ROBIN WONG

It is not secret that the main reason I bought the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 was to be used on my still alive Olympus DSLR E-1. I am falling more and more in love with this dinosaur from 20 years ago, the first Four Thirds system DSLR. While the camera is far from perfect, and has some limitations, I did not think they affected me much for my street shooting. The 5MP CCD sensor may not have enough megapixels for most people, but I find that liberating - it allows me to pay closer attention to framing on the spot, and the images from that sensor has breathtaking color rendition, and unmatched beautiful skin tones. Olympus got many things right in the E-1, which the modern camera makers should learn a thing or two from - logical camera layout, simplistic menu system, ergonomic buttons and dials placement, and that handling was second to none, as you hold the camera in your hands, you know that it feels right. Oh and let's not forget the shutter sound, the sweet, addictive shutter clicking, it just begs to be used! I made a video to share my thoughts on using Olympus E-1 in 2023 (click here), and of course, plenty of fresh street images.

I recently got my hands on a used Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-54mm F2.8-3.5 lens to be used on my Olympus DSLR E-1. This lens was also the first ever Four Thirds DSLR lens, and is about 20 years old now. The lens adopts telecentric optical design, which was then reused by Canon and Nikon much later when they launched their mirrorless full frame system. I thought it would be fun to test the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm on my OM System OM-1, as I was curious about the AF performance on newer Micro Four Thirds bodies, and the capabilities of the lens to handle newer, higher resolution image sensors. I shared my thoughts in my latest video here (click). Here in this entry, I post fresh photos, all taken with the Zuiko Digital 14-54mm lens on my OM-1 camera. 

When I was sent the Brightin Star 35mm F0.95 for testing, my expectations on the lens was quite low, considering the budget price tag (the last I checked it was at USD179). However, I was pleasantly surprised after spending enough time with the lens, the performance exceeded my expectations. In short, the Brightin Sar 35mm was already quite sharp at wide open F0.95, and it does render beautiful bokeh. This could be the sharpest F0.95 manual focusing lens I have encountered, and I was very satisfied with the lens quality. Of course, it does come with some flaws, which I have discussed in detail in my video review here (click). 

I bought the Panasonic Lumix LZ8 in 2009 (or was it 2010? Can't be 100% sure now) for construction site documentation use back in the days when I was still working as an engineer. Compared to the crappy cheap point and shoot compacts the company I worked for provided, the LZ8 had a few advantages to offer which were important to me - more zoom reach (5x zoom), full manual control (to accurately set the exposure) and improved image quality, with better resolution and dynamic range. As an engineer, high quality images were important for my site reports, and I purchased my own camera to fit these purposes. Fast forward to today, I still keep this camera round and it is still pretty much alive. I brought it out recently for some street shooting and I shared my experience here in my latest video (click). All the images show in this blog entry were taken with the same Lumix LZ8, but of course, more recently in Chow Kit, KL. 

I managed to get my hands on a loaned Sigma 30mm F1.4, and I thought it would be fun to attack the streets of Kuala Lumpur and grab some portraits of strangers. It is close to my favourite focal length 50mm equivalent to shoot on the streets, and the F1.4 bright aperture can create adequate shallow depth of field separation for my portraits. I mounted the Sigma 30mm F1.4 on my OM System OM-1 camera and did a POV street shooting video, which showed you what was happening around and in front of me before I clicked my shutter button for each shot. I thought the Sigma 30mm is a wonderful lens, great value for what it is and we do need more F1.4 lenses for Micro Four Thirds! Instead of making ridiculously expensive, and bulkier than necessary F1.2 lenses, I think F1.4 lenses make more sense in giving more advantage in light gathering, yet maintaining balance in size and weight. POV video can be found here (click). 

I decided to scratch my insect macro itch, so I went to the nearby park to grab some quick shots of whatever I can find there. Nothing out of the ordinary, just your usual garden bugs, if I wanted something more exotic I got to travel a lot further and deeper into the forest, which I did not intend to as I did not want to meet a mountain lion and get swallowed alive. Anyways, I brought the 7Artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro II lens and attached it onto my Olympus E-M1 Mark II, using my usual insect macro technique with wireless flash fired off camera and I had some shots that I was actually quite pleased with. I also made a video showcasing these shots, together with 5 tips for shooting awesome insect macro images, you can find the video here (click). 

