ROBIN WONG

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.