I was shooting with the new Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm F1.8 Fisheye lens last weekend, but did not collect sufficient images to compose a full blog review here. 

Do allow me some more time to shoot. So far I am quite in love with the lens. However, at the same time, it is not an easy lens to use! It does not work at everything you point it to, and obviously I am no fisheye expert. Nonetheless I shall do my best. 

A shot taken with E-M5 Mark II and the 8mm F1.8 Fisheye lens, the world's first F1.8 fisheye lens!


For those of you in Malaysia, you can Pre-Order the new Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm PRO lens now from OLYMPUS Malaysia! Go here to find out more. 

Important Note:
1. I am an Olympus Malaysia employee. 
2. This is a user experience based review, based on my personal opinion which can be subjective.
3. All images were shot in RAW and converted directly to JPEG (High Quality) via Olympus Viewer 3.
4. General camera settings, Noise Filter = OFF, Contrast/Saturation/sharpness = 0, White Balance = Auto (with an option maintain warm color = OFF), Gradation = Normal
5. Minimal post-processing applied to the images, with slight brightness/contrast balance tweak. All images were almost as good as straight out of camera, with minimal cropping for better presentation.

Olympus has recently launched two new lenses, M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO and 8mm F1.8 PRO Fisheye. I originally wanted to take both lenses out to shoot over the weekend, but decided against using two lenses at the same time, knowing it is best to fully concentrate using just one lens, so I can focus and plan my shots more carefully. I shall come back to the fisheye lens very soon.

The Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 PRO lens is highly anticipated, and with the official launch Olympus has now completed their "holy trinity" of PRO lens line-up, consisting full coverage of focal length with constant bright aperture from ultra wide angle all the way to super telephoto range (7-14mm, 12-40mm and 40-150mm). Many working professional photographers I know, have sworn by the importance of having the "holy trinity" equivalent lenses from Canon and Nikon counterparts, and many arguments have been made against mirrorless interchangeable lens camera system for the lack of serious, constant zoom lenses. This argument is no longer valid!

An ultra wide angle lens is not for everyone. The lens exhibits high chance of getting perspective distortion (nothing to do with lens flaw, this is a characteristic of a super wide lens), which will stretch and elongate subjects, looking disproportionate and unrealistic in many occasions. Nonetheless, ultra wide angle lens are must haves in many photography needs as well, especially for landscape, architecture, night sky (milky way) interior and even some street photography shooters. There are times when the standard wide angle coverage is just not wide enough and wider coverage is needed, in general shooting conditions. This is where the extra wide angle comes in to do what other lenses cannot. 


The test units for the Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm F2.8 Pro lens as well as the 8mm F1.8 fisheye lens have arrived. I am looking at them and gosh I just cannot wait to just run out of the office and shoot some photographs. I have made arrangements and will be on a road trip to test the M.Zuiko 7-14mm Pro lens. I figured, I should not be testing two lenses at the same time and just concentrate on one lens first, but will also bring along the 8mm F1.8 fisheye lens, just in case I found something interesting I want to shoot with. I think it is best to have a main focus on one lens and not having to split my attention to two different lenses. 

While waiting for the weekend to come (which seems like an eternity) I shall be sharing some photographs taken from last weekend's quick shutter therapy session. It was at Brickfield's area, which I seldom covered, hence I am sure you will find the photographs a breath of new air (unless you are of course a street photographer familiar with KL streets). 

All images were taken with Panasonic GM1 and Olympus M.Zuiko lenses 45mm F1.8, 25mm F1.8 and the 9mm F8 fisheye bodycaplens


Any street photographers in KL must have shot this elevator cube thingy like a thousand times. 


Any photographers exploring street photographer in Kuala Lumpur would most definitely do some sessions at the famous Petaling Street, or Chinatown of KL. I have mentioned that this is not my preferred street hunting ground, but it is also one of the most frequented, and shot locations by any street photographers out there. I was there this morning with Nick Wade and we attacked the streets and the cats we found along the way. 

Is there anything specific I wanted to achieve in my photography this morning? Or in any of my shutter therapy sessions generally speaking? No, not really. I think the main objective is having fun, and what better way to do that than clicking the camera away and shoot into the randomness that we chanced on the streets. Again, this time I armed myself with the Panasonic GM1. 

Special thanks to Frederick who has bought me some spare batteries so I can now shoot without being too conservative on the short battery life. 

All images were taken with Panasonic GM1 and Olympus M.Zuiko lenses 45mm F1.8 and 17mm F1.8

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It is a public holiday in Malaysia today, celebrating the Labor Day, and what better chance I can take than to go all out to have an awesome shutter therapy session on the street this morning. I decided to arm myself with the cute tiny Panasonic GM1 and attacked streets of Chow Kit, together with Jackie Loi and his friend, Eric. It was a hot, sunny morning, and I managed to get some photos which I am sharing here now. 

It was a slow, easy morning hence we had quite a fun, and relaxing walk at Chow Kit streets. 

I think many photographers struggle too hard to achieve extraordinary results. I on the other hand chose to do the exact opposite. If you have not noticed, all my images are focusing on very ordinary subjects, ordinary people in everyday places, nothing out of the usual, nothing spectacular. I have said this before, and I will say it again, as photographers, it is important to find beauty in ordinary things. Instead of going to find the elusive "moments", we have to open our eyes to realize that photography opportunities are all around us, all we have to do is grab the camera, go out and SHOOT. 

All images were taken with Panasonic GM1 and Olympus M.Zuiko lenses 45mm F1.8 and 25mm F1.8

Start the day with Chilli Pan Mee at Kin Kin Restaurant. Almost every time I am shooting at Chow Kit I would have this as breakfast. 

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