OznAsia

I got the landlord to replace one of the locks to the front door of my flat. I was given only one key and as I share this place I had to get another cut. I asked at one of the hardware stalls at the morning market if anyone there cut keys. 'No, you have to go to Chulia Street or Pulau Tikus. But they might be closed until after Chinese New Year.'

I'd seen the one in Pulau Tikus before, working on the street, but each time I drove down Burma Road now there was no sign of him. I decided to leave it until I returned from my Australian trip.

Back in Penang I managed to get a parking spot opposite his stall. I had a small child with me and had to cross a busy road. He was getting ready to leave on his three-wheeled scooter. I signalled for him to wait and he did.

Got the key cut and we chatted. Jason was wearing a t-shirt that looked like a team shirt for a Myanmar sporting team. I asked if he was Burmese. 'No,' he said. 'We exchange shirts with members from other teams.' Jason was an athlete who swam for the Malaysian team in the Asian paralympics. He says he retired from swimming because in Malaysia success is not based on ability. 'You mean on who you know?' I asked. He nodded agreement.

I told him about the 100 Strangers project and he was happy to participate. Small dilemma for me. I only had my TZ10 pocket camera with me. My G2 was in the car but I didn't want to keep him waiting while I crossed the road twice with this child so I decided to go with the TZ10. Perhaps it's not as good a shot as I would have got otherwise but never-the-less, here is Jason.

This picture is #6 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page. My 100 Strangers set.

Labels: 100 Strangers, Asia, Lumix, Panasonic, Penang, photography, stranger, TZ10

This blog has not been updated very regularly lately. It was intended to tell of my life in Asia. I'm still in Asia but lately I'm not doing much that I consider to be particularly different. What I am doing is becoming more involved with photography as I get to know my Lumix G2 camera and its lenses. If you want to see what I'm doing these days, my flickr page is updated regularly—much more than this blog.

The camera I have chosen is one of many micro-four-thirds cameras that have become popular for their quality images and compact size. There are now many lenses available for M4/3 users and recently I was asked about the ones I have used. I've decided to put my thoughts down for the benefit of anyone who may be interested.

When you buy your camera it will probably come with a kit lens. It will be a basic lens and if you only have one it is the one to have. But if you only ever have one lens, why buy an interchangeable-lens camera? I'd suggest buying a compact camera with a more flexible lens—a camera such as a Panasonic Lumix FZ150 which takes great pictures just the way it comes out of the box.

The kit lens that usually comes with the Lumix range of M4/3 cameras is a 14-42mm lens. It does what it's intended for and some people continue to use this lens after they have another but I have to say I rarely do. You can check out pictures taken with this lens here. There are some great shots. Make up your own mind.

If I was starting over again, I would try to buy my camera with just the f1.7 20mm pancake lens. A pancake lens is one that is designed to be compact and if compactness is the reason you are buying your M4/3 camera this one won't add much to the bulk. I find this lens very useful. It gives sharp images and a wide angle of view—but it doesn't zoom. The maximum aperture of f1.7 means it lets in a lot of light. I often use mine to take night shots without a flash. This wide aperture also means it will blur the background for those of us who like a shallow depth of field. It can be used for portraits but it is best to not get too close to the subject or it distorts the face just a little. Better to stand back a bit and then crop the image if you wish.

When you start with a new camera I think it is best to stick to just one lens and get to know it really well. Take your time and learn what you can and can't do with it. Then ask yourself what you want to do that this lens doesn't do for you. I enjoy photographing wildlife and also candid photography and therefore a zoom will get me much closer to my subject than the pancake lens. But how much zoom do I need?

I opted for the Vario 45-200mm zoom lens. I love it. The image quality is great. Once I started using it I rarely took it off my camera. Just occasionally when I am shooting birds or something else small and in the distance I lust after a Vario 100-300mm which gives 50% more zoom power. Until recently I'd never used one of these but my flickr friends who have one speak highly and their pics support their enthusiasm. Is it worth the extra cost? Depends on how important it is for you to shoot distant smallish subjects. One possible downside of this lens if you travel frequently is that it weighs 520g compared to 380g for the 45-200. On the other hand it's a lot lighter than an SLR lens with similar zoom power.

If you start with the 20mm pancake and then add the 100-300mm zoom, that means you don't have anything to cater for focal lengths between 20mm and 100mm. There are several options available to fill those gaps.

In my previous blog post I wrote about the Lumix workshop I attended in KL. This gave me the opportunity to test out two Leica branded lenses. First I got my hands on a Leica DG Summilux 25mm f1.4. I really like this lens. I used it for portraits and for wildlife shots although at 25mm it wasn't really suited to subjects in the distance. I had a high success rate with this lens even though I'd never used it before. I didn't use it in low light but with an aperture rating of f1.4 it should be even better than the 20mm pancake lens.

Next I tried the the Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f2.8. No one showed me how to use it. I wasn't aware that there was a switch to change from close to distant focusing. I still don't know which setting I was using. Maybe I should have looked more closely at the lens but I didn't. My success rate was very poor but the good shots were excellent. I could see it had potential.

After the workshop Panasonic offered us deals on all their lenses. I can't afford to buy multiple lenses. I had three lenses on my shortlist. I decided that if the deal was good enough I would buy one. The 45mm macro lens was the best deal in my opinion so I went with it. It has replaced the 45-200 as the lens that spends most time on my camera. I still have a low success rate with this lens but the good shots are stunning. It is not just a macro lens, with the flick of the switch it becomes a multi-purpose 45mm lens. This is a good focal length for portraits on M4/3. It gives great detail so if someone's skin is as blemished as mine, beware. It is very honest. I would have difficulty lying about my age when providing a portrait made with this lens.

All the above lenses are made by Panasonic but micro-four-thirds is not just Panasonic. It was developed by Panasonic and Olympus together. Other manufacturers are also making lenses for M4/3 cameras.

