Just have to take my camera and snap snap snap…

3 months 8 days young…three different angles…

It is a shame with this kind of title that makes UTM popular…

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/10/nation/18834926&sec=nation�

Below are the quote from The Star newspaper:

PETALING JAYA: Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lost about RM900,000 worth of assets such as computers and LCD screens in six years � because just about anybody could borrow the items and not return them.

The Auditor-General’s report said that there was lax security and monitoring at the university, allowing people to steal easily.

Examples of this included no closed-circuit television cameras installed in strategic areas, no grilles on windows and doors, and too many people sharing the same key to a lab or office, the report said.

It was also reported that almost all offices and faculties did not maintain records on equipment usage.

The AG audited both campuses in Skudai, Johor, and Kuala Lumpur, and found that of the RM854,346 total loss of assets, RM605,761 (70.9%) worth were stolen from 2004 to August 2006.

It also said that the cases increased from three in 2001 to 22 in 2006. Read More

I got the chance to test out a Nikon D2X today. It was a dream camera for me long time ago…whenever I saw people using it…my eyes would just follow the camera. Yeah…a handsome nice piece of art technology machine.

People were complaining about the NOISE of D2X photos, so I thought of checking and seeing it myself.

Original photo but resized to fit the web (D2X):

100% crop (D2X ISO800):

100% crop (D200 ISO800):

D200 seems to be sharper with more details, but it could be due to my handholding shot that moved the focus area differently.

Both D200 and D2X have about the same noise. D200 might be even smoother than D2X.

During the test, I do fine D2X focusing to be more accurate and faster than my D200. Shutter sound is also very different. Shutter count is very short, my guess is that the reflex mirror returns to its original position FASTer than D200. D200 sound is a bit longer, and as if there are two sounds. D2X is just like having ONE sound. This is quite hard to explain, one have to listen to both to differentiate and know the difference.

In my opinion, a very important new technology in photography these few years is Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization or Shake Reduction. It makes shooting at low shutter speed possible, with acceptable sharp and good results.

I got the chance to test and try out one of the Nikon best telephoto zoom today. The Nikon Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF Autofocus Lens!

I did a simple test on a easy to identify subject in my room, a wall clock.

Here’s the results:
Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon Zoom Telephoto AF VR Zoom Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8D G-AFS ED-IF Autofocus Lens
Shutter Speed: 1/2s
Focal Length: 200mm
ISO 100
Hand-holding, took a deep breath and hold it when clicking the shutter.

VR OFF

VR Normal

VR Active

No editing was done other than resizing the photo to 700 pixels width for web purpose. VR really does make a BIG difference. This kind of shot would be IMPOSSIBLE in the old days without a tripod, but now VR has made hand-holding at low shutter speed on long focal length POSSIBLE!

For 70-200mm focal length, VR does prove itself to be very useful. A definite must have and must upgrade for those who are still planning on those without VR.

Today I tried CLS (Creative Lighting System) on my D200 + SB-800. Got to learn on how to set the camera and flash into REMOTE mode.

Here’s the instruction that I thought of sharing and keeping reference for myself:

on D200

• Menu
• Pencil Menu
• e Bracketing/Flash
• e3Buil-in Flash
• c Commander Mode

on SB-800

• Press SEL button for 5 seconds
• Flash menu
• REMOTE
• Press SEL button for 5 seonds

Some tips:

• You must have your built in flash pop up, else it will not trigger the SB-800.
• You can set to have the built in flash disabled, so all flash power will only be from the SB-800 and no light from built in flash.

Finally…

Many have been waiting for the Vibration Reduction update from Nikon on their Telephoto lenses. Nikon has finally updating them…after many many years Canon has their IS lenses in their 400mm, 500mm and 600mm.

Read More

The problem of full frame:

Vignetting at corners. When Canon 1Ds was first introduced, there are not many great wide angle lenses in the market for 1.5X crop DSLR, so 1Ds is a good add-on to utilize existing wide-angle lenses, but with the trade-off of vigetting at corners. See:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS1Ds/page16.asp

As of today, I am not sure how much sensor technology has improved in combating vignetting. Most new lenses are now specially design to give vertical light-path directly onto the sensor, giving the most of sharpness and contrast. I believe this will reduce vignetting at corners too.

When comparing D3 with D300, you might get same angle of view but depth of field will be different. A longer focal length will have more shallow DOF, while wider angle lens will have deeper DOF. So, you cannot get the same bokeh from D300 + 50mm lens with D3 + 85mm lens.

Another advantage of full frame when compare to smaller sensor size is that you can make better quality sensor DOT (pixel). A larger dot of each pixel is capable of capturing or receiving the light in a better way, hence give less noise and better contrast. This is why compact P&S camera with 10MP sensor is not comparable to DSLR of 10MP at high ISO. Most P&S Digicam will have bad noise at above ISO400. Just imagine a room will with balloon. A bigger room will be able to fit in BIGGER Balloon of the same quantity than a smaller room.

Again, vignetting remains a great challenge to full frame DSLR. Will need to wait and see how good D3 is.

There have been some rumors in the internet on the replacement of Canon prosumer full-frame DSLR ~ Canon EOS 5D Mark II. From the photos, the camera looks pretty “REAL”! The back is amazingly simple though, a touch screen perhaps?

Canon EOS 5D price has been reduced since few months ago by a BIG margin (RM8,xxx in Malaysia now, from previous RM10,xxx). This normally means a replacement model is around the corner…so the rumored 5D Mark II can be pretty much “possible” or “true”.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

As according to a news from a UK magazine, Epson Europe has discontinued the world’s first digital rangefinder camera – Epson R-D1 and R-D1s that use Leica M mount lenses.

