Birns & Sawyer (TEWE) Omnitar 150mm f3 & Olympus E-M5 - Part I

One of the best aspects of having a blog, is that I can learn so much from readers. Case in point: Mike Aubrey has been extremely helpful with tips on configuring and using the Olympus E-M5. I do admit I am guilty of not reading/researching some of the complaints I have, such as having the IS available in magnified view. Today, with the tip from Mike, I set up the camera so that IS still works in Magnified View. This is a huge deal when using long lenses. The E-M5 (perhaps the E-M1 too) is probably one of the most configurable cameras and it can be very confusing.  I thought the Canon 1D Mark III was complicated to setup, but the E-M5 takes the cake.

Due to the smaller sensor of the M4/3 system, normal wide angle lenses on 35mm format won't be wide when used on M4/3. On the other hand, if you love long lenses, you will be in cloud 9, especially with a M4/3 body that has stabilization built-in. Your 200mm f2.8 lens is equivalent to a 400mm f2.8 lens on 35mm format. I have quite a few long lenses that I intend to try them on the E-M5. Today's pick was the Birns & Sawyer (made by TEWE of Germany) Omnitar 150mm f3 cine lens, originally in Arri mount but I converted to Nikon F mount.

I doubt there are too many of this lens (and it's sister lens, the Omnitar 200mm f3.2) floating around, as a search on Google didn't seem to return much information, especially sample pictures. In terms of optical condition, this lens is by far the worse. The coating has disintegrated, and unfortunately can not be cleaned off, so it looks like a thin layer of glue if viewed from a certain angle. It would flare like crazy and depending on the angle of the light, the pictures could also be hazy.

This lens does not vignette on full frame, but it was optically designed to cover the 16mm film, as the edges are very blurry on full frame. I used this lens on the ancient Canon 1D-S before, and I liked the pictures from it, despite the blurry corners; I like it even more on the E-M5, as the M4/3 sensor is almost the same size as the 16mm film. We are seeing what the lens was designed to show.

More pictures from Omnitar 150mm f3 to come...

All pictures below were taken with the Omnitar 150mm f3 & Olympus E-M5.

Minolta Rokkor-X RF 250mm f5.6 with Olympus E-M5

My MD, L39 and Leica-M to M4/3 adapters arrived yesterday. I was earger to test the effectiveness of the E-M5's stabilization system with long lenses, specifically the Minolta 250mm mirror lens. Today I shot some pictures with the combo and I am very pleased. In short, longer lenses are not as effective as the shorter lenses with the stabilization, but it definitely helped. I get more sharp pictures than I could with NEX-6, while using lower ISO. With the NEX-6, I had to use ISO 800 to 1600 in day light, but with the E-M5, the ISO is usually at 400 and even 200.

I wish the In-Body Stabilization would work without half-pressing the shutter button; this way I can have IS on while in magnified view, to help fine tune focus. As it is, as soon as you half-press the shutter, the magnify feature is deactivated.

I am quite pleased with the E-M5 and Minolta 250mm combo. Imagine shooting 500mm (35mm equivalent) without tripod. That's what I call freedom. There are many opportunities with a longer lens, which allows the capture of some candid moments that could otherwise not available.

All pictures below were taken with the Minolta Rokkor-X RF 250mm f5.6 mirror lens and Olympus E-M5.

Shooting the E-M5 with Gloves

Despite the very cold temperature, I have been out shooting on my lunch time around my work place. It's been frustrating, not all because of the cold, but also because with gloves, it's very hard to operate the E-M5. The camera is small and the buttons are smaller than that of the NEX-6. I actually prefer the NEX-6's wheel with rocker buttons on the rear, than the very tiny individual buttons of the E-M5. The Fn2 button besides the Shutter release is much too small. It took many tries to activate it each time I needed to use it. I think a camera can be a negative being small. One solution is to wear very thin gloves, but that -10 to -20 degrees Celsius, that's not an option as your fingers will be numb in about 5 minutes.

