Photobuok

WORDPRESSED

2008-10-02T12:16:00.001+08:00

Everyone.
Time to move on from blogger.
Come here.

http://photobuok.wordpress.com/

Botanic Gardens Singapore

2008-09-03T18:17:00.001+08:00

Went to the botanic gardens a few weeks back with ZY.
It had just rained then and it rained again when we left.
It was quite a fun day with the exams over.
There are a lot of subjects to shoot there as well.
I did some macro shots, while ZY used the 70-300vr.

Here are some shots taken with Sb600 and Exakta.

The Below photo was taken with Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 no flash.

Manfrotto 190xProb 488rc0

2008-08-17T12:07:00.001+08:00

It sure is heavier than I would have expected it to be. But the weight does give me added stability and hopefully, bigger biceps.

Fishes.

2008-08-15T21:30:00.001+08:00

I've upgraded my aquarium a few weeks back. I think next will be the first month. Which means I must wash my tank. Here are some pictures of my fishes.

Holland Rams

Discus fish

I shot all of these 2 weeks ago when the algae had not bloomed. Shot with Tamron 17-50 and my sb600 placed above the aquarium.

Sigma 24mm f/2.8 Super-Wide II

2008-08-15T21:25:00.000+08:00

I got this lens a few months back. A few weeks after I sold my Nikon 18-135 away. Somehow, I'm missing the Nikon 18-135's reach. But that's another story.

Anyway, I got this lens and the images it produce are warmer than my Nikon lenses. I like Warm.

Auto-focus is slow on my D80 and is almost the same on the D300. This is because the focus ring is longer between 0.18m to infinity. The ring is exactly half a round around the lens which uses 52mm filter so it should be 26mm distance. To compare it with my Nikon 50mm 1.8, this lens focus travels about 3/8 round of the lens. So, the same 52mm filter applies so I should get 19.5mm. A shorter distance traveled. (this method is most probably not proven but the Nikon 50mm does travel lesser distance from one end to another.) But the main factor that affect the focus speed is the mechanism inside the lens. I think the Sigma (which uses older technology) has more gears inside, thus focusing slower.

The Sigma 24mm also has 1:4 macro achievable at 0.18mm. Quite useful to have sometimes when you don't have a macro lens around. I, however, don't even have a macro lens.. Yet.

The Sigma 24mm is also built for 35mm so you can use it for your Full-Frame (FX) cameras. It also has a SOLID all Metal built. One can feel the difference between this and the Nikon 50mm 1.8 in weight and feel. However, the Sigma 24mm has the same problem that plagues most sigma lenses today, the coating issue. Since mine is used, the coating has peeled, but the optics are still good and clean.

The picture is taken with the Panasonic Lumix FX36. Picture is heavily edited. The FX36 is a good compact for most people but it not enough for me.

Update: More Pictures (white balance is off, will retake and post again)

Singapore Day 2008

2008-08-15T13:34:00.001+08:00

My Late post for this year's national day but it's better late then never. Went out with my friends to do see the national day fireworks and to try out my new Manfrotto tripod.

We camped at Tanjong Rhu. Somewhere near the ECP bridge. We had to climb over the a small fence to get into the canal. It was drizzling when we got there so we sought for shelter under the bridge. Once the weather was clear, we went further down to get a better view.

We were there since 5pm. Took some pictures of the national day events that could be seen from outside the parade (which is almost everything except the performance held inside).

Here are some of the pictures.

The Black Knights of the RSAF did some amazing fly-bys.

Some fun shots.

The finale.

Group Shot.

Most shots were taken with the camera mounted on the tripod.
I will be reviewing my tripod once I have the time but all I can say now is I love ball head.

Tripod: Manfrotto 190xProb
Head: Manfrotto 488rc0

How to Fix Tamron 17-50 Wobbling Front End

2008-08-14T12:46:00.001+08:00

I don't know if the new Tamron 17-55 f/2.8 with the AF motor has this problem as well but mine without the motor had. And with help from youtube I was able to fix it.

Here's the video. It works but you'll need some nerve to unclip the pin that is holding the plastic together as it is quite tight. I only unclipped one pin. and I managed to squeeze my screwdriver in to tighten the screw. Give it a shot. It's not as hard as it looks.

After fixing it in, you'll feel that you can now mount the hood on without fearing the front end will break off.

I don't know other Tamron models also have this problem but I think the solution should be similar.

Feather

2008-08-14T12:03:00.001+08:00

So I found a feather on the floor of my house a few days ago.
I think it's from a pillow so I picked it up and brought it up to my "studio" and took a few shots of it.

Nothing very interesting but I just wanted to show the feather on a lined background. Sort of a contrast of the stray lines of the feather and the horizontal lines of the board.

Shot with Exakta 28mm f/2.8
flash fired through umbrella with hotlights.

D80 ISO3200 Noise Control

2008-08-08T10:08:00.001+08:00

Here are some shots of ISO 3200 on a Nikon D80.
I will update this page if I have more pictures.

D80 | Sigma 24mm | f/10 | 1/80 | ISO3200 | Raw

D80 | Sigma 24mm | f/3 | 1/80 |ISO3200 | Raw

Flickr VS Windows Live Spaces

2008-08-08T09:55:00.001+08:00

I have not been posting recently due to Flickr giving me upload issues. I want to go pro but somehow I cannot justify paying money when I can get it free. So I hunted down most of the free image hosting sites and came up with a few.

http://multiply.com/
www.photobucket.com
www.shutterfly.com
www.imageshack.us

At the end of the day, I chose windows live spaces. They don't seem to have a upload limit. Just per month limit. So I guess that's good. Moreover, I use windows Live Photo Gallery to upload my photos and it is compatible with Live Spaces so I guess that's another plus point.

