Listening to the Voices in My Head

Wing and I are heading up to the Pinnacles, in Cervantes W.A. Since the weather is a bit dicey, I have opted to take weather sealed (can go under running water without a problem) Olympus EM1 with two equally weather sealed lenses.

Also bringing the Canon 5D3, 100-400 and the 8-15mm fisheye, which is weather resistant, meaning long as its not a Noah and the Ark fable of rain, I can be out in the rain and it will be ok.

Will also be bringing Lumix 100-300 just in case of bird photography, as I have been told there have been many sightings of raptors/birds of prey around there. Not weather sealed, but as long as I'm careful, it will be ok.

First off, the update opened up a bunch of new things, like focus bracketing, and focus stacking (*a few addendums with focus stacking, but that will be later). Both are designed to allow you to use your macro lens, camera and tripod, taking multiple exposures at different parts of a subject, and then with software (Photoshop, Helicon) stack the images (hence the word focus stack) to make one clear sharp image from front to back.

I set my EM1 up to take some shots. I noticed that the Focus Stacking option was greyed out. A bit of research, and I discovered you can only use focus stacking in camera if you use the *Pro lenses, or the 60mm macro (I have the 50mm macro), and that you're limited to 8 shots. To me, that leaves too much of your subject not in focus.

Moving on:

Focus Bracketing: Allows you to take as many photos as you want (don't go nuts, or you will fill your card), but you will have to stack them in your software of choice. You can pick how far back you want the camera to focus (for this, I picked 20 images, 4mm).

What I found out, though, it doesn't work very well with a subject that is vertical with the camera/lens, that the subject has to be laying flat(ish) so the focus starts at the front of the object, and goes to the back, unlike manual focus stacking where you can pick different parts of the subject regardless if it's laying flat down, or standing up in front of your lens.

Keeping that in mind, leaving your subject flat(ish), the results are pretty damned impressive!

Let me say right off the bat, I have used tele-converter lenses before, on my Lumix DMCFZ50. So I do know they have some quirks and limitations. Onto the review.

The Tele-Converter attaches to the Stylus 1 with the CLA13 adapter. The Tele Converter lens has a handy rubber grip on it, as putting this on your camera will make it a bit front heavy.



Went into Stylus 1 menu settings and set up one of the buttons to turn Tele converter on or off. Went into Stylus 1 menu settings and set up one of the buttons to turn Tele converter on or off. The tele-converter allows you to maintain a constant f/2.8, meaning you can keep the aperture wide open, or stop it down to the camera's max of f/8.0.

Two things that I really have a problem with: Tele-Converter has no lens hood available, nor is there a way for you to protect the front element with a filter. No thread.

What I ended up doing was using a 77mm Hoya UV filter, and a silicon wrist band to hold the filter in place.





The images are below, are the same ORF file, processed with different software, then resized to 50%. Photo was deliberately taken in the worst possible lighting, back lit, bright sky. Full zoom, at the top of a tall tree. I felt if the lens could manage this with a reasonable quality as a result, it augers well for 'ideal' conditions.


Processed with Adobe Camera Raw, then opened in Photoshop. Purple fringe removal action, adjusted levels.



ORF processed with Olympus Viewer 3, then opened in Photoshop. Purple Fringe removal action, adjusted levels.



I found that the Olympus Viewer 3 handled the raw file colors somewhat better, but both could really use some more color adjustment. The OV3 one is a bit too cyan, and the ACR has a bit too much magenta.

Details on the birds, considering the distance, and lighting, impressed me. Does this equal having a telephoto lens on a camera body? No, but it does allow for a wider use of the Stylus 1.

Now for an image of something rather mundane, but under more 'ideal' lighting. Part of the walk way.

ORF Processed in Adobe Camera Raw, opened in Photoshop, levels adjust only. No purple fringing issues, and details are amazing. If you wanted you could count the grains of sand, and how many ants are walking across the brick.



100% Crop of Lorikeet in top of a gum tree. Straight from camera, no processing at all done.



Adjusted with Purple Fringing removed.



Will the tele-converter take as clear sharp photos as body mounted lenses? Seeing as it's being used on a camera that starts out by having a small sensor, no, probably not, but it does take good ones. Is it worth getting? Oh hell yeah, but I would really like to see Olympus come out with some sort of lens hood or 'clip on UV filter for this nice piece of glass.

With my little Canon IXUS point and shoot getting slower and slower to focus, it was time to find an heir apparent.

Enter the Stylus 1 by Olympus.

Lightweight, 10x Zoom, constant F/2.8 (max F/Stop 8.0) with a quick 1/2000 of a second shutter speed. This little powerhouse comes with a built in ND filter, so no need to carry or find an adapter for a polarising filter.

On board flash is good for a bit of fill flash, if needed. There are also two Zoom controls, one on the left side of the lens, and one on top, near the aperture/power control.



Size comparison with the E-M1 and E-M5. With lens extended the Stylus 1 isn't much smaller, but it's less than half the weight. All three have the articulated touch screen. All three are amazingly fast to focus.



Pivoting articulated touch screen makes menu reading easy. The Fn1 button activates Digital 2x zoom.The Built in popup flash is good for fill flash, but there's also a hotshoe, to use an external flash if needed or wanted.
You set the aperture with the button on the top of the camera, but what I really like is you change the shutter speed with the ring on the lens. No more fingers turning the wrong dial!




The Digital Teleconverter only affects the JPG, not the ORF/RAW file. Not a fan of Digital Zoom, but I can say it's nowhere near as grainy and filled with artifacts as I expected.



Details and texture not lost with the Digital 2x Teleconverter:



Built in Neutral Density Filter functionality. Both images were shot at the same shutter speed, same ISO, same Aperture. The one on the left without the ND filter. The one on the right With the ND Filter on.




The camera also has WiFi, and you can use your Android or iPhone as a wireless remote.

It's 'only' 12mps, but the images are sharp, clear and colorful. It is a bit more expensive than your average "point and shoot" camera, but that's because it's above average in features, picture quality. You can still customize some of the buttons, but they aren't like the E-M5 or E-M1.