Fun with 4/3rds cameras/ Image Thread

[Jorgen Udvang]

I am not at all religious, but Buddhism seems to be one of the most effective pathways in dealing with the mysteries of life, and death—humans need appropriate ritual to help in resolving grief and sorrow.

Buddhism is by nature a very "open" and tolerant religion. In addition, Thai people are very practical in their approach. Although this funeral strictly followed the traditional routine, much more so than what is common in Thailand these days, it was also very informal, and brought all kinds of people with more or less remote relationships to my father (some had never met him but knew him through friends or relatives) together during prayers, chants and meals throughout the 5 days that the ceremonies lasted. It was indeed a very positive experience.

 

[ptomsu]

Thank goodness for some strong sunshine (at last!) here in the UK. Makes taking backyard bird photographs so much better. Both with the GX8 and Lumix Leica DG 100-400.

These shots look great!

I am considering to get this lens, what would be your advice? How do you like it at the long end?

Thanks

Peter

 

[momo]

Thank you all for your condolences. Even on sad occasions, there's room for another photo:

GX8 with Pana 35-100mm f/2.8 @ 85mm and f/2.8

Nice color,...always impressed with the clarity of your images no matter the lens/body used...something about your sharpening? pp work? whatever, i like...
sorry to hear about your dad...

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Nice color,...always impressed with the clarity of your images no matter the lens/body used...something about your sharpening? pp work? whatever, i like...
sorry to hear about your dad...

Thank you momo.

Here are my post processing standards. The amount of each tool depends on the image, and I always start with a RAW file. Be aware also that this routine works best for Panasonic (and Nikon), but would have to be modified for Olympus. I never figured out how. Olympus files seem to be more saturated than those from Panasonic

ACR:
Adjust WB and tint if needed
Remove CA and adjust distortion and keystoning if needed.
Darken highlights
Lighten shadows
Increase saturation, vibrance and clarity
Dehaze. This also darkens the photo and must be used with care if at all, but is an excellent tool to increase "pop".
Adjust curves. I mostly keep the shadows and highlights as is, but brighten the mid-tones.
Adjust exposure if needed.

The highlight and shadows adjustments are vital, and I sometimes go all the way to 100% on these.

Photoshop:
Adjust brightness
Crop and change size if needed
Add sharpness using USM. For web presentation, I mostly use:
Amount: around 80%
Radius: 0.2-0.5, the more small detail, the smaller radius. Portraits are typically 0.2-0.3.
Treshold: 0

Save at quality 9 for web.

 

[momo]

Thank you momo.

Here are my post processing standards. The amount of each tool depends on the image, and I always start with a RAW file. Be aware also that this routine works best for Panasonic (and Nikon), but would have to be modified for Olympus. I never figured out how. Olympus files seem to be more saturated than those from Panasonic

ACR:
Adjust WB and tint if needed
Remove CA and adjust distortion and keystoning if needed.
Darken highlights
Lighten shadows
Increase saturation, vibrance and clarity
Dehaze. This also darkens the photo and must be used with care if at all, but is an excellent tool to increase "pop".
Adjust curves. I mostly keep the shadows and highlights as is, but brighten the mid-tones.
Adjust exposure if needed.

The highlight and shadows adjustments are vital, and I sometimes go all the way to 100% on these.

Photoshop:
Adjust brightness
Crop and change size if needed
Add sharpness using USM. For web presentation, I mostly use:
Amount: around 80%
Radius: 0.2-0.5, the more small detail, the smaller radius. Portraits are typically 0.2-0.3.
Treshold: 0

Save at quality 9 for web.

Thanks for all this detail Jorgen.

One question. Do you apply your acr adjustments and then also bring the image into photoshop and adjust brightness, add usm, etc.?

I mainly use Lr for my raw conversions. I use a 'new to me' m5ll and also a nikon d700. I've basically done all my edits in Lr except if i'm using silver efex pro or something like that. Haven't used usm for years. I used it before programs like Lr, etc. were around. I'll have to try again. Now I'm curious.

I have been enjoying the olympus m5. I am still experimenting with pp for the files. Will start printing some images to see where I am. I bought it basically as an addition to my ricoh gr. Wanted a small body with a bit of telephoto ability for street work. I did wind up getting a panasonic 15mm. Man, I really like that lens. And the fov is so familiar from so much work with the GR.

I'm still thinking about that 35-100 you recommended to me a couple months back, the less expensive 4-5.6 I think it is. Not sure. I'm really wanting the 75mm 1.8. Then every other day I am attracted to a first zoom, a quality zoom for similar monies. Think is, I bought this Olympus because I wanted small, light. The 'good' zooms seem to be big and heavy. Although the 35-100 you recommended seems to produce some very nice color and detail and it's incredibly small and light. I look at it in the local camera shop each time i go in there. Marvel at how small that 70-200mm is.

The nikon is a whole different look and feel for color, noise, sharpening...

Morris

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Thanks for all this detail Jorgen.

One question. Do you apply your acr adjustments and then also bring the image into photoshop and adjust brightness, add usm, etc.?