I've tried only one other lens and only for a few shots. That was Olympus M Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f/1.8. It's a great lens. If you feel the need for a 45mm lens and shooting in low light is more important for you than shooting macro than go with this one. Perhaps eventually I'll own both this and the 45mm Leica macro lens. But for now I'll stick with my 20mm f1.7 for low-light shots. Compare prices, for what it does, the Olympus lens is a good buy.

Since I started writing this I have had the opportunity to use the above-mentioned 100-300 lens. I want one! But it doesn't come cheap and for the moment I'm still getting to know the 45mm macro lens. So, for now it will remain on my wish list.

What else is there? Lots. Panasonic has, I believe, three lenses for wide-angle photography. There is the rest of the Olympus M4/3 range that I have not even mentioned. There are M4/3 lenses made by other manufacturers. Amazon list about a dozen. If you want to be adventurous you can buy adaptors to fit SLR lenses to your M4/3 camera. That opens up so many possibilities. Here's a group that explores that option. At this point in time, I know next to nothing about all these lenses so you'll have to do your own research if you want to go down any of these tracks.

Have fun and happy shooting.

Please note: links in this post will take you to examples of pictures by various photographers taken with the camera or lens mentioned.

Labels: "micro four thirds", camera, G2, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Back in 2007 I visited the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park for the first time. I wrote about it in a blog which can be found in the archives for June '07 if you're interested. I was annoyed at the time because of the misleading advertising which still persists. It may be the 'World Largest Free-flight Walk-in Aviary' (sic—from their website) but a large proportion of the birds are kept in cages, some with wires that make photography challenging.

I'm coming to terms with it a little more now because, having spent most of the past year in Malaysia, I've come to realise that misleading advertising is part of the Malaysian way of life. Despite this I've felt an urge to return to the Bird Park because it provides an opportunity to get my newer cameras close to some interesting birds. So when Panasonic announced they were running a workshop for owners of Lumix G series cameras at the Bird Park, I jumped at the opportunity.

The workshop started with some instruction from professional photographer Aaron Kok.

The guy who was sitting next to me told me he always shoots in Intelligent Auto. I suspect many of the participants do the same. I guess that Aaron was aiming to give us enough knowledge to be more confident in using some of the features of our cameras.

My neighbour had only one lens, a 14-42. His wife had a similar camera with a 14-45, ie almost the same lens. I have a 14-42 lens too. It is the one I almost never use. Panasonic have come up with a good marketing strategy here. They make the full range of lenses available to you and give you time to play with them. Perhaps you'll become attached to them and buy one or two. And to give you a focus for your photography they had a competition. Prizes were given (not sure what) for the best shot in model, macro and wildlife categories.

I wasn't quick enough. There were a limited number of lenses. By time I got to the table the 100-300 extra-long zoom and the macro lenses were all taken. I settled for the 25mm f1.4 lens. Perhaps it is not the lens of choice for wildlife photography but I'm glad I was given the opportunity to try it out. I'm told that at f1.4 it is the lens that lets in the most light in the entire micro-four-thirds range from Panasonic and Olympus. I love what I do at night with my 20mm f1.7 lens without using a flash. This one would work in a similar way for closer subjects. At 25mm it is a good lens for portraits. So I spent a bit of time with the model. Was that exciting? To be honest, I was getting more excited by the bokeh (blur) this lens created from the light filtering through the trees. It's a great lens for keeping the subject sharp while blurring everything else so it won't be a distraction.

After I had more than fifty shots of the model I decided to try the lens on birds and whatever else I found in the park. You could say it does a good job but to be honest, my preference for this job would be the 45-200 zoom lens that I already own (or perhaps the 100-300 lens that I am still yet to try).

We had a total of three hours for our free shoot. I returned after about one hour in hope that someone had returned one of the aforementioned popular lenses. They hadn't. I hung around waiting and that was when I met Alexis who became stranger number four in my 100 strangers project.

Chatting with one of the support staff, he offered to loan me his own Leica 45mm f2.8 macro lens. I hadn't long fitted it to my camera when a hornbill landed on the verandah of our workshop venue. At first I was disappointed but quickly remembered that this lens is not just for macro. I got one or two good shots of this bird. I also noticed that the model was sitting around now. Everyone had moved on. I asked if I could take a few closeups of her eye. Hey, I was doing real macro! I played with this lens for another hour or so and took a few good shots but I have to admit that a lot of my pics could have been better. I trust more consistent quality comes with practice. Once again, for distance shots, my preferred lens is the 45-200 that I already own.

We each submitted our pics for the competition and Aaron offered his critique on each one. When he reviewed the model pics he insisted that a good portrait must have the subject looking straight at the camera. I was interested to learn more about Aaron. When I returned home I searched for him on flickr. He doesn't appear to be there. I did a general search and found a website for an Aaron Kok, lifestyle photographer. It must be a different Aaron Kok. On the home page of this site are three portraits of a child. In only one is the subject looking at the camera.

And what did I learn from the day? I don't usually shoot in Intelligent Auto. Since I got the G2 I mostly shoot in aperture priority. But in a sense I use it in an auto style. I need to pay more attention to the settings, make sure they are appropriate for the photo I want to take and adjust if necessary. I took a lot of not-so-good shots on the day and one or two good ones. Hopefully I can improve the proportion of good ones.

My better shots of the day are gradually being added to my flickr photostream or you can see them together in a set. Please note that if you use these shots to assess any of the Lumix lenses, what I post on flickr has been processed. It is not the way they came out of the camera.

Panasonic tell me they are planning a G series workshop in Penang. I wonder what the venue will be. In any case, I'm interested.

Labels: "Bird Park", "Kuala Lumpur" KL, "micro four thirds", Asia, camera, G2, Kuala Lumpur, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Last June, I wrote a few thoughts on buying my next camera. It's taken a while but I have finally bought myself a Panasonic G2. I bought the twin-lens kit and one extra lens, the 20 mm, f1.7 pancake lens.

