mingthein.com – Ming Thein

Photoessay: Eastern melancholy, part I

November 6, 2017 by Ming Thein

Every image is a reflection of the photographer’s state of mind at the time of capture; we see and interpret the world through a lens of personal bias. We either notice things that are extremely in sync with us – or extremely opposite. It is difficult to say whether the collective feeling exists or we are simply applying tunnel vision to only notice what we want to see. Going back to curate through one’s archives tends to yield very telling glimpses into your psyche at the time, and something much easier to see objectively in hindsight. These images were shot more than six months ago, but reviewing the entire set yields an almost manic split between the bright, cheerful and happy, and the downright depressing. I honestly don’t remember what I was feeling at the time – probably not strongly positive or negative – but mainly that the environment was so different that it was rather difficult to ‘be a mirror’ and let the images come rather than looking for them. What’ll be interesting is the counterpoint part II post… MT

This series was shot in Istanbul with a Hasselblad H6D-100c, 50, 100 and 150mm lenses, and post processed with The Monochrome Masterclass Workflow. Get more out of your voyages with T1: Travel Photography.

Off topic: Presenting the MING 19.01

November 3, 2017 by Ming Thein

MING 19.01 3

Many of you will know that I’ve recently brought my interest in watches full circle with the launch of my own watch brand earlier in the year. We were surprised and humbled by the response, but also fortunate as we had another project in the works at the same time: something at the other end of the spectrum, and our flagship: the 19.01. Whilst the 17.01 was designed to be an honest watch that brought a lot of the features valued by collectors to a more accessible price point, the reality is there were a lot of things I wanted to do that I simply couldn’t because of production cost restrictions. This is not the case with the 19.01, which was designed without compromises ad to be something very special in a world that’s already got a lot of very special watches. This is of course not a simple task, and required something special aesthetically, mechanically and stylistically consistent with previous designs so as to fit within the MING lineup.

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Filed Under: Off topic Tagged With: 19.01, horology, ming, ming thein, ming.watch, mingthein.com, off topic, thein, watch, watches

Final stock for the MTxFF Mirrorless and Duffel bags

November 1, 2017 by Ming Thein

We’ve decided to end the Mirrorless and Folding Travel Duffel bags after the current production run – it’s time to work on other new projects. There are currently 13 Mirrorless bags and 6 Duffels remaining, and once these are gone – we will not be producing any more. Please click on the images above or the links below if you would like to order one. Thanks! MT

Buy the MT x FF Mirrorless bag
Buy the MT x FF Folding Travel Duffel

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Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews Tagged With: bags, duffel, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, mirrorless, mtxff, thein

Drone diaries/ Photoessay: Over Iceland

October 28, 2017 by Ming Thein

I’m going to start this post with a confession: I lost/crashed a drone during the making of these, which is why there’s no video of me flying through the sea arch at Hellnar, or of that double sided beach where the waves pound a narrow strip of rocks. (I do have the stills from the Hasselblad though, which I’ll post in the near future.) Feeling confident after the flight low over the surf and through the arch, I went a bit further out to sea to do a flyby of the coastal cliffs, and an orbit of a sea stack. Mistake number one: I wasn’t high enough, and the signal was looking a bit ropey. That should probably have been enough of a clue that something was going to go wrong. Mistake number two: I underestimated the winds between the cliffs and the rocks – and there’s not really any way to judge wind speed remotely, other than sponginess of controls and lack of manoeuvring overhead as the bird uses more and more of its available reserve power to fight the wind. Mistake number three: I was flying sideways so the gimbal and camera would be pointed in the correct position to film, which meant that I didn’t really have much idea of what was behind me (the Mavic doesn’t have rearward or sideways sensors). What I surmise happened is that I got too close to the cliffs behind me, and a gust of wind did the rest. Game over.

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Filed Under: Drone diaries, On Photography Tagged With: aerial, dji, Drone diaries, iceland, mavic, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein

Review: the 2017 Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 45mm f1.2 PRO

October 26, 2017 by Robin Wong

With the Micro Four Thirds lens collection now no longer lacking good, affordable zoom and prime options, Olympus has shifted their focus to making premium large aperture prime lenses. In addition to the existing M.Zuiko 25mm F1.2 PRO lens, Olympus just announced two new PRO lenses: the 17mm F1.2 and the 45mm F1.2. Special thanks to Olympus Malaysia for the M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO loan unit for this review. I’ve had one full day to shoot with the lens on the streets and behind the scenes of a Chinese Opera.

The highlights of the Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO lens are:

Designed to be optimally balanced between delivering excellent resolution and producing beautiful “feathered” bokeh.
Complex lens construction consisting 14 Elements in 10 Groups with 1 ED lens, 4 HR lenses, 1 aspherical lens
Full weather sealing (splash and dust proof)
Minimum focusing distance of 0.5 meter and maximum magnification of 0.1x
LF-n button (customize-able function button on lens), manual focus clutch mechanism, takes 62mm filters and weighs about 410g

You can find the full technical specifications on the official product page.

