Notes for next time. Chinese New Year Lion Dances at Glen Waverley

One thing that detracts from my success in achieving the shots I want, is I have a poor memory, fail to write things down after I encounter issues. This means the next year when I attend a similar event, I forget what sunk me the previous time. Here are my notes for this year's Chinese New Year event at Glen Waverley (but it applies to similar Chinese New Year incidents in other locations).

For the door to door lion dances (this year it was 2 pm to 4:30 pm), we had a high dynamic range scene. The sky is super bright courtesy of Melbourne Summer's day. The shaded shop frontage where the lions dance is several stops darker.

Parameter	Used	Result	Preferred	Notes
Metering	Evaluative		Evaluative
ISO	Auto	200	As needed to ensure high shutter speed
Aperture	f/3.5		f/3.5
Shutter Speed	Aperture Priority	1/320 variable	1/500 fixed	Can't use Shutter Priority because Samyang is non electronic lens. Maybe enable Auto ISO for Manual Exposure mode. Fix Shutter Speed at 1/500
Post Processing	Lightroom			Recover highlights severely, use other adjustments
Focus	Focus right slipped		Infinity	Use sticky tape to hold the focus ring stays at infinity. Check position several times during the session

A photo posted by Ananda Sim (@anandasim) on Feb 20, 2016 at 9:21pm PST

Features that you might not know about the Olympus PEN-F

Owners and intending owners of the Olympus PEN-F have mostly read reviews of this camera from review sites, Youtube videos and so on. To "sell" their experience and be known as cognoscenti of cameras, reviewers often take a few features and emphasise their opinion - this is both a good thing (because people want something to read about whether to arouse interest) or a bad thing (arouse disdain).

So we get to know some features very well from this clamour of voices and grasp little of features that people don't mention. Here's a shortlist of features that may have escaped attention.

Note: I come from an E-330,  E-510, E-620, E-PL1, E-PM2 and E-M1 background so only new features will be listed

Silent Mode can shoot at 20 fps in burst mode. Other mechanical shutter modes shoot at 10 fps

See: Amateur Photographer article.

The Spot Metering Mode follows the focus target that is triggered, not the central AF point

See manual, page 109

You can use your thumbs on the LCD to move the AF target around the frame when your eye is to the EVF

See manual, page 105 - the term is called AF Targeting Pad - of course in Custom Menu > Cog A

For non electronically coupled lens, you can name the lens, add focal length, f/no

See manual, page 129 - Custom Menu > Cog K

There are Selfie Assist functions - E-Portrait to smoothen your wrinkles, time delay for the selfie

See manual, page 128, - Custom Menu > Cog K

There is a My Clips facility - short 16 second videos 

See manual, page 70

There is a slow mo movie facility - 120 fps Standard Definition movies played back at 30 fps

See manual, page 73

Face Priority affects not only AF but may affect exposure measurement

This may not be new but worth mentioning - see manual  page 48
When the metering mode is ESP, Face Priority emphasises exposure  of the face.
Even in MF mode, Face Priority emphasises exposure of the face
In a burst, Face Priority only evaluates the first frame of the sequence.

C-AF no worse than other Olympus bodies

There has been a video review where the reviewer went an did a dang thing like fit the huge 300mm f/4 lens to this tiny body and attempted C-AF - result, AF hesitation. Mirrorless bodies still have some way to go to reach the Canon 1D II / 7D prowess with C-AF. Many Olympus users simply use S-AF and in the words of a wise sage: "Half press, observe whether focus has been achieved, if not release and repeat, several times until you get it"

Exposure Compensation has come to Auto ISO on Manual Exposure mode

Many Manual Exposure mode shooters revert to the film era expectation of setting fixed ISO when on Manual Exposure - that means exposure is completely and utterly manual, no shenanigans and that's how it worked in the film days. A bunch of migrators from Nikon DSLR have been crying out for Auto ISO on Manual Exposure and on top of that, changing the Exposure Value Compensation. Prior to the PEN-F, Olympus bodies allowed Auto ISO on Manual Exposure but EV Comp did nothing in that situation. The PEN-F now allows this Nikonish feature.