I already wrote in the earlier blog why I liked the G2 and so far I am not disappointed. I do, however, have a lot to learn as this is my first interchangeable-lens camera. What I didn't mention in that blog was the one shortcoming that is mentioned in any review of this camera, ie it is not equal to an SLR in low-light situations. That's one of the reasons I bought the extra lens. At f1.7, this lens lets in a lot of light. It is also good for getting a bit of background blur happening.

I took it out with me one night recently and took this shot of some fried noodles with chicken and vegetables. This was taken in an outdoor food court with artificial lighting. I used no flash. Photos I took of people on the same evening look just as good. The fz20 made me a fan of zoom. This lens has no zoom. All shots are taken at 20 mm (equal to 40mm on an SLR). And I'm loving it.

Like most cameras this camera has burst mode for when you want to take a sequence of photos of a subject. I tried that on a portrait shot and the photos come so quickly there is almost no difference from one to the next. I've decided that burst mode is almost superfluous. In normal shooting mode this camera will take 3.2 photos per second. Before I got used to this I sometimes took two photos of the subject because I held the shutter button for too long. Now I use this for burst. I can hold the button down and shoot off five or more pics in quick succession.

For some time I've already had a second camera, a Panasonic fx3, which I bought in 2007. I bought it because it is small and I can take it everywhere and I never have to miss a shot. But it has limitations. The zoom is only 3x and it has no manual controls so if I want to get something a little better in quality out of it, it is limited. I've written about this in these blogs some time back, here and here. When I last left Australia I left the fz20 behind knowing that I would eventually buy another camera. For about six months I've been challenged by the limitations of the fx3. So now I've bought another second camera or should I say a fourth camera.

The Panasonic TZ10 is fairly compact but not so compact as the fx3. It has a 3" LCD and 12x optical zoom. It also has most of the manual controls that you would expect in a serious camera. In many ways it does as good a job as my old fz20 but comes in a much smaller package. Technology has improved in the six years between these cameras. Even when I take the Panasonic G2 with me, I still take the TZ10. I'm anticipating a situation when I'm taking a shot of a flower and in the distance I see a bird in a tree. By time I swap to a long-zoom lens it might have flown. But I can grab the TZ10 and get a quick shot. For the cost of the TZ10 I might have bought another lens for the G2. The TZ10 is roughly the size and weight of some lenses and by carrying it I feel I get a lot more flexibility.

With each camera I got an 8GB memory card. That gives me a total of about 3,000 shots on the two cards. The cards are interchangeable between the two cameras. I know some people store all their photos on their memory card. I don't. I download and delete regularly. I can take a lot of shots on whichever camera I wish before I run out of memory.

Photos taken with these cameras are starting to appear on my flickr page. If you compare them with some of what I've taken with the fx3 over the last six months I trust you'll be able to see some improvement.

Labels: "micro four thirds", camera, flickr, fx3, fz20, G2, Lumix, Panasonic, photography, TZ10

After five years of travelling with me, my Panasonic fz20 is showing signs of wear and tear. If you look at the pics attached to this post you'll see that it doesn't look so good anymore. What is left of the plastic grips is now held on by what we in Australia call Blutack. The body isn't holding together well and the viewfinder doesn't work anymore. I posted these pics on a photographic forum and one response I received was 'Boy, you've certainly beaten up your fz20 badly.' But it still takes fairly good pictures. If you're not familiar with them, click some of the links in my sidebar.

I am not a four-star traveller. I move around slowly and I'm more interested in people than monuments. I get down and dirty and mix with the locals. I love to meet people who might be considered 'exotic' to us westerners. (Though I'm sure they don't think they are.) I'm interested in getting to know them and experiencing their lifestyle. Sometimes a camera is a novelty to such people. I've learned not to show the pics I've taken as people want to grab the camera for a closer look and they don't always know how to handle a camera. All this is often done in tropical heat. Does this make me rough on cameras? I don't really think so. I have to wonder if cameras of today are built so well as in the past. I might add that I've found Apple computers are not so strong today as they were five or more years ago.

Most cameras available at less than A$1,000 today are made of plastic. Would any other plastic camera survive better than my fz20? I don't really know but I have my doubts. Therefore I have decided that when I get around to buying a new camera I want it to do two things. First I want it to extend me as a photographer, to give me possibilities to take my photography further, to learn more about photography. Secondly I want it to survive my lifestyle better than the fz20 has. I'm interested in a camera with a metal body.

The last thing I want is to add more weight to my packs. Hey, I'm 62 and I weigh only 57 kilos. I travel with two backpacks—a biggish one for clothes and other necessities and a Crumpler for technology. If I have to walk any distance the Crumpler is mounted over my chest and the big one on my back. The combined weight of the two is about 25 kilos—equal to about 44% of my body weight. I don't really want to add more weight to my packs.

Until recently, to improve on an fz20 one had to upgrade to an SLR camera. The idea of an SLR doesn't excite me so much. The main advantage they have over point-and-shoot cameras is a bigger sensor. This makes a huge difference to the potential image quality. I say 'potential' because the biggest influence on image quality is the photographer. The best SLR in the world is no better in the hands of an incompetent photographer than the cheapest point-and-shoot. I'm tempted, but not too tempted.

The weight of my fz20 is just under 520 grams. That includes a lens that has a zoom range equal to an SLR 36-432 mm lens. If I buy an entry-level smallish plastic SLR, they may be a similar weight—without the lens. How much weight will it add to my pack to include either one or perhaps several lenses that will give me the same zoom range I get with my fz20? Yes, I will get more in terms of picture quality but at a price in terms of weight that I would be reluctant to pay while I continue my travelling lifestyle. And I would still have a plastic camera. How long would I expect it to last?