The second lens that I purchased from Olympus was the Zuiko Digital 40-150mm F3.5-4.5 to accompany my kit lens for DSLR E-520. It was a versatile, budget telephoto zoom lens that I have used for many years, creating some wonderful shots. The lens has brighter than usual aperture of 3.5-4.5 versus the typical F4-5.6 options from other manufacturers when it comes to budget telephoto lenses, and I appreciate the ability to gather a little more light, negating the need to raise the ISO numbers unnecessarily. I still have the lens today, and I thought it would be fun to bring it out for another spin, this time mounting it on my OM System OM-1 camera. I went to the KL Bird Park to grab some cute bird photos! The AF was fast, bird AI subject detection tracking worked like a charm, the image quality still stands today, getting sharp, high contrast images, and I thought we should have a Micro Four Thirds update for this 40-150mm F3.5-4.5 budget lens! Video here (click), if you want to watch the whole shooting process.

I brought the 7Artisans 18mm F6.3 II body cap lens which I have purchased recently out for another spin during my shutter therapy session. I thought the almost 35mm equivalent focal length was quite a nice coverage for general street shooting. I have shared my early impressions on this lens before, so I am not going to repeat myself. I did dive in a little deeper in my latest video here (click). In short, I personally think 7Artisans outdid Olympus in their body cap lenses simply because they made them in full metal construction (Olympus had theirs in plastic) with full manual focusing ring which was so much easier to operate (versus Olympus variants having tiny lever for manual focus pull). I shall share some new images shot with the body cap lens on Olympus OM-D E-M10 (original) in this blog entry. 

I saw the Nikon ZF at the YL Photo Fair 2023, largest photo trade event in Malaysia and I asked the people from Futuromic (official distributor of Nikon, Malaysia) if I could have the ZF for a while on my own. They said yes! So I brought the Nikon ZF and Z 40mm F2 out for a quick test, and I managed to make a video to share some quick impressions on the camera (you can find the video here). I thought Nikon ZF will be a hit - they got everything right, nailing the retro inspired design, fitting in beefy specifications with AF system and processing power from their current flagship Z8, including powerful image stabilization which is optimized and linked to the AF target area and all this, in a package of asking price no more than the latest Micro Four Thirds cameras Panasonic G9 II and OM System OM-1. Yet the ZF is a full frame camera and I think this positions the camera extremely high in everyone's wishlist! Of course I cannot do a full review yet, as I only had the camera for less than an hour, and that is OK - it was good enough to convince me that Nikon is heading the right direction. This classic vintage camera design with modern specification strategy is clearly working - I almost, almost pre-ordered one myself. 

Last Tuesday (10 October 2023) I had the privilege to attend the YouTube Creator Day 2023 event at Google Office inside the Axiata Tower at KL Sentral. I thought it was not an everyday opportunity to get invited into the Google office and definitely a rare opportunity to connect to the key people at YouTube in person. It was a half day event, packed with dense information sharing about growing a channel, reading and better understaning the Analytics for strategy optimization purposes and there was also a panel speaker to share her tips and experience in growing her YouTube channel. Overall, it was like going back to class, sitting inside a lecture hall absorbing as much data as possible to be processed at a later date, and I wish they shared a little more on the monetization tips, but maybe next time they will. This was after all the first Creator Day after the pause due to the pandemic and lockdowns, and the last similar event I attended was in 2019. It was a fun experience, I did learn a thing or two and met some fellow Malaysian creators, none from the photography/camera crowd, but still cool to see everyone doing their own creative things!

Last weekend has been extremely eventful for me. I was invited by my friend Bihzhu to join her friends to a fishing trip at Kuala Rompin in Pahang. The location was about 4 hours or more drive away from Kuala Lumpur. I encountered my first ever Sailfish, and it was quite a magnificent experience! Also, we had a chance to meet the King (Agong) of the country in that same weekend too! What a crazy adventure it was, and a much needed time away from the city to just chill and spend quality time with truly amazing people. Special thanks to Shamin (from TheMilkfishLady) and Naweshad for hosting us, it was truly an unforgettable experience! I vlogged the fishhing trip of course, you can find the video here (click). 

