I guess it came with no surprise that the total lockdown which was placed in effect from 1-14 June was now extended to end of the month (news article here). The partial lockdown started in May (total lockdown started June), and it has been a month and a half I was trapped in my tiny little room. Currently the numbers of daily reported new cases are still running high with no signs of coming down, even after a month and a half long of various lockdowns in place (including 2 weeks full lockdown) and it is also reported that we are running out of hospital beds. If the numbers don't come down and situation does not improve, who knows maybe the whole country will be locked down for more months to come. Quite a depressing thought and seriously there is nothing anyone, or I can do at this point, but to just try to stay sane as long as possible. 

And I found a tiny jumping spider in my room. Hello!

I'd rather have my room clean from any insects, bugs or spiders, but I guess these little creatures are everywhere and I can't keep them out 100%. So the next best thing is to take out my macro gear and take some shots. Those of you who suggested "hey Robin why don't you do macro photography in your room?", I ask you this - ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

The shooting technique was quite straightforward and I have shared several times here over the years. If you want the full rundown of what I did, you can go to my macro shooting technique blog entry here (click). I also did a video showing how I shot my insect macro here (click). I have shared EVERYTHING from what lens, what camera, what settings, how to get the shot, wireless flash, how I diffuse my flash, seriously every single detail! I did not hide anything. 

I don't think the spider will survive long. I saw a lizard lurking around somewhere. 

There are many, many ways to get a good macro shot. To get sufficient magnification (getting close and have the subject appear large in your frame), you can either use a dedicated macro lens like the M.Zuiko 60mm F2.8 Macro, or use various other techniques like extension tubes, macro converters, or even reversed lens ring attachment. You can even use a combination of different methods (say a macro lens and an additional converter) to achieve even more magnification. There is no right or wrong, just find the right method for your needs. 

Insects, or in this case the jumping spider did not stay still for very long. It jumps, because, you know, the name jumping spider. I don't think setting up a tripod and shooting using manual focus is very practical. I need to move whenever the spider moves, no matter how slightly. Being able to shoot hand-held is a huge bonus point. The Olympus cameras support powerful 5-Axis IS, which helps stabilize the live view on LCD or EVF, you don't get crazy shaky viewfinder when framing the spider. The active image stabilization will aid in steadying your view, which prevents headaches and help the shooting process much smoother. 

The spider was quite cooperative. It did stop and pose for me for at least a few seconds before jumping off. It did not seem to be afraid of me, it was just moving around merrily, but not away from me, or hiding in impossible spots. I did not get many good shots, but just a few good ones. 

I know some of my friends would catch the insects from their garden or the park, and then freeze them in the refrigerator. The bugs are cold blooded, they won't die, but the low temperature will slow them down. As they were frozen, then they would move the bugs and pose them in grass or leaves or branches and even spray them with droplets of water, making the dramatic look. 

I think that is cruel, inhumane, and falls into the category of animal cruelty. Please, I beg you, don't touch the bugs. Leave them alone. Please be a little more respectful to nature. 

I don't know how to feel about the extended lockdown, with high possibilities of further extension. To be entirely honest, even shooting that tiny spider was not so fun any more. I miss being able to find more colorful bugs to photograph. And if I bring my camera out to the park, I get fined RM10,000 (USD2,500), even if I was shooting bugs alone. 

What happens to a man when is confined in a small space against his will for an extended period of time? Maybe I will be a case study. We will find out, won't we?

It has been 5 years since I reviewed the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II and today I still actively shoot with the camera. I personally believe that it is the best value Olympus camera out there at the moment, and arguably the best value Micro Four Thirds camera for professional use. You may choose to disagree of course. I have been shooting professionally with E-M1 Mark II as my main workhorse since 2017, the year I left Olympus Malaysia and became a full time photographer, and I have also shot countless personal shutter therapy sessions with my E-M1 Mark II. I want to share my thoughts on why I think E-M1 Mark II is still a great recommendation for anyone who wants to get into Micro Four Thirds system, or those who want to upgrade to something more serious from entry level camera systems. 

Of course I have also made a video discussing the exact same topic, you can find the video here (click). 