1. Set the camera to Manual Exposure Mode.
2. Custom Menu > Cog E > ISO Auto > Select ALL instead of P/A/S
3. Ensure that your EVF is not set to S-OVF  (Custom Menu > Cog J > S-OVF)
4. Ensure that Liveview Boost is Off (Custom Menu > Cog D > Live View Boost)
5. Ensure that your EV Compensation dial is not disabled (Custom Menu > Cog B)
6. Set your ISO to Auto (use the Super Control Panel)

Olympus PEN-F - part 6 of my personal narrative, The Finale

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 precede this article.

Summarising and Tidying Up: What I liked.

I started by saying that the Olympus PEN-F is a controversial camera. Do I still think so after some days looking at my images, interacting online? Yes, I do. Briefly

It's a nicely responsive camera, with strong retro design hints.

"The camera part just gets out of the way and lets you concentrate on shooting." (Ming Thein).

It has milestone enhancements in "studio in the field" JPEG customisation so that you can pre-visualise the "look" of the photo instantaneously and intimately whether you want to save the JPEG as a keeper or use the raw for processing in Olympus Viewer or your third party workflow. Olympus innovated with the the S curve Shadow+Highlight adjustment and then subsequently the Color Creator a few models ago. Now the S curve has Midtone adjustment in addition to S & H. And the Color Wheel in the Color Profiles has a rainbow of individual colour adjustments. There is Vignette and Film Grain emulation in the Monochrome Profiles. And..... On Olympus Viewer, you can combine an Art Filter with Color Profile (can't check that on the body because I don't have one).

Phew! The noon day tropical sun so hot and glaring

Regardless I will be there.

We still run the old skool way.

The EVF is offset unlike a faux DSLR - it allowed me to keep both eyes open for a few lenses (mind needs some control) so I would observe more of the scene with one eye and ensure AF got the focus right with the other eye. It gave me confidence in the street with the camera raised to the face, something I feel nervous about with a faux DSLR in street photos of people.

You taking a photo of me?

What I would have preferred

A less obvious and more easily surreptitious simple hinged flip LCD screen (rather than the flip & twist screen that would be very useful on a faux SLR like the OM-D series. (By the way, the flip and twist is fitted on the old E-620, the E-3, E-5 DSLRs). I just figured out why they chose this flip and twist design though. For a little camera like this, with a target audience of travellers, genteel tourists, it needs to do selfie duty.

The Selfie with the Fishie

I would guess as with most middle income enthusiasts, I'm on a 2 to 3 year gear refresh - the need to save for family and extended family expenses and so on. My OM-D E-M1 purchase was recent in relative terms, so I'll have to wait. The price for the PEN-F is not low at retail and pre-order launch - there's a lot of nice stuff in it and there are return of investment costs that Olympus has to recover. There are cheaper cameras. There are surely more expensive cameras. And there are cameras whose bling value is higher than their utility value. The PEN-F has a lot of "I like it value"

I don't think I could buy one even if I sold the shirt off my back

Or sold my snaps on the sidewalk

Starting up an Institute might do it

Prayers wouldn't go astray for sure

Reasons people make up for not buying the PEN-F

From the range of feedback and comments, I thought I would summarise the vibe

The PEN-F is not weather sealed

For whatever reason if you must have weather sealing, this isn't the camera for you. Some people must have a Toyota Kluger 4WD instead of European luxury car. Different strokes for different folks. For your weather sealed body though, these products are designed to a test condition. Weather sealing is not an absolute. FYI.

• Mike Hedren's notes on weathersealing
• Extreme conditions for a Canon 7D

The PEN-F breaks the mold of cheaper PEN prices

The PEN E-P5 was not "cheap". In contrast to the OM-D E-M10, it did not have the slant of features to distinguish it from the lowered prices of the OM-D E-M5 old stock and the E-M10. It didn't sell well at recommended retail price but towards the end, the prices were so discounted that people managed to get their hands on the E-P5 and love it for the shape in street shooting and travelling.

The PEN-F to me, is a much stronger product with stronger slants towards its intended audiences. I hope it does well. It's not a Sony with a wood grip. Or machined out of solid metal. 

On a features matrix on a web page, the PEN-F has nothing really different from the OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Probably. Have you got the right features in the matrix? Or is the left column a list of faux DSLR design features? Like a big grip to balance the 300mm f/4 M.Zuiko lens. Or Phase Detect so that the body can focus a Bigma. The PEN-F isn't a faux DSLR.

You don't have a skirt. Or wear tight pants, a lumberjacket and have a beard.

