Month: May 2016

27/05/2016 / / Micro Four Thirds

Meike-lenses

Meike, a Chinese company best known for its camera accessories, has announced four new lenses for Micro 4/3, Nikon 1, Fuji X, Canon EOS M and Sony E mounts: 25mm f/0.95, 28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.7 and 50mm f/2.0.

Most of them are already available at Amazon US, Amazon UK and Amazon DE. The 25mm f/0.95 is undoubtedly the most interesting lens of the bunch, but it’s also the most expensive one with a price tag of $660. The other three cost between $80-90.

26/05/2016 / / Nikon 1

Sadly the Nikon EN-EL15 battery in my Nikon 1 V1 has reached the end of its working life. It happened without there being any sign whatsoever that it would die. I took some photos one day, depleting the battery in the process, and recharged it afterwards. The next day I was greeted with the following message on the camera display.

Nikon EN-EL15 battery at the end of life

23/05/2016 / / Micro Four Thirds

I must confess that I was naive when I bought my first set of C-mount adapters for my Nikon 1 V1 and Olympus OM-D E-M10. I assumed that it was very easy to make a so called “dumb adapter” – meaning an adapter that doesn’t pass through electrical signals from the camera to the lens and vice versa. Boy was I wrong! As it turns out it is quite a challenge to get the design right, in order to ensure compatibility with as many lenses as possible. At least it seems to be a challenge for manufacturers like “Kiwi”. I posted a couple of images down below, so you can identify the adapters in question.

C-mount to Nikon 1

C-mount to Nikon 1 adapter made by Kiwi

C-mount to Micro Four Thirds

C-mount to M4/3 adapter made by Kiwi

22/05/2016 / / Olympus OM-D E-M10
20/05/2016 / / Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo

In the past I was very skeptical of smartphone cameras. I still own and use a Samsung Galaxy Trend, released in 2012. In my opinion it is a rather lackluster photo taking device with a 5 megapixel pinhead sized sensor, very limited control over shooting parameters and some other annoyances, like slow and laggy user interface. It shares the insides with the Galaxy S Duos – you can find a list of its specs on gsmarena.

To be fair it was a budget phone at the time of purchase and is even less than that now. But even high-end smartphones – aside from only a few exceptions, like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1 – don’t offer enough space for a larger sensor, better optics and thus significantly better image quality. Still, since my smartphone usage is limited to making calls, sending massages and browsing the web in those moments when I don’t have my laptop handy, I never saw the need to upgrade.

However, a few months ago my parents decided to make the leap into the smartphone era with two Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo smartphones. They got a bit embarrassed after seeing that even some of their technophobic friends now own and use them. This gave me the opportunity to test the photographic capabilities of a solid mid-range smartphone.

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & Olympus 45mm f/1.8

13/05/2016 / / Konica Minolta

Just like Ricoh has done two weeks ago Konica Minolta has now patented a new lens for 1” sensor format, a 9-90mm f/2.8-5.6 zoom with image stabilization. Oddly enough, despite being a stop faster at the wide angle end and offering a 24mm instead of a 28mm full frame equivalent focal length, it has a much simpler lens design – 16 instead of 19 lens elements – than the Nikon 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4-5.6 VR zoom lens.

Konica-9-90mm-f-2.8-5.6-1-inch-format

Image source: egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp

13/05/2016 / / Macro
12/05/2016 / / Adapter

Not long ago while cleaning the house more thoroughly I discovered my father’s old Industar 50mm F3.5. There are many versions of the Industar 50, this one is the version for the M39 mount without the “-2” in its name. And now I have finally bought a M39 to micro 4/3 adapter to test this lens out.

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & 50mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens

08/05/2016 / / C-Mount 50mm f/1.4

Do you know that feeling when you fall in love with somebody or something anew? Well, I loved the cheap 50mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens on the Nikon 1 V1 – not so much the ease of use on the N1 camera but the bokeh and its unique rendering. And now using it on the Olympus OM-D E-M10 – with exposure metering, IBIS, focus peaking and magnification – I find that I’m falling in love with it again. 🙂

Shot with: Olympus OM-D E-M10 & 50mm f/1.4 CCTV C-mount lens

07/05/2016 / / Macro