Random Jupiter 37A Bokeh Test

Do you still remember the time when you bought your first camera? I remember when I was still a student and I saved up to purchase a Russian mechanical camera that was a Zenit in the M42 mount. It provided affordable bokeh that I loved and could not achieve with the compact cameras that were more widely used then. I decided to use the M42 lens that I still keep on the Olympus E-450 because unfortunately Nikon cameras cannot accept M42 mount unless I use an adapter with a correction lens to allow the camera to focus to infinity. The lens I used today for this casual walk about is the Jupiter 37A, a russian 135mm F3.5 lens that brings back fond memories of my early years in photography. I remember the time of film where I had to wind the shuttle release after every shot, metering the exposure manually and setting focus, aperture and shuttle speed myself. Then there is the anticipation of waiting to see the prints after the film is being developed. Things that most people cannot wait to do these day when everyone tends to look for instant gratification. But I feel one certainly feels more involved in the picture taking process when you do all the things yourself, more pride of ownership, I guess. Holding that compact piece of solid metal lens barrel in my hands, and manually focussing seems to transfer me back to memory lane. I took a stroll along Clark Quay during the Mid Autumn Festival, taking some pictures of the colourful lanterns along the way. Holding a 135mm lens which becomes a 270mm on the Olympus 4/3 system, and taking night shot picture handheld in a very crowded environment, what was I thinking?! I must have been crazy, haha! Here are some random pictures anyway! First impressions are great, nice colours and sharpness wide open, with nice circular bokeh.

Random Picture

Recently I had a stye on my eyelid and its preventing me from trying to take pictures. Oh well... In the meantime, just to share one of my random picture from some time ago. A backlit shot with the Nikon 50mm prime again. This was actually a candid! Cheers!

Olympus E450 DSLR first impressions

Olympus? I know, most of you would be surprised to find me using an Olympus 4/3 system DSLR. But let me explain. I was looking for a compact camera for casual and holiday use when I came across an offer for a very compact DSLR, the Olympus E-450, going for the amazing price of SGD$480! That is roughly only about the price of a higher priced compact cameras! It was a no brainer and I got that camera to use for snap shot duties. But it turns out the 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit lens is no slouch! It is one marvellous kit lens that I am quite impressed with. The whole package gave me a very compact package with most of the dslr flexibility and performance. The only downside currenly I feel is that of the 4/3 system, due to the smaller sensor, has noisier pictures in settings higher than iso400. Its depth of field for the 4/3 format is also deeper than most APS and full-frame sensors of course, which can be a plus or minus depending on the type of picture you want. Its shallower than compact or prosumer cameras but not as shallow as APS or Full frame sensors. Another thing I gained through this system is my ability to reuse my Old M42 lens collection! I know Nikon systems can also use an adapter too but the problem lies with focussing at infinity. Nikon lens adapter require an additional lens correction element to allow M42 mounted lens to focus to inifinity, which somehow I feel would degrade the image quality. Did I also mention its weight? It is almost non-existant! What a joy it is to bring it along the whole day without suffering shoulder and backaches like when I carry my D700 gears! For sure the D700 is a vastly superior camera, but for its price and purpose, the Olympus has nothing to be embarrased and will definitely have a place in my camera bag, haha! Here are some of my first casual snapshots with the Olympus E-450. All the pictures were taken with the Kit lens except for the last 2 pictures which were taken with the Meyer Optik Gorlitz 50mm F2.8 M42 lens with M42 to Olympus 4/3 system adapter. Its good to revive back some of my cheaply gotten M42 lens, especially the Old European lenses which somehow have this creamy pastel and paintily effect that is often missing in modern optics.