Food, glorious food....

Grand Lisboa at night

Equipment List Update

Latest acquisition in blue

Olympus E-3 DSLR (2009: S$1,499)
Olympus E-620 DSLR (2009: HK$ 5,480)
Zuiko 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (Kit lens)
Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD (2007: S$1,337)
Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD (2009:HK$7,580)
Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens (2008: US$199)
Zuiko 50mm f/2 Macro (2006:S$729)
Zuiko EC-14 Teleconverter (2006:S$625)
Olympus FL-20 FLash (2009: S$190)
Olympus FL-36R Flash (2008: S$315)
Olympus FL-50R Flash (2008: S$680)
Olympus RM-CB1 Cable Release (2005:US$59)
Feisol CT-3441 Carbon Fibre Tripod with CB-30C Ballhead (2007: US$399)
Mamiya Carbon Fibre Monopod (2007:S$185)
Expodisc 72mm White Balance Portrait (2008: US$99)
B+W 72mm MRC Circular Polariser (2008: US$99)
B+W 72mm 2-stop Graduated Neutral Density Filter (2008: US$75)
B+W 72mm 3-stop Neutral Density Filter (2008:US$95)
Dry Box (2006: S$48)
BlackRapid R-Strap (2008: US$49)
Lowepro Primus AW (2009:HK$990)
Shootsac w/Cowboy cover (2009: US$209)

Equipment List

These are the cameras and lenses that is currently in my stable. The beauty of a DSLR system is the ability to swap lenses for the type of photography and purpose. So I don't confine myself to using a certain DSLR body with a certain lens. I mix and match according to what I want to achieve in the image.

The E-3

My main camera for 'serious' shots is the E-3. The E-3 is the beginning of Chapter 2 of the Four Thirds system and continues in style with it's weather sealed body, tough and extremely ergonmic body. Being the flagship camera of Olympus' Four Thirds line-up, the E-3 scores very well although it's reviews were a mixed bag mainly due to it's weight and size. When I was deciding between the E-3 and the newer E-30, the weather sealing and the ergonomics of the E-3 won me over especially both were almost at the same price!

During the recent Chiang Mai trip, I took the E-3 for trekking and it literally went through rain and shine with me... The guide was amazed that the camera was still functioning well after going through rain and after being splashed onto during the bamboo rafting journey along Chiang Mai's rivers. I'm equally pleased with the tough and ruggedness of the E-3.

Most importantly, the E-3 produces very very good results - image quality is top-notch and that, to me is what matters most!

Some reviews of the E-3

DPReview
Photography Blog
Camera Lab
DC Resource
Steve's Digicam
Let's Go Digital
Image Resource
Trusted Reviews
Biofos
DC Views
Luminous Landscape
Outback Photo
Megapixel.Net

And of course no list of Olympus reviews is complete without Wrotniak's review

Wrotniak's E-3 review

E-620 Review

When I started my foray into the DSLR world, I knew nuts about sensors, interchangeable lens, apertures, shutter speeds etc... 4 years on since my first DSLR - the E-300, I've owned a fair share of DSLRs and have learned a lot about photography and what works and what does not work. I won't say I'm a Master but I think I qualify as some sort of an expert :P

I've got my hands on the E-620 and I'm impressed at what this little thing can do... I carry it with me everyday, ready to take snaps of things and people that caught my interest and attention. It's the best DSLR that Olympus has built to-date and it certainly stand firm to the promise of the Four Thirds standard. It is also one of the rare DSLR that has caught a lot of attention and has been getting rave reviews all over. The usual issues with the Four Thirds system such as focusing speed, high ISO noise, dynamic range all seems to go away or do very well under controlled test environments.

I scouted around the internet and scooped up some reviews from the more popular photography related websites....

DPReview
Digital Camera Review
Camera Labs
Photograhy Blog
DCResource
Trusted Reviews
Biofos
Steve's Digicam
Let's Go Digital
Image Resource
Four Thirds Photo
Four Thirds User
Professional Photographer

To a lot of Olympus, Mr Wrotniak appears to be the 'Guru' of the Four Thirds camera produced by Olympus, and he has never failed to deliver detailed technical reviews of the popular Four Thirds cameras and give his opinion of the camera.

Wrotniak's Review

Portraits of some friends

Up Close & Personal

Trekking in Chiang Mai

My Shootsac

Alright, the shootsac arrived and I had a good look at it. I would say the shootsac is quite well-made, the neoprene material appears durable and the stitching seems strong.

I've been using it for a week and I must say, it's one of the most comfortable bag I've ever used. It's not designed to be a camera bag but I find that I can fit the E-620 body into one of the slot, the 12-60mm into another slot, and finally the FL-36R. I can also carry the expodisc and some other smaller accessories in the back poackets. So far so good and I'm liking it a lot!

I took the sac and the E-3 for a spin this afternoon, and it has been a pleasure to use. The E-3 had the 12-60mm and the R-strap was carrying the combo. In the shootsac, I had the 50-200mm, 50mm and the FL-50R plus some other accessories. The entire set of gears were easy to carry, compared to, in the past, where I dump everything into the Crumpler 6/7 million dollar home and end up with a shoulder-ache at the end of the day. Changing lens was easy with the shootsac, as it was designed to do so... and this is the only bag that I'm comfortable keeping the rear lens cap off. The neoprene material will not scratch the rear lens element. With the rear lens cap off, changing lens was a breeze. The only issue is the lack of a shoulder pad, I'm going to get a nice shoulder pad to go along with the shootsac.

For travelling and hiking etc, I'll still use the Lowepro Primus, but for about town and day-to-day commuting, the shootsac is perfect! I have to say, the shootsac is one expensive bag, but in my opinion, it's worth the money for what I'm using it for, and on top of that, it's damn cool looking!! :)