ROBIN WONG

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).