Pay a little more and I could get a mid-range SLR with a metal body. I've seriously considered this possibility and perhaps have not ruled it out completely. The Nikon D 300 looks promising weighing 825 g without a lens and the Pentax K 7 comes in at about 750 g. This Pentax camera has a good reputation as a rugged camera which I find tempting. It has a weather, dust and cold resistant shell. Interesting that they make them to survive the cold but make no mention of heat. I often find myself in temperatures over 40 degrees c. Can it handle that?

I am interested in a relatively new camera format known as four thirds that, I believe, has been developed jointly by Olympus and Panasonic. The latest version of this is known as Micro four thirds. I first noticed the Olympus models which are quite small and have a metal body. The sensor size is larger than that found on most point-and-shoot cameras but smaller than those on the smallest SLRs. Like SLRs they have interchangeable lenses. The design of the camera is such that unlike SLRs they do not use mirrors to transfer the image to the sensor. It goes directly from the lens to the sensor. By comparison, this reduces both the weight and size of the unit. Overall the lenses are smaller by comparison to an SLR, much more like those found on a point-and-shoot camera but picture quality is very close to that of an SLR. And like an SLR, they give the photographer the opportunity to expand their ability by using different lenses.

I've been aware of these Olympus models for some time. I've observed that they've been a bit slim on features. While they interest me, they don't excite me. I was also aware that Panasonic had some similar models too but they appeared to be more expensive so I did not look too closely.

Recently I was killing time and found myself in a camera store where I saw for the first time one of the Panasonic Micro four thirds models. I took the time to have a look. The guy in the store seemed to know so little about it but I could see that it had features that interested me and most importantly I was impressed by its light weight and compact size. When I got home I looked it up online and discovered that there were currently three models available. One that was very basic, similar to the Olympus ones and two with a few more features. I also saw that there are two new models coming soon with even more features.

At the moment the one that interests me most is the G2. It is scheduled for release this month. It is available with various lens combinations at various prices. I favour the twin lens version which has a list price of A$1,599. Yes, I could replace my fz20 with Panasonic's latest evolution of that type of camera, the fz35, for about a third of that price. But I expect that will give me a camera that will once again last me about five years. That is one way to go—use it for five years and then get another that is updated with the latest technology. However, the Panasonic Micro four thirds cameras, like the Olympus models, have a metal body. I trust it will last longer, though at the moment I have no way of knowing.

Apart from the metal body, here's what else interests me with the G2. The weight of the basic camera is about 371 g. That's about half the weight of the metal-bodied SLRs I mentioned above and theoretically the picture quality is not far behind them. Add the weight of two lenses and it comes to 1,032 g all up. That means I'm looking at carrying around twice the weight of the fz20. I'll get a similar zoom range but have to change lenses from time to time. Not always convenient but hopefully, coupled with the bigger sensor, they'll do a better job. The G2 has a 3" LCD that rotates. A bigger LCD appeals to my ageing eyes and being able to rotate it gives me much more flexibility in seeing the screen when I want to take a picture from an unusual angle. It has many more features such as a touch screen, perhaps some of them are gimmicks, but to me the important ones are those I've mentioned.

I haven't made a decision yet. My mind is open until I put my money down but this camera has a lot of appeal to me.

Labels: "micro four thirds", camera, fz20, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Hi Dad,
Thinking I might go for the canon because a little extra weight isn't really an issue for me. When buying the SD card do I need ultra 11 or standard. Do I need an LCD screen protector?

Love Mel

Hi Mel

I think that's a good choice then. Just make sure the price you pay is a good saving on what they are charging for the new model otherwise you might as well buy the new one. I assume it's better but I haven't really checked it out.

Is there a card that comes with the camera? What sort? How much memory? When I've been looking at cameras in Aust in the past they tend to give you a card with a piddly memory so you have to put out extra for one and you buy one that suits you. In Malaysia the shops were generally offering 1GB cards included as an incentive to buy the camera. But they are standard. When I asked about Ultra, they didn't want to know about it. So, I got my 1GB standard and I shopped around and found another shop where I could get a good deal on an Ultra but I only got a 500 MB. I use that as my main card and use the 1GB standard as a back up. Don't get to use it often. The batteries usually run out first.

BTW, if your new camera is 10MP it will fill up a card twice as fast as a 5 MP (or maybe it's four times as fast). So, maybe a 1GB card is a good idea. Depends how many photos you can take in a day. It's rare that I will fill up both my 1GB and 500 MB. But that's a really interesting day.

Anyway, to answer your question. For taking pics, 90% of the time it doesn't matter. For downloading to your computer the Ultra is quicker. The other time it is useful is if you get into the habit of taking burst photos. (I rarely do—mainly because I don't think of it but it is a good idea.) For example, if Iz is running across the soccer field you can point the camera, focus once and hold the button down. It will take maybe five photos per second without refocusing (assuming he stays about the same distance). Not sure but maybe you'll get one or two more per second with the Ultra.

I don't have an LCD screen protector but if it is cheap or free go for it. If it's exxy I don't see the point unless, of course, little boys like to point at it with grubby fingers. Anyway, it's more important to keep their fingers off the lens. One of the problems with big lens is that they can collect fingerprints. You allow someone to look at the LCD and if they don't know better they wrap their fingers around the camera right onto the lens. I try to avoid letting anyone hold my camera for this reason.

I think I mentioned about batteries. Not sure what sort Canon uses. Some use standard batteries. Which is handy but they're bigger. Panasonic use special ones. I can't even swap them between my Panasonic cameras. It's good to have a backup and in the case of Panasonic I found that cheap Chinese copies are just not worth it even though they're a fraction of the price. Panasonic ones are exxy but worth the difference. Unfortunately their Thai website doesn't answer service enquiries and the shops don't stock them. They miss out on a sale and I'm not too well off for batteries. The point is, if I had my time over, I'd buy two (or maybe even three) of the genuine ones when I bought my camera.

