Canon G10 - Repair done in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Our Canon G10 is back in operation again, after the lens got stuck late last year whilst we I was on holiday in Malaysia :-(

Yes, the repair cost a bomb (Canon UAE, Abu Dhabi) ... 200 USD for a new lens-assembly, to repair the "Lens error, Restart camera" fault. I think some call this the Canon E18 fault. Basically the lens barrel just wouldn't retract, despite doing a "battery-pull", restarting the camera, jiggling it, blah blah ... Sigh!

True, our Canon Powershot G10 is over 4 years old - But it was just too good a camera to dispose, especially when we have a brand new WP-DC28 underwater-housing (Over 200 USD!) and we one day ... want to go diving again! Looks like we have a working G10 again, woo hoo ...

ps - These shots were taken with our new Fuji X10   ;-)

Banana Cake from bbG Kitchen

Second project on our Kenwood Major Titanium KM-020 ... Banana cake!


Thanks to Masak-masak for the wonderful recipe, which bbG executed with flair :-) Moist, full of flavour and has a wonderful bite-texture. Delicious!

Fuji Finepix X100

This is the Fuji Finepix X100, a camera quite unlike any other! I had the chance to play with one over CNY in Subang, just before we returned to Abu Dhabi.

Fuji did a brilliant job trying to make the packaging Apple- or Leica-like :-)





What you get if you decide to invest RM$3,200 - 3,600 in what is probably Fuji's halo-product at the moment ... 12 megapixel APS-C image sensor, 23mm f/2.o Fujinon lens, (equivalent to 35mm on standard 35mm format), body made from high-quality steel and encased in leather, Hybrid viewfinder, built-in 3-stop ND filter, and video capability - 720P HD w/stereo sound.



With and without the optional lens hood, not cheap about RM$120-180.


What I like ...
1) Incredible build quality and retro-feel and looks,
2) Huge sensor (Comparable to a crop-frame DSLR!),
3) High ISO (Low light) capability and colour rendition - Excellent unwrapping of box and real-life review here,
4) Recommendation from my pro-photographer friend (and his wife!).

Asus Eee Pad - Transformer Prime

Huh ... what's this, weighing in at under 0.6 kg, with an ultraslim profile of 8.3mm ...


Its Y-man's new toy!! The Transformer Prime ... what a name!
Not quite a laptop, and definitely more then your average tablet ...


The mobile dock offers a full QWERTY keyboard and touchpad along with a USB port while extending the battery life to an incredible 18 hours for all day computing. What I find disturbing about this ... Its so similar in look like a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, but somehow ... it isn't one! Perhaps one can think of it as a fusion of the iPad and the MacBook!

AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED now Made in China

Hmm, my AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED is 8 months old, and still nearly untouched!

Review: Previous write-up

Yes, it has VR, is my fastest focusing lens, fantastic sharpness, and build-quality ... but why is it now made in China!? According to Amazon and KenRockwell, the batch made from 2010/2011 is indeed .. Made in China.

No... I haven't hard problems with this lens, but I have hardly given it a good work-out. Its certainly more about customer perception and expectations I guess. Any how, here are a couple more shots ...

Amcorp Mall, PJ, has some hidden makan gems!

Mall: Amcorp Mall
Located: Opposite Taman Jaya LRT station, along the Federal Highway (The exit straight after the PJ Hilton exit, as you drive from Shah Alam/Klang towards KL).

Aren't we a lucky lot, even in a "specialist" mall like Amcorp, one can find good food!

It is no secret that I am a big fan of J-One Camera (Tel: +603 7957 7778) in Amcorp Mall, which has over the years supplied most of my Nikkor lenses, as well as my present Nikon D7000. bbG also introduced me to BookXcess on the 3rd floor, which in my opinion has the most reasonably priced books in the country!

Cafe: Uncle Snacks Corner
Located: 3rd floor, Amcorp Mall - Just a walk down from Xcess books :-)
I ta-paued a sambal long beans with rice dish, which was damn spicy, but tasty ... and bbG had the yummy Kon Chau Ngau Hor (Recommended by video si-fu, Vc) - beef kuayteow.


Cafe: Sri Melaka
Located: Ground floor, diagonally opposite J-One
Vc recommended the Nasi Lemak, and boy was it good :-)

Steve Jobs - You shall be missed

Apple devices have been intertwined with my life for many years now :-) Here are some fond memories ... I have my dad, SW, YH, and BT to thank for this obsession with Apple products!

