Salento is a popular tourist destination in the department of Quindío. Apart from the hillside town itself, which is full of character, it provides a base to visit the Valle de Corcora cloud forest and wax palm groves, and several organic coffee plantations.  Oh, and you can eat trout. Lots of trout. And little else. Salento is a pretty easy introduction to rural Colombia, and very safe. It’s pretty photogenic too, although it didn’t really click with me as much as some other locations.  But anyway, here’s a few shots.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a cloud forest guide, look no further than the excellent “Fog Walkers”. Very highly recommended.

And after a few bottle of Club Colombia Dorada, things get a little blurry…

 

Thanks to a few days downtime over Christmas, as well as an enforced period of staying indoors thanks to a bad cold, I’ve been able to start sifting through the photos I took last month in Colombia. The first set here are from strolling through Bogotá, a city which surprised by its variety and friendliness. Not to mention the somewhat non-equatorial temperatures. As ever on these trips I wasn’t really in a “photography” frame of mind in the first few days, but in a such a wildly photogenic location I couldn’t help but get stuck in.

As part of a dedicated weight saving exercise before leaving for Colombia, I decided to buy the Olympus 14-42EZ “pancake” zoom. According to reviews it is better optically than the standard 14-42, which I already feel is pretty good for a kit zoom, and so it seemed to be a good idea- Well, as it turns out, it wasn’t. The 14-42EZ is the worst Olympus lens I’ve ever used, in fact the only one I’d qualify as bad (or even less than very satisfactory). The results from it are uniformly soft, far more so than could be explained by poor technique on my part. This was not helped by the terrible “shutter shock” behaviour of the E-P5 body.  Yes, I know there’s a fix for that, yes I installed it, but not having read all the reams of internet chatter about this, and in the absence of any guidance whatsoever from Olympus, I failed to set all the correct obscure menu entries. And since I hadn’t really used the E-P5 much I hadn’t noticed the issue before (actually it seems to be much worse with lighter lenses).

This photo looks ok as a small web jpeg…

...not so good at 1:1

I also had the 40-150 “plastic” zoom with me, and that worked pretty well, as ever. I’m not sure why that lens gets so dismissed by the forum denizens. But in general I’m pretty disappointed with Olympus in general, and not regretting my decision to pass up a good offer on an E-M1. It seems that camera is plagued with exactly the same issues for which the company does not appear to want to invest in research for a fix.

At this point then I’m wondering what to do next. I’ve sold off a lot of gear this year, initially to fund a Linhof 612 (which I chickened out of), and now I have no “rugged” camera. My general idea was to buy an E-M1 at some point, but now I’m really questioning that decision. I’ve been using Olympus cameras since the introduction of the E-1 in 2003, so changing brands now would be a major shock to the system. I find the Sony A7 series interesting, but the lenses are expensive and there’s no realistic telephoto. Also, I tend to believe that rather than an expensive camera makes you a better photographer, you should first be a good enough photographer to justify an expensive camera, and my output doesn’t merit a Sony A7 system. Another option, going against the flow, would be a Nikon DSLR, but the same caveat applies. However that would open up the potential to use tilt/shift lenses … but then again, would go totally counter to the objective of having a lot weight, good quality travel kit. Based on personal experience I wouldn’t touch Fuji X-series cameras with a bargepole. Too fragile by far, and slightly ridiculous with all their design pretensions and luvvy owner clubs.

Perhaps my 14-42EZ is a “bad sample”, a concept I’ve always been a little dubious of. From a sample of internet reviews is does seem to get a mixed press, and some report very good results. But even if that’s the case, and even if I could get it replaced, which would be pretty hard in Switzerland, the damage is already done. And my confidence in Olympus Quality Assurance is severely dented. I have one major trip planned for next year which without doubt would require me to replace my now sold Olympus E-5s with something equally robust and flexible. However at present I’m feeling more like cancelling the trip and taking several steps back from photography. This might sound like a major over-reaction to disappointing performance from a (fairly) cheap lens - well, also from a fairly expensive camera, but in fact it’s perhaps the final of a whole series of nails. Investing all this time, money and emotion in photos which attract little interest except from me is getting a bit ridiculous.

It’s time for a bit of a clear out here at the Snowhenge World Observation Bunker & Control Center, and before all this stuff goes on eBay, I’m offering it here, as well as on several forums.  Please note, I am not, as the interwebbies put it, “jumping ship”, I’m still an Olympus user (both 4/3 and m4/3), just having a bit of a rationalisation, and hopefully raising the funds for a little device I have my eye on…

Please either email me directly, or in the comments here, if you have any suggestions. I might be open to a certain degree of bargaining. Or not. All prices include an estimated $50 for insured delivery via SwissPost / EMS, which, frankly, is probably cutting my own throat.

So, here we go.