The other problem I'm having with mine at the moment is downloading. The cable is something that is interchangeable, at least between my Panasonic cameras. But I threw the spare one away so that I'd have less to carry. Now, the fz20 won't download direct to either my Mac or my work PC. Thought it might be the cable but with the fx3 is OK. Not a big deal. I bought a card reader for about $A3, I take the card out of the camera and put it in the reader in the computer. If you have two cards and you are taking photos at home, you can put one in the reader and keep on taking photos with the other.

Anyway, have fun. Look forward to seeing the photos. And remember, the biggest fault most people make is including huge amounts of irrelevant background. You have a good zoom. Use it to get in close.

love

Dad

Labels: camera, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Next thought, Lumix DMC FZ28. All 3 are in a similar price range. This one maybe slightly cheaper but much of a muchness.
Love Mel

Hi Mel

I've been looking at a few reviews. Have you seen this one?

It compares many of the long zoom compact cameras available at the time. That includes both the Panasonic fz28 and the Canon SX10 IS. And those two cameras won. The Pentax wasn't in the review because it's newer. If you haven't already, you should read this review, in particular the conclusion. Because, the difference between these two cameras comes down to what sort of photographer you are. The Canon takes slightly better pics but it is much bigger. The Panasonic is closely behind in quality but is much smaller and lighter. Which is more important to you? BTW, there is now a Canon sx20 IS to replace the sx 10 IS. This means two things. 1. You might want to take a look at it to see if it is better still and 2. There might be better deals on the SX10.

And there is still the Pentax. The wobbly lens is the biggest thing against it in my book. Take a look in the shops and see if the lens seems wobbly to you. If it's not then maybe it is a good choice.

One thing to remember with this sort of camera, the way they get such a big zoom in such a small camera is by reducing the size of the sensor. Generally, the bigger the sensor means the better the quality. (That's what SLRs have, a big sensor) I can't really say, but I suspect that the quality of pics from these cameras might not be as good as I get in mine. The quality issue is most noticeable with low-light shots. I see it in my shots and you might see it in some of yours. So, for example, if you want to get a shot of Hamad performing at night it could be challenging. If you are up close you can use the flash. Then again you might not want to do that either because the flash makes reflections and sometimes it affects the colours. If you can't use flash because you are not so close, you can zoom in but the picture becomes a bit 'noisy', ie a bit speckly. Having more zoom with a small sensor creates noise in low light situations. It will also depend on stage lighting. Often I take night shots in that sort of situation and the lighting is so good there is no problem even without flash.

The point is, all these cameras will have this problem. If you want to avoid the problem you go for a midrange camera without the big zoom. Then you've got to get in close to the subject. Personally, I like the zoom. For you, how important are those night shots?

love

Dad

Labels: camera, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Dad

You've pretty much got my general needs sussed. What would you buy? I'll have to choose something soon cause I'm getting sick of trying to figure it out.
Love Mel

PS Bub is going great. 30 weeks now.


Hi Mel

I can't say specifically what I would choose because I haven't really been studying the reviews. I would do that pretty thoroughly before I made my decision. I didn't do that when I bought my little camera and not long after I bought it I realised that I should have spent a little more money and got one with a few more features. I saw one I would have preferred (think it was a Pentax) but I'd already parted with my money.

My criteria would depend on my situation. I would only buy an SLR if I was planning to do some professional photography, ie trying to sell my photos in some way. For publishing on the net as I do, it's overkill and way too much to carry when travelling, by time you buy all the extras. And without the extras maybe you're only getting a basic camera, but hopefully a good one.

I'm a bit addicted to zoom so I would look for a camera that gave me a good zoom, with a good quality lens and had as big and high quality a sensor as possible. Whether I got something like my fz20 or something smaller would depend on whether I was planning to do a lot of travelling. And I would consider what would I lose by buying the smaller camera—is it almost as good or is there a big difference. If it's close, maybe I'd go for the smaller one. If the bigger one was way ahead, maybe I'd go for that.

It's also important to consider what features appeal to you. eg. I like a camera with a fold out LCD, the more possible angles the better.

I'd also consider what it is made from although I'm not sure how important that is. My fz20 is all plastic. They specify that it should be used within a specific range of temperatures and Thailand goes over that range. So, some of the bits of attached plastic are falling off these days. The camera still works but it is not as grippable. I'm not sure if an all metal camera is better but I suspect it might be. Then again if the all metal camera still has plastic grip bits on it, it might do the same. In the climate you are in this might not be an issue anyway.

When you get a short list, let me know and I'll make a few comments.

love

Dad

PS. Does that mean you still have 10 weeks to go?

Labels: camera, fz20, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

Hi Dad,
Am thinking that you brought up a few valid points and I figure that I don't really need an SLR. So down to that do you have any advice? What size zoom would you think is useful to have? Basically want good snapshots at the end of the day but a camera that can play around with to get better shots. Sometimes we want to take pictures to use for a poster or flyers for things, otherwise something I can use to take nice photo's.
Love Mel

Hi Mel

First I'll give you two links to my blogs where I wrote about my cameras. This will give you an idea about why I have what I have:

Why two cameras?

Camera comparison

What size zoom depends on what you want to photograph. 3 x zoom is very common and for everyday photography it's usually fine. Sometimes I like to photograph wildlife. If you get too close then it moves away so my 12 x zoom on the fz20 is good. When there was a monkey on the roof of the house next door at Kompong Chhnang I could get a pic of just the monkey. (BTW, I have not cropped this pic.) With 3 x I would get the whole roof and would hardly see the monkey. If you want to take a pic of Iz or Hamad on the other side of the soccer field, you'll need a good zoom to take that pic. However you'll also need a camera good for action pics if you want to get them while they're moving. It can be a challenge to do that especially with full zoom. 5 x to 10 x is somewhere in between. That might suit you depends on how important those soccer shots are to you. You can also get more powerful zooms these days. Panasonic have one that does 18 x. I asked a guy who had one about it and he was pretty happy. Other manufacturers are bringing out cameras to compete with this. Not sure how good they are. The Panasonic Lumix lens has a good reputation. Read the reviews before you make a decision.