Youngnuo sent me their budget standard zoom lens for Micro Four Thirds mount, the YN 12-35mm F2.8-4 and I brought the lens to Penang for a wedding reception shoot, as well as some casual snapshots. While I fully tested the lens on an actual job, shooting a wedding, I cannot share the images from the private client, but I can of course share my own personal shots. I thought the Yongnuo 12-35mm is a solid budget option, offering brighter aperture, weather-sealing and better optics than standard kit lenes, yet asking for about half the price of what the PRO grade zooms from Olympus or Panasonic. I did not do a full review this time, I was merely sharing my thoughts on what I liked and disliked about the Yongnuo 12-35mm lens in my latest video here (click). 

I don't get the chance to share a lot of job images, mainly because some of my clients are quite private, and some jobs I was doing for government agencies and they won't appreciate the images of the ministers being plastered on some random YouTube video, or appear on blogs here. I was fortunate to be shooting a show at KLPAC (Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center) recently with my Olympus E-M1 Mark II which I am allowed to share here! It was a live music show in a rather dimly lit environment with the performers constantly moving, and I had to crank up the ISO up to 12800 in some situations. I shared more about the challenges and how I overcome them in my latest video here (click). I shall share these fresh images here, mostly shot from ISO3200 to ISO12800, with Panasonic 9m F1.7, Olympus 17mm, 45mm and 75mm F1.8 lenses. 

Previously I mentioned that I have sold off the Fuji X100F because of two reasons - slow AF which was not usable for my street shooting, and mediocre lens that is soft wide open and poor close up performance. I have replaced my 35mm street shooting needs with Canon 35mm F2 EF lens on my Canon 5D original. The Canon 35mm EF was an old, classic lens released in the year 1990, and was not even designed for use in digital cameras. Nevertheless, I find the lens to perform satisfactorily, rendering sharp, detailed images with realistic contrast, and good flaw controls, and no issues being too severe. I particularly love the fast AF and compact, lightweight design, when used with the 5D DSLR, it was quite a manageable combo. I did a street POV video in Kuala Lumpur, you can find my video here (click), and in this blog I share all images taken with that dinosaur Canon 35mm lens.

When I started photography many of my seniors and "gurus" advised me strongly against using Auto mode when shooting with my camera. They claimed that by going full manual and jumping into the deep end immediately will benefit me greatly as a learning photographer. I think that was completely bogus and we should not dismiss the Auto mode too quickly. I think it is the perfect tool for beginners to start learning about how the camera works, without feeling completely drowned by millions of variables and settings on the camera. I think Auto mode is also useful for seasoned photographers as a tool in non-critical shooting situations, and achieving technical perfection in photographs is not everything. I explored this and more in my latest video here (click). Also, I went out for several shutter therapy sessions shooting with my newly acquired Nikkor 10mm F2.8 (for 1 system) mounted on my Nikon J1, all in Auto mode of course! 

I made a short trip to my hometown, Kuching in Borneo recently with a group of friends. Our main agenda was to eat as much good food as we can, see some interesting places and have a fun, relaxing holiday away from the busy-ness of city life in Kuala Lumpur. We all needed that short break. Photography was not part of the plan, but I wanted to bring along a camera anyway just in case I saw something I wanted to capture. Therefore, I carried a minimalist setup of the tiny Panasonic GM1 with Lumix 12-32mm kit lens mounted on it. I thought the Lumix 12-32mm did a splendid job being versatile enough to capture a variety of shots in different situations, and I appreciate the super compact form factor. The image quality from the lens is also nothing to scoff at. I shared my thoughts about why I think the Lumix 12-32mm is a great lens for casual travel snapshots, you can find the video here (click). 

