Olympus Camedia Expedition for Model E300 & E1

[raycsk]

Anyone going?

I believe those who have attended the E300 class by Antonio has gotten an email about the above as well.

[hhho]

Still considering not decided to go or not

[Evilmerlin]

Got the email, sadly I won't be able to join you guys already...back in Manchester doing my Postgrad.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some nice pictures from the Lake and Peak district during Spring and Summer!

[chancy]

Hello Evilmerlin, Raycsk & All,

With the recent list of E-System owner, the potential attendance for the expedition may be better received if more information was provided:

1) Venue(s) of outing
2) Period
3) Programme

Well, for the Manchester E300 owner, there's always the wonderful northern hemisphere light quality to look forward to & of course pics from your favourite soccer club in action :-)

Keep in touch !

Cheers,

[raycsk]

Hi Chan,

I received it via email and I think it is by invitation to those who have attended the Oly E300 class.

Not sure if Oly SG is opening to all E system folks. Perhaps you guys can ask. Its on the 19 Feb

[Merciless_Knight]

Taken from John Website

http://www.natureatwork.8m.com/olympus_e300.htm

I think it is a open expedition.

[chancy]

Originally Posted by Merciless_Knight Taken from John Website http://www.natureatwork.8m.com/olympus_e300.htm I think it is a open expedition.

Hello Raycsk & Merciless Knight,

Ahh ... I see, John Arifin's outdoor photo trip & his website. Hmmm, information on the right list prices for nature & macrophotography courses. It would be inappropriate for gatecrashers :-) Some other avenue to meetup perhaps.

Thanks !

The central picture from the expedition webpage with the boat was taken with the 7-14mm lens. It's been cropped & downsized too much to see this wonderful lens in action though.

Cheers,

[serene]

Hope that e-300 who attend can take lots of pictures and show us their expeditory photos soon.

[Merciless_Knight]

Originally Posted by serene Hope that e-300 who attend can take lots of pictures and show us their expeditory photos soon.

Hope that U can go too. So We can snap shot together lah...

[deepblue]

Originally Posted by Merciless_Knight Taken from John Website http://www.natureatwork.8m.com/olympus_e300.htm I think it is a open expedition.

NO, I think its for the E300 & E1 owner only ( by invitation ) as stated on the text line below john's banner.

[hhho]

Originally Posted by hhho Still considering not decided to go or not

just confirm my attendance on 19/02/05 with Oly Sg
would like to learn more about macro photography after getting extension tube EX-25 and 50mm F2.0 macro lens. My 1st trail with colourful flower titled "The Wonders of Colour" is here
feel free to comment and criticize.
Thank you
Cheers,

[Merciless_Knight]

Originally Posted by hhho just confirm my attendance on 19/02/05 with Oly Sg would like to learn more about macro photography after getting extension tube EX-25 and 50mm F2.0 macro lens. My 1st trail with colourful flower titled "The Wonders of Colour" is here feel free to comment and criticize. Thank you Cheers,

Hi hhho
How U did that ... I must learn from U now....

[hhho]

Hi! Merciless_Knight,
after collecting my ext-25 tube yesterday afternoon, I tried out focusing distance at home before outdoor shooting. Wow! It must be very close to the object you are shooting. The focusing range is very short.
There is one advantage of using 50mm F2.0 Macro lens, it can be AF/MF with EX-25 attached. It is importance when shooting moving object so C-AF can be used.
This morning I tried out with some flower shots supposed to be the earlier one. The wonderful experience of macro photography is seeing the usual things unusual on your monitor screen.
my mistake was not using flash for all these flower shots so I need to correct all with photoshop at home. I learnt to focus all my shots because one is out of focus means the end of it. So I used C-AF most of the times because of windy weather these days and with tripod. It was wonderful experience and I look forward to learning from Mr John Arifin in the coming expedition next weekend.
Cheers,

[Merciless_Knight]

