Mu-43.com - Micro Four Thirds User Group
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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 -
Creatures Of Night
You have to go down the garden at night to see these creatures of the dark. You won’t know them otherwise.
Go quietly, disturbing as little as possible on the way, lest they take fright and disappear into the night.
The least disturbance can be enough that they are away, never to be seen again without aid.
And when they are done they are gone, time’s up. Gotta make the most of it or …
When you get close enough, never mind the mozzies, little beauties all.
1. Perched on a stick left out for the purpose. A lacewing takes portrait position.
2. Furry fellow, frantic feeder … Anticipating position, speed is key to capture an image of this hyper active moth.
3. Salt and pepper moth, but not for eating … except by spiders maybe.15Mar 9, 2018 -
Prague - capital full of history and beauty
As some fellow forum users here know, I mostly shoot portraiture (about 90% of my photography), but this time I want to share something different for a change.
A few weeks ago I had the luck of travel to Prague in Czech Republic.
It is a beautiful capital in the heart of old Europe.
There are magnificent buildings, statues, churches at every corner, and everything is so well preserved and cared that they look like they were built yesterday.
In my Crumpler messenger bag I took the following micro 4/3 gear:
Olympus OMD EM10 Mark II
3 batteries
Charger
3 SD cards
Pana/Leica 25mm f/1.4
Olympus 14-42mm EZ
Olympus 9-18mm
Panasonic 35-100 f/2.8
Most of the photos were taken with the Oly 9-18 and Panasonic 35-100.
The Pana/Leica was used briefly in a few night shoots and I barely used the Olympus 14-42 EZ.
In several occasions I wished I had a wider than the 9mm lens. There was so many things to put inside the frame...
It was very cold most of the time, but in my 5 day visit I've the luck to get 2 overcast and hazy days, 2 sunny days and a snowy day.
I hope these photos inspire you to visit this beautiful city.23Mar 28, 2018 -
The Elusive American Bittern
I purposely left later than normal to head to my favorite state park because I was after gators. I knew the sunny warm day would have them out everywhere but when I got to the park the clouds had rolled in and it was heavily overcast the entire time I was there. Didn't have any luck with the gators but I did find this American Bittern who let me watch him hunt for 2 1/2 hours.
When I spotted the Bittern he was about 35 feet away so I dropped my backpack at the top of the bank and slowly worked my way down to the edge of the swamp. The bank was somewhat steep, which made laying head down the bank to uncomfortable of a position. But I really wanted to get a low perspective with my camera just above the weeds.
You see.......................
My 3 favorite birds to photograph are American/Least Bittern and Green Herons and all three prefer the thick/dense cover. This makes them difficult to photograph because getting clear shots is not always possible. So when they are in the heavy cover I like to get low and capture images that put you there with the bird to give you an idea of their perspective.
Not being able to lay facing the bird because of the banks steepness I did the next best thing. I put my legs in water with my butt just on the shoreline and rolled over on my side. Once on my side I bent over into an "L" shape, this allowed me to be somewhat comfortable and to position the camera just above the weeds for that eye level low perspective I was after.
This positioning made framing the shots a little difficult, especially with respects to being level. One of the advantages to mirrorless is the electronic viewfinder and the information that it makes possible to display. I have gotten into the habit of shooting with the blinkies on so I can instantly know the status of my highlights and shadows. I also always have the electronic level turned on to make sure I am level, keeps me from losing any of the image from leveling in post. I shoot with...31Mar 5, 2018 -
Your Top 5 : March 2018
Well, it's just past midnight here. So technically, we are into April.
45Mar 31, 2018 -
The Architecture of Death
The Municipal Cemetery in Modena (Italy) must be one of the few cemeteries where an “Archistar” has been called in. I came across this place in Modena thanks to a magazine article.
Cemeteries in Italy are one of the strange things here. Little boxes are piled high one above the other to hold the dead. They are often multi storey structures. The little frail old ladies who climb the dangerous looking step ladders the council provide to place flowers always amaze me.
The workings of these cemeteries are quite macabre. On popping off, you start out in a normal coffin and then every so often the coffin gets opened and the remains moved to an ever-smaller box. This is to make more room in the family tomb or a move to a smaller cheaper little box. The orange building in this set is the final destination with the smallest boxes, called the “Osario”, translated “Ossuary” .
This cemetery was designed by Aldo Rossi a famous Italian architect and intellectual. It was built in the late 70’s.12Mar 18, 2018
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