From Canon 70D to Canon M5

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 28, 2020
Posted in: Cameras. Leave a comment

 

So, I thought I would share my thoughts on   why I chose the Canon Eos M5 and sold my Canon 70d for it. Now this is purely from my point of view and in no way trying to tell others what to do, yes I expect I could have chosen better, maybe? But I chose in the end what suited me. So here it goes.

I have been residing in Thailand now for the last 5 years, from my home country the UK. That involved a massive life change and with the most positive effect for me.

Always with my life (as I am sure it is for many) there is always the fine balance of money for living/traveling and camera kit (yes I know for many I will have that the wrong way round, but I have a wonderful partner who facilitates this life I now lead, and without that I would not be here).

I have had and  loved my 70d for 6 years now, but I have noticed that increasingly even I have found it a heavy piece of camera to carry and use for prolonged periods of shooting. That is aside from carrying it with its lenses around whilst travelling to and from destinations. It has not gone amiss in my continued interest of all things new in Photography, that technology is moving forward, and more importantly for me Smaller and lighter!

So you may remember my short article back in October 2019, I bought myself from Carmarthen Cameras a 2nd hand, mint Canon Eos M, and 18mp Apsc sensor camera
Great price (£80) and great condition. This was my try out into the mirrorless world. Why this one? Well it could take my current collection of Efs lenses with adaptor. No brainer, no change in my current lens collection.

I have just spent five days in Singapore (last week) with just my Canon Eos M, the sigma 8-16mm, the 18-135mm stm, 55-250mm stm. Along with my viltrox adaptor. I ended up using the Sigma most of the time and the 18-135mm the rest.

 

What I liked;

  • I loved the light weight of the M;
  • I loved the anonymity of the M.
  • I loved the IQ of the M.
  • I loved the portability of the M,
  • I loved the direct focus point touch screen of the M.
  • I loved the crisp clear screen of the M

What I didn’t like;

  • The biggest  thing that got to me was the lack of a viewfinder, which meant I was struggling to frame properly, in strong sunlight, of which there is a lot here. It doesn’t move, and whilst this works for most f the time, there is also a lot of time where it is just plain impossible to see, Yes I have tried the screen shades and loupes, but all add to the size of what I was trying to reduce.
  • I actually found it quite arm aching holding it out at arm’s length all the time. Even more tiring than the 70D. This goes back to the lack of a viewfinder, but a 2nd reason that the viewfinder becomes a critical piece of the camera.
  • Also the inability to change settings on the fly also frustrated me, there are few buttons on the M and apart from the focus touch screen, you have to do everything else through the screen to get to the menus, Which means that you have to take your eye off what you are photographing.
  • The last one surprised me, as it had not been an issue up until this trip, the  little to no grip on the camera itself. Not an issue with small lenses, but with the larger ones made it quite the hand ache, not to mention the feeling of dropping it from your hand. Whilst I have a para-cord strap attached to the camera, I still found I was getting hand cramp clutching the camera and lens combo for prolonged periods of time.

So  when I got back here I knew had to do something about it, so I sold my 70d for around 9,000bht = *283$ , on the Facebook online market place. Along with my longer needed but much loved Tamron 10-24mm lens, which fetched 3000bht =*98$.  I considered this a good price as I have been watching the prices plummet in the UK, and bought this M5 for 11,000bht =*346$, also from a seller on the Facebook Market place. Now I know that the two cameras have been around similar prices 2nd hand and the M5 has been always edging it against the 70d, mostly because of the newer tech. So it was a loss I knew I would have take. Yes I was sad ;-( , I have owned and used the  70d from new some 6 years ago now, it’s been a trusty friend, but times move on and so do cameras. I would still recommend it to anyone!

So my current kit is and still will be for the foreseeable future;
Canon Eos M,Canon Eos M5,Sigma 8-16mm EFS,Canon 18-135mm stm,Canon 55-250mm stm,Canon 15-45mm EFM,Mieke 24mm 2.8 EFM

Apart from the Sigma which is heavy, the rest of my lens collection is very lightweight, as are the cameras.

Things to be aware of;

Now I have since found out that the software that the M5 runs on is completely different to the 70d and the Eos M. what does this mean in the real World? Well, you can’t run Magic Lantern firmware, and all the extras it gives you on the 70d. That for sure I will miss, notwithstanding being able to see you actual shutter count!
Otherwise I am not sure yet if I will notice any other differences, I will keep you posted.

The Raw files from the M5 don’t open in my Lr5.7 without me running them through Adobe DNG converter first! Another tedious step in the pp workflow, but hey it’s not insurmountable. Especially as I am not in the position to start paying adobe anytime soon for their “subscription” based software upgrade.