So sorry for you. But you don't have to wear a skirt. Or tight pants, lumberjacket and a beard. Look, I held a PEN-F for some hours. Nuts still feel ok. Voice hasn't changed an octave higher.

Will you tell the CEO or shall I?

Be Happy. Enjoy Your Day

The Olympus PEN-F - part 5 of the personal narrative

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 precede this article.

Oogling with Olympus Viewer 3

A technically challenging shot below - a quick one in the middle of the famous Petaling Street intersection. I didn't think of in-camera HDR JPEG at that time. Neither did I think of exposure bracketing that Olympus models do so well.

SOOC JPEG shot with one of the Color Profiles

You can see that the semi hazy sky is bleached out. The reds are emphasised - I was probably using Picture Profile 3 which emulates a saturated slide transparency film. In Olympus Viewer metadata I can see that a picture profile has been executed and I can see the Color Wheel transform but I am not sure where to look for in a label that says "Picture Profile 3"

Processed with Olympus Viewer 3 Version 2

The one immediately above, I processed using Olympus Viewer and manually choosing options. I'm on a unspectacular, uncalibrated Acer notebook screen so that's another factor to consider.When I was processing this, I did not visually reference the SOOC JPEG. I was wanting to recover the bleached out building and the sky but this software + raw combination has limits.

Histogram after adjustments in Olympus Viewer 2

The Highlight, Midtone and Shadow Control Curve that both the camera and Olympus Viewer have

Exposure Compensation and the Color Wheel for the Color Profile adjustments

There doesn't seem to be much difference between the SOOC JPEG and Olympus Viewer if you are not especially skilled in working Olympus Viewer - that's both a pro and a con.

Lighting up with Lightzone

Out of interest, I tried the community maintained Lightzone. Lightzone is one of the few programs that currently read the raw file from the PEN-F. I tried some Zone System adjustments and the Re-lighting tool.

Lightzone Processed from raw

I don't know Lightzone will and was surprised at the almost flourescent pink/red it managed to render. Also notice the sky and the buildings, quite a massive recovery from the bleached out version from Olympus Viewer and SOOC JPEG.

Sassing it up with Sagelight Editor

Sagelight Editor is one of my favourites (a quietly unknown raw processor). It is authored by one sole developer/programmer and is very quick to launch. The only worry is that this author has gone AWOL - the website is there but the forum hasn't heard from him for a while. Currently, it is the other raw processor that will read a PEN-F raw file. Here's what it produced.

Sagelight Editor read the PEN-F raw file and I tweaked the image.

Sagelight Editor settings  that produced the image

The raw read by Sagelight Editor Before and After

So, three different software, different renderings (of course there's me, the human element)
Mike Boening says ON1 software now opens the PEN-F's raw.

On to Part 6

Maybe part 4 of my Olympus PEN-F personal narrative

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 precede this article.

There we were huddled over beef noodles in the KL coffee shop (doh, I don't even know the name of the establishment). And each of us was coming up with brief impressions when seeing and handling the PEN-F. As always, a diversity of opinion.

The Ideal Camera. The Only One.

Why don't camera companies make the Ideal Camera? Just The One? Instead of teasing buyers with incomplete product after incomplete product? Isn't there a conspiracy to draw out our #GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and grab our money? Well how about the 100 MP back of a Phase One back, in the finesse of a true Hasselblad body but in a package size of the Sony RX100 Mark IV at a price of a Chinese Android handset?  Oh, chuck in the weather resistance of a Nikon 1AW and the low light performance of a Sony A7S whilst shooting video in 4K with the AF tracking performance of a Canon 1DX Mark IV. What do you mean it can't be done? People have gone to the moon and back! Oh, I see, you're in the conspiracy too?

The Urbex that is not Urbex - packed up during the day, this must be a functioning night stall

There are so many cameras now, all slightly imperfect. Why can't they make the perfect one?

Part 2 of the Conspiracy Theory. Or Part 1 of the theory that these camera companies have numnuts as designers. What's the difference between the OM-D E-M1, the E-M5 Mark 2, the E-M10 Mark 2 and the PEN-F? Really? Why can't they just make one model from the parts of all? The Phase Detect of the E-M1, the hand holdeable 64MP hires mode of the E-M1 Mark 2, the long exposure performance of the E-M5 Mark 2, the cool of the PEN-F (enhanced with weatherproofing, sans that front knob, with flip LCD instead of twist flip). Oh, add the global shutter of the E-M1 Mark 2 and the 123db dynamic range and noise reduction. And when the heck are they going to release the E-M1 Mark 2 instead of messing around with an expensive PEN? 

