The PenFan's PhotoBlog

Our grand nephew insisted we join him and his family to the cinema one evening. Unfortunately the movie he wanted to watch was taken off for the day's screening. Feeling disappointed and dejected he was not in the best of mood so we decided to have dinner first before thinking how to fill our time for the rest of the evening. Kids being kids, after dinner he got over the disappointment  and was running all over the mall and posing for photograph. My wife was pleasantly surprised by his happy mood and quickly pulled out her XZ-1 and started snapping away.  He and his little sister were happily posing in front of the lighted fountain at the mall entrance but the tiny flash from the XZ-1 did not have sufficient power to cover the whole scene. On top of that the alternating fountain lighting from bright to dark accompanied by ever changing coloured illuminations fooled the camera metering. A 2 stops underexposed photo from the Olympus XZ-1 in Normal Program Pattern meterin...

Located at Nusajaya, Johor, Legoland Malaysia Resort is the first Legoland theme park in Asia and the sixth Legoland theme park in the world.  It started operation on September 15, 2012 and officially opened by Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, Sultan of Johor on September 22, 2012. The main entrance to the Legoland Malaysia where adventure begins for many families  -- Camera: Olympus XZ-1. Setting lens zoom at 28mm(35mm film) or 6.0mm(lens) and at f/5.0 1/100s, ISO 100. LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort consists of three parks namely LEGOLAND Park, LEGOLAND Water Park and LEGOLAND Hotel. This place is truly a family holiday destination with rides, slides, shows and attractions for everyone. Legoland park focus mostly on family fun, hands-on, interactive experience and building with Lego bricks. Legoland Park has several themed areas designed for all ages so the whole family can have a fun-filled day during their stay at the park. Obviously children and the young at hearts are the her...

Having experienced the joy of macro photography with the Olympus MCON-P01 macro converter, my wife is all set for the real thing and she is now a proud owner of the highly acclaimed Olympus M.ZUIKO Digital ED 60mm F/2.8 macro lens. This lens is lightweight but well-built and about 80% longer in length than the M.Zuiko 45mm F/1.8 which is another Olympus prime lens with many positive users feed back. For us the 60mm F/2.8 macro is a more versatile and useful lens for the type of photography that Elaine engage in. We treat lenses and cameras like an artist's tool set that are acquired based on its ability in adding value to our creative pursuit. Close-up of a fully ripe mulberry fruit the separate minute fruits of this multiple fruit is clearly visible in this 1:1 macro shot.    --    Camera: Olympus Pen E-PL2, Lens: Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60 mm f/2.8 MSC Macro Lens, setting at F/9.0 1/40s and ISO 200 Build-in flas...

We saw a nice scene where the sun was shining brightly in deep blue sky and colourful flowers in the foreground contrasting beautifully with the buildings in the background. We took a shot and what we got was a well exposed building with overly dark flowers in deep shadows and a pale featureless white sky. A total letdown!  The beautiful high contrast scene was not represented on the photo we took so we became frustrated and disappointed with our camera. The problem is the tonal and contrast range of the scene is too large for the imaging sensor in the camera to capture. We had the same situation when we were at the Western Courtyard of The Curve mall.  In the center we had natural sunlight streaming in from the top of the open courtyard surrounded by a darkened but clearly visible dining area, leading towards the courtyard were rows of hanging incandescent lamps in beautiful orange glow. However it was all lost with the photo we took - only the beautiful pil...

Close-up and Macro Photography is a popular category with many photographers. Some of the reasons being macro photographers don't need to look for the right models with well equipped studio, or travel to exotic far away places. However that was always the dream and aspiration of many photographers. Macro photographers are also unlikely to land themselves into some sticky controversy spot with the authority. Several renowned photographers had mentioned in interviews and talks that they find serenity and contentment within themselves when they are engrossed with macro and nature photography. The close-up of these blue flowers complimenting with the green background in a low angle view point made this photograph look abstract and artsy.  --   Camera: Olympus Pen Lite E-PL2. Lens: M.Zuiko ED 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6 telephoto lens and MCON-P01 macro converter. Setting lens zoom at 70mm and f/5.0 1/200s and ISO 2 It is easy to get started with Macr...