Here's an example of the sort of long-distance action you can get with an fz20. I took this at Scarborough back when I was last in Oz. BTW, someone once said to me that to get a lens on an SLR that does what I can do with my fz20, it would have to be about 45cm long. Another BTW, if you click on these pics you'll see a larger version.

OK. Some general info. If you go to my flickr page and take a look at my pics, see if you can see the difference between the pics done on the fx3 and fz20 and which do you prefer. I put that info into the tags at the side of each pic. You have to click on the pic to see it. You might think the fx3 is just as good but consider that in relation to what I have written in the blog—fx3 has its limitations. They may or may not be important to you. But if you want to take better shots you will probably want a camera with more features. BTW, fx3 and fz20 will have been superseded several times. The current models will have different names. Last time I checked the latest version of the fz20 was fz50. Not sure if it still is. It has a few more features and other improvements over mine. I like the way the LCD screen tilts so you don't always have to hold the camera up to your face. You can hold it at waist level or hold it over your head—and still see the LCD.

If somehow I lost both of my cameras I wonder what I would buy now. Rather than buy two cameras I could get a compromise, a camera that is fairly compact but has a lot of features. Canon have one called the G10. The Canon G series have a good reputation but these days other manufacturers are bringing out good cameras like it. Read some reviews and see if it does what you want. Some of the reviews will also mention other cameras to compare it with. Check out their reviews too.

There are two websites that have good reviews that I recommend:

dpreview

Steves Digicams

Read a few reviews and see if you can get more idea of what you want from that. Also on these sites are user forums. I followed the Panasonic forums for about 18 months on Steves before I bought the fz20. People tell you what they like and don't like about their cameras. It is a good way to discover which camera to not buy. You can also join and ask questions yourself. If you have narrowed it down and you are not sure, you can ask people who use the camera, eg. 'Is this a good action camera? Is it good for night shots?'. They'll tell you.

One other thing to remember is that you can have the best camera in the world but if you don't have an artistic eye you'll still take lousy shots. You need to learn a bit about framing your shots. It could be worth visiting the library and borrowing a few photography 'how to' books.

OK, that's it for now. Feel free to send more questions.

BTW, I'll expect to see lots of pics of the new baby on facebook.

love

Dad

Labels: camera, family, flickr, fx3, fz20, Kompong Chhnang, Lumix, Panasonic, photography

A couple of years ago I was fairly settled in Mahasarakham. I left at that time to return to Australia for family reasons. I left quite a lot of my stuff in storage. Recently I returned to Mahasarakham and brought a suitcase-full of my things back with me to Bangkok. This included many backup disks of photos from the past. These are photos taken with my first digital camera, a 2MP Kodak DC265. Most are of Australia but also included are photos from my first trip to Thailand in 1999 and trips to England and California.

These photos remind me that memory was more expensive in those days so I was more economical in taking photos. I didn't have the luxury of filling a 1GB card as I occasionally do now. I had to make every shot count or perhaps delete the duds. Now I almost never delete a pic because you never know when it might serve some purpose.

I joined the photo-sharing site flickr not long before I bought my current camera, a Panasonic Lumix FZ20. The first photos I added to flickr were of Angkor Wat and were taken with the DC265. Since then I have added thousands of photos taken with the FZ20.

I've decided to process and upload some of the earlier DC265 photos as I have time. I find it interesting to compare the busy-ness of most of my Asian pics with the emptiness of so many of the Australian shots. I hope you'll take a look soon and come back again as there'll no doubt be more added later. I'll perhaps add some to this blog also when I feel there is a story to go with them.

Labels: Australia, DC265, flickr, fz20, Kodak, Lumix, Mahasarakham, Panasonic, photography, travel

I've always admired people who can photograph butterflies and wonder what the secret is. Butterflies don't often stay still and no matter what I try I rarely get a good shot of one.

Not far from the bird park in Kuala Lumpur is the Butterfly Park. The setup is similar. The whole area is covered in mesh and the butterflies fly free. It costs RM15 for a person to get in and RM1 for a still camera. Video cameras are a little extra. I decided to spend a few hours there and see what I could do.

Spending time in the park is quite pleasant because the environment they have created for the butterflies is a very attractive one for humans too. It's also environmentally friendly. They have to control pests by biological methods so they don't kill the butterflies.





And how did I go with the photos? At first there were quite a few blurred ones. I reminded myself that I had all day if I wanted and there were thousands of butterflies. So I took my time, tried a few different settings and soon I was taking photos like this one.






While I'm a long way from being an expert, I think I have discovered the secret: patience and a plentiful supply of butterflies. A good camera also helps. If you'd like to see more of my butterfly photos, I'll be uploading them to my flickr page in due course. Hang in there; I've been taking a lot of photos lately.

If you are in KL and decide to go to the Butterfly Park you'll get better shots, of the stationary butterflies at least, with a tripod but don't bother, they won't let you bring it in. I don't know why. I forgot to pack mine so it wasn't a problem.

PS: to see a larger version of these pics, click on them.

Labels: Asia, butterfly, camera, flickr, fz20, KL, Kuala Lumpur, Lumix, Malaysia, Panasonic, photography

On Saturday Tzu Chi held its annual Charity Fair. I was asked if I'd like to lend a hand. I agreed and was given the job of collecting garbage. They didn't call it that, they said 'recycling'. And that is what they actually do. The garbage collectors—sorry recyclers—wander around with trolleys. In each trolley are several large heavy-duty garbage bags and any garbage they collect is sorted; paper in one, cans in another, glass in yet another and so on. It seemed my life at Tzu Chi had gone full cycle. When I first offered to volunteer three years ago they asked me to come one evening a week to sort paper for recycling.

Friday afternoon one of the photographers asked if I was coming to the fair. 'Yes', I told her. 'I'm going to be a gar...sorry, recycler.'

'What! Are you sure? Why? Can't you help us? We need an extra photographer.'

'I don't mind. But you'll have to square it up with the recycling people.'