One other thing the bothers me a lot, is the very slow write speed to the SD card, and the review button does not work until the writing is done. I found myself waiting for the writing to finish way too often. I am very surprised that I have had so many negative points toward the E-M5. Most people are very positive about its handling. I guess I am the odd-ball. I am not saying the E-M5's handling is bad, it's just not what I was expecting.

Flowers behind window - E-M5 & Taylor-Hobson 75mm f2 TV Lens. Click for larger.

Feeding the geese - E-M5 & Taylor-Hobson 75mm f2 TV Lens. 

Bench - E-M5 & Taylor-Hobson 75mm f2 TV Lens. Click for larger.

Signs - E-M5 & Jupiter-3 5cm f1.5 Lens.

Shooting in Low Light with Olympus OM-D E-M5

One of the strongest and best features of the Olympus E-M5 (and the E-M1) is the 5-Axle In-Body Stabilization. After a few days of use with the E-M5, and shooting in various lighting conditions, I can confirm that it's extremely effective, easily as good as the lens-based stabilization, and it works with all lenses attached to the body. I am absolutely loving this amazing feature.

I took Mike Aubrey's advice, and set the ISO to a lower maximum of 1600, so that the Auto-ISO will force the shutter speed to be lower, since the E-M5 seems to favoure higher shutter speeds (higher ISO). With a 50mm lens (100mm equivalent in 35mm), I can shoot at 1/25s and the images are sharp; even at 1/13s, it's still tack sharp. With a very fast lens, you can practically shoot in the dark with very little available light. I wish the NEX-6 (and the A7/A7r) has this incredible IBIS feature.

William - E-M5 & Kodak Anastigmat 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens. Click for larger.

Port of Toronto at night - E-M5 & Kodak Anastigmat 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens. Click for larger.

Never ending snow - E-M5 & Kodak Anastigmat 50mm f1.6 Cine Lens.

Canon FD 200mm f4 - Photo Set

obakesan wondered how the rather expensive Minolta Rokkor-X RF 250mm f5.6 mirror lens compares to the very cheap Canon FD 200mm f4 lens. I always knew a mirror lens is a compromise in design; you can have very long reach in a small package and relatively lightweight, but with a fixed, slow aperture. Since I own both lenses, I thought I would give my thoughts on these two lenses.  This post is not a direct comparison; it's my impression from use.

Size: FD 200mm vs Minolta 250mm - Click for larger.

The advantage of the Canon FD 200mm f4 over the Minolta RF 250mm, of course, is it's more than 10x cheaper, and sharper at the same aperture of f5.6, and it has aperture control and a faster maximum aperture of 4. On the other hand, the Minolta RF 250mm f5.6 is about 3 times lighter, almost half the size, and is 50mm longer. This version of the FD 200mm f4 lens does not have the Spectra Coating (S.C), or the Super Spectra Coating (S.S.C) of the later FD lenses. It suffers from very heavy purple fringing, a problem that the RF 250mm f5.6 does not have. As old lenses go, the FD 200mm f4 is quite sharp, although I am not to crazy about its bokeh.

There is no question which lens I would like to shoot with. I prefer the Minolta for its lightweight and small size. This is the only reason people pay crazy money for it (OK, the image quality is decent too). If I wanted to carry this much weight, there are better alternatives out there than the FD 200mm f4.

Majestic looking duck - E-M5 & Canon FD 200mm f4 @ f5.6. Click for larger.

The Dock - E-M5 & Canon FD 200mm f4 @ f5.6. Click for larger.

City of Toronto - E-M5 & Canon FD 200mm f4 @ f5.6. Click for larger.

citi - E-M5 & Canon FD 200mm f4 @ f5.6. Click for larger.

Fellow Photographer - E-M5 & Canon FD 200mm f4 @ f5.6. Click for larger.

Second Day with the E-M5

The second reason I bought the E-M5, was to replace my dying Panasonic G1, which has a broken card slot, so that I can use some of my c-mount lenses again. The G1 has a 16GB Kodak memory card stuck in there permanently. Still works, but annoying to get the pictures out through the cable.