Launched in year 2004, Epson R-D1 is a 6MP digital camera. R-D1s is an update to the R-D1 with just software changes. User of R-D1 is able to upgrade to R-D1s via software/firmware upgrade.

While discontinued in Europe, Epson R-D1s will continue to be sold in Japan and R-D1 in USA. Successor of R-D1 has not been announced at the moment.

Today’s biggest news in the photography world: Amazon.com acquires dpreview.com!

I was quite surprised when I visited dpreview.com today and saw that headline news! Wow…how much did Amazon paid to Phil Askey? With millions of visitors and registered members, dpreview.com definitely worth a few million dollars! Very envy…

Here’s the official press release (I posted this at PentaxWorld.com as well):

AMAZON.COM ACQUIRES DPREVIEW.COM –
THE LEADING ONLINE DESTINATION FOR REVIEWS
AND INFORMATION ABOUT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

(BUSINESS WIRE) SEATTLE, WA—May 14, 2007—Leading online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it has acquired www.dpreview.com, the web’s most comprehensive site for digital camera information and reviews. Founded in 1998 by Phil Askey, dpreview.com provides unbiased reviews and original content regarding the latest in digital cameras, and offers a host of features and forums designed to make it easy for consumers to find the camera that’s right for them. With its unique voice and in-depth technical reviews, dpreview.com draws millions of unique visitors each month.

“Dpreview.com is by far the most authoritative source anywhere for straight talk about new digital cameras,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We at Amazon.com have been their fans for a long time, and we extend a big welcome to the dpreview.com team.”

“One of the difficulties of operating dpreview.com independently has been the balance between producing content and delivering new site features,” said Phil Askey, founder of dpreview.com. “Now, with the support of Amazon, I’ll be able to devote more of my time to expanding and improving our features – such as product reviews and discussion forums while still delivering the high-quality content that our readers have come to expect.”

Dpreview.com offers in-depth reviews of the latest digital cameras and accessories, active discussion forums, digital photography and imaging news, sample images, a dynamic digital camera buyers’ guide, side-by-side comparisons of the most popular models, and the web’s most comprehensive database of digital camera features and specifications.

Dpreview.com will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in London.

TIPA Award 2007 Winners

The “European ‘Oscar’ of the Photo & Imaging Industry, 2007″ is what TIPA like to call themselves has been announced and the winners in no particular order are :

• D-SLR Entry Level Camera – Nikon D40x
• D-SLR Expert Camera – Pentax K10D
• D-SLR Professional Camera – Canon EOS-1D Mark III
• Medium Format Digital System Camera – Hasselblad H3D
• Rangefinder Digital Camera – Leica M8
• Ultra Compact Digital Camera – Fujifilm FinePix Z5fd
• Compact Digital Camera – Nikon COOLPIX P5000
• Superzoom Digital Camera – Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ3
• Multimedia Digital Camera – Samsung i7
• Entry Level Lens – Nikon AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm F4-5.6 G (IF) (ED)
• Expert Lens – Sigma 70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro
• Professional Lens – Canon EF 16-35mm F2.8 L II USM
• Prestige Camera – Rocoh Caplio GX100
• Innovative Design – Olympus µ770 SW
• Flatbed Photo Scanner – HP Scanjet G4050
• Small Format Photo Pinter – Canon SELPHY ES1
• Expert Photo Printer – Epson Stylus Pro 3800
• Multifunction Photo Printer – Canon PIXMA MP810
• Large Format Printer – HP Designjet Z3100
• Fine Art Inkjet Paper – Hahnemühle Photo Rag Pearl 320
• Imaging Storage Media – Lexar Professional 300x CompactFlash
• Storage Back-up – Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer P-5000
• Imaging Innovation – Samsung Smart Touch User Interface
• Photo Software – Apple Aperture 1.5
• Color Management System – X-Rite i1PhotoLT
• Accessory – Manfrotto 190XPROB
• Digital Accessory – Delkin SensorScope
• Expert Photo Projector – CASIO XJ-S35
• Pro Photo Projector – JVC DLA-HD1
• Film – Kodak Portra II
• Expert Camcorder – JVC HD Everio GZ-HD7
• Pro Camcorder – Sony HDR-FX7E
• Mobile Imaging Device – Nokia N95
• Digital Minilab – Fujifilm Frontier 550
• Photo Kiosk – HP Photosmart Studio
• Monitor – EIZO CG 211

Somebody emailed me and asked about the Hakuba KMC-04, so I thought I would share my opinion here as well as reference for others.

Hakuba Ultra Strong Anti-Fungus Packs for Camera Lens

The Hakuba KMC-04 is a moisture absorber, keeping the moisture in your camera bag low, hence preventing or reducing the risk of fungus growing in your camera bag.

However, do note that it is NOT advisable to keep your camera and lenses in your camera bag while not using them for an extended period. Reason is because most camera bags are made from fabric and sponge, which are a moisture absorber in nature and keep the bag damp and wet most of the time. Although the Hakuba can reduce the humidity inside the camera bag, but it is not a 100% fool proof product to prevent fungus, as it still mainly depends on the environment of where you store your bag.

I would still recommend you getting a drybox to store your D70s and lenses at home:

http://shashinki.com/shop/dry-cabinet-dry-box-c-36.html

The Hakuba is good and useful when you are traveling with your camera bag.

Was hoping to take some sakura flower shots few days ago, but saw a pair a birds on the sakura trees. Shifted my focus onto them instead, and here’s a shot that I feel can share with the world.

For me, close-up of a bird is boring. I hope to capture bird in their nature environment, hope this flower give you some idea of what I am trying to deliver.

Camera: Nikon D200

Lens: Nikon Nikkor AFD 200mm F/4 Macro

Handheld without flash. Auto ISO and fixed shutter speed at 1/360s to avoid handshake.