It was arranged. I became a photographer for a day. A bonus was that I didn't have to arrive until 8.30 am. The recyclers were starting at 7.30.

At 8.30 I turned up with my fz20, loaded with a 1 GB memory card, a spare battery and the battery charger. I even wore the Tzu Chi volunteers' uniform (for the second time). When I got there I put the spare battery in the charger while I went off to shoot. My main focus was to get as many shots as possible of busy volunteers. They were good subjects, most of them simply stayed busy which is what was wanted. The odd one would turn and give me a nice smile. Nice for me but not what Tzu Chi wanted.



After a couple of hours the battery was flat. The card wasn't full but I took the lot in and while the photos were downloaded from the card I swapped batteries and then back out to capture more volunteers.












Tzu Chi sure gets a lot of support. I was thinking of how a press photographer would cover such an event. S/he would spend probably half an hour there, take the necessary photos and be off to the next assignment. They have to make each shot a good one. They won't have time to return for another go. On the other hand we had six or more of us, each staying the whole day. I estimate I took between 600 and 1,000 shots. Multiply that by six. I trust Tzu Chi should have one or two good shots out of that lot for their website and monthly journal.

There was a big crowd there. I think it could be said that the fair was a great success. I did have a secondary job to do but that is perhaps interesting enough that I'll save it for another blog.

It was a hot day and by time I'd downloaded the third lot of photos I was worn out. I only kept the ones from the third battery charge. I haven't had time to process many yet. The photos you see here are just the start. Like to see more? Take a look at my flickr page (see sidebar) in a few days.

Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, Melaka, Panasonic, photography, Tzu Chi

I had been living in my present home in suburban Melaka for about three weeks or more before someone told me there was a night market every Thursday just a few blocks away. I enjoy markets, not that I have a great urge to spend money. I just like the environment of traditional markets. My friends took me to the market that week but I didn't take my camera. I enjoy candid photography and markets create good opportunities to indulge this hobby. It was about two weeks later before I had a chance to return to the market with my Panasonic fz20.

The fz20 is not a small camera. It's a bit hard to hold it up to my face to frame a shot and not be noticed. People either smile, stick their hand up in one gesture or another or run away. The picture on the left will help you see my set up for candid photography. The tripod is fixed to the camera but compacted. It is only there to give me something to hold to keep the camera steady. The camera sits hanging from my neck. The remote shutter button is inserted and the cord for this goes around my back. In this picture I am releasing the shutter with my left hand while I sit looking in the mirror. After a while I get used to taking shots like this and can get a pretty good idea what I'm taking. BTW, I don't usually look directly at my subject. I look to the side of them and frame the picture in my peripheral vision. If I am concerned about shutter noise I either turn that down or off. I want nothing to suggest to people that I am taking photos of them. And of course using a digital camera means I can take as many photos as I want and discard the duds. Surprisingly most of them are quite good. I don't worry too much about settings. I leave the camera in auto mode and let it take care of that.





This was one of the early shots. It was late in the afternoon but there was still plenty of light so the photo is quite sharp. Do you think the girl and the guy in the helmet are on to me? Or are they just staring vaguely while they wait to be served?






The market does attract its share of beggars. This young woman is not one of them. She is blind and is selling small packets of tissues.






I'm not sure if she was onto me but this girl seemed to be trying to figure out what I was doing. Then again, I was probably the only foreigner at the market. She probably didn't realise that while I appeared to be staring at a stall on the other side of the road I was actually taking a photo of her.






The woman on the right is making vegetarian popiah (spring rolls) and there's a queue. I came back later and got a couple for my dinner.









By now it's quite dark so the image is a little blurred but I love the blue colouring in the sky.





This girl is making some kind of coconut confectionary, she inserts the mixture in bamboo tubes and her mother cooks it. It must be good because there's quite a crowd waiting, so much so that I can't get a shot with my usual process. This is the only shot that night for which I held the camera in my hands. I had to, to get it over the shoulders of the people in front of me. But I still didn't use the flash. The EXIF data tells me the exposure was 1/4 second. Between the anti-shake in the fz20 and my steady hands, I was still able to get a reasonable shot.




For this one the camera is back in the dangling position but this stall is so well lit that the camera can get a sharp shot with a 1/10 sec exposure.

You can see these photos a little larger by clicking on them. If you'd like to see one or two more from this night, take a look at my photo page (see sidebar).

Labels: Asia, camera, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Malaysia, market, Melaka, Panasonic, photography

Further to my recent blog discussing my new camera, I have decided to give some examples to show the difference between the fx3 and fz20.

For the sake of the discussion it might be appropriate to discuss the sort of photographs I was happy with when I was using my Kodak DC265. They were always sharp across the whole picture and at that time I was always happy with that. It could be said the camera gave good depth of field, ie everything near and far was in focus.

As I have progressed as a photographer I've become aware that it is at times desirable to show a subject in its setting but the setting is not as important as the subject. In these instances it is actually preferable to lose a bit of sharpness on the setting and to boost the sharpness on the main subject. This is known as short depth of field or perhaps narrow depth of field.

To do this, one opens the lens up as wide as possible, ie widens the aperture. This is measured in f stops and ironically the wider the aperture the lower the f stop number.

A few afternoons back I was walking home. It was about 5 pm, which means, in Malaysia, that the sun is still very bright, despite the rainy season. There were some nice yellow flowers growing on the side of the road. This is very common here. People in the Melaka suburbs love to grow flowers outside their house on the edge of the road. I wanted to capture this all in one photo, ie I wanted to get a good shot of the flower and show it in its setting. Now the streetscape in the distance is pretty boring. I didn't want to show it in detail. I just wanted to show that the flowers grow right on the edge of the street.

My fx3 was in a pouch on my belt so I simply had to pull it out and take the shot. I'll be honest. I didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just snapped a couple and put the camera back in its pouch. Even though the fx3 has a good LCD screen, I'm not really in the habit of checking them. Probably, to be honest, because the LCD on the fz20 is not all that great and that's how the habit formed. When I got back home and downloaded them I found that I had the street in perfect focus and the flower was blurred. Good one, John.