But, allow me to get a few things off my chest; things that bothers me with the E-M5.

The combination of a high base ISO of 200, and the limited maximum shutter speed of 1/4000s pose problems shooting with large aperture lenses during the day.  Version 2.0 of the firmware for the E-M5 added ISO 100 (as LOW) but this can not be used in auto-iso as default, which is stupid, me thinks.

Another oversight for the E-M5, I think, is the focal length of manual focus lenses are not written to the EXIF.  Seriously, the focal length is already there when setting up the Image Stabilization for manual focus lenses.  Why is this focal length not part of the EXIF?  The ancient Pentax K10D did it. It would have been very helpful in identifying what lens was used after the shoot.

The last gripe I have, is that the E-M5 favours higher ISO instead of lower shutter speed. I don't understand it, even with a focal length of 24mm, it chooses to use ISO 6400 with a shutter speed of 1/125s. The stabilization is so good in this camera, one can use 1/focal length and still get sharp pictures.

Sorry you have to hear my whining about the E-M5.  I want to get these out of the way so that I can start enjoy it from now on :)  I do love this little camera.

Bokeh - Olympus E-M5 & JML 25mm f0.95 TV Lens @ f0.95. Click for larger.

New Toy - Olympus OM-D E-M5

Thanks to reader Ferdinand, who alerted me of an Olympus E-M5 for sale on Kijiji; I am now the proud owner of a mint condition E-M5 with roughly 4000 shutter actuations. The camera came in the silver/black colour though I would prefer it all black, but given the good price, I won't complain. Before buying this camera, I was debating whether to buy the E-M10 or a used E-M5, or the Fuji X-E1/X-E2. In the end, I decided that the 5-Axel In-Body Stabilization of the E-M5 is more important to me.

The camera immediately presented me with challenges.  I am so used to the NEX UI, especially the NEX-6 which I have been using almost exclusively for a year. Compared to the E-M5, which has one of the most complicated configuration options, the NEX-6 is a simple camera. It took me a while to find the magnify feature for manual focus lenses. The configuration options of the E-M5 is simply mind boggling, and confusing. But I was able to set up the fn2 button as the magnify button and it works reasonably well.  This is pretty much all I need for the time being.

Bokeh - E-M5 & Kern-Paillard Switar 75mm f1.9. Click for larger.

In some ways, I prefer how the NEX-6 works over the E-M5. For example, the magnify feature. On the NEX-6, press the magnify button, and the screen is magnified; on the E-M5, you have to double press the magnify button to activate it, and press it again to magnify. Frustratingly, if you access the menu, it needs the double press again to re-activate. Also, I think the "Play" button on the E-M5 is in the wrong place; I had to loosen the grip in order to press this button to review pictures. Furthermore, if I use the EVF for focusing and then take the picture, then remove my eye from the EVF, the review picture is gone, from both the LCD and the EVF. On the NEX-6, the picture stays on either the EVF or LCD for as long as it's set to, or until you press the shutter button. Very inconvenient if you do a lot of chimping, because you would have to press the "Play" button to review the pictures, which adds more grief due to the placement of the "Play" button. While I am at it, I despise the placement of the power button. It's more logical to put it where the shutter button is, like the NEX-6, because you can easily turn the camera on or off using one finger without loosening the grip on the camera.

Rust, out of camera jpeg - E-M5 & Kern-Paillard Switar 75mm f1.9. Click for larger. 

Overall, I find the NEX-6 as a more responsive camera then the E-M5, and it has a better grip which makes it a lot easier to hold, but there are a lot of things I like about the E-M5.

The shutter sound on the E-M5 is the most beautiful I have heard in a camera. Quiet, silky, soothing; like the voice of an angel. It instills an emotional bond that attaches to every picture I take, and adds joy to the process of picture making. Simply lovely. I don't know if I can stand the sound of the NEX-6 again, or the even more ugly shutter sound of the 5D Mark II.

