Photo Essay: Downtown Seattle Architecture

Late August through Autumn bring back the most beautiful Pacific light in Seattle.  My coffers are filling with downtown Seattle architecture images because I simply cannot resist when I walk through this light, so I thought it would be good to throw some of them into another photo essay.

Layers I

Nice Morning Light I

Nice Morning Light III

Layers II

New, Newer, Newest

Dream or Reality?

Complements

Autumn Light Returns

Seattle is on Fire

METALS FAB II

Erector Set

For Now I

For Now II

Photo Essay: Seattle Central District at Night

Uncle Ike's

The images in this post were all taken on a couple of nighttime outings within a few blocks of my house.  I like them as a collection, but don't feel that most of them work as individual posts, so I'm experimenting with a small photo essay showing them all together.

Sea Suds

Union and 20th

Still Life with Olive Oil Bottle

Grill

Cuidado!

Airstream with Dog Walker

The Secret Birth of Trees

Food Truck

Union Market (B&W Version)

Lottery

Step In

Tendrils

Bespoke

Technical notes:  All images taken with Olympus OM-D E-M5 II with Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7 lens, my new walk-around favorite combination.

Mini Review of Panasonic LUMIX G Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH

f/2.5
All photos taken with the OM-D E-M5 Mk II with the
Panasonic LUMIX G Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH

I've been looking for a wide-normal lens to complement my Olympus 12mm, 45mm, and 75mm prime collection.  I didn't want to spend too much money since the 30-70mm equivalent range is generally not all that appealing to me, or, more precisely, I am rather challenged to make compelling images with perspectives corresponding to those focal lengths.  I tend to be mainly a short to long tele user, but will also make a good effort to use wide angle (mainly ultra-wide-angle lenses) in the 14-28mm range.

f/1.7

I found a great deal on an Olympus dedicated speedlight (used), and the owner was also selling the pretty impressive Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 (~pancake) lens, which I tried and found to be technically excellent, but I took a pass as 40mm equivalent was unappealing.  I was also looking at f/.95 17.5 and 25mm exotics, but realized that I would be less likely to carry them due to size/weight and because they mostly aren't truly sharp wide open.

f/1.7

A used Panasonic LUMIX G "Leica" DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH came available, and after checking reviews, I decided to contact the seller and take a look.  The handling and built quality were both better than they appeared from pictures and even from reviews.  I decided to take a chance with the semi-wide 30mm equivalent focal length (almost the 28mm that I'm used to on Nikon full frame).  I'm glad I did!

f/5
There is zero CA SooC even in the areas of harsh contrast here.
I was blown away when I zoomed to 400%.

The reviews suggested that the IQ was excellent.  In fact, Kai on digitalrevtv said that the lens had no chromatic aberration!  Yeah, right!  Well, I was stunned to discover that in harsh light conditions (e.g., leaves against sky, this is the first lens that I have ever used that seems to display almost zero detectable CA -- not just sub-pixel level, but almost completely undetectable even at 400% magnification.

f/1.7
Close focus is excellent (down to about 1:10 magnification, which is pretty good with a small m43 sensor).  This lens is great for casual closeup work and things like food images when you don't want to carry around a special lens for this purpose.

f/1.7
This is a great nighttime walk-around lens.  Even wide open, there is plenty of DoF for a relatively wide-angle (30mm equivalent) lens, and DoF is inherently wider with m43.  Creatively, f/1.7 is also a pretty wide aperture when you are working at very short subject distances, so you can still get nice subject separation from the background.

f/3.2
This was intended specifically as a test for flare and internal reflection.  In person, those floodlights were blinding, yet the lens handled this ridiculous scene beautifully.  Nothing was done in post to mitigate bad optical problems.

f/2.8
Bokeh for a wide angle is nice and undistracting.

Much more importantly, the micro-contrast (or whatever you want to call it) is stunning.  Processing files is a joy, even when pushed hard and especially in B&W conversions.  This lens has quickly become one of my main lenses to carry (generally, I try to pick no more than two to carry around, and lately I've been going with the 15/1.7 and Olympus 75/1.8 or Olympus 45/1.8 combination.  The lens really does live up to its (fake) Leica designation, but this is the closest that I'm going to get to real Leica glass.

f/6.3

f/3.5
Sharp at all apertures, and critically sharp everywhere by f/2.8.

