Mu-43.com - Micro Four Thirds User Group
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Steam Extravaganza!
The Canterbury Steam Preservation Society (dedicated to the preservation of heritage steam locomotives and traction engines) operates a steam tramway ride and museum at Steam Scene. My toddler is in a bit of a Thomas the Tank Engine phase at the moment, so we decided to make a day of it... little did we know that we happened to have picked the weekend of their annual Steam Extravaganza open day!
Here are some shots taken with the 12-40mm and 9-18mm. There was a lot of dust being blown around so I didn't really change lenses.
The smoke brigade19Apr 15, 2018 -
Death Valley
Went for a quick visit past week end to Death Valley. Also went there to meet some photographers from NYC who attending the NAB show. It wasn't bad heat wise temps between 60s at night and 90 to 100ºF day time
[1] Mesquite Flat Sand Dune at sunrise
[10] As I left the park I saw this Joshua Tree and in...10Apr 10, 2018 -
Review - Sundisc
The 60 cm Sundisc from Approach Studios is touted as an “ultra portable softbox reflector”, and it was this tagline that caught my eye when I spotted the kickstarter campaign in June 2017.
Hmmm, it looked pretty portable and compact in their promo video, and it kinda got me hooked. I decided I would give it a punt during the first couple of seconds of the video. Not really sure what happened between that moment and placing my pledge, because I managed to talk myself into going for the twin pack. I consoled myself by telling my wife the minimum order was two. * cough *
We'll skip the bit where I waited, although I will say the updates from the team were regular and very informative. Kudos! And then a grey plastic wrapped pack arrived. Erm.... isn't that a little small for two softboxes? I held my breath as I opened the pack.
Nope, definitely two, although one pictured above. They are each similar in size to a folded 22” reflector disc, which is around 9” in diameter when packed. It immediately struck me that I can replace the 22” reflector I cart everywhere in my camera bag for food photography, and I'll always have a softbox available without taking up additional space in my kit bag.
And once I'd unfolded the first Sundisc, the quality of the reflective material was obvious. It was much superior to the silver and gold reflector it would replace. The panel has a zip that almost fully encircles it, allowing it to be turned inside out to switch from a silver internal surface, to gold.36Apr 7, 2018 -
My first football match
I had a opportunity to take photos in the national league derby last weekend between AIK and DIF, I used the 300mm F4 and 40-150mm F2.8 and it was more fun than I thought it would be sine I dont really enjoy looking at it on tv
10Apr 16, 2018 -
Crdome and Harvey's Top Secret Travels
Back in late February, Crdome notified me that I would be blessed by his presence once again (possibly to be a yearly tradition). I did some mad scrambling, filled out all the necessary paperwork, and I was able to get the needed security clearance for Crdome to visit the mythical Voodoo Tree. It was very cold the day we went out, and the wind was brutal. It was also a very cloudy and flat day.
My first stop was the Big Old Chunk of Iron Ore. I attached a few hard drive magnets to honor it's ferrousness.
Next up was a short cold hike to the Voodoo Tree.15Mar 31, 2018 -
Pen-F Safari Edition (DIY Mod)
Ever since owning an olive Voigtlander Bessa R2, I have loved the idea of an olive green camera. Not just for the aestethics of it, but also because many of the people I photograph react differently to a nondescript green camera than they do a shiny silver camera or a (intimidating?) black camera.
I've hoped and waited and watched for Olympus to release an olive version of the Pen-F ever since it came out, but to no avail. I even had google alerts set up for any rumors of one or a limited edition, but there was never anything.
About a month ago a Pen-F came up in slightly-less-than-excellent condition for a more reasonable price, so I jumped on it and started researching how (and if) I could paint it and obtain a durable and professional looking finish.
After a lot of research, I found a special epoxy spray paint made for firearms and hunting equipment, called Aluma-hyde II. It is a similar paint to what you might find in the hardware store as "epoxy appliance paint" but comes in colors other than gloss black or cream.
While disassembling, stripping, and reassembling would have been the most thorough option, I could find nowhere and noone that had successfully disassembled and reassembled a digital Pen-F. So, I set out figuring out if I could mask, prep, paint, and cure without disassembly.
I wiped the entire camera down thoroughly with alcohol wipes, cleaning in every nook and cranny and crack. From then on I only handled the camera with nitrile gloves. I also found a 4" 1/4-20 bolt, applied some masking tape around the threads to seal it into the tripod mount and to prevent it from unscrewing accidentally. I tried to even limit touching the camera with gloves, and instead handle it by the bolt.
I used a chopstick covered with a small strip of sandpaper to rough up as much of the body as I could. It's important to give a little bit of rough surface for the...45Mar 31, 2018
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