If there was THE ONE motorbike used for personal transport, trading and carriage of goods, this must be it. And it still works. Weather resistant. Tough. Low Maintenance.

This model was designed that way because... YOU asked for it

I was looking for a design process caricature I used to see when I was a student. I found this- it's a serious flowchart for US Dept of Energy. These guys seem to take their committees way seriously. Finally found something like what I remember at the University of Oregon - for those who don't come from that generation or do not. More specifically for the PEN-F

• The EV Comp dial is there because people looked at the Fuji X series and said that would be a good idea.
• The PASM dial has C1, C2, C3, C4 positions because engineers thought that assigning Myset 1 to iAuto seemed a silly workaround.
• The flip and twist LCD mechanism is there because people like me said we wanted the flip and twist LCD on the OM-D
• The Depth of Field Preview button at the bottom right front face of the camera is there because people like me complained that the two tiny nub buttons on the OM-D E-M1 were too indistinguishable and tiny to press.
• The burgeoning finesse of JPEG controls - Color Wheel, Shadow, Midtone, Highlight Curve, Faux Vignette, Faux Film Grain - they're all progressive advancements of the Studio in the Field concept that I championed.
• The LCD touch to change AF point with your eye on the EVF was something that owners of Panasonic cameras said would be "a really good thing"
• The EVF is off centre because we said we wanted to keep one eye open while shooting and be more rangefinder like when we saw the Fuji X series
• That distressed, no screws at the bottom finish is a nod to how the Leica crowd said would be stylish.
• Someone from the film PEN-F owner's association (I don't think there is one, you have to ask Oly 35mm) said it would be nice to make a film rewind knob on the top left and a film shutter speed knob on the right front vertical face. Either that or the famous Olympus creature who loves moving On/Off switches all over the back of the camera found a new place to put the On/Off switch. And that knob that does Color Profile / Mono Profile / CRT (Color CreaTor) / Normal - you reckon it's not an often adjusted parameter? In 10 minutes, I adjusted it several times because I saw a mono scene, missed the oppurtunity, then saw a color scene, missed that and then went to mono. (Shush! don't interrupt me when I'm speaking).

Would Robin Wong's bag be better rendered in Monochrome or Color? Dunno, Can't make up my mind. Don't worry about it, help him find his 50 sen, he's emptying his pockets now...

On to Part 5

The Olympus PEN-F - Part 3 of the personal narrative

Part 1 and Part 2 precede this article. 

Colouring your perceptions

When Robin Wong let me have the PEN-F to try out, he warned me that the raw would not be supported by third party software yet and even Olympus Viewer 2 might not be ready to read it. When I got home, I tried the Adobe duo (Photoshop and Lightroom CC) and Corel Aftershot Pro - no, they would not read the file. Picasa desktop client did. Lightzone did. Sagelight Editor did. I ran Olympus Viewer and there was an update prompt. Olympus Viewer 3, Version 2.0 came down and yay! it supports the PEN-F.

Now Olympus Viewer gets a fair bit of disdain and abuse from users and never-want-to-be-users. It's slow, the original versions were flaky. Over time, on Windows, it's functional enough for me. In one FB group posting, one unkind user said "Only Robin Wong uses it, and I guess that's because he's an Olympus employee". Some people can just be so unkind. Well, I use it, from time to time. This is an obvious instance - if the third party programs are not ready yet, Olympus Viewer works. I don't need a stage managed workflow, I'm not in a deliver-or-die business / production role. All I need right now is to produce some nice photos.

I was interested in seeing how Olympus would graft those cool looking JPEG processing tunings from the PEN-F onto Olympus Viewer - remember, this is a program that works with all the Olympus camera models. Here's what I experienced.

The new Colour Profile is listed in the same section as the existing list of colours - Natural, Vivid etc... When I choose Colour Profile, I am presented  with a colour wheel reminiscent of the Color Creator that was pioneered in the earlier Olympus models. Except that this Color Wheel allows you to select from the rainbow of colours, and set all of them, not just one colour. You can choose the colour and set the degree of vividness (negative as well as positive).

