ROBIN WONG

Laowa recently sent me their latest lens the Laowa 6mm F2 manual focus lens for Micro Four Thirds mount. This is currently (at the time of writing) the widest lens for the entire Micro Four Thirds system. I spent about two weeks with the lens, shooting various locations in Kuala Lumpur and I am sharing my thoughts about using this lens in my latest video (click here) and also here in this blog article. In short, I really like this lens, it is really good optically, produces sharp images with good contrast and has some cool tricks up the sleeves. 

I had the privillege to borrow the Ricoh GR IIIX from my friend Matti Sulanto and took it out for a few days' worth of shutter therapy adventures in Malacca. The Ricoh GR series somehow gathered quite a cult-following status for being the perfect street photography machine. I wanted to try this out myself and see if that is really the case. My friend Matti of course loves his Ricoh GR III and IIIX and have made many videos singing praises for these cameras. I, on the other hand have my own reservations and I am discussing what I like and dislike about the camera after using the GR IIIX extensively for a few days. 

I have also a video version here (click). 

Back in December I made a quick trip home to Kuching, Borneo to visit dear mum and spend some time catching up with friends and relatives. There was no agenda in mind, but I did bring along the Panasonic Lumix LX10 which I borrowed from a friend. I found myself some free time and decided to do a POV style street shooting video, showing you how I composed my shots and what happened around and in front of me before I clicked the shutter button. I also took this opportunity to share my thoughts on theLumix LX10 and overall opinion on whether 1-inch image sensor compact camera is still relevant today. You can find the POV video here (click). 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

In 2014, China decided to ban the sales of Nikon D600 due to the oil stain and dust on sensor manufacturing defect. This was the last drastic decision by the government following the protests from angry consumers demanding refunds which was refused by local retailers. The drama escalated to national news TV reporting this issue, and immediately after that the government ordered the sales of D600 to be stopped, all retail units to be recalled. I believe this was the only consumer level camera that was ever banned anywhere in the world! I found one used unit here locally in Malaysia at a price I just cannot refuse, I bought it and boy oh boy was I excited to find out what this banned full frame camera can do for my shutter therapy adventures!

I hear a lot of people saying we should not go high ISO on Micro Four Thirds. While I agree larger sensor formats like full frame will always be superior when it comes to noise control at low light, high ISO environment, I don't see any reason why we cannot shoot high ISO with Micro Four Thirds. We should stop obsessing about high ISO noise, it is not the end of the world. and a good photograph is a good photograph regardless of noise. In my latest video on YouTube, I went to the streets at night and in many situations I needed to bump up my ISO up to 12800 to get my shots. You can see the new style POV video here, where I recorded my viewfinder screen, as if you were shooting with me on location!

My friend Bihzhu has just launched a new song recently, "Jiwa Perkasa" and I was engaged as the offical photographer for the event. I am very proud to be involved in this project because I was there at the very beginning while the song was being recorded in studio! I was also there to witness the music video in production, so in a way, I was very involved in the making of Jiwa Perkasa almost every step along the way. I am super thankful and happy to be included and I thank Bihzhu for giving me this awesome opportunity. An important part of making impactful images is knowing what you are shooting well enough, and I cannot ask for more in this regard. I am sharing fresh images taken from the event coverage of  the launch.