I mainly use Lr for my raw conversions. I use a 'new to me' m5ll and also a nikon d700. I've basically done all my edits in Lr except if i'm using silver efex pro or something like that. Haven't used usm for years. I used it before programs like Lr, etc. were around. I'll have to try again. Now I'm curious.

I have been enjoying the olympus m5. I am still experimenting with pp for the files. Will start printing some images to see where I am. I bought it basically as an addition to my ricoh gr. Wanted a small body with a bit of telephoto ability for street work. I did wind up getting a panasonic 15mm. Man, I really like that lens. And the fov is so familiar from so much work with the GR.

I'm still thinking about that 35-100 you recommended to me a couple months back, the less expensive 4-5.6 I think it is. Not sure. I'm really wanting the 75mm 1.8. Then every other day I am attracted to a first zoom, a quality zoom for similar monies. Think is, I bought this Olympus because I wanted small, light. The 'good' zooms seem to be big and heavy. Although the 35-100 you recommended seems to produce some very nice color and detail and it's incredibly small and light. I look at it in the local camera shop each time i go in there. Marvel at how small that 70-200mm is.

The nikon is a whole different look and feel for color, noise, sharpening...

Morris

Yes, I open the files to Photoshop directly from ACR, but do the whole long list above in ACR. ACR is the same in LR, so only the PS part would be different. In addition to this, there may of course be selective adjustments and adjustments done with layers, all of which I would do in PS, or in LR in your case.

The little 35-100mm f/4-5.6 is indeed a fine lens. Be aware though that it's particularly good at shorter distances. The Zuiko 75mm is in a completely different league though, compared to this and to most other lenses. That's one of the best lenses I've ever used, maybe the best. I have both, and won't sell either.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

GX8 with 12-35mm f/2.8 @ 35mm and f/4

 

[Elliot]

New Panasonic G85 with old Olympus mZuiko 40-150mm f/4-5.6
I may have overexposed #1 and #2 (shot through glass), but the lighting was tricky.
I like the way the G85 handles and am going to expand my Panasonic lenses, trying to decide between the 12-35mm mk 1 lens and the upcoming 12-60 f/2.8 lens as well as either the 100-400 or 100-300 mk 2.

 

[mediumcool]

I … am going to expand my Panasonic lenses, trying to decide between the 12-35mm mk 1 lens and the upcoming 12-60 f/2.8 lens as well as either the 100-400 or 100-300 mk 2.

The 12–60 Panasonic has rather bad distortion at 12mm of 6.5% (vs 8.5% for the Olympus 12–40!); while it can be auto-corrected to “only” 1.2%, the field of view is reduced and corner resolution suffers with all the interpolation. I bought a 4/3 11–22 Zuiko because its distortion is much less. See Photozone.de for reviews of these lenses.

 

[Elliot]

The 12–60 Panasonic has rather bad distortion at 12mm of 6.5% (vs 8.5% for the Olympus 12–40!); while it can be auto-corrected to “only” 1.2%, the field of view is reduced and corner resolution suffers with all the interpolation. I bought a 4/3 11–22 Zuiko because its distortion is much less. See Photozone.de for reviews of these lenses.

Thanks.

I do not see a review of the soon-to-be-released here in the U.S. Panasonic 12-60 f/2.8-4.0 lens at Photozone.de, only the 12-60 f/3.5-5.6.

I also moved from the Olympus E-M1 to the Panasonic G85 body, which is not as well equipped to deal with the 4/3 lenses, unfortunately.

 

[Knorp]

a matter of time ...

 

[Knorp]

...

 

[Knorp]

...

 

[Knorp]

last one in series ...

 

[biglouis]

I noticed a very bright light in the sky last night and assumed it was planet. Some googling later I identified it as Venus which is apparently at its brightest at the moment.

I tried capturing it with my 100-400 but once again I reverted to my 35-100 because optically it is such a better lens, imho. The object of the photographs is to show how intense the point of light is, not to resolve detail. I used the famous 'egg cups' on top of the MTV studio building as a backdrop as well as a wider shot showing one of the towering cranes ringing Camden Town at present.

 

[mediumcool]

Thanks.

I do not see a review of the soon-to-be-released here in the U.S. Panasonic 12-60 f/2.8-4.0 lens at Photozone.de, only the 12-60 f/3.5-5.6.

I also moved from the Olympus E-M1 to the Panasonic G85 body, which is not as well equipped to deal with the 4/3 lenses, unfortunately.

Whoops. I’ll blame a late night and a decent domestic Chardonnay.

 

[Knorp]

absolutely the last one ... promised

Swapped the PL100-400 for the Oly 300/4.0 after this shot ...

 

[biglouis]

^^^^ Bart, any chance of links to full sized versions so we can see the IQ? I'm curious as an owner of the 100-400. ^^^^

 

[Knorp]

^^^^ Bart, any chance of links to full sized versions so we can see the IQ? I'm curious as an owner of the 100-400. ^^^^

I'll make some RAW files available, Louis.

 

[Knorp]

^^^^ Bart, any chance of links to full sized versions so we can see the IQ? I'm curious as an owner of the 100-400. ^^^^

EM1.2_2120031_L100400.ORF
EM1.2_2120086_L100400.ORF
EM1.2_2180021_L100400.ORF