Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 IF-ED Redux

Last week, one of my die-hard Nikon friend email me for advice in buying a pre-loved Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 IF-ED lens, when I found out the asking price was only Rm 300.00 (NZ$125.00); I told him to buy it!
To you my advice might be a bit rash, I am sure it is because I still own one of this excellent glass :)

According to my friend Leo Foo,

"The Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 IF-ED was introduced by Nikon in August, 1978.

It was seen as an direct lens upgrade from the earlier Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 ED.

The Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 has a longer development history than comparing optic which can traced back as early as mid '60.

It has evolved not less than a few rounds of known upgrades."
The Nikon 300/4.5 IF-ED is a very compact lens for it's 300 mm focal length.

It was very popular in the 1970 and 80's, I remember fondly that it was a standard issues to Reuters photographers.

While working in Singapore newspapers in 1994, I went to see a Mr. Lam at the Nikon outlet, in Center Point.

I was ecstatic that he kept a BRAND NEW IF-ED for me! Thank you Mr Lam!

Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye

My favorite lens during the last ten years of my career as a Picture Editor was the Canon EF 14mm f/2.8 L lens.

The 14mm was big, heavy and ULTRA WIDE in coverage! It also has a big price tag to match! It can set you back for NZ$ 3,000 a piece!

I love the elongated perspective of this ultra wide lens and with it, even a slight difference in shooting angle or position will cause a great difference in how the subject appears!

I wrote about the lens here.

After leaving the paper I cannot afford that expensive chunk of glass, I had to look for a cheaper alternative for my ultra-wide addiction!

I decided on the very compact Canon EF 15mm fisheye lens. There are some good reasons behind it ;)

It is small, it is relatively cheap compare to a 14mm ultra-wide. At NZ$1,309.00 (latest 2011 price) it can give wider coverage than a 14mm, especially if you are using a APS-C size DSLR.

If you are a lucky owner of a full-frame DSLR, this little beauty will reward you with a angle-of-view of 180 degrees!

~ ~ WET~ ~ WET~ ~ WET~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~

Or how your house in New Zealand can be flooded!!

You must have read about the devastating flood in Queensland, Australia.

My heart goes out to those affected, I know how water, at the wrong time; wrong place; can absolutely DESTROY your life!

How do I know? Well, in December 2008; our NZ home was flooded!

Our "disaster" was, tiny; compared to what the Aussies experiencing but I hope my story can serve as a warning to new arrivals to this beautiful country and looking to buy a house!

6 Jan 2008

We arrived in Singapore, from Penang; after a 4 weeks break on the island we left behind in 1988.

We were supposed to spend 4 days with my sworn brother, then fly back to Wellington.

After nearly 5 weeks in the tropical heat and it's mugginess, we were looking forward to windy, cool; Wellington!

Nikon E2 DSLR - Redux

1995, good time... most media companies in South East Asia were doing very well; cash rich employers were paying out 4 to 6 months year end bonuses to happy employees!

I was into my second year working as the Picture Editor for the Chinese Newspaper Division at Singapore Press Holdings.

Digital camera was at it's infancy and costing S$30 - 60,000 each (body only)!

Kodak has just announced their DCS460 DSLR, a Nikon F90 (N90 in US) body with a noisy Kodak 6 MP CCD. It was the first camera that has a fixed ISO, at 80 only! The camera was selling at US$30,000.

My Lancer VRX Sportback

In My Auto Love Affair post I promised to tell you how my Lancer VRX Sportback drive and behave, so here...

Mitsubishi Motors New Zealand offer SIX Lancer variants.

Starting from the plain Jane ES Manual to the hot RALLIART Turbo, there is a choice for different drivers.

The Lancer ES (top left), the VR (top right) and the RALLIART.

Heritage Poster of The Star (Malaysia)

Story of the one and only surviving "Star Goes National" promotional poster!

First, for those not in the know, I am quoting Wikipedia:

"The Star is the leading English-language tabloid format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000.
 
The Star is also a member of the Asia News Network.

The Star is majority-owned by the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second-largest party in the ruling Barisan Nasional alliance. Its major competitors are the New Straits Times and the The Sun, both tabloids."

In 1974 I joined the young Star as their first Photo Editor.

In 1974 we had to fight with scores of established English, Chinese and Malay newspapers! Our biggest "enemies" were "The Straits Echo", "The New Straits Times" and their afternoon tabloid, "The Malay Mail"!

Our founder Mr K.S.Choong, who was also the MD and Editor In Chief realised that the only way we can beat the others are by publishing "Scoop News" and "Scoop Pictures".

Choong has the vision to play up good news pictures BIG and that gets the attentions of our readers! Asked any Star readers that live through the 70's and they will tell you we had the BEST pictures!

My New Remade Personalised Plates

Two days ago I placed an on line order for a remake of my car's personalised plates to replace the "old" one.

It cost me NZ$20.95 for the remake plates and NZ$9.20 for courier, total; NZ$30.15. I could have saved $9.20 if I waited a day or two for the plates to arrive through "normal" air mail ;)

Well, at least I do not have to pay a whopping RM300,000 (NZ$127,908) by some Malaysian for a political car plate!

This morning I found this slim cardboard box outside of my front door.

My address was blur-out by me, duh ;)