Technically, the lens has superb manual AF handling with just the right feel.  The lens has an aperture control ring, but it is non-functional on Olympus bodies like my E-M5 II, which is actually a blessing -- the ring does not lock firmly into its "A" automatic setting, so it would be too easy to dislodge from aperture priority mode on Panasonic bodies.  I love the unusually-shaped metal hood (included), which never leaves the body.  But, I especially love the brilliant rubber lens cap that fits the lens hood!  Other lens makers should steal this design.

f/5.6

After pushing myself, I am enjoying the 30mm equivalent field of view, which is greatly preferable to me vs. the conventional full frame 35mm wide standard lens.

f/7.1
Sharp and pleasing micro-contrast.  The images are very easy to process with little additional sharpening or structure needed.  They offer a nice 3D realism, which works well with the 30mm effective perspective.

Overall, I highly recommend this lens, especially for the price.  It is a great value and performs brilliant on my Olympus E-M5 II body, including the automatic manual focus override (with settable automatically-invoked focus peaking).  I use this lens with MF override much more than any of my other lenses.

f/2.5
A very dark scene, which the E-M5 II handles well for a compact package (ISO 3200, 1/40th second)

f/7.1

f/2.8

First Real Use of OM-D E-M5 Mk II Hi Res Mode

Last week from my office in downtown Seattle, I took a quick shot of an architecture detail that spans several buildings, two of which were only recently completed (or mostly completed), filling in a gap that existed in the past.  That day, I was trying out the Olympus 40-150mm f/4-5.6 "R" zoom lens, and the resulting late afternoon image looked great when viewed as a whole, but was not all that sharp (shown at the end of this post).  I made a mental note to capture it more carefully from an office with a better viewpoint and with a better lens some later time.

Final 70 Mpixel Pano Image from Two Hi-Res Frames.  Olympus Hi-Res Plug-in for Photoshop; Processed and Graded in Photoshop; Finished in Lightroom.  75mm f/1.8; f/7.1; ISO 200; 1/60th second.

A few days ago, I set up the E-M5 Mk II with the superb Olympus 75mm f/1.8 prime on a Gorilla pod in a better office spot, and realized right away that this was a good time to try the Hi Res ("40 Mpixel") mode of the E-M5 II, which I had only played around with previously.  I was curious to see whether I could get a steady enough shot with the Gorilla Pod setup in a typical high rise office building.  I took about 15 frames, RAW+JPEG, including a few shifted slightly to capture the exact framing that I wanted (75mm was just a tiny bit too tight).

100% Crop of Final Image.  Note this would be equivalent to a 111" tall print at 72dpi screen resolution.
You can see the full-res image on flickr.

100% Crop of Original Handheld Snapshot
(16 Mpixel image with 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R @ 85mm and f/6.3).
The full image is shown below.  The lighting was actually better that day.

I had very little time and couldn't quite figure out how to set a delayed shutter release for the Hi Res mode (hint:  it is down in the menus and nothing like you set the delay for a regular shot).  About half the frames were unusable due to small movements that left aliasing jitters on hard edges due to shifts between the multiple captured frames in a single hi-res shot.  Of the remaining frames, one was critically sharp; another few were usable with just very slight aliasing jitters at 200%.  I combined two frames (using only a tiny bit of one frame for the right edge to get the framing that I wanted) to get the image above.  I processed the RAW files using the Olympus Photoshop hi-res import plugin, which is serviceable, but extremely slow.  The resulting pano (as cropped) is about 70 Mpixels, and it is pretty sharp and holds up well to processing.  In order to keep the detail, I did not suppress the noise too much, but it is noisy at 100-200% viewing.  I think it would print quite well.

Overall, it is pretty impressive to be able to pull off a hi-res architecture shot that easily exceeds the resolution of a D800 family image with such compact gear, but this kit is clearly a much less flexible tool given the limitations of the hi-res sensor-shift feature of the E-M5 II.  For fixed architecture images, it is a pretty good match, and you still get a single 16 Mpixel raw file in case part or all of the hi-res file is unusable.

Original Handheld Snapshot
(16 Mpixel image with 40-150mm f/4-5.6 R @ 85mm and f/6.3).

Am I Done with DSLRs?