E-M1 Mark II shares the exact same image sensor as E-M1X and E-M1 Mark III. While E-M1 Mark II was launched 5 years ago, it still produces the exact same image quality as the latest flagship cameras from Olympus. The same image sensor renders the exact similar 20MP resolution, high ISO performance, dynamic range capability and color reproduction. You do not gain anything more or get better image quality even if you get the latest and greatest from Olympus - this fact places the E-M1 Mark II from 2016 in a very interesting position, you can still achieve the best possible image quality Olympus has to offer without upgrading to their latest offerings. 

E-M1 Mark II's image quality is more than good enough for me and what I do. I understand many photographers would spend more money to get the best of the best, and you don't have to justify how you spend your money. I do wedding photography, portraits, event coverage and lifestyle products, all do not require crazy high megapixel count, in fact 20MP is more than sufficient for all that I do. I have never encountered a situation where dynamic range was not enough, or shooting in too dark of a situation where high ISO is a problem. I use PRO lenses, as well as F1.8/F1.2 lenses which allow me to gather more light and shoot better in darker environment. I also do flash photography, and will bring in extra lights if needed. I have done exhibitions (printed images as tall as 6feet), published my work in local magazines and believe me, you can do plenty with that E-M1 Mark II if you know what you are doing. My clients have been happy with my deliveries over the years (if not why did they keep coming back?). That's all that matters - the camera gets the job done effectively. 

Image quality is not everything. An important factor to consider is camera handling. To me, handling either makes or breaks the camera, and a lot of photographers don't talk about this in their reviews. No matter how amazing your camera is, shooting 10,000MP, ISO2billion and has 55 stops EV dynamic range, if it can't fit your hands well, and you don't feel comfortable using the camera for longer shooting duration, you won't enjoy using the camera, and you won't be able to work with it effectively. 

This may be subjective, but I personally believe E-M1 Mark II has the best handling of all cameras today. I have tried as many cameras as I can from all camps. Obviously I have not tried everything, but I do have access to most cameras from the connections of photography friends in my network, which is not small by the way. The beefy grip fits my fingers perfectly, there is a thumb-resting area and the camera just feels right and comfortable in hand. Yet the camera is still quite small in size, striking the right balance of not being too small and light, in case you need to handle larger lenses, eg the longer telephoto PRO lenses. I cannot say the same for 99% of other cameras out there in the market, there is just something wrong or off in most ergonomics or designs, even from some of the highly regarded cameras out there from other camps. I acknowledge that we may have different hand shapes, sizes, finger lengths, etc but to me, E-M1 Mark II suits me the best. 

When my ex-colleague told me that he could hand-hold the E-M1 Mark II (not launched at that time) down to about 5 seconds shutter speed, and get away with sharp images, I did not believe him. I was still working for Olympus when the E-M1 Mark II was released, that was the last product launched by the company before I left. Then when I finally tried the camera myself and actually could stabilize my shots using just hands down to 5 seconds, it blew my mind! What trickery was this? 

I am not saying that you can shoot all your shots at crazy shutter speeds. That's not what I am trying to imply. The 5-Axis Image Stabilization helps significantly in boosting your confidence in getting blur-free images. It mitigates most hand-shakes when shooting the camera without tripod, and it is super effective. You can shoot at 1/10 second, half a second shutter speeds, which are traditionally dangerous and will get you soft images, without having to think twice now thanks to the 5-Axis IS. That opens up a whole world of shooting possibilities, that you may not have to use tripods or monopods in a lot of situations that you normally do. You do not have to constantly worry if you will blur your shots accidentally, your camera will take care of that, and you just focus on getting the right composition, lighting and moment! Less problems to worry about, thanks to the 5-Axis IS. 

E-M1 Mark III and E-M1X have made even more improvements when it comes to 5-Axis IS, but I found that the E-M1 Mark II is already so good, it made a huge difference in my photography. E-M1 Mark II's 5-Axis IS is significantly better than the older E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II by miles. If you have used these cameras you will agree with me that the improvement is quite noticeable and made a huge difference in real life shooting. 

The last important point I want to talk about, having used the E-M1 Mark II for 5 years now is reliability. Some would argue that this is actually the most important point to talk about. I would not disagree. 

