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Archive for the ‘Camera’ Category

Photos from Sony Ericsson S500i camera phone

19 Jul

I have forgotten what crappy photos are and what noise are until now. Can’t blame me ‘cos I have so many ‘toys’ cameras to fiddle around with.

I lost my Sony Ericsson K800i after just a couple of months. It is a very good camera phone as it has the Sony Cybershot camera built in. That K800i allows me too do many things and I can adjust a few buttons here and there. It is a 3.2 MP camera.

But this pretty, sweet, latest, lala girl SE 500i is nothing like that. I bought it because the day when I wanted to buy a phone, they were just doing the launching. So, being the kiasu person I am, I paid RM999 for it because the light changes colour and so is the wallpaper. Hehehe, I know that’s a pretty dumb thing to do.

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Well, the phone has no 3G, no radio and no thingamajig like my K800i. But it is slim and very pretty.

The photos? Well, what do you expect from a camera that has no function?

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Oh well, I bought a phone and it serves me well as a phone. That’s all I can say. Now, I need to bring my point and shoot camera along because I always need macro mode for my food photos (I run two food blogs, remember?). With the K800i, at least I get decent shots of macro pics. With this? I sometimes appeared blue coloured!

Now I shall hope for the Sony Ericsson K850i. The shopkeeper told me they will launch in August. And hope I earn enough to buy it and give this lala phone to my teenage son. It is a great phone for teen girls, really. Buy it for your girlfriends, sisters, nieces, daughters. Definitely not your mom who owns two DSLRs, two Nikon cameras and RM7K worth of lens. :P

 
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Nikon SB-600 flash

12 Jul

I have been sucked into the Ken Rockwell cult. Everything the master said is good and true. Before I make any purchases, I have to ‘Let’s see what Ken Rockwell said’. His words are final.

So, I was hunting around for a flash for my Nikon D40 because when I use the 18-200mm VR lens, I tend to get lens shadow due to the length of the zoom and also the very short flash. I also have problems with micro shots because when I use a smaller aperture (i.e. the bigger f numbers like f16-f22), the photos need flash to brighten it. If I use the built in flash, it is too harsh.

I finally settled for the Nikon SB-600 and had placed my order. Now, I am just waiting for the shop to call me to pick up a new unit. It is very frustrating getting stuffs here because most shops only carry one or two pieces of everything and most likely the item has been opened from its original box and used a demo. My hubby always demanded unopened box so he asked the shop to order one while we wait.

When I get the flash, I am going to be so confused with the extra numbers to remember. Never mind, so long as I get it.

 
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Posted in Accessories, Camera

 

Finally getting my macro lens!

18 Jun

After browsing through online camera shops, a few shops in Penang and even more shops in KL, I am finally getting an original Nikon macro lens. I had pondered long and hard whether to get a Tamron, Sigma or original Nikon.

Nikon Telephoto AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR (Vibration Reduction) Autofocus Lens

Descriptions

The Nikon AF-S VR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED brings the benefits of vibration reduction (VR) to the domain of Macro photography. It offers high-resolution, high-optical performance for both digital and 35mm film format SLR cameras. When used with digital cameras, equivalent focal length in 35mm terms is 157.5mm.

This lens incorporates Nikon’s second-generation vibration reduction system (VR II) that allows flexible hand-held shooting by stabilizing the image to the equivalent stability of a shutter speed that is 4 stops faster when compared with a conventional lens. This in effect eliminates image blur caused by camera shake, particularly when shooting in low-light conditions.

(source from : ShaShinKi)

So, it is going to be a Nikon. The lens costs around RM2,700 whilst Tamron is only about RM1,500 and Sigma RM1,900. Tamron is only 90 mm and all the shops don’t recommend it.

At first, I wanted to get it from Shashinki because I can dispose off my PayPal at a good rate. But on second thought, it seems more secure to buy it from my regular shop here, i.e. Merry Photo along Penang Road. Moreover, PayPal money is mine. Buying it from the shop is money from the hubby. So, yeah, smart calculations. :P

In total, I have two lenses now which costs more than my Nikon D40. I hope to have enough money to get a D3 one day…Ah…I can dream, can’t I?

I know I am going to love the macro lens so much because I enjoy macro photography more than anything else.

 
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Posted in Accessories, Camera

 

All for time lapse photography

08 Jun

My second son who is going to be 15 years old this August likes to experiment with a lot of things. He will painstakingly takes panoramic photos and string them into one long, long photo. He has taken a 360 deg view of our messy apartment and I must say it looks very impressive.

Recently he is into taking time lapse photography. Not all cameras have this feature. This is the reason why he immediately bought the Nikon P4 because it allows him to play around with several things not found in his other camera, the Pentax M20.

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I woke up this morning and found the ‘fake’ balcony door opened and blocked with these warning tapes. Don’t ask me where the kids got it from, I have no idea too. It was like a scene from CSI and someone has just jumped down from the balcony. Apparently, the kid had placed his RM1K camera out on the ‘fake’ balcony (fake because it is not a balcony but window’s ledge) under the mercy of the weather and possibly some spiderman thief during the early hours of the morning. He then went to sleep. When I woke up around 11 am, I snapped the pic.

He got himself a time lapse photo in MOV format of the rising sun, changing clouds and shadows casting in different directions. What happened during time lapse photography is the camera automatically snap a photo of the same scene every one or give minutes (option available). You leave the camera for several hours and at the end, it will string all those photos into one moving video. Very Nat Geo style. My kid has taken a time lapse photo of me working on my laptop before too. I didn’t know I look so grumpy when working. LOL.

 
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Posted in Camera, Photography tips

 

Nikon D40x review by dpreview

29 May

As you know, I bought a D40 a month plus ago after my kid damaged the CF card of my Konica-Minolta Dynax. Right now, the Dynax is still in the shop. It is too expensive to replace it and we are still unsure what to do with it. At the time I bought the D40, the price was already dropping and I got it for RM2K. I bought an 18-200mm VR lens for around RM2.5K because my budget was intended for a D80. Yeah, I know. I have the money so I must spend it. But I didn’t want the D80 because I was sold on the D40 for its size and its superb reviews. My intention is to buy a D3 next time. :p That’s why I invested in lens instead.

Anyway, I didn’t have much mood to play around with the camera and am still fumbling with the buttons until today! At the time I bought the D40, I knew the D40X was about to be released. However, I am those person who wants something and wants it NOW. So, I didn’t wait. Moreover, the three shops I went to told me that it will costs more and the only difference is the 10MP. All three told me that with 10MP, there will be more noise. Wateva….

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So here are some of my D40 shots. I ran into a Hindu temple, crowded with a lot of people to take this shot. It is sort of like run and shoot because I was afraid the crowd won’t welcome a crazy Chinese woman in their place of worship. So forget about ISO, shutter speed and what nots.

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The reason I love Nikon is the natural skin tones. All my kids photos turn out so natural with rosy cheeks and shiny black hairs. Lovely. The VR (vibration reduction) makes almost every shots very sharp and crisp.

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The only thing I wish for now is a macro lens that costs another RM2.5K or thereabout. I hope to earn that and buy it soon. Well, that is if I can find more paid posts to fill here. Hehehe.

Now back to the title – Nikon D40X preview is released by dpreview. Go check it out. I had surfed through like dozen of pages but couldn’t seem to find anything special compared to my D40. So yeah, I didn’t missed out much on buying the D40, cheaper by RM700+.

 
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Posted in Camera

 
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