I am sure once I have flexed the M5 in a decent trip, i will return with my further thoughts on it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Prices worked on currency exchange at time of writing and publishing this article

Chinatown Murals: Heritage In Street Art 2020

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 26, 2020
Posted in: Singapore Singapore. Leave a comment

I have just come back from a very recent trip to Singapore, for four days!
Whilst there visiting the Gardens by the Bay and other amazing places that have popped up since my last visit in 2013, I took the time this time to capture and have a through look at the street art that was then in it’s infancy!

In this Video you will see the street art from the China town district, there will be one from Little India too! So subscribe and wait for your notification when it’s out!

All the works have been commissioned by the Singapore cultural development agency made up of the three distinct cultures that make Singapore, Chinese, Indian and Malay.
Below i have given you a Chinatown walk list of streets where you will find some of these wonderful murals. But you don’t have to follow them verbatim, and to be fair I didn’t either!

Chinatown Walk 1
40 and 6 Everton Road – Barber and Amah by YC Yip.
8 Spottiswoode Park (at Everton Road) – Provision Shop and Soyabean Drinks cart by YC Yip
2 Blair Road (back of gallery located here) – Mardi by Alex Face
To get there: Outram Park is the closest MRT stop

Chinatown Walk 2
In the heart of Chinatown, cut through Pagoda Street connecting Smith and Temple Streets to see YC Yip’s Letter writer at 333 Smith Street adorning the Chinatown Complex Food Market building. This walk is 1.2KM.

83 Pagoda Street – Mid Autumn Moon cake and lantern festival by YC Yip
Mohamed Ali Lane (at North Bridge Road) – a series of 4 murals: Mamak Store, Paper Mask & Puppet Seller, Lion Dance Head Maker and The Window all by YC Yip
158 Telok Ayer Street – Thian Hock Keng Mural: An Immigrant’s Story by Yip Yew Chong (immense 40 metre piece depicting history of the Hokkien’s migration to Singapore)
Amoy Street Food Center (inside wall facing Muslim stalls) has a series of murals, includning the Samsui Woman

THERE WILL BE FREE MAP AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD HERE:  https://true-travels.com/chinatown-murals…n-street-art-map/ ‎

 

 

 

 

Three pieces of music accompany this video all from Youtube music library and free under creative commons licence.
Sao Meo by Doug Maxwell/ Zac Zinger
Sao Meo Orchestral Mix by Doug Maxwell/ Zac Zinger
Lau Tzu Ehru by Doug Maxwell

 

Sarangapani temple, Kumbakonam

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 7, 2020
Posted in: Indian Subcontinent. Leave a comment

During my 4 month trip round Southern India in 2015, I stayed in many Temple towns. Here is the Sarangapani temple, in Kumbakonam

At a distance of 2 km from Kumbakonam Railway Station and 500 m from Adi Kumbeswarar Temple, Sarangapani Temple is a Hindu temple situated in Kumbakonam.

The temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Sarangam means bow and pani means hand. The deity is having a bow in the hand. Also known as Tiru Kudanthai is the third of the 108 Divya Desams. The Sarangapani Temple is also one of the Pancha Ranga Khestras with the other four being Srirangapatnam, Srirangam, Appalarangam, Parimala Ranganatha Perumal Temple at Mayiladuthurai and Vatarangam at Sirkazhi.

Sarangapani Temple is the biggest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam. It is of great religious significance and considered to be second only to the Srirangam Temple in Trichy. The temple boasts of 5 prakaras and a holy tank which is known as Porthamarai Kulam. The rajagopuram has 11 tiers and has a height of 150 feet. This is the third tallest temple gopuram among the Divya Desams other two are Srirangam (236 feet) and Srivilliputhur (192 feet).

Chariot festival is the most prominent festival of the temple, celebrated during the Tamil month of Chittirai (March-April). The twin temple chariots are the third largest in Tamil Nadu, each weighing 300 tons. Brahmotsavam, spring festival and Navaratri are the other important festivals of this temple
I have included a pic of the chariots that are pulled by the devotees….

Ohm Nandhi Kesaraya Namaha

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 3, 2020
Posted in: Blog, Indian Subcontinent. Leave a comment

The giant image of Nandi (Bull) is located at the top of Chamundi hills in Mysore. More than 350 years old, this is one of the oldest icons in Mysore. The Nandi is portrayed in sitting position with its left foreleg folded in an about to get up posture. While the image is in great proportions, the finer details are executed equally brilliant.

You can see many sequences of bells and garlands dexterously carved over the Nandi. With his ears pointed in rapt attention, the expression on the face is something not to be missed.