There is a difference between a working, professional photographer that earns a living from his shoots, versus an enthusiast or hobbyist shooting just for fun. When you are on a job, you don't want your camera to fail. There will be dire consequences. Of course we carry backups to our cameras, and also backups to our backups just in case. The reliability of our equipment - how rugged, the build quality, shooting in harsh conditions, how far we can push the equipment, all this matter more if you are getting paid to shoot. The last thing you want to think and worry about is having your camera or lens fail in the middle of the shoot. 

The E-M1 Mark II is built like a tank, the body is made of magnesium alloy. I need to move fast and I cannot think too much about cameras bumping into another person or a table along the way. I need a solidly constructed camera body to do my job, not something fragile that I have to babysit all the time. It should be able to survive dents, knocks and even mild falls with not much to worry about. 

The full weather-sealing has saved me multiple times over. I have had several jobs outdoor, shooting events (product launch, building openings, sports/family day for companies) where it suddenly rained. I cannot just go to my clients and say "oh sorry, it is raining, I have to stop shooting because my camera cannot survive the rain". Thankfully my E-M1 Mark II (my backups E-M1 bodies) is weather-sealed and can handle the rain, also I have PRO lenses which were all weather sealed as well. Rain or shine the shoot must go on. 

I cannot say the same about cameras from other brands. I have seen flagships from other camera camps fail in the rain, while I was still clicking away with my E-M1 Mark II (and before that, E-M1). The level of weather-sealing Olympus implemented in their OM-D system and PRO lenses is of another level!

Looking at the asking price of E-M1 Mark II now, it is about half of the retail price when it was launched. Yet the E-M1 Mark II delivers the same image output as the latest and greatest flagships from Olympus, offers great handling, solid build, reliability and powerful image stabilization. E-M1 Mark II has never failed me over the past 5 years and have delivered fantastic results over and over again. It is an easy recommendation to any one who looks to upgrade to a better camera body but not necessarily want to splurge on the most expensive newest camera. You can't go wrong with E-M1 Mark II. 

On the 6th day of total lockdown in Malaysia, my friend Irene sent me homecooked laksa! Not just any laksa, but Sarawakian style laksa which is a rarity in Kuala Lumpur, and it is almost impossible to find a good one at the shops here. A little bit of home away from home does make things a little better in such difficult times. Thanks so much Irene! I took this opportunity to take some shots of the laksa with my cameras (yes I finally took them out and not use my smartphone this time).

About Sarawak Laksa.

"A typical bowl of Traditional Sarawak Laksa usually consists of rice vermicelli, omelette strips, shredded chicken, beansprouts, prawns, fresh coriander and lime. It's broth is made using a laksa paste consisting of sambal belacan, tamarind, lemongrass, herbs and spices with a little coconut milk. Hence, it has a fine balance of aromatic herbs and spices with a subtle hint of sourish and chili note and not overly rich and creamy."

A lot of misconceptions about Sarawak Laksa, especially those from West Malaysia who has not stepped foot to Borneo, or tried the authentic version of this noodle dish. Sarawak Laksa is not a curry dish. Curry noodles are different, curry is curry, and curry is not made from prawn paste. This laksa is also not prawn noodles, though it is heavily based on prawn and is served with freshly steamed prawns. Penang has very good prawn noodles, and they taste nothing alike Sarawak Laksa. I enjoy Penang's prawn noodles just as much, but it is just not the same. Also, the bastardized versions sold here in the west always made several mistakes - the broth being too sweet (not sure why they need to add sugar, the taste is supposed to be savory, not sweet), using wrong types of noodles, either with meehoon that is too thin or yellow noodles that do not absorb the soup well enough. 

It has been one full month since the Movement Control Order (MCO3.0) was implemented in KL, the exact date was 7 May, and almost one week since full lockdown in the whole country was imposed on 1 June. The number of daily new infected Covid-19 cases show no signs of slowing down, we even saw a sharp rise in the past one week, leading to the government's final decision to have a full economic and social lockdown starting June. Things are looking quite grim for the country and us, Malaysians. The government even had to specifically ban "outdoor photography". That did not stop me of course, but being prudent I did not bring out my camera, but just shoot with the smartphone Samsung S21 Ultra whenever I was out getting supplies or buying food. At the very least, we are still allowed to do that. In KL, public parks are banned and we can't even jog or walk out in the open. I shall share some of the shots from my smartphone here, and also my thoughts on the current lockdown situation. 