The 5-Axel In-Body Stabilization is fantastic, and rivals that of lens based systems. It's the main reason I bought this camera. I had a Pentax K10D, which also had an In-Body Stabilization, but I could not see or feel the effect, like I could with a Canon Image Stabilized lens, and therefore I could not gauge the effectiveness and was less confident about its usefulness. The E-M5 on the other hand, allows me to see the effect on the screen, just like the lens based ones do, and it minimizes the shake in the viewfinder, which in turn helps with long lenses when focusing.  This feature alone is worth getting the camera.

I also like the jpeg files out of the E-M5. Olympus has one of the best jpeg engines on the market. They look like they came out of a dedicated RAW converter. I will be shooting RAW+JPEG from now on.

I think I will get a long well with the E-M5.\

Blue Pails - E-M5 & Kern-Paillard Switar 75mm f1.9. 

Minolta RF Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 - Another Look

I wrote about my first impression, and the second look, plus many photo samples of this Minolta RF Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 mirror lens over the last couple of years. It has proven itself for the purpose of its design: small, lightweight, and inexpensive. The inexpensive part does not apply any more because this lens is selling at a few times more than its original price, but it's truly small and light. This lens attaches to the NEX-6 and still fit in my coat pocket, even with its hood. The small size is less intimidating if you are taking pictures of people, especially strangers. The petite size makes me look like a tourist taking pictures :)

As much as I dislike mirror lenses in general, I am warming up to this little lens. It's not the sharpest lens in the world but it's excellent being a reflex lens. So many times I wanted to sell it to fund the upgrade of the camera, but could not pull the trigger. There will always be newer and better cameras, but a lens like this is getting harder and too expensive to buy if I regret the sale and want it back later.

One thing I do wish is in-body stabilization on the NEX-6. It would make using long lenses much easier, especially for focusing. This is the main reason I want an Olympus E-M1 or E-M5. For the time being, I enjoy using it and it can come in handy in many situations, like the pictures from yesterday's blog entry.

Sparrow - NEX-6 & Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens. Click for larger. 

Ongiara - NEX-6 & Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens. Click for larger. 

Little Richard? - NEX-6 & Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens. Click for larger. 

Donut Rings - NEX-6 & Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens.  

Heavy, Wet Snow Aplenty

I was overjoyed this morning that the temperature will be in the positive territory, and I did have fun shooting with the Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 mirror lens. Just right before heading home, heavy and web snow started to come down, seemingly with a vengeance. It did, however, provided some interesting opportunities for photography. I stopped a couple times and shot a few frames. In a very short time, the lens, camera and myself were all wet. I was afraid the camera/lens might be damaged by moisture but everything turned out fine.

Man at work - Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens & NEX-6. Click for larger.

My Bike - Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens & NEX-6. Click for larger.

Fellow Cyclist - Minolta Rokkor-X 250mm f5.6 Mirror Lens & NEX-6.

Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f1.4 - Photo Set

The temperature is now back to normal, hovering around negative single digits in celsius. This balmy weather has been a good incentive for me to go out during lunch and take some pictures, which I haven't done much since winter started. For some reason, I have been enjoying more black and white renditions of the pictures of late, probably because we have had so much snow so far.

I have had the Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f1.4 mounted on the NEX-6 for the last few days. It actually looks very nice on the NEX-6, especially with its original vented hood; it's almost classic looking, a la film Leica M, and it balances very nicely. I like it as a walk around lens. The only thing that bothers me to no end, is the focusing lever. I am used to having a focus ring on lenses, but this one has just a lever on the side one uses to turn the focus mechanism. I was constantly looking for this stupid lever when I need to focus the lens. It's especially bad when using gloves.  Other than that, it's a very sweet and nice looking lens, with optical quality to match.

Dog Walker - Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f1.4 & NEX-6. Click for larger. 

Bike In Snow - Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f1.4 & NEX-6. Click for larger.

Observation Deck - Voigtlander Nokton Classic 40mm f1.4 & NEX-6. Click for larger.