New Gears in the House II

As mentioned earlier, I went to DCIM, ended up buying a tripod...

Well it's just an el cheapo-made-in-China-tripod.

But what it impressed me is the maximum height and decent built quality

When it extends to its maximum, the tripod is only 5-8cm shorter than me, I'm about 173cm btw. If i put the camera on it, the total height surfaces above my head.

(The tripod at it's maximum height)

(ball head with quick release plate)


(center column with bag hook - to increase sturdiness of the tripod)


(Lowest level possible)

Basically this is a decent tripod with adequate built quality, the design is actually an imitation to Manfrotto (I think) tripods. The only weakness I see so far is the weight, for RM220, you cant get all good things, when u go for cheap, you will certainly give up something.

I feel that weight is not a big issue here as I do not foresee carrying a tripod and go jungle trekking or climbing. Just put this tripod in the car and you're good to go.

Price: RM230
Discount RM10
Net: RM 220

Total spending to date RM 2,860

DCIM 2009

DCIM is an abbreviation for Digital Camera · Imaging · Media

This event is actually a new event and planned (hopefully) to be held on a yearly basis. Well it's basically a "camera fair" with models and catwalk shows.

The size of this event is actually quite small, even smaller than my college's Career Fair...

The participating brands are not massive too, I only see Canon and Nikon, I couldn't find Sony, Olympus and such, even the big 3rd party photography gears manufacturers like Tamron and Sigma are not showing themselves too. A bit of disappointment here though.

I arrived around 1pm, hoping to shoot some models, but what I see is a bunch of enthusiastic photographers with some nice gears and ladder, yes, a ladder:





How am I supposed to get a clear shot? Well thanks to my Canon EOS 1000D with Live View function! Almost all shots are done through Live View. Who said Live View is useless eh?

Basically what I do is just enable the Live View, put my camera as high as possible and snap.

Its not easy to keep your hand steady in that situation:

(at 55mm, f/5.6, 1/40s, ISO 400, flash off)

(Blurred =( , but I like this shot actually)


(at 55mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO 800)


(at 55mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO 800)

(All model images has been cropped, my 18-55mm kit lens is not sufficient for such event obviously)

"Crew: Sir, no entry! Guy: Huh?!"

My candid shot of the day =D

Due to difficulties of photographing the models, I did not follow the event til the end. I ended up buying a tripod (which I needed) instead. Details of the tripod will be posted soon.

Flash!

OMG....external flash is sooooo nice, especially Canon's Speedlites.
I've heard the goodness of external flashes, but its all imaginary only.

Yesterday night is the first time I played an external flash
The model is Canon Speedlite 430EX II

The built in flash is no where near to external flash I would say, there are many possibilities with the external flash....

I think, I would get one myself....

(no pics for comparison due to privacy purpose)

Convocation 2009 @ KLCC

I was thinking of getting some nice outdoor shots during this LJMU Convocation. But it turned out as a disappointment. I was invited to attend this convo, since I'm a graduand too. But the cost of this convo is a little bit too pricey (a whooping 75 pounds), so I did not attend it.

The main reason I'm there is just to meet some of my friends who I haven't seen them since I'm back from the UK. The event ends approx. 1pm, i arrived there around 1:30pm. What i saw was a bunch of people, hanging in the Convention Center. They are not allowed to take their convocation gown out the hall! What a waste.

One fun thing I noticed is, there are more and more DSLR users nowadays. I see DSLRs everywhere. Mainly due to trend and lower price I perhaps.

(Its a shame that we cannot leave this hall with our gown on)


(My friend with Colin Paul, my lecturer)

(The Petronas Twin Tower)

Many of my friends are rushing back to their hometown, so we missed a chance for a group photo =(

After that boring event, I went down the KLCC Park with my friends while I'm testing my EF 50mm f/1.8 lens

Here are some shots:
(oh well, no female model here)

(All images - at 50mm 1/800s, f/1.8, ISO 100)

I simply love the bokeh!

And guess what? I "poisoned" my friend with the bokeh effect, makes him wanna buy a DSLR now

*evil grin*