Originally Posted by hhho Hi! Merciless_Knight, after collecting my ext-25 tube yesterday afternoon, I tried out focusing distance at home before outdoor shooting. Wow! It must be very close to the object you are shooting. The focusing range is very short. There is one advantage of using 50mm F2.0 Macro lens, it can be AF/MF with EX-25 attached. It is importance when shooting moving object so C-AF can be used. This morning I tried out with some flower shots supposed to be the earlier one. The wonderful experience of macro photography is seeing the usual things unusual on your monitor screen. my mistake was not using flash for all these flower shots so I need to correct all with photoshop at home. I learnt to focus all my shots because one is out of focus means the end of it. So I used C-AF most of the times because of windy weather these days and with tripod. It was wonderful experience and I look forward to learning from Mr John Arifin in the coming expedition next weekend. Cheers,

Hi hhho
As U can see my shots are in handheld one. Same here I got my EX25 tube & 50mm Marco too.
My Pictures
But I still cannot achieve Ur standard leh ... The different thing is my focus is in S-AF~MF one.
Maybe next shoot I will decrease my aperture (taken from chancy "Shifu" ) in order for better pictures liao.

[hhho]

Hi! Merciless Knight,
I observed somethings wrong in all your shots.
Actually, Chancy mentioned something like that to you in his last theard
What's importance to a good shot or how do we judge a good picture
1. TECHNICAL QUALITY
FOCUS: Is the image sharp? If not, is it intentionally soft and successful?
CLEANLINESS: Is it free of scratches, dust spots, stains, lens flare, etc?
EXPOSURE: Is it too light, too dark or just right?
LIGHTING: Is the lighting too contrasty, too flat or just right?
COLOURS: Does it have neutral colours or a strange colour cast?
2. COMPOSITION
BALANCE: Is the image aligned correctly or is it crooked?
LOGIC: Is the arrangement of the visual elements effective?
PURPOSE: Is there a strong centre of interest, pattern or design?
CLARITY: Is it simple, yet complete and without distracting elements?
3. EMOTIONAL APPEAL
DYNAMIC: Does it grab and keep your attention? Does it have the "wow" factor?
PROVOCATIVE: Does it excite your imagination, or create a strong emotion in you?
CREATIVE: Does it show a familiar subject in a new, unusual and yet effective way?
UNUSUAL: Does it show a very unusual subject in an effective way?
The above is the guidelines given by this website

I would like to advise you only make sure the picture is in-focus before you activate the shutter and you know it from camera "beep" sound and indicator light. That was one thing (focusing out) I observed in your picture and I was using C-AF for all my shots because the object was moving all the times. make sure focus locked then depress shutter fully. see page 82 of advanced manual E300. It is critical to my last two pictures which the object is moving due to blowing wind. I was happy to see C-AF working well in all these shots
try to make use of tripod to prevent camera shake. It is very important and nowaday I always mount my tripod unless in circumstances not allowed me to do so. Others was mentioned by Chancy that you should pay attention to the compression of jpeg file before uploading to your gallery. My standard setting is 720X540 or 600X450 and HIGH quality (between 7 - 9) depend on file size
Think you also need to pay more attention to the technical details and composition. By the way, I'm also learning here on how to guide you. E300 is my 1st DSLR and I upgraded from DC since mid Dec 04. My 1st DC is Oly C730UZ which I purchased in Nov 02 at the motor show that year. then I attended 4-hours Camedia Workshop on C730UZ and one day expedition after that. That why I look forward to learning more in next weekend expedition

one more points I noted that you did not understand Chancy correctly from the following sentence, "Maybe next shoot I will decrease my aperture (taken from chancy "Shifu" ) in order for better pictures liao."
What he meant was narrow DOF (Depth of field) as you reducing F number to smaller number F4 - 6 so that the background is blurr to make your object stands out - less distraction elements and more clarity picture as you can see from my last two pictures.
Cheers,

[chancy]

