ROBIN WONG

Brightin Star sent me their latest 50mm F0.95 lens for Micro Four Thirds mount, and I had the opportunity to test it on the OM System OM-3 camera which was on loan from OM System Malaysia. I had the wonderful privilege to shoot the beautiful model Lily (IG @lilyayumiii) who was such a pleasure to work with. The Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 was so fun to shot with - it was so sharp wide open at F0.95 and can create razor thin shallow depth of field effect to maximize background blur, effectively isolating your subject from the background. If you are on a tight budget on lenses yet you want to produce super bokeh shots for your portraits, the Brightin Star 50mm F0.95 is a strong contender, but you do have to work a bit harder to get your shots using manual focus. Besides, there are no F0.95 lenses with AF for Micro Four Thirds yet. I have shared my mini review of the lens and my experience using it on the OM-3 in my latest video here (click). For this blog entry, I am sharing the first look of Lily during the portrait shooting sessions. More images to come in following blog entries soon. 

I have had the Tamron 90mm F2.8 Di III Macro lens on loan from Futuromic Malaysia for quite some time now, and I must return it soon. However, I managed to squeeze one last insect macro session at the park nearby. Since I did not spend that much time in this session, I was not expecting to get many exotic shots, but there were some really cute and pretty jumping spiders that made my day. I mounted the Tamron 90mm Macro lens on my own Nikon Z5, then added my old Olympus FL-50R flash on top of it, diffused through AK diffuser (thanks to Emilie Talpin), and hunted some little creatures. I got to say, the results are not too bad at all!

I have been asked many times if I get creative burnout, and if I do, how do I circumvent it and is there any good solutions I have tried? Well, the answer isn't very straightforward, depending on several factors like - who is asking, the burnout happening on which front, whether it is the photographer side of me shooting images, or the writing and content creating side? There is no one answer that fits all. I personally admit that I have not experienced any severe burnout yet, in my years of running this blog, or dabbling in the universe of photography, but I do have a lot to say in this topic. 

This is a continuation from yesterday's blog entry on the TTArtisan 35mm F1.8 II lens. The lens gives an approximately 50mm focal length when mounted on Sony APS-C (E-Mount) Mirrorless camera body. In this case, I used the TTArtisan 35mm on my old Sony NEX-6. It is just so incredible to see how third-party lens makers can do so much with so little. Retailing new for just USD125, the lens can deliver really impressive results. I am pleased with the rendering of the lens - the sharpness is excellent, the bokeh is smooth and creamy, the flaws are well managed, overall, the images come out looking natural and realistic. Is the lens better than Sony's native 35mm F1.8 lens for APS-C? I would not know, as I do not have one to make a direct comparison, but for such a low price point, and seeing what the TTArtisan 35mm F1.8 II can do, I got to say, I don't wish it to be any better, it is as good as it gets! Cheap China-made lenses are getting so good these days, why pay more? Just grab one and start shooting already. No more excuses on lenses being expensive. 

What a time to be alive and enjoying photography today, we do not lack options when it comes to budget-friendly, yet high performing capable lenses. Case in point - TTArtisan's latest 35mm F1.8 II lens exceeded my expectations of what I can get from a USD125 lens. It is compact and light, the sharpness is very good wide open at F1.8, and the sharpness is consistent from edge to edge and corner to corner of the frame, the lens produces beautiful bokeh, manages lens flaws reasonably well, and honestly there isn't anything much to complain about the lens. The only issue I had was some purple fringing, which was not a deal-breaker, considering the budget price tag. I attached the lens on my old Sony NEX-6 and went about doing some shutter therapy sessions. I am sharing these fresh images from streets of Kuala Lumpur in this blog entry. If you want my opinion on the TTArtisan 35mm F1.8 II in video format, you can check it out here (click). 

Merely a quarter into 2025, I have found myself collecting a wider range of images than usual. For my personal photography, I do mostly street shooting, as I have often called them shutter therapy sessions. However, the year 2025 proved to be interesting, it is moving me out of my comfort zone, and I have been taking more images that I would not have taken, unless they were required for specific content on my YouTube channel. I have been accepting more lenses from third-party manufacturers for reviews: anything from ultra wide-angle lens to cheap standard primes and add some accessories like close up lens and ND filter into the mix, my gallery of images expanded considerably over the past months. It is nice to see a growing variety of photographs generated on this blog (or YouTube, well they are all from me). Here is a quick compilation of some of my favorite recent images from the first few months of 2025. 

OM Digital Solutions may have made some questionable decisions in their product strategy and marketing activities lately, but one thing for sure that never went wrong since the days of Olympus - the weather-sealing capabilities of their cameras and lenses. I have to say, the reliability of the camera's sealing against harsh environment - splash, dust and freeze, is second to none. Almost all cameras that I have reviewed from Olympus and more recently OM System, I have run them through vigorous running water test. The OM System OM-3 was no exception, and as expected, no surprise here really, the camera survived and had no issues after the water splash. I even made a video to show the water running onto the camera and lens, OM System 25mm F1.8 II, which was also weather-resistant. You can watch the shorts here (click). The confidence of having such robustly built camera is something that I do appreciate a lot.