1980 - Apple II Plus, my dad got us our first home computer, which I later found out to be a "compatible" model :-)

Then came ... 1987 - Macintosh SE, what I felt was one of the first iconic designs of Steve Jobs! I think this one SW and myself got from some Singapore Uni garage sale, for like 50 SGD!

Same bro .. SW, asked me to get the Apple MessagePad 120, I think this was launched in 1996, but we may have got a used one some years later! Handwriting recognition was putzzz, but for a Mac-diehard, we just had to get one!

In my uni days in Manchester, I used a Power Macintosh Performa 6200 (PowerPC 603 processor, circa 1995) ... and some time between 1998 - 2000, I got myself the really cool looking iMac DV (Thanks, BT!) in Malaysia.

Music devices? I still have the iPod Mini which was purchased in Singapore circa 2004-2005 (Never ever got an original uber-cool white iPod 1st generation though), and later on my ex-boss gave me an iPod Nano back in Christmas 2007, which I use to this day!

And most recently in 2010 ... Me and bbG got our current Apple devices, oops tools ... My MacBook Pro 13 (Which I fondly call, "Al"), and bbG's very-used iPad (1st generation).

Steve Jobs on the National, the local paper here in the UAE ... 25th August 2011. You shall bemissed, you are a visionary, an inspiration and a genius.

The journey is the reward ... "We used to dream about this stuff. Now, we get to build it. It's pretty neat."

Update: 6th October 2011

Six weeks after the above post ... The world, and I, said goodbye to Steve.

All I can say is ... Thank you.

Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-NIKKOR and Macro Ring flash Bower SFDRL14N

Got some pressies for myself, purchased from B&H Photo (USA) via CW...

Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro-NIKKOR

B&H Photo price paid: 800 USD

Present price (May 2011): 950 USD

Some facts from KenRockwell ...

This AF-S VR 105mm macro is popular: Nikon's made about 120,000 of them so far as of 2008.
Nikon calls this the AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Nano-Crystal Coat. (What a mouth-ful!)

Here's the tech jargon ...

AF-S and SWM: Silent Wave (focus) Motor.
VR: VR II Vibration Reduction.
Micro-NIKKOR: Nikon macro lens.
G: Gelded for cost-reduction and removing compatibility with older cameras.
IF: Internal Focusing.
ED: ED Glass.
Nano Crystal Coat (N): Nikon's latest anti-reflection coating

I was dissapointed that it was "Made in China" as the previous samples used to be Japanese-made. However, the build quality is really good, and I doubt it really has a bearing on the performance. Closest focal length is 31cm, and it weighs a hefty but manageable 720g.

Bower SFDRL14N TTL Macro Ringlight Flash (Guide No. 46'/14 m at 50mm) for Nikon with i-TTL
B&H Photo price paid: 98 USD
Present price (May 2011): 105 USD

Description from BHphoto - The Bower SFDRL14N TTL Macro Ringlight Flash provides full TTL control (including i-TTL) with both digital or film SLR cameras. This allows for accurate exposures of closeup subjects. When shooting at extremely short distances, relatively minor movement of lighting and subject results in relatively large changes of exposure. TTL metering eliminates the need for lengthy calculations of exposure, because the inherent loss of light at macro distances can automatically be accounted with ease.

Build quality is below-par, but what do you expect for a system which costs 1/6th of the equivalet Nikkor R1C1 Wireless Close-up Speedlight system! Made in Singapore, very plasticy finish, but seems to recharge quickly and does the job!

ps. Have to admit CSI:Miami and CSI inspired me to get this set-up, heh heh!

Al Jazeera News - Ching Ming and iPads

It was Qing Ming or Ching Ming recently, also known as Chinese All Soul's Day. Watched with great glee this article on Al Jazeera News. Seems it was filmed in Melaka :-)


The Star, Malaysia -
GEORGE TOWN: In a store here, there is an iPad going for only RM9.80, a 13.3-inch dual-core processor laptop for under RM12 and an iPhone 4 for a mere RM2. There is one catch, though – while anyone can buy it, only the dead can use it.
“Customers want their dearly departed to be able to keep up with the latest in information technology (IT), besides the usual ‘luxury’ offerings of bungalows with maids and security guards, watches, designer bags and gold ingots. The ‘iPad’ even comes with a USB cable for charging and syncing,” she said.
Even the specifications are literally out of this world. While the current largest storage size for iPads in our world is 64GB, the “other world” users are already using iPads with an auspiciously whopping 888GB!


How about a BMW 5-series or X5 (Can't quite tell!) ... or a MacBook Pro ... DeadBook Pro? :-)