Originally Posted by hhho Hi! Merciless Knight, I observed somethings wrong in all your shots. Actually, Chancy mentioned something like that to you in his last theard What's importance to a good shot or how do we judge a good picture 1. TECHNICAL QUALITY FOCUS: Is the image sharp? If not, is it intentionally soft and successful? CLEANLINESS: Is it free of scratches, dust spots, stains, lens flare, etc? EXPOSURE: Is it too light, too dark or just right? LIGHTING: Is the lighting too contrasty, too flat or just right? COLOURS: Does it have neutral colours or a strange colour cast? 2. COMPOSITION BALANCE: Is the image aligned correctly or is it crooked? LOGIC: Is the arrangement of the visual elements effective? PURPOSE: Is there a strong centre of interest, pattern or design? CLARITY: Is it simple, yet complete and without distracting elements? 3. EMOTIONAL APPEAL DYNAMIC: Does it grab and keep your attention? Does it have the "wow" factor? PROVOCATIVE: Does it excite your imagination, or create a strong emotion in you? CREATIVE: Does it show a familiar subject in a new, unusual and yet effective way? UNUSUAL: Does it show a very unusual subject in an effective way? The above is the guidelines given by this website I would like to advise you only make sure the picture is in-focus before you activate the shutter and you know it from camera "beep" sound and indicator light. That was one thing (focusing out) I observed in your picture and I was using C-AF for all my shots because the object was moving all the times. make sure focus locked then depress shutter fully. see page 82 of advanced manual E300. It is critical to my last two pictures which the object is moving due to blowing wind. I was happy to see C-AF working well in all these shots try to make use of tripod to prevent camera shake. It is very important and nowaday I always mount my tripod unless in circumstances not allowed me to do so. Others was mentioned by Chancy that you should pay attention to the compression of jpeg file before uploading to your gallery. My standard setting is 720X540 or 600X450 and HIGH quality (between 7 - 9) depend on file size Think you also need to pay more attention to the technical details and composition. By the way, I'm also learning here on how to guide you. E300 is my 1st DSLR and I upgraded from DC since mid Dec 04. My 1st DC is Oly C730UZ which I purchased in Nov 02 at the motor show that year. then I attended 4-hours Camedia Workshop on C730UZ and one day expedition after that. That why I look forward to learning more in next weekend expedition one more points I noted that you did not understand Chancy correctly from the following sentence, "Maybe next shoot I will decrease my aperture (taken from chancy "Shifu" ) in order for better pictures liao." What he meant was narrow DOF (Depth of field) as you reducing F number to smaller number F4 - 6 so that the background is blurr to make your object stands out - less distraction elements and more clarity picture as you can see from my last two pictures. Cheers,

Hello Hhho & Merciless Knight,

Thanks Patrick for taking time to explain what I've skimmed in brief and taking initiative to introduce new photo techniques, tips.

Thanks for your kind compliments, no sifu please (even in quotes), I'm learning as much as you all and enjoyed some of your photos greatly, we're just disciples carry different coloured banners :-)

Cheers,

[hhho]

this morning we have attended an exclusive expedition to Singapore Botanic Gardens, Visitor Center organised by Oly Spore This expedition was led by renowned Nature Photographer, Mr. John Arifin. During this expedition, we have tried out all the Oly lenses and some of these pictures shown

#1 Focal length 200mm 1/200s F3.5 ISO100


#2 Focal length 45mm 1/80s F5.6 ISO100


#3 Focal length 300mm 1/400s F3.5 ISO100

[hhho]

continus from last thread......

#4 Focal length 50mm with Ext25 1/100s F11 ISO100


300mm telephoto lens in action


It was wonderful trip and time well spent
Cheers,

[raycsk]

Hi All,

Just a quick run down of the expedition.
John explained breifly the features of the E system and gave suggestions on some settings and asked questions on why the need for such settings. We tuned all our cams to the same settings so that there was consistency.

At various stages of the expedition he introduced us to the range of lens system starting with the kits lens and smaller zoom. This gradually progressed to the bigger zooms.

Then came out the macros and the special flash for macros.

Finally we moved up to 300mm with TC1.4.

As for me, I had a really good time and it was a real pleasure getting to know all other fellow CSers.

All I can say is .... prepare a blank cheque and rush down to the shops and buy buy buy......

Expedition?

[raycsk]

Just some humble shots...

Sigma 55-200 with EX25




50mm with built in flash


Note: Pics had only been resized