Item 1. Olympus E-5/E-3 mega-set

SOLD
Olympus E-5, 7667 shutter actuations
with:

Olympus E-3, 15339 shutter actuations
HLD-4 Grip / Battery Holder with AA-battery insert and Acratech Arca Swiss-compatible plate
Acratech Arca Swiss-compatible plate for E-5
BCM-5 Charger
4 BLM-5 Batteries
BCM-2 Charger
5 BLM-1 Batteries
RM-CB1 Remote cable
FL-36 Flash
2 8Gb Sandisk CF cards

I am the original owner of all items. All come with original Olympus packaging. These cameras have been well looked after, but have been used, not kept on a shelf, so they have some light signs of wear. However both are in full working order and the screens have no significant blemishes. The E-3 is missing it’s remote socket cover. All items were bought in Switzerland as official Swiss imports and therefore have manuals in German, French & Italian. English and other language versions are available on Olympus web sites.

Asking price is $975. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.SOLD

Item 2. Olympus E-400 Twin Lens kit

Olympus E-400, 3447 shutter actuations
Olympus magnifying eyepiece
Zuiko ZD 14-42ED lens
Zuiko ZD 40-150ED lens
battery, manuals and accessories.

This is the last Kodak CCD Olympus DSLR, and was only sold in Europe. Due to it’s size it was also described by the press as a “digital OM”, well before the OM-D series was thought up.  It is about the same body size as an OM-D EM-1. The camera is in full working order, but the back screen is a bit scuffed. The original lens cap for the 40-150 left to seek it’s fortune elsewhere some time ago, and is replaced with a generic cap.

I took this camera out for a nostalgic stroll a while back, and wrote a note on my experiences.

Asking price is $250. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.

Item 3. Olympus Digital Zuiko ZD 7-14mm f4.0 lens

SOLD

This ultra-wide zoom lens for Olympus Four-Thirds cameras (and m43 via adaptor) is of exceptional optical quality. I am the original owner. It is used, but in very good condition, with no blemishes to the glass or body. Complete with original front and back lens caps, soft pouch, and original packaging.

Asking price is $1050. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.SOLD

Item 4. Olympus Digital Zuiko ZD 150mm f2.0 lens

SOLD

This f2.0 fixed focal telephoto for Olympus Four-Thirds cameras (and m43 via adaptor) is rated by many as one of the finest SLR lenses ever produced. So why am I selling it? Well, despite the fact that it really is fabulous, mainly because the focal length doesn’t really suit me.  I am the original owner, however it was bought direct from Olympus as a refurbished demo item, and does not come in the original box. It is used, but in very good condition, with no blemishes to the glass or body. Complete with original front and back lens caps, lens hood and Olympus semi-rigid carrying case.

You can see a recent shot from this lens here, in this case used on an mFT Olympus E-P3 camera with manual focus.

Asking price is $1550. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.SOLD

Item 5. Panasonic LEICA DG SUMMILUX 25mm / F1.4 ASPH lens for micro Four Thirds

An excellent, fast portrait lens for the mFT system. Although it is indeed excellent, I don’t use it very much, and therefore I’ve decided to sell it. It is used, but in very good condition, with no blemishes to the glass or body. Complete with original front and back lens caps, hood, pouch, and original packaging.

Asking price is $350. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.

Item 6. Lomography Belair 612 kit, with Belairgon 114mm lens.

The Belair 612 is a medium format camera which can produced 6x6, 6x9 or 6x12 output. It’s an interesting concept and some people love it, but it doesn’t quite fit in with my aims, so I’m selling it.  The sale includes the Zenit-built Belairgon 114mm glass lens, which I also discussed.  The camera kit and lens are sold in their original packaging with all accessories. Also included are 4 rolls of spare Lomography 120 film.

I wrote several posts on my experiences of the Belair 612 and Belairgon lens.

Asking price is $250. This includes insured delivery to most of the world.

 

And finally, if anybody in the Olympus community is paying attention, if you re-blog, or twitter, or FB this and let me know, then I will put your name in the hat for an absolutely free Olympus E-System Angle Finder (for E-1, E-300, E-330, E-400 and possibly other bodies - not E-3, E-30 or E-5, anyway they don’t need it).  Interested ? Just spread the word, and leave a link in the comments here.

I am pleased to announce that I am now the proud owner of a silver Olympus E-P5. I wasn’t planning on any gear acquisition, but a super-low special offer price of just CHF 660 made it irresistible, and my significant other talked me into it (she tried to push me to get an E-M1, but that’s just too expensive and not really what I need just now). So I finally have a latest-generation micro Four Thirds sensor, even if the signs are that it won’t be latest-generation for much longer. At least it’s fully debugged now.

I can also blame Neil Buchan-Grant for lending me his E-P5 in Venice. Yes, it’s his fault, he must be PAID by Olympus to DANGLE candy in from of innocent unsuspecting photographers who can’t RESIST the shiny lures. I’m sure of it!

I’d have preferred a black one, for subtly, although the silver is certainly prettier. But the black one wasn’t on sale.

I think it’s bit late to do a review. The world+dog did theirs well over a year ago. So I won’t bother. I’ll just take some snaps with it.

I’m a bit sad to retire the E-P3, which is probably the digital camera I have used the most, but I’m planning on giving it a new role as a dedicated infrared camera. For now though it’s having a bit of a rest.