I’m having a strange experience today (to put it mildly).  As many people know, I got an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk II plus three Olympus primes a couple of months ago for various reasons (I discuss the decision here - http://phoser.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-dslr-users-switching-perspective-on.html). Since then, I have used the E-M5II exclusively for street and family photography (along with an iPhone, of course), and I have become rather attached to it.  My original plan was to eliminate Nikon lenses that I don’t use frequently, but to keep the D600 along with my gems – 85/1.8G, 28/1.8G, 70-200/4, and 200mm f/4 AF Micro.  I thought I might use them for “serious” photography outings when I needed the best quality, and also keeping the Nikon gear is a hedge against future Nikon mirrorless bodies that are compatible (plus I can use the lenses on the Olympus with an adapter quite effectively).

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I had enough confidence in the Olympus to send my Nikon D600 back to the factory for the sensor dirt recall (Nikon replaces the shutter and cleans the body for free).  Two days ago, it came back, and I decided that I needed to test it, so I mounted my beloved 85/1.8G and tried a few family photos.  Such a crushing disappointment!  I am absolutely SHOCKED at how alien the Nikon body is in my hands after only a couple of months.  The muscle memory is there, but somehow it all feels foreign.  The viewfinder – GHASTLY!  It is so dark and unclear compared to an EVF, and I can barely find the AF point.  Where is my review?  Where is my live histogram?

The gloriously ergonomic Nikon grip feels bulky, uncomfortable, and foreign, and the rubber cover that I loved so much for the grip feels clammy and sticky, and truthfully, much too big for my girly hands.  The weight feels oppressive (granted, that would go away quickly), but the bulk immediately looked laughable to my family.  They were kind of shocked that I used to use a camera like that all the time!

This is a pretty fair comparison.  Olympus 45/1.8 (90mm effective focal length) vs. Nikon 85/1.8G.

But the shooting experience was WORSE!  Focus, which is silent and immediate on the Olympus (with those glorious primes; don't try a toy kit lens!), is hesitant, hunting, slow, and LOUD on the D600!  Was all that AF-S noise there before???  I used to think it was silent.  But nothing prepared me for releasing the shutter — K-CLANK!  Echoing off the surrounding walls...  Did I really like that sound before (and actually think it was QUIET)?  Sleeping babies lurch in fear (this is actually true), and the crowd immediately swings around to find the offending shooter (now I understand the term “shoot” even more!).

But, finally, the results.  :(  Where did my wonderful In-Body-Image-Stabilization go?  Suddenly, 1/200th second isn’t fast enough for 85mm.  Focus is off.  Why is my viewfinder bouncing around unsteadily?  No wonder AF isn't critically accurate!  And, wait a minute, if I push the shutter speed up enough, my ISO is pegged at 6400!  Nothing is actually critically sharp.  And, was that CA always there with the Nikon primes???

OK, let me redo AF fine tuning and boost my technique back up to steady the 85...  Nope.  Still not critically sharp.  :(

I am truly shocked and don’t know how to feel about my urge to turn my back on a very old friend.  Yes, my amazing high-res FX high-DR files are still there.  Yes, I know I could take a better landscape image in tough conditions using best technique.  Yes, zooming to 100% with the E-M5 II files when the ISO boosts up to 3200+ is disheartening.  Even now, would I use the Olympus for a paid job if I did such a thing?  No way.  Not a chance.  I would rent a D750.  But, still, I’ve fallen out of love, and I did LOVE the D600 and those core three lenses – more than any other camera I’ve ever touched.  Now, I’ve strayed, and nothing will ever be the same.  I can’t really allow myself to love the Olympus gear.  After all, they are more likely than not to be out of business a year from now, and m43’s future is far from secure (except for video, for which I have no interest so far).  Sure, small size/weight may just be a fad because of my current needs, and mirrorless is absolutely no size/weight/cost advantage if you buy pro FX gear (Sony) or even DX (Fuji).  Oh, and good m43 gear is also ridiculously expensive.  :(

But, for now, I’m full-on midlife crisis with the Olympus.  :)

Additional Notes on Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark ii for Night Street Photography

12mm f/2.0; ISO 3200; 1/15th second; panorama from two frames.
A lot of detail has been pushed here, and the grain shows.  More fastidious processing could reduce that for printing.

I've had very little time to get out with the E-M5 Mark ii, but did carry it along for some nighttime walks around my part of the city.  So far, the results have all been positive.  I'd have to characterize it as "sufficient," which is just fine.

ISO 3200, 75mm (150mm equivalent), f/1.8, 1/15th second.
Four tries were required to get a steady shot, but this is pretty impressive for 1/15th second at that magnification.