Malaysia is now under total lockdown, and we are not even allowed to step out of our houses without good reasons, not even exercising in the park, and public parks in KL are banned from the public. My itch to shoot and create content is still there, and I need to scratch it somehow. I gathered a few Olympus cameras that I have, plus a few that were borrowed from Olympus and friends (some were overdue for return, but hey, lockdown and everything right?) and I thought, wow, I do have quite a few cameras to play with. Then the idea came, what if I made a video just to show off the shutter sounds from each camera? I did a quick search on YouTube and found nothing on shutter sound from Olympus cameras! 

So I made the video, here it is (click). 

The setup for the shooting process was quite simple, I used one light, and placed the microphone as close as possible to the camera. I recorded everything with E-M1 Mark III and M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 lens, except for the shot of E-M1 Mark III which was then recorded with E-M5 Mark III. The video output matched perfectly. I did not tweak the audio at all, except lowered the ambient sound pickup immediately before and after the camera clicks. I did this because I was living in an apartment bedroom with thin walls and windows, just by an open highway, it is impossible to get 100% zero sound environment even when I was filming in the middle of the night, which I did. 

In the list of 12 cameras, I managed to include the first Four Thirds DSLR Olympus E-1, which was launched in 2003 and also was known to have a very quiet and sweet shutter sound effect. I also managed to fit in the latest system camera - Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III. I have the oldest and newest Olympus system digital cameras in the mix (at least at the date of publishing). Among other notable cameras include various OM-D and PEN cameras over the years, and I even threw in the Olympus Air, which did not have a shutter unit at all, and it emitted fake electronic shutter sound effect via its speakers. I thought that was kind of ironic and funny at the same time. 

Unfortunately, I wish I have a few more popular cameras like the E-M5 Mark II, or the fan favorite PEN-F in the mix. I wanted to wait and see if I can ask around to borrow but then now everything is so impossible to do with the nation-wide strict lockdown and I guess, let's do this first, even if the list is not really complete.

I did have an E-520, my first Olympus DSLR that got me into photography, and fell in love with Olympus, but somehow the camera decided to act up and did not turn on at all. Not a surprise, I have tortured the camera a little too much over the years. I also have a faulty E-P5, which had a dead screen. I can still press the shutter and it will still click, though I cannot set the self-timer. I'd probably be able to do so if I have an external EVF (VF-2, 3 or 4), which I don't have at the moment. Having the E-520 and E-P5 into the mix would have been cool. 

The whole process was so fun and enjoyable to do, the filming took a little over an hour, time well spent I must say. 

I set all the cameras to self timer for consistency sake, so you don't see my hands/fingers in the frame, and the video emphasized the camera as the center of attention. The shutter speed was fixed at 1/80 sec. I tried various shutter speeds and I figured 1/80 was the sweetspot - not too fast that you don't hear the first and second curtain, and not too slow that you feel there was something wrong with the camera. I have to admit some cameras like the faster newer models E-M1 Mark II and E-M5 Mark III sound much better at 1/60 sec, or a bit slower, because the shutter unit was so much speedier in response. But I want to keep it consistent for all cameras, so at the end I decided to go 1/80. 

I did the video in vertical/portrait orientation, I think much to a lot of people's annoyance. I was experimenting with YouTube #SHORTS, that has two criteria - the video must be less than 1 minute long and it must be in portrait/vertical orientation. I am still new to this YouTube game, and this was my second #SHORTS video, but I also realized if I don't try new things I will never learn and grow. Since this video did not have any talking head shots, and it was solely on camera clicking, I thought the #SHORTS format suits this perfectly. Only time will tell how this will perform on YouTube. Whether it will do well or not, it does not matter, at this point, I just want to give new things a go and besides, there is not much I can do being in such tight lockdown situation. 

Out of the 12 cameras, I am sure many of you owned at least one, or even several. Which shutter sound is your favourite? Do tell! I am curious. 

The government has just announced an hour ago that a total lockdown will be implemented in Malaysia, nationwide, starting 1 June 2021 to combat the rising numbers of Covid-19 cases. We are registering above 8000 new cases daily now. For the sake of staying out of prison, I will refrain myself from commenting on the political issues or questioning the authorities on their decisions concerning the country. In case you do not know, freedom of speech is pretty much dead in this country, everything is censored, and if I speak against these people I will end up in prison, or worse, just made to "disappear". What I can safely do is to make observations and comment about me - how I am coping and how I intend to get through this lockdown period. 