The Highlight & Shadow curve control gadget has also been previously introduced in earlier models. This time, it has Midtone control. Don't forget, you can nominate Auto Gradation in another section - this could be used to lighten shadows for the old aged film feel. Or change the Contrast.

Shown above is the dialog to apply a personalised Color Profile Setting. Instead of saving template settings for Color Profiles, the process works like thusly:

1. Save a JPEG from the camera or by using Olympus Viewer, adjusted to taste.
2. Click on that drop down arrow above and right of the Color Wheel and the dialog will display (as in the screenshot above.)
3. The dialog in Windows opens at your ..\users\yourusername\pictures folder - if you placed the jpeg somewhere else (I do), navigate to that folder
4. Choose that JPEG as the donor and apply that personalised colour profile to the selected image(s) in Olympus Viewer

The Color Wheel after some adjustment

I'm not an experienced colorist, my useage has been with some Topaz products like Adjust and Restyle, so I'm looking to those who have color grading skills to provide some leadership with this tool.

Here's a Before

and After

Note that after a few iterations to discover the look that you're centred upon, the "After" could be saved as a preset in the camera so that you have an in-your-face intuitive visual.

On to Part 4

The Olympus PEN-F - A Personal Narrative, Part 2

In part 1, I wrote my impressions of the Olympus PEN-F. In this part, I share some photos I took. I reset the camera settings (not basic, but full) so the date and time was unset (yes, like that bedroom clock blinking 00:00). We were walking quickly to catch Nick Wade and the gang at Petaling Street, so I didn't even change from LN JPEG to RAW + LF JPEG.

It's probably a mundane scene for those who live it. For me, I just love the light, the colours
JPEG Source. Eye to the EVF. Low tone contrast added via Sagelight Editor. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

Putting up the shades to protect the merchandise
JPEG Source. Eye to the EVF. Low tone contrast added via Sagelight Editor. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

Yes, News can do that to you.
JPEG Source. Eye to the EVF. Low tone contrast added via Sagelight Editor. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

Celebrating the New Year. And forthcoming prosperity
JPEG Source. Eye to the EVF. Low tone contrast added via Sagelight Editor. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

This beef noodle coffee shop in KL is famous. The inside is always dim,  barely lit. It's like a refuge from the blinding realities of the outside street.
JPEG SOOC. Straightend. Eye to the EVF. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

And the famous beef noodles. You can have it in soup or dry sauced with soup on the side.
JPEG Source. Eye to the EVF. Low tone contrast added via Sagelight Editor. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

I think they must have met beforehand and swapped tops. Or bottoms.
JPEG SOOC. Eye to the EVF. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7

In part 3, you'll see.... some more shots I like.....

The Olympus PEN-F - a personal narrative - part 1

Prelude

So, here I am, visiting mum and sis in KL and it's nearly Chinese New Year. I give Robin Wong a hello and he's in KL. He's kindly booked out a sample Olympus PEN-F for me to play with. We were not expecting many of his usual shooting buddies around so close to Chinese New Year but hey, great to see Amir S, Nick Wade, Bjorn, Scott Chung and several others - apologies if I am missing mentioning anyone from today.

I must say I had a whale of a time, in enjoying a new camera, in catching up with Robin, in meeting up with some old friends and new ones and in a different environment. Thanks to  all for that.

On to the PEN-F

In my opinion, the PEN-F is the most controversial camera that Olympus has launched for some time - depending on its acceptance and gaining market share, it may be the start of a new line. Why is it controversial? Here's my read. There are two camps of Olympus Micro Four Thirds owners.

1. Olympus through the early PEN series - has previously offered a small, relatively lower cost series, with no Electronic Viewfinder (EVF). Old time owners like me (E-PL1, E-PM2) have got used to effective but not outrageously expensive camera bodies.
2. Through the OM-D series, Olympus has garnered a host of DSLR and SLR migrators - those who are possessed with almost obsessive compulsions to speak about Image Quality, Weather Resistance, Fastest Auto Focus Speed, High Dynamic Range, Low Noise at High ISO - all those parameters that can be typed into a comparison matrix and debated noisily on the web, ad infinitum. 

A photo posted by Ananda Sim (@anandasim) on Feb 5, 2016 at 11:12pm PST

What does the PEN-F bring to the table? It adds a built-in EVF, a brand new sensor, classy body finish, a tilt and flip screen, a richness of dials and exquisite JPEG controls to a PEN body. In so doing, it has classed the PEN range into the OM-D features and price range. Gasps - from both camps. 