I've spent a great deal of time doing night street photography with the Nikon D700 and D600, and I've used three general types of lenses:  flexible zooms that are relatively light and compact (70-300VR, 28-300VR); pro zooms that are superb, but heavy (70-200/2.8 VR ii, 70-200/4 <- my all-time favorite lens on any camera); and the amazing Nikon f/1.8 primes, which are both light/compact and have superb optical quality (but no VR).

ISO 3200; 12mm; f/2.8; 1/40th second.
The white balance and colors had to be pushed significantly to produce the perceived colors in real life.  There was plenty of color latitude in the RAW file to avoid any odd artifacts, and noise was readily controllable without losing too much detail.

The zooms offer great flexibility and VR, which is at least partially very valuable for night shooting.  But, they are all heavy and awkward to take on trips and lug around, and they are just plain socially unacceptable for a lot of evening events if other people are along.  Also, the consumer-type zooms always compromise image quality, and I'm constantly disappointed when I can't take advantage of an amazing scene or light.  The very best overall compromise is the amazing 70-200/4, but f/4 still leaves me at ISO 3200+ much of the time unless I'm looking to blur subject motion (generally not my style).

ISO 3200; 12mm, f/4.5; 1/20th second.
The dynamic range was ridiculous, but as metered, the highlights were recoverable, and the shadows could be brought up enough to make a pleasing rendition.

The only physically satisfying package is the f/1.8 primes, and they are optically fantastic. But, with no VR, I find that I'm realistically sitting at ISO 6400 much of the time, and at ISO 6400, the dynamic range of even the best FX sensors is greatly reduced (you lose a stop of DR for every stop in ISO above ISO 400 on the D600, for example, so almost 4 stops down at ISO 6400).

Nikon D600; ISO 6400; 85mm, f/2.8; 1/40th second.
For comparison, this is a typical night shot with the D600.  Because of the lack of VR on the beautiful 85/1.8G prime, and in order to avoid subject motion, the shutter speed is moderately high, yet still pushing my handheld limit, dictating ISO 6400.  Even on the full-frame D600, the dynamic range is suffering badly, and the post processing was very tough on this one.

Note that carrying a tripod is mostly too restrictive to take out every evening.  I do carry a good travel tripod (1542T), but I would mostly use that for very intentional and planned cityscapes or shooting from a hotel, etc.  If you have a tripod, basically every camera is good for night shooting.  :)

Nikon D600; 85mm, f/8; 15 seconds.
This is a typical long exposure night shot on tripod, which could be taken with almost any camera with manual controls.  I'm not worried about this use case.  :)

The dynamics are quite different with the E-M5 ii m43 and my Olympus f/1.8 primes.  IBIS opens the door to much longer handheld exposures when I'm willing to include subject motion blur (or there is nothing moving).  f/1.8 is pretty bright, exceeded only by heroically expensive (and mostly huge) lenses that are brighter, and I can even get 75mm (150mm equivalent) at f/1.8 in a tiny package! Yes, I'm still sitting at ISO 3200 (the threshold I've currently adopted), but the (reduced) DR feels about as restrictive as the D700 (not quite as good as the D600), so it is manageable -- not great; not horrible.

ISO 3200; 75mm; f/1.8; 1/50th second.
IBIS made a handheld shot that I would never try at this magnification on my D600.  The 75/1.8 allowed for a DoF that almost disappeared the chainlink fence in the foreground.

Handling and auto-focus are a pleasant surprise. The EVF is much better at night than an optical viewfinder, and AF, well, just works. Any AF system is going to have problems in the dark, but the E-M5 ii seems at least as good as my DSLRs. Manual override with focus peaking works great in low light since visibility of the EVF is so great.

ISO 1000; 12mm; f/3.5; 1/40th second.
The wide DR was recoverable nicely with basic Lightroom sliders.

For post-processing, the Olympus files feel pretty good.  Up to ISO 3200, the shadows are fairly clean, and I can pull out enough micro-contrast.  Generally, metering seems to protect the highlights well; perhaps with practice, I can ETTR a bit more.  Frankly, I have not been obsessing over histograms at capture time.  Metering on the D600 was a delight, and it seems just as good on the E-M5 ii.  Color looks good and is easy to grade (better than with Nikon NEFs when using Adobe ACR or LR, but Adobe always does relatively poorly with Nikon RAW files since they don't cooperate).