Here is a quick history of different levels of restrictions, partial lockdowns and what the government calls Movement Control Order in the past one month:

7 May 2021 - Kuala Lumpur is placed under MCO 3.0 city-wide. All businesses are still allowed to open. No inter-district and inter-state travel allowed. Bans on public gatherings and social activities. However, there is limit to operating hours. "Public filming is not allowed". 

12 May 2021 - The whole Malaysia is placed under MCO 3.0, similar conditions to the 7 May MCO for KL. No restrictions on businesses, but local parks, outdoor areas are now prohibited, except for individual exercise or runs. Some businesses and locations are directed to be closed (tourism, art related). 

25 May 2021 - MCO 3.0 is tightened with stricter measures, limiting business hours to 8pm, cut of transportation capacity, and out of nowhere, a specific ban on outdoor photography is added. I have talked about his recently here (click). 

Now the latest news, just in...

1 June 2021 - TOTAL LOCKDOWN, not even MCO anymore, but lockdown will happen nationwide. All economic sectors and social activities are not allowed to operate, except the essentials (healthcare, pharmacy, groceries, etc). 

The government officially announced the total lockdown for 14 days, but from the history of how they run things, I doubt it will be 14 days. It might be at least 2 months, minimum, or at least until the numbers of new daily Covid-19 cases drop down significantly. 

What does this mean for me?

Again, all my photography jobs, whatever little bookings that I have managed to secure for the coming month or more, are all gone. The calendar of jobs is effectively wiped clean, and I can also pretty much prepare for empty July and August too. I can't just magically make job bookings happen once the lockdown is lifted, it takes time to build up momentum, same goes for any service type of business. 

I am not against the total lockdown. The healthcare in the country is overwhelmed, we are running out of hospital beds and the medical personals are being stretched thin everywhere. This move is completely necessary. However, that does not mean the people won't suffer the consequences. I just hope there is something to look forward to when all this blows over. 

Strangely, I am deriving my income from YouTube now, I guess it is not a surprise, and thankfully I managed to build that up in the past one and a half year. I have worked really hard creating new content week after week, and I am getting consistent inflow of ads revenue from Google. It took a lot of time, hard work and resources to make it work, and I am glad I did. It has saved me from unforeseeable problems, and at least now I can still pay rent, put food on the table and indulge in small luxuries, like the USD20 camera bag I just bought and shared in my latest blog article (click here). 

One thing I did not anticipate was the tremendous support from the community - without all you beautiful readers, I will not be here now. You all continue to watch, like, comment and share my content (video on YouTube, or blog articles here), that has helped me significantly to grow my platform and make it somewhat sustainable at this point. On top of that, I never expected the generous contributions - both coffee and direct PayPal donations to come in, they have certainly eased my difficult times over the past year of multiple partial lockdowns and movement control orders. 

I do want to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. There is no Robin Wong, without your support. I am only here and still can continue to keep the camera clicking because of you. I genuinely appreciate each and every one of you. 

As for now, the best thing I can do for myself and the country, is to obey the rules. I will stay indoors during the lockdown period as mandated by the Malaysian government. 

The good news is - I have stock-piled content (it is predicted that the lockdown will happen any way, honestly) from the beginning of this month, before the nation-wide MCO on 12 May, and before outdoor photography was banned, and I do have videos in the pipeline ready to be published. I am not running out of content, at least not yet. I acted ahead of time, and it paid off. I trusted my instincts, and I made all the necessary preparations anticipating the inevitable lockdown. Should the lockdown continue dragging on for the coming months, I will run out of content. By then you will see me making videos in my miserable little room, but I will still continue to fight on. 

I will continue to blog, share my thoughts, and there will be more videos, and maybe some photos to come. I do apologize in advance for not having my usual supply of street photographs, insect macro or all those dramatic singer/theatre live stage shots. or even urban landscapes during day or night. I can't do any of those, but rest assured, I am a photographer, I have been doing this blog thing for more than 10 years, and the best part - I have not run out of ideas just yet. 

Thanks again for being here with me. That means a whole world to me.