The whole image sits on a 4 feet or so high platform. According to Hindu mythology Nandi is considered as the vehicle (mount) of Lord Shiva, the lord of destruction. In front of every Shiva temple, on the court facing the shrine, you can see the image of a Nandi. About 16 feet in height and 24 feet long, this Nandi atop the Chamundi Hills is the third largest in India.

The creation of this colossal image is attributed to Dodda Devaraja Wodeyar (1659–1673) on of the illustrious Maharajahs of Mysore. It is the same maharajah who also commissioned the 1000 stepped stairway to the hilltop.

Originally this was a colossal boulder. The image of the Nandi was carved out of this boulder in situ. When you visit this Nandi just look around to see similar boulders around this site. In fact right behind the Nandi image is small cave temple under an overhanging boulder dedicated to Shiva. These boulders are painted with white and ochre stripes.

And yes I climbed the steps to the Temple at the Top!

Old Coconut Plantation

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 3, 2020
Posted in: Peaceful Moments, Phuket. Leave a comment

Sometimes , when out exploring this wonderful World, you happen upon some unique and almost forgotten places.

Places still lived on, or in, but a shadow of what they used to be. Sometimes as in this case , the shadow gets bigger, or should that be taller!

whilst out on a photography project , I saw this old Coconut plantation, dotted with Banana trees too, and went for a walk of serene calmness and natural beauty. A oasis of green in the busy town.

 

Phuket Philatelic Museum

Posted by Annette Johnson on February 3, 2020
Posted in: Phuket. Leave a comment

From my recent visit of the smaller and sometimes overlooked places of Interest in Old Town Phuket
As an ex Royal Mail postwoman from around 2011, I a always interested now in not only the architecture, but the history of any given countries
postal system. After all it was one of the first methods of communication between different communities.

Phuket Town has one that might interest you. The Phuket Philatelic Museum is located in an old district of Phuket Town in a building from the year 1920.

Once inside the so-called Post Museum, you can see the same machines and layout of the office as it was nearly a century ago. There are old stamp and packing machines, and even telephones displayed as they were a century ago. There are post boxes for in-house mail and mailboxes for homes, mail scales, and some of the stamp metering equipment is still there. You can see some of the old stamps they used in the early part of the twentieth century. If inclined, there are stamps available for purchase as souvenirs of the old Phuket Post Museum (or Philatelic Museum).

The Phuket Post Museum is located an 80-year-old building on Montri Road (the original signage still adorns the old Sino-Portuguese style building which was built in 1930, saved from demolition in the 1990’s and then opened as a museum in late 2004) close to the main Phuket Post Office in Phuket Town, on the east side of Phuket Island, and is open during regular weekday business hours starting at 9 am.

Replacing the Focusing Screen on My Canon 70D

Posted by Annette Johnson on January 23, 2020
Posted in: Accessories. Leave a comment

Why would I want to do this ? I hear you ask, well after five years of hard graft with this camera and trying in the last three years to clean the dust and rubbish that accumulates out of it. Not necessarily the right way. I found I had made little scratches that were even more annoying than the original dust and hairs that seem to find their way into this very, apparently, tightly sealed area!

Next Question? Why so long before doing this? well for a long time Canon have been saying that if you do anything to your camera in invalidates their warranty. Secondly that you couldn’t change the focusing screen on a Canon 70D, and that really didn’t make sense as had I sent it to Canon for changing, they could do it!

So as I do from time to time, I look on the internet and see if anyone has found a way to do this themselves. Imagine my delight when I saw a video on You Tube of a Canon 70d Focus screen being changed, step by step.  By a guy called JS. Not that hard is it?

Well before you even think about embarking on this type of activity there is something you need to think about. The quality of what you are putting back into your camera.

So I trawled the internet again and found DHcamera an American camera spares and repairs company selling spares. Great and they would post to the UK! Even better, because although I am currently living in Thailand it is still easier for me to get things sent via the UK.

So via the UK , Via my Daughter, this arrived today. It took bout two weeks t arrive in the UK and then another 7 days to get to me.

 

 

So armed with my blower, my small screwdriver set, rubber gloves, tweezers and spot lamp, i started the process of dismantling the inside front of my 70D. As per video. Just so you know, I watched the video several times until I was happy with what order i was to dismantle and reassemble in. I still had my laptop on standby , video poised at any point to help if i got stuck.

All went very smoothly and about half an hour later, although it felt like longer, I had a nice new shiny, blemish free focusing screen back in my viewfinder, and oh what a joy! No annoying little bits of dust and debris, and definitely no Scratches!

This is the Screen…….Tiny focus screen

and the little plastic tool is for clasping the little protruding leg to handle it by so you don’t damage it again on the way in!Clamp tool