October 24, 2008 By Jaxon S
The PowerShot SX10 IS, one of Canon’s two mega zoom point and shoot cameras — the other is the PowerShot SX1 IS — is now available in the Asian market.
In Singapore it is priced at SGD769, about a hundred Singapore dollar more expensive than the S5 IS, the camera it jointly replaces with its much more robust cousin, the PowerShot SX1 IS.
I’m waiting with bated breath the arrival of the SX1 IS. I hope the price is within my means.
Posted in Camera Raves and Rants 
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October 21, 2008 By Jaxon S
Black is always a superb background colour for macro photographs as it makes the subject stand out within a frame.
Here in this picture, I used a black plastic hardcover of a “clear holder” file for the background, hence the yellowish reflection at the base of the paper clip.
This effect will not be achieved had I used other types of materials such as paper or canvas. Some photographers prefer to use black velvet as background, which is also an excellent choice.
Camera: Canon PowerShot G6, Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60), Aperture: f/2.2, Focal Length: 11.2 mm, Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV, Flash: Flash fired, Image Quality: Superfine, Camera ISO: 50, Metering Mode: Evaluative, Focus Range: Super Macro.
Posted in Still life Macro No Comments »
October 13, 2008 By Jaxon S
This entry, probably, is not for those with high purchasing power, who could afford to buy any one of those expensive DSLRs — and the flashguns and all the fancy lenses — without feeling a pinch on their bottomlines.
This entry, perhaps, is for people like me, who could afford an entry level DSLR like the Canon EOS 450D or the Nikon D60 but not the the lenses (I would require a close-up lens, powerful telephoto lens, etc, which are more expensive than the camera).
What I’m trying to discuss here is the issue of finding a right balance between the need to have a DSLR set, with all the lenses, and the reality of not being able to afford them.
To upgrade or not to upgrade to DSLR
If you have been using point-and-click cameras for sometime, chances are, you had, at some point of your photographic life, wanted to upgrade to a DSLR because of the versatility and the high image quality it offers.
But still, despite the satisfaction of being able to shoot with a DSLR — and believe me, shooting while looking through the viewfinder provides much more satisfaction than shooting while looking at the LCD screen with the camera positioned at arms’ length — if all you have for a DSLR lens is the kit lens, you would still lament the camera’s limited zoom capability.
On the other hand, there are already good point-and-click cameras which offer superb telephoto capability, such as the upcoming Canon PowerShot SX1 IS, Canon PowerShot SX10 IS, Olympus SP-565UZ, Casio EX-FH20 — and I’m sure Nikon will soon come up with its own model — all offering 20x optical zoom with image stabilisation.
Not only that you will be able to zoom very close to the subject — something you won’t be able to do with your DSLR if you have limited funds to invest in telephoto lenses — you will also be able to shoot in wide-angle, a feature only recently introduced in super zoom point-and-click cameras.
And if you invest a little bit more, you’d get to buy a tele-converter where you can double the optical zoom or a wide-angle converter to increase the wide-angle capability, of these high-end point-and-click cameras.
So, what should it be?
So, should you buy an entry level DSLR or a high-end point-and-click camera? This has been my dilemma for already a couple of years now.
At some point, I was ready to upgrade to a DSLR but then, suddenly, as though coming from nowhere, camera manufacturers unleashed their super zoom point-and-click cameras, leaving me unable to decide on whether to proceed with the DSLR I had in mind.
This should work for me
My solution, at the moment, is this. My priority is a camera that has telephoto capability. Obviously, I won’t be able to afford that in a DSLR. So, I’m going to buy one of the 20x optical zoom cameras, most probably the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS.
Then, later on, I would buy a DSLR camera to get a real photo-taking satisfaction.
So instead of a DSLR plus all the bulky lenses, my photographic equipment would be a DSLR plus a super zoom point-and-click camera. Make sense? No?
Posted in Camera Raves and Rants 2 Comments »
October 7, 2008 By Jaxon S
If you are lucky, and patience, even with a simple point-and-click camera, you will be able to catch a lightning.
Here are the original Exif data for the picture: Camera: Canon, Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500), Aperture: f/2.2, Focal Length: 7.2 mm, Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV, Flash: Flash did not fire, Compressed Bits per Pixel: 5 bits, Exposure Mode: Manual.
Posted in Macro Photography Tips And Tricks 3 Comments »
October 3, 2008 By Jaxon S
If plants could speak, I wonder what they would say about the state of the world today…
I wondered as much, as I took this only photo of a fern species trying to throw its “‘arms’ around the world.”
Posted in Plant Macro 2 Comments »
October 2, 2008 By Jaxon S
Unless someone advises me otherwise, and suggests a better alternative, I’m going to buy the Canon PowerShot SX1 IS as soon as it is available in my place, sometime in December. The Olympus SP565-UZ and Casio Exilim EX-FH20 seem to be strong contenders of the SX1 IS — especially the EX-FH20 — for the point-and-click camera I have in mind.
However, brand recognition and the SX1 IS’s ability to shoot at 4fps at full resolution and 30fps 1080 high definition video does make it stand above the rest, in my eyes at least, in the 20x optical zoom segment.
I think I’m willing to forgo the EX-FH20’s ability to shoot at 40fps for the SX1 IS’s 4fps, but I still have two-solid month to decide. Until then, and until someone tells me otherwise, the SX1 IS is a done deal.
Posted in Camera Raves and Rants No Comments »
One of the setbacks of living in the tropics is the occasional mosquito season. In Southeast Asia where I currently live, dengue fever, caused by the virus carried by the Aedes mosquito, is an all-year occurrence. In some housing areas, fogging is done on a regular basis to control the vector.
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