party with TTL compatibility for the Sony. Both cameras worked well together, and they delivered the results that I required. Surely this combination saved me a lot of trouble of changing lenses. 

Thanks Alvin & Jacklyn for having me as your photographer. Wishing you both the best in everything, and abundant blessings always !!

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