The Olympus MCON-P01 Macro Converter is an add-on close-up lens designed to pair with the standard kit zoom M.Zuiko digital 14-42 F/3.5-5.6 II and also the newer kit zoom with (R) designation. However better results are obtained with this macro converter when paired with either the M.Zuiko digital 40-150 ED F/4.0-5.6 telephoto zoom or the M.Zuiko Digital 14-150 ED F/4.0-5.6 wide-angle to telephoto zoom as the master lenses. The MCON-P01 is a very light weight macro converter at just 23 grams and is fully made of plastic. The feather weight of the MCON-P01 macro converter means there will be no load issue when mounting on the equally light weight M.Zuiko zoom lens. Certainly no stress to the master lens' micro focusing motor and the light-weight mechanism. Damselfly belong to Odonata subgroup of insect which also include the dragonfly. Odonata are ancient insect. fossils of dragonfly had been trace to predated the dinosaur era. -- Camera: Olympus Pen Lite E-PL2, Le...

After taking some photos around noon in the open I decided to take shelter from the blazing sun. Sitting at a shaded corner taking a break and drinking some water to cool myself down,  I started checking out the images taken on the Olympus Pen E-P1.  It was then that I remembered the OM Zuiko 135mm F/2.8 lens was in my camera bag. The OM Zuiko 135mm F/2.8 lens was one of the lens in my collection that I rarely used during my OM 35mm film days. I tended to reach for the Tamron SP 90MM F/2.5 for portrait or the OM 200mm F/4 for telephoto usage. The OM 135mm F/2.8 lens happened to be somewhere in between the other two lenses. After reading some positive on-line user experience on the OM 135mm lens I decided to try it out on my Pen E-P1 camera. A 135mm focal length lens on a Micro Four Thirds camera is equivalent to a 270mm lens on the OM camera or 35mm format camera. 270mm EFL (Equivalent Focal Length) is not an easy focal length to handhold or to manual ...

Koi is the Japanese word for carp fish. However in English the word Koi normally refers to "nishikigoi" the domesticated colourful ornamental carp fish that originated from Japan. Nishikigoi (錦鯉) literally means brocaded carp fish. This large aquarium illuminated with overhead spot-lights that enhance the metallic colour of the koi and add interesting sparkle to the ripple on the water surface. -- Camera: Olympus Pen E-P1, Lens: Zenit Industar 61L/Z 50mm F/2.8, set at F/5.6 and 1/250 second at ISO 800. Koi fish is a very popular decorative fish especially in the Far East. To the Japanese Koi fish symbolises perseverance, endurance and the strength to overcome difficulties in life. The word Koi also pronounced the same as another Japanese word meaning love and friendship. The Chinese character for fish is pronounced the same as the word for 'surplus' or 'abundance' and symbolises profit, gain and good fortune. Carp fish is a popular theme in Chinese...

The new generation of mirrorless system cameras such as the Olympus Micro Four Thirds Pen Lite E-PL2 is compact and light weight. The image quality from these Micro Four Thirds cameras is good enough for most applications. The Micro Four Thirds system also has a comprehensive range of compact interchangeable lenses and accessories which add versatility to how images can be captured. All these advantages have made the Micro Four Thirds and mirrorless system cameras one of the fastest growing segment in the digital cameras market. The Olympus digital Pen series are a very popular mirrorless system cameras. The charms of the Pen series are many, the main one being the total size of the system. The camera body is small yet not too small for the average human hand. The system lenses are in matching sizes and balance well on the Pen camera body. The Pen series of cameras each has a different appeal and character in their design which make them stand out f...

Camera manufacturers tend to release new cameras around the third quarter of each year to catch the yearend and Christmas shopping seasons. This is the best time of the year to get good bargain of cameras that are about to be superseded by the newly launched models. If all you want is a camera to take good photographs most current models in the market will suffice. The newest model might get you faster frame rate, focus faster, better performance in low light and better features in the HD video area. If you need those features or faster performance then wait for those newly released models. For us we love a good bargain buying brand new camera from reputable shops. That is certainly better than buying used or shopping for second hand goods. We saw an ad on the local newspaper where a large local retailer was having stock clearance of cameras from Canon, Olympus, Sony and others. The E-PL2 sing...