It has been a hectic day at work, having sudden change of plans of me being relocated to another construction site for supervision duties. Therefore extra effort and time were spent on tying up loose ends and finalizing important paperworks before I leave. It has been long and exhaustive, and that was the more reason I looked forward to the shutter therapy session with Luke and Nick at Bukit Bintang. We may be physically tired from work, but just by catching up with each other over dinner, drinks and some light shooting around randomly on the street, I felt a lot better, and had that little extra strength to move on and finish the week off.
All images were taken with Olympus PEN E-PL1 and CCTV Lens 25mm F1.2
Nick Wade and his beloved Nikon FM3A, with the Voightlander 40mm F2 mounted. That funky little manual flash on top of the camera suffered a fatal fate tonight.
With my headphones on
I draw on your chest
Public Comfort
The Next Generation
Portrait of a friendly stranger
Portrait of a friendly stranger 2
Staircase
Taxi Driver
Arms and Legs
Open seats
Next Generation camera with gigantic viewing LCD screen
Dinner
Luke's FE2, My Coffee and Nick's dead flash unit.
Everyone had a long day, and we were not having that much energy to move around. Though the shooting session was short, it was indeed very sweet. I did not have to produce that many photographs, just a few ones that I personally love. I have been experimenting with weirder street shooting techniques, mainly on using flash as well as pulling the shutter speed to induce motion blur. In this session, screw all that, I was being very lazy and adopted a more direct approach in shooting: just walked up to my subjects, smiled at them and snapped their photographs. This was my old self, and I enjoyed being myself again. They may not be street photography in stricter terms, but who cares. I love what I caught on the streets, and that itself is the most important thing in photography: enjoy doing what you do.
Oh I did say previously how much I love the bokeh that this CCTV lens renders, right? I love it so much that I am considering to get another CCTV lens, but with a longer focal length, which suits my usual street shooting style. I find the 25mm to be too wide for my taste, and I usually have fitted in way too much width, which I did not intend to put into my composition.
Aaahhhh, time to start hunting again. Any good recommendations? I am thinking of the C-mount 35mm F1.7. I have heard plenty of good things about that lens. Do share your thoughts !!
Love the photos. Is this the same lens you can buy on eBay for between $20-40?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Anonymous,
Deleteplease leave a name when you comment next time. Yes it is the same lens on Ebay.
I own the Fujian 1.7 35mm CCTV lens (I guess you are talking about this one). It doesn't vignette and its distortion is also on a very low level. But at least my copy isn't as sharp as my cheap 1.4 25mm China CCTV lens in the centre of the image circle. I prefer the 25mm over the 35mm because the images have more "drama". :) Anyway you should give the 35mm a try. I can imagine it will match your shooting style very well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info hugo. I need something longer, so I don't have to go soooooo near my subject. If it was an AF lens it would be fine, but having to manual focus it takes time, and having some distance to work with can be useful.
DeleteGood morning, Robin.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.
I will be roaming the street tomorrow and will cover my usual route of Petaling Street, Pudu, Masjid India and most probably Chow Kit if time permit. Wide area to cover but the fun of meeting people and make new friend, make the area easy to cover in time.
On the other note, I have been checking on the weatherproof camera and Sifu Jay Kinghorn (I used to follow his article as I am a UTough User.) had mentioned Olympus Tough series and E5 for cool weather photography. My wife is looking for a second body with weatherproof capabilities. The other reason is my good old UTough 8010 is overused and need replacement. (I shoot her photos, she purchases the tool.) Between the three namely DSLR Evolt E-5, OM-D E-M5 and UTough Series TG1(f/2.0). I knew their price range and appreciate your personal recommedation for the 2nd camera.
Thank you.
May you have a great day.
John Ragai
Hey John,
DeletePlease take note that the tough series is different from E-5 and E-M5. Tough series is fully sealed and is waterproof up to certain rated depth, being able to be used fully submerged into water. However the E-5 and E-M5 were merely splash-proof only, being able to withstand heavy rain, but wont survive full submersion into water.
It depends on what your wife needs. I would think that E-5 would be too bulky and heavy. E-M5 is smaller and lighter, and has many newer technologies, but now micro 4/3 only has one weather sealed lens to go with the E-M5 body which is the 12-50mm kit lens.
Hello Robin,
DeleteThank you for the info.
This morning, my wife (Agnes) has called Olympus Malaysia for uTough TG1 and E-P3. A lady on the other end, recommended to her E-M5.
E-P3 is for her best friend who is also an Olympus user. I think she is looking for UTough series.
Thank you. May you have a great day.
John Ragai
I fixed the flash! Fortunately it was just a bent contact in the battery compartment.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos as always. I think this lens suits your honest and direct approach.
Hey nick, very glad to know the flash is ok now!!
DeleteI'm loving the CCTV lens so much but I do need something longer. I feel 25mm is too wide for my style of shooting.I often felt I needed to go too near to ny subjects. let's see if 35mm will make things better.
Any flash used for the photos??
ReplyDeletePlease leave a name when you comment. No flash was used.
DeleteTq i'm chiew.. Any specific setting to get the niced face exposure eg exposure compensation etc..
DeleteThanks Chiew for having your name. At least I can refer to you as a person.
DeleteI used aperture priority, and center weighted metering. Since the CCTV lens was not designed to be used on a digital body, there are some misses, and inconsistencies. I take one photo first and review it on screen. If the photo is too dark, I shall increase the exposure compensation. By how much? Depends on your own judgement and a bit of luck. Likewise, if it was too bright, I reduce the exposure compensation. There is no fixed rule, it always involved a bit of fine tuning, trial and error before deciding what works and what does not. After a few rounds of shooting I roughly know the characteristics and have become more efficient in deciding the settings for each shooting condition.
So the same rule as kit lens.. right??
DeleteTq..
chiew
So the same rule as kit lens.. right??
DeleteTq..
chiew
When I used digital lenses, usually I never had issues with metering. unless it is a very challenging situation like backlit or having too many blacks and whites in one frame. if it was too complicated I prefered to use spot metering. then again there is no right and wrong in which approach you choose as long as it gives you the results that you seek.
Delete