I recently purchased a Yongnno 40mm F2.8 for Nikon F-Mount. For a budget lens, which only costs about RM350 (bought locally from Shopee, Malaysia), I thought the lens performed decently. I did not expect Pro grade image quality, but the sharpness at the center of the frame was very good wide open, and the sharpness improved as the lens was stopped down, all the way to the corners. The AF was fine, the lens flaws such as flare, chromatic aberration and distortion were present, but nothing too severe and can be considered well managed at this super low price point. The lens also features a USB port for direct firmware upgrade, with the latest firmware 1.02 (released December 2017) drastically improved AF efficiency. I did a video to explore this lens in more detail (you can find it here). In short, not a bad 40mm lens if you want to use one for Nikon DSLR!

I have been shooting with wide angle more and more for my street photography recently and I found myself loving the Panasonic 15mm F1.7. I made a video to talk about the reasons why I love the Panasonic 15mm (you can find the video here). I have had the lens for a while, I used the Panasonic 15mm mainly for video making, one of the main lenses to create content for my YouTube channel, as I use it alongside the Olympus 45mm F1.8. The two lenses setup works very well, compact and easy to carry around. The other reason I got the Panasonic 15mm a while ago was to use it as a wide angle prime for my street shooting, which I have been doing more lately. 

My friend Azul Adnan, whom has just published his book JALAN, had just given a talk representing Riwayat (bookstore) at Merdeka Boleh event, happening inside KLOE Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The talk was earlier this afternoon, and I was present to give my support. I brought along an unconventional setup to grab some quick images - the Panasonic GM1 and a few small-ish Micro Four Thirds lenses. The GM1 was not built for such a shoot, but I did not want to bring my workhorse Olympus E-M1 Mark II, and wanted to be stealthier, so I had a much smaller footprint with the Panasonic. Not the best camera to do the job, as the AF was not the quickest, and the older 16MP image sensor is showing its age handling strong backlit and low light shooting, but I powered through and got some images for Azul. I am sharing all the images here. 

All images were shot with Panasonic GM1, Lumix 12-32mm kit lens, M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 and 40-150mm R lens. 

My friend Azul Adnan has just launched a new photobook titled JALAN. I had the privilege to do a video interview with him for my YouTube channel, and you can find that video here (click). Azul is one of the regulars that I hang out with to do street shooting around Kuala Lumpur area, and has been featured on my POV street shooting videos many times. He is quite an accomplished photographer himself, having had a solo exhibition with National Arts Gallery in 2018, is actively teaching photography in a university, and recently he has just given a talk at Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival 2023. I am fortunate to have known and called Azul a friend, and I am deeply inspired by his latest photobook Jalan, which is on sale now. Congratulations to Azul, and I hope to see volume 2 coming soon!

If you are a Malaysian please do consider supporting Azul, you can purchase his book by contacting him directly at his Instagram (@azuladnan)

I have just realized that I have not posted the images of food adventures that I have had when I was home in Kuching, Borneo in April. I returned to my hometown for "Ching Ming" and of course, I went around and ate too much good food. Once upon a time this blog was also a place for food images dump, so I thought why not indulge you people with some of these lovely dishes from my beloved birth place! All images were taken with Nikon D600 and either Nikon 50mm F1.8 D or Yongnuo 35m F2 lens. 

I am a huge fan of minimal setup and using smaller cameras for street photography. However that also means the smaller cameras come with some compromises, typically worse handling with smaller gripping area, no EVF, less direct controls and functions and shorter battery life. My favourite small camera setup is Panasonic GM1 and Olympus 17mm F1.8, and I did a POV street video recently with this combo. In the same video, I also shared some tips on how to overcome and workaround the issues of using smaller cameras for street shooting. I shall summarize the points in the video here, and of course, share the fresh images shot around streets of Kuala Lumpur. POV video here (click). 

In a recent trip back home to Kuching, Borneo, I did manage to squeeze a bit of time for street shooting. I brought along the dinosaur Nikon D600 and 50mm F1.8, and had some shutter therapy at the old town area of Kuching. I got some images that I am quite satisfied with, and I thought I have been talking a lot about cameras and lenses lately. So to make things a bit different, why not set aside the gear talk and shift the focus to what matters more in photography - what story to tell in a photograph, how to frame a subject effectively, paying attention to lighting and how to execute the decisive moment! I shared all this in my latest video here (click). Instead of obsessing over technicalities and gear, let's just talk images for once. 

