Olympus E-620

The year 2009 is fast shaping up to be among the most exciting years for Olympus with the coming into the market of several compelling camera features, among them art filters in mid-range and entry-level DSLR cameras, multi-exposure capabilities in several camera models, longest zoom in the compact camera segment and the rise of Olympus E-P1.

One of Olympus’ latest offerings is the E-620 which was released at a time when everybody was into the Nikon D5000-Canon EOS 500D frenzy, a craze which lasted for several weeks and reached its dizzying point last month.

With the D5000-500D dusts more or less settled down, we can now rationalise things, step back a little and re-examine whether all the “madness” was really justified and whether or not we have missed the opportunities to look towards other directions because we were too fixated by the Canon-Nikon rivalry.

Take a look at me now

Those who can live with a DSLR which offers no video capability — because chances are you already have a camcorder which takes far more superior videos than a DSLR does — should now take a look at Olympus E-620. [Did I hear Phil Collin's Take A Look At Me Now playing in the background?]

What they say about Olympus E-620

Here are some of verdicts of the E-620 delivered by my top three camera review sites. Be sure to read the full review:

Digital Photography Review: “When we reviewed the Olympus E-30, we said it was the best Four Thirds DSLR yet – it didn’t hold on to that crown for long. The E-620 crams most of the E-30’s feature set into a much smaller, much less expensive package that competes more convincingly with its peers than any Four Thirds camera we’ve yet seen.”

Steve’s Digicams: “With excellent image quality both indoors and out, pleasing High ISO capabilities, and loads of easy to use features, we have no problem giving the Olympus E-620 dSLR a high recommendation.”

Digital Camera Resource Page: “Photo quality was very good, though the E-620 has a few issues worth noting. Those issues are the tendency to slightly underexpose (by about 1/3-stop), and it seems to clip highlights a little more than one would expect on a D-SLR. Colors were pleasing, and photos have the smooth look that you come to expect from a D-SLR.”

This is my collection of camera in the years since I first took photo taking seriously. My first camera was a second hand Pentax SLR. I bought in 1990 and everything was in manual. I no longer know where had I misplaced it.

My old cameras... Yashica 108, Canon KISS, Sony MAvica FD90, Nikon Coolpix E5200. The one with the brand Avon is a free gift This photo is taken with Canon G6. I've since bought a new camera, the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS and is planning to buy another, the Pentax Optio W80

Then in 1994, I bought a “semi-automatic” camera, the Yashica 108. Focusing was still done manually, and so was the zooming but I no longer needed to wind the film manually. I’ve given it away and not sure whether it is still working today.

Yashica 108... those days, Yashica was quite a brand

My last film camera was an entry level Canon Kiss SLR which still functions until today but the lens are all infested with fungus.

Canon EOS Kiss... entry level film SLR

Twenty-one months and only clocking 50,000 in the number of visitors. It is really a painstakingly slow journey. Still, thank you for those who come by. I hope to cover the next 50,000th milestone in half that period, say in 10 months. I really hope to be able to reach 100,000 by May 2010.

I don’t know about you but this shot makes me giddy somehow. It must be due to the perspective “distortion”.

Dizzy spell... feeling giddy yet?

Wasp...

This blog is dedicated to the world of macro photography using point and shoot cameras and will remain so until this blogger acquires all the tools he wants for his macro photography needs.

While truly stunning macro photographs can only be achieve using DSLR cameras and dedicated macro lenses, not everybody can afford them.

Thanks to digital cameras however, you can now get as close as less than 1cm to your subjects and shoot them up close. The results can be as good as those shot by DSLR cameras or can be as bad.

If you think you have shot macro photographs with a point and shoot camera and feel like sharing them, please email them to jaxonsblog [at] gmail [dot] com. They need not be the best shot; just simple macro shots will do.

The photos will be published here under the category “Macro Photos From Around The World” with a link back to your site or blog.

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Tadpole, we now know the insect is not a cicada but rather, a horned treehopper. Original posting:

Actually I don’t really know the name of this species of cicada. I am not even sure whether this is a species of cicada although it does fly like one. I call it “tiny Borneo horned cicada” because it is tiny, about 8mm in length, it has what looks like horns and it is photographed in Borneo.

Anyone with etymology, err… I mean entomology background should help identify this insect for the benefit of humankind. Who knows, these could be the first ever pictures of a species no one thought existed until an erstwhile unknown photographer captures it from an undisclosed location in Borneo.

Sharp pictures are good pictures. Blurry, out-of-focus pictures are bad pictures. Is this true? I wish I had the answer. But if sharp pictures are good pictures, why then there is a need for photo editing software to include tools to soften or blur pictures?

I’ve seen stunning out-of-focus pictures, especially close-up or macro pictures and wished I were the one who took them. The photos below are far from stunning, but really, is there a place for blurry pictures?

Insect macro photography. This one is taken with Canon Powershot SX1 IS with the Raynox DCR-250 super macro conversion lens attached.

Technorati Tags: Insect macro photography, Raynox DCR-250, super macro conversion lens