A few days later I decided that I should spend a bit of time becoming more familiar with what I can do with the manual settings on the fz20. I'm usually lazy. I use the scene modes far too often. This time, I set the aperture to f2.8, the widest possible, left it there and wandered the streets for an hour or more seeing what I could do. Altogether I took 77 shots. (Isn't digital wonderful.) I also went back to the same spot and took this photo of the flower in the street.


(Click on these photos to see a larger version.)

I'm not claiming it's the best photo I've ever taken but it achieves my objective. The flower is sharp; you can see what's in the street but it's not clear enough to take the attention off the flower.

BTW, I shot this in aperture priority, not full manual mode. The camera calculates the appropriate shutter speed. Because f2.8 lets in a lot of light and because it's very sunny, it took a fairly fast shot—1,000th of a second.

A few days later, I was walking past the same spot, about the same time, same lighting conditions and I had the fx3 in my belt pouch. I decided to see if this time I could get a better shot. Neither shutter priority nor full manual are available on the fx3 but there are two modes that will force the camera to widen the aperture: portrait and macro. I took a couple on each.

The photo in portrait mode did not achieve my goal. The street was in focus just as clearly as the flower. I did use a fairly narrow focus point and I thought I had it pointing at the flower but there you go.

Here's the one in macro mode.


As you can see the flower is fairly clear and the street is blurred but the flower looks a bit dark. Why? Well, because it is so sunny the camera has to compensate for all the light coming in. It chose to narrow the aperture to reduce the light coming in through the lens. It chose f5.6 with an exposure of 1/320 second.

I had not allowed the fz20 to do this, therefore it compensated by reducing the speed of the shot, which I believe gave me a better photo. Yes, I could work on the second photo in photo editing software. It would be very easy to use the sliders to lighten it. I do this sort of thing all the time. But the fz20 took a much better shot straight out of the camera. (Neither of these photos have been edited, except to reduce the file size.)

I've uploaded some of the other photos taken on my little excursion to my Flora page on flickr. See the link in the sidebar.

I would like to add that I am not an expert, I welcome any comments and suggestions.

Labels: camera, flickr, fx3, fz20, Lumix, Malacca, Melaka, Panasonic, photography

Last year, in Cambodia, almost every Saturday I would catch a bus from Kompong Chhnang to Phnom Penh. I've written about it here before. (August 2006) The journey took up to 2.5 hours each way, occasionally longer. The bus was not exactly comfortable but I still enjoyed the journey. I never got tired off making the trip. The countryside we passed through was beautiful, interesting and ever-changing.

In my mind I would take many photos but I rarely took my camera with me. The purpose of the trip was to connect to the internet in Phnom Penh. I already had my laptop in my bag and my camera is a handful on its own.

When I arrived in Phnom Penh, once again, there would be many interesting sights and I would think to myself, 'If only I had my camera.'

It was rare to see another Westerner on this bus trip. I was usually the only one, which made me an item of interest and it was very common that someone would start up a conversation. The second-last time I made this trip there were about five young Westerners on the bus. One had a really small camera with a very large LCD monitor. They were looking at pictures on the screen and even from several seats away I could see them quite clearly.

'That's what I want.' I decided.

So, when I came to Kuala Lumpur on this trip I did some comparison shopping. There were lots of promotions. I ended up buying myself a Panasonic Lumix fx3, quite similar to the one I saw on the bus.

I'm not saying this is the best camera for this purpose. I decided that, as it was to be my second camera, I didn't need one that did everything that my other camera, a Panasonic Lumix fz20, can do. When I want to do some serious photography I will take the fz20. But at all other times I carry the fx3 and if I see something that is photogenic then I grab a shot. It might not be the best shot but I've got something.

One of the reasons I chose this particular camera, apart from price, was that it uses an SD memory card which is the same as the fz20 and therefore interchangeable between cameras. The other reason is that I have been pretty happy with the fz20 and therefore feel positive about Panasonic cameras. Had I not had this feeling towards Panasonic I might have gone for a Pentax. They had a few models in the price range that looked pretty good and got good reviews. Some of the other brands were OK but didn't tempt me and a few, including some popular, well-respected brands, simply did not impress me at all. If you plan to buy any camera I highly recommend you read the reviews.

After all that, I guess I'm feeling a little frustrated with the fx3. It really is aimed at the beginner (perhaps not as much as some of the other brands), or someone who can't be bothered working at taking photos. It's great for people who literally want to just point and shoot. And for that purpose it gives a fairly good photo that most people would be happy with. But I can be a little fussy and want something just a little better. The fx3 has lots of features but does not allow me to control it manually. Perhaps if I had spent more money I could have got a camera that went a bit further. It wouldn't have come up to the fz20 but it would have given me a little more flexibility.

I've also become a little more enthusiastic about displaying my photos and I've gone 'pro' with the main one of my flickr accounts. There was another motive in doing this. Flickr pro users can upload as many photos as they like and at any size they want. I usually reduce the file size before I upload to flickr. Now I can upload all my photos in full file size. You won't get to see these. I'm doing this as a way of backing up. The photos are not displayed. The ones I choose to display to the world are edited, and also reduced in file size, before I upload.

The non-pro flickr user is limited to a maximum of 200 photos. When you upload your 201st the first one disappears and so on. They keep them on file but hidden. So now that I've gone pro they've all come back again. That's over 700 photos. They go back to when I first joined flickr in early 2005. In fact, back then I was using an earlier camera, a Kodak DC 265.

If you're interested to see if you can tell the difference in photos from these three cameras, or just interested to see a record of my last few years, you'll find a link to this (and my other flickr pages) in the sidebar.

Labels: Asia, Cambodia, camera, flickr, fx3, fz20, Lumix, Panasonic, photography