In my latest YouTube video here (click) I discuss about the multiple reasons that led to the downfall of Nikon 1 (CX format) system. However, I did find myself enjoying this camera a lot for street shooting. I love the minimalist look and setup, I like the ability to just point and shoot and still get reliable and consistent results, I like the fast AF, the bright, smooth screen, the rather sufficient image quality from the 1-inch type image sensor when shooting in good light. Here, I am sharing more images shot with my Nikon 1 J1 and Nikkor 18.5mm F1.8 lens. 

Pergear sent me their upgraded macro lens, the 60mm F2.8 2x Extreme Macro lens (2023 version), and I brought the lens out together with my OM System OM-1 to shoot some insect macro. I did not intend to make a full review for this lens, as I only wanted to test the lens with its intended purpose - shooting extreme macro, and I thought what better way to do that than hunting local little critters, insects and spiders? Of course I'd share plenty of image samples, with my thoughts on what I liked and disliked about the lens, and I even made a video for this Pergear Macro lens, you can find it here (click). 

After all the AF drama with OM-1 spanning multiple  videos and thousands of comments, many have asked if I have found a resolution to that issue. My answer is Olympus E-M1 Mark II, I am using this old camera of mine as my main workhorse now. E-M1 Mark II has superior S-AF which I need for low light, low contrast scenarios where the OM-1 failed miserably, and the image output is almost identical to the OM-1, even if there is any difference it is negligible. Same image quality, better AF, I'd pick the E-M1 Mark II. I discussed this in further detail in my latest video here (click), I won't repeat myself, but I want to share some shots which I have taken with the E-M1 Mark II recently for Bihzhu, a friend performing her awesome music live! It is always a treat shooting Bihzhu. 

All images were taken with E-M1 Mark II and M.Zuiko lenses 45mm F1.8, 75mm F1.8, 12-40mm F2.8 PRO and Panasonic 9mm F1.7. 

A few months ago I did an outdoor portrait shooting session for an old friend, Jerry whom I have known from my secondary school days in Kuching, Borneo. I was so happy to see Jerry with beautiful Abby, and it was a privilege for me to shoot a few quick portraits for them. I attended their actual day wedding just yesterday, and I have vlogged about their church wedding ceremony and reception dinner, you can check out my video here (click). In this blog entry I am sharing some shots that I have taken during the outdoor session, all shot on OM System OM-1 and a few Micro Four Thirds lenses, notably M.Zuiko 45mm F1.8 and 75mm F1.8. 

To dear Jerry & Abby, congratulations on getting married, and I wish you nothing but the best for your journey together as husband and wife, and you may receive abundant love, joy and blessings!

I did not get the chance to explore the Nikon 1 system back then, because I was in no financial shape to own multiple camera systems, and I was perfectly happy with Four Thirds (and subsequently Micro Four Thirds) System that I was using. However, these tiny cute compacts with interchangeable lens capability from Nikon always got my curiosity and now after so many years since they were discontinued, the price went down so much in the used market, I just could not resist picking one up and giving it a try. After a few shutter therapy rounds, I must say I enjoyed the Nikon J1 a lot more than I initially expected. I also did a POV video, which you can find here (click). 

I have been using the old Nikon D50 more and more recently for my street shooting, and I must admit I am loving this dinosaur. The 6MP image sensor may be outdated and has limited dynamic range and high ISO performance for today's standards, but the camera always delivers beautiful images that I am thoroughly satisfied with. The autofocus is reliable, I can nail some moving shots with ease, I love the handling of the camera, the simplicity of operations and menu, and everything about the D50 just works! I made a video to explore why I am enjoying this old D50 so much, you can watch it here (click). In this blog entry, I am just dumping a series of images shot at a day trip to Sekinchan with my friends Jon, Andrew and Matti (a few months ago, when he was still in Malaysia). 

About a month ago I decided to take the plunge and did my first ever live-stream on YouTube. It was nerve-wrecking, I was moving so far out of my comfort zone. The first stream went quite well, until the end after 2 hours mark, my video and audio feed both got disconnected while the stream went on and people can still continue to leave comments on the live stream. I spent 10 minutes trying to figure out what went wrong and troubleshooting to no avail, so I decided to end the stream. Fast forward a month later, which was last evening at 9pm, I did my second live stream, and this time, it went on without technical hiccup. 