• Would a traditional PEN owner buy a PEN-F? 
• Would a traditional OM-D owner buy a PEN-F?
• Would a fresh casual purchaser buy a PEN-F?
• Would a camera enthusiast buy a PEN-F?
• Could a Fuji X purchaser be diverted into the PEN-F?
• Would a Samsung buyer, seek solace in the PEN-F?

I don't  know. I don't represent any block of people. I can only say what I like. And don't.

What I liked

I've been an Olympus enthusiast. Through the E-330, E-510, E-620, E-PL1, E-PM2, E-M1. Along the way, I've picked up the Panasonic G2, GF-3. All the same sensor size. It would be nice if I could have eaten the last biscuit to get the tummy full than having had to pay for and munch through the preceding biscuits, but that's life.

The PEN-F body density, weight, right thumb grip feel really nice in the my hand. Robin cheerfully likes his PEN E-P5 - it is not festooned with buttons and dials like come up against your fingers. I do agree with that observation, But I thoroughly enjoyed the PEN-F today. I used it for several hours mounted with an Olympus 75mm, 17mm, Panasonic 14mm, 20mm and even a Samyang 7.5mm fish.

The actuation of the shutter, the sound and the dampened tumble inside is quite unlike my OM-D E-M1 - if it's one thing that give me happiness endorphins, that is it. Robin and friends say the shutter is similar to the OM-D E-M5 Mark 2 - I don't remember that rush of happiness but this PEN-F just does it for me. No, it's not better than sex.

The camera and lenses I used felt responsive. More responsive than my OM-D E-M1. I don't know why I felt that, but I did. Sure, I had my share of duds - motion blur, focus misses. I was shooting quickly in unfamiliar surroundings, with a new body, that's sure to happen. It's way ahead of my PEN E-PM2 experience (I've used that for more than 2 years). Even the normally slow autofocus Panasonic 20mm Mark 1 felt much better on this body.

The LCD screen is clear and displays nice tonality for the monochrome and colour images. The EVF is very, very good - I wear multi-focals and still have near reading difficulties but I enjoyed this EVF a lot. With the position of the EVF off centre, I tried the two eyes open technique - right eye on the EVF and left eye open to overview the scene. I was amazed at my brain being able to process the visuals for the 75mm and the Samyang fish. In the brief time, I could not make my brain handle the 14mm, 17mm, 20mm well enough to use the two eye technique. The EVF is very responsive.

I have got used to the "dirty nappy" technique with the PEN E-PM2 for more than 2 years. So much so, when I shoot my OM-D E-M1, I sometimes do that as well. Until today, I felt that putting eye to EVF for impromptu street shots of people looking at me a bit disconcerting. I felt braver with the PEN-F and enjoyed the eye to EVF method.

The controversial and sometimes ridiculed protruding button on the front right of the camera? That one? I was anticipating, from preceding comments and opinions, that it would  bug me, abrade my finger. Most of the time, it didn't. Somehow my hand adjusted how I gripped the camera, maybe the back thumb grip helped.

The little lever to adjust JPEG shadow, highlight, midtone curves, vignette, colour strengths? I thought that interface was very well done.

What I liked less or didn't like

On the OM-D E-M1, I really wanted the twist flip mechanism for the LCD that the Olympus E-620 and the Panasonic G-2 implemented. It really suits the versatility of that DSLR-like body. But the E-M1 doesn't have it. It has a simple hinged LCD. The PEN-F has this versatile twist flip. I really wish it didn't. For people photos and street photos, the simple hinge is way more appropriate. The twist flip is just clumsy. I couldn't do the "dirty nappy" much. Sigh.

Although, I really like the PEN-F, the price is a hurdle that I have to take a couple of years to overcome. Yeah, I know. #GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). If a camera makes you happy and want to shoot more, it's a unique camera. More than just a set of features on a comparison matrix. The PEN-F does that.

Do yourself and Olympus a favour.  Put away that comparison matrix sheet that makes you a grumpy, "But I shoot raw only" forum impassioned, fuddy duddy. Give the PEN-F a chance to make you happy.

In part 2, I share some images I made in the morning.
In part 3, I play with colours
In part 4, I muse about the quirks of design
In part 5, I play with some processing
Part 6 is my finale