Pixel Peeping - E-P2 v G12

I am often amused by the "dirty look" I get from my photographer friends when I mention pixel peeping ;) What's wrong with wanting to pixel peep?

According to the Urban Dictionary, a pixel peeper is:

1) A digital photographer who magnifies photographs on the computer screen to critically evaluate image resolution at the pixel level. Commonly used as a derogatory remark to describe:

a) A photography n00b who erroneously believes that the quality of a digital camera is determined solely by the number of mega pixels.

b) Insecure troll who frequents digital camera forums to religiously proclaim how his/her camera pixel count is greater than yours.

c) Wanna be photographer who debates about pixel count all day but doesn't have the talent to take a half-decent photograph.

Talk about being nasty ;)

I for one, pixel peep all the time; not in the noob or troll way, before I archive my fresh shots, I always zoom in to 100% on screen on selected shots.

This is the only way I can be sure that the image is sharp and at the same time I look out for digital artifacts and blemishes.

What prompt me to do this test was after Chris Bing, a friend and Nikon die-hard; drop into my office yesterday.

A CNY Weekend in Wellington

It was a rather busy weekend in Wellington for a change!

We look forward to the NZMS (New Zealand Malaysian Society) CNY (Chinese New Year) dinner on Saturday (5th Feb) night at Regal Chinese Restaurant, we especially look forward catching up with friends whom we only meet once or twice a year!

Some complained that NZMS should have held the dinner on a later date because of the NZI Rugby Seven games which happened on the same day.

By 5 p.m. Saturday, all the road going in and out of Courtenay Place will be closed to traffic for the huge, after the game street party held inside.

For me though, Saturday is a plus; since I intended taking some pictures of the fun costumes young people put on just for the games :)

So on Saturday Le General and I landed on the 4th floor car park of Reading Cinemas where I parked my Lancer VRX Sportback for $8.00. That's a far cry from the $20.00 had we travel by bus from Karori!

We spent the next two hours sitting on a bench, at a bus stand; watching the merry makers going by ;)

A group of young bunnies heading for the games, the perfect outfit for the year of the rabbit!

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.