Just like my usual video production, I practice minimalism. 

Everything is made to be simple, and stripped down. I don't use OBS software or any cool fancy apps, the more things to tinker around, the more chances of error and things going wrong. I piped my video feed into YouTube straight from the camera's HDMI output. I used a USB microphone to simplify things further, no need to worry about power, just plug and play and I was using a cheap microphone. Audio was not "professional grade" but it was clear, and my speech was perfectly audible, and I think the background noise was quite well managed at the same time. I used a single monitor screen (everyone asked me to use two or multiple monitor setup), like, guys, you only have TWO eyes. How many places do you want your eyes to roam around at the same time? My stream was setup for me to answer questions from start to finish, so my eyes were glued to the comments panel at all times! 

I have seen many people trying too hard, going the extra mile, making things super complicated that when something went wrong they don't know where to pin-point the problem. And something always goes wrong. I am just making things easy for myself to manage, because I am a one man crew, the less to think and worry about, the better. Instead, I'd concentrate my focus and energy into my delivery, and interaction with my precious audience. 

I was extremely nervous doing this live stream and that only proved one thing - I was outside my comfort zone. This was a good thing, I am exploring unfamiliar territories and I am learning new things. 

Will I do this stream again? Perhaps, but not too often. Now, I'd like to do maybe once a month, or once in two months, we shall see how things go. 

I found a crazy cheap used old compact point and shoot Sony camera, the Cybershot T70 for less than RM50 (USD10?), and I thought it would be fun to bring it out for some shutter therapy. The camera works fine 70% of the time, behaving as it should, but the other 30% it just shakes like it drank too much coffee, the image stabilization motor was faulty and causes severe vibration on the entire camera. The resulting images came out surpringly interesting! That's the risk of buying used, old cameras, sometimes you end up with unexpected issues, in this case, art making machine. 

I just could not help myself when I stumbled upon the 7Artisans 18mm F6.3 II body cap lens on Shopee (online shopping platform in Malaysia) and decided to get it. I had zero expectations as the lens does seem like it was made to be just for fun and not for anything serious, and for the low price I'd not expect any miracles either. I paired the 7Artisans body cap lens with my Olympus PEN Mini and had a short photowalk, which I also recorded a POV street shooting video to show what happens in front and around me before I pressed my shutter button. I also share some thoughts on zone focusing (Ricoh shooters called it "snap focus") in that same video here (click). 

I spent the past weekend in Ipoh, a city about 3 hours' drive north from Kuala Lumpur. My friend Spencer was attending a colleague's wedding, so I took this opportunity to join him along the ride out of city, for a short weekend escape. We had too much food, and it was indeed nice to just eat and not worry about work or making content for a while. I brought along the Canon 5D and 50mm F1.8 lens and took some shots from this spontaneous, short trip. I really love the colors that the Canon 5D produces, there is just some magic that I cannot describe. 

One day, out of total randomness I decided to sign up for a Nikon Photowalk happening here in Kuala Lumpur. It was an official event, organized by Futuromic (caretaker and distributor of Nikon in Malaysia) and I did have some friends there which I met and caught up with. I brought along my Nikon D600 and 50mm F1.8 D and had some fun joining the group for a walk along the streets. The theme for the day was black and white, and I did submit my monochromatic images to the group. However, the day was just too colorful to stick strictly to black and white, and here in my own blog I can show whatever I want, so I am celebrating all the wonderful colors from that photowalk session. Also I made a video from that same images I took from this session, explaining why I love using 50mm for my street photography, you can find the video here (click). 

I have just dropped a new video, and it was fully presented in my own national language, Bahasa Malaysia. I have been actively making YouTube videos for more than 3 years now, all the videos have been fully spoken in English. I decided to try something different and experiment with Malay because I feel that it can be a way to connect better with the local audience. Of course, this is just a trial, my English speaking content will continue to come and there is no change to the way I share my content on YouTube, but I thought it would be fun to do something completely different, and pushed myself out of my own comfort zone. You can find the video which is live now here (click).