In case some of you aren’t aware yet, I left my Olympus employment in April. So neither MT nor I are affiliated to Olympus in any way and this is an independent review. The Olympus M.Zuiko 45mm F1.2 PRO lens and OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera body were provided on loan by Olympus Malaysia strictly for review purposes only. This is an experience based review and is likely to be subjective. All images were shot in RAW and post-processed in Capture One Pro version 10.2. For higher resolution images with full EXIF data intact, kindly view the images in the online gallery here.

Read on for the rest of the review. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews, Robin Wong Tagged With: 45 1.2, gearhead, micro four thirds, mingthein.com, olympus, review, robin, Robin Wong, wong

Video: Dispatches from land’s end, and FW 1.19

October 25, 2017 by Ming Thein

I recently got a chance to shoot for a week in Iceland with the Hasselblad X1D Field Kit. I was a bit torn in not bringing the H6D-100c, but the uncertain weather, walking distances etc. landed up tipping things in favour over the small weather-sealed box, and I’m quite glad they did – conditions weren’t exactly pleasant, but the gear survived just fine. If you look closely you may also spot one of my favourite lenses, adapted…Interestingly, the e-shutter behaviour (0.3s rolling sensor readout time) is such that you get a free motion blur effect even at high shutter speeds, negating the need for neutral density filters on things like waterfalls; you’ll see this as I post the stills in due course. There will also be a full set of stills with raw files (probably the first time ever for me) available as image samples via the Hasselblad website.

In the meantime, enjoy the video – and be sure to watch it full screen at full resolution; we shot it in 4K… MT

Lastly: there’s also new firmware (v1.19) available for the H6D and X1D today; you can download that here. For the H6D, it adds CF adaptor support, folder management, more custom button options and a few other tweaks. For the X1D, it’s a pretty major update including using the rear screen as an AF point selection touchpad while using the EVF; extensive button customisation options; EVF-only LV, and a ‘bokeh fix’. The latter allows the lens aperture to open beyond the physical stop of the lens, which means that circular opening is the only limit allowing smooth circles at maximum aperture. This works on all lenses and also gains a (tiny) bit of speed. 🙂

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More info on Hasselblad cameras and lenses can be found here.

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Filed Under: hasselblad Tagged With: dispatches from lands end, hasselblad, iceland, ming, ming thein, mingthein.com, thein, video

Review: the Canon EF-M 22/2 STM

October 22, 2017 by Robin Wong

Just when I thought my temporary flirtation with the Canon EOS-M6 was over, Canon Malaysia came back to me with the EF-M 22mm F2 STM lens which I was very interested to try out. In my recent review of the Canon EOS-M6, I concluded that it performed well, with the only serious downside being the sub-standard kit lens. Therefore, I was hoping that the 22mm F2 pancake would do justice to what the M6 is truly capable of! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Gearhead: Reviews, Robin Wong Tagged With: 22, 22mm, canon, eos m, gearhead, mingthein.com, review, robin, Robin Wong, wong

Personal truths about photography

October 19, 2017 by Robin Wong

Photography is an ongoing journey, there is so much to learn and explore and so much to experience. Some lessons come easy, some difficult. It is crucial to acknowledge that there is no one right way in photography, given that it is so open and subjective. I believe that we all want to improve and get better at what we do. After all, something is more enjoyable only when you continue to get better at it. What is the point of photography, if it’s not fun?

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Filed Under: On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: essay, mingthein.com, opinion, robin, Robin Wong, truths about photography, wong

Photoessay: Evening in Manchester

October 16, 2017 by Ming Thein

For reasons I can’t explain, the weather on this particular evening kept making me expect Sherlock Holmes (or his modern equivalent) to pop out from behind a corner, especially as the sun set. Not a bit of fog in sight, and I wasn’t in London, but perhaps it was the combination of the architecture and a slight drizzle. Unfortunately, the only afternoon/evening I had free to shoot wasn’t exactly the best for light, but we learn to make do (and curate ruthlessly, knowing that the locals will always be playing with a light advantage). This was the first time in some time I was travelling light – just one X1D and a couple of lenses. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t have my photography brain switched on since that wasn’t the point of this trip, but this is the specific reason I’m posting this set: almost everything you see here in photoessay form is the curated result of a conscious effort at taking pictures; very rarely do I not do this. However, I recognise that this is probably closer to the way most readers’ photographic opportunities arise – a spare hour here and there – and I thought it might be useful to see what can be done even with limited time. MT

These images were shot in Manchester with a Hasselblad X1D-50c and 90mm, and post processed with PS Workflow III and the Weekly Workflow. See more on your journeys with T1: Travel Photography and the How to See series.

‘Exploration’: Robin’s Photo Exhibition in Kuching

October 13, 2017 by Robin Wong

One of my resolutions this year was to have my photography work published and exhibited. In September, together with 7 other talented photographers from Kuching (my hometown in Borneo), a photography exhibition, with the theme “Exploration”, was held at Saradise Gallery. The work on display was not limited to street photography, and we had entries spanning architecture, conceptual photography, portraits, documentary work and even landscapes – all was fair game provided it fit the exploration theme. I also had to opportunity to serve as one of the curators for the exhibition. In this article, I shall share my experience curating a large set of photographs for a gallery exhibition.

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Filed Under: On Photography, Robin Wong Tagged With: exhibition, exploration, kuching, mingthein.com, robin, Robin Wong, wong