We'll see how it goes..

Fish in a bottle

2008-07-15T00:16:00.001+08:00

Just a shot I took for the flyers that I gave out during the bazaar on Saturday. Took this shot last week. Here's one first, will upload more again.

Nikkor AF-S18-135mm Review

2008-07-15T00:08:00.001+08:00

This lens is a great kit lens.
I bought it with my D80 and have used it for thousands of shots.
It was my main lens for a period of time as it was the most versatile lens that I had at that time (and may be for more time to come).

This lens can be bought on it's own, but most of the used ones in the market are kit lens of the D80. It has the most reach out of all the kit lenses (18-55. 18-70, 18-135) as of today. Some people will say that 18-200 is a kit lens, but it does not come bundled by Nikon in my country.

Overall Built Quality
The lens is made out of plastic. Like how most lenses you get nowadays. The plastic is hard and solid and feels like it could take a few knocks. The words that emblem the name of the lens are gold paint so they will fade. It's normal. Just like my lens caps. The lens mount is made of plastic. This is not very good, I will go more into that later. Overall, built quality is acceptable for a kit lens.

Pros	Cons
Lightweight	Mediocre built
No Zoom Creep	-
Versatile	No Vibration Reduction (VR)
Fast Auto Focus (AF)	AF not fast enough
Not obvious Color Fringing /Distortion / Flare	-
Sharp Images	-
-	Not fast lens (constant f/2.8)

Lightweight VS Built
This lens is light for the zoom range. This is mainly because it is made out of mostly plastic. Thus, the mediocre built. It has a plastic mount, which means it'll most likely break easier than the metal mount but I have never seen it happen before. I think the only way for that to happen is that you exert a lot of force down on the lens and a lot of force on the body on the opposite direction. But that's also called trying to break your lens.

Zoom Creep
This happens when the lens will slowly move down due to gravity when it is facing down. Let's say we have the lens facing down at 18mm. So the front element is facing the earth, the back element is facing the sky. Due to lens creep, the lens will zoom in to 135mm. But the 18-135 lens does not have lens creep, so this will not happen. This problem may be a problem for people who like to shoot exactly 90degrees upwards/ downwards. ( Shoot the sky/ Macro)

Versatile VS VR
So this lens is the most versatile, it can go wide at 18mm and can zoom in considerably at 135mm. So you won't be missing anything at that range because you were changing lens. So that is a major + for this kit lens. But at 135mm, you're prone to have more camera shake unless you mounted the camera on a tripod. So there is a limit to the versatility of the lens. But under bright daylight, 135mm should not be a problem.

Fast Auto Focus
I don't know how people measure AF speed, but I feel this is a fast AF lens. Compared to the Sigma 24mm 2.8 that I just got, it's quite fast. But not fast enough for me. I don't know why but I'm very affected by AF speed. So this is one of the main reason why I sold this lens away. But it may not be that much of a factor for you. I'm just obsessed. This lens is fast enough as it is. Anything faster, pay more.

Image Quality
This is a review for people who take normal shots. Not for the pixel peepers of professional who care about all the color fringes/ distortion/ vignetting (dark corners in pictures) / flare tendency / Sharpness. Overall, this lens will give you very very very decent images if you print 4R. other than the vignetting that may be obvious sometimes, images are sharp and colors are how you see them with your naked eye.

Fast Lens
Yeah, don't expect too much from a kit lens. It's supposed to be cheap. Cheap and fast don't mix.

EOS 630 Update

2008-07-10T11:55:00.001+08:00

This is one screwed up camera.
A few people on the net had mentioned that it drains battery very quickly. But this is unbelievably fast. A few days back, I checked the battery meter and it displayed full charge. (3 out of 3 bars) I left the camera in the cupboard switched OFF for a few days since I was busy with school and when I checked back at it today, it was empty. The LCD screen did not even display the shots I have left. There must be something wrong with the way the camera was built. It just drains battery even when I switched it off. Now I'm going to waste money buying the batteries. $12. IF I"M GOING TO BUY THE BATTERY AGAIN, I WILL REMOVE IT ONCE I'M DONE SHOOTING. YOU SHOULD TOO!

EOS 630 shots

2008-06-28T21:44:00.001+08:00

Developed the shots.
Shot with Kodak 200 film.

Tagotech Wireless Flash Trigger (Transmitter/Receiver)

2008-06-26T11:20:00.001+08:00

I bought the Tagotech Wireless Flash Trigger a few days ago. It looks exactly the same as the Cactus Wireless Flash Trigger. So it should come from the same company.

There has been many reports of this trigger misfiring from the net and from one of my friend. However, I don't seem to have this problem (yet).

So far, the build quality seems to be a very marginal pass in my opinion. After all, I paid $35 for it. It's just plastic all over. The range of transmission is about 2 floors plus without interference. This should be about 8 to 10 meters.

I'm going to do the mod where I add an antenna to the transmitter. I'm also considering purchasing another receiver and maybe another flash as well.

In the mean time, I shall continue testing the set.
Here are some test shots.

MB-D80, Is it good?

2008-06-25T10:15:00.001+08:00

Someone asked me if the battery grip was good.
I feel it's good, it gives me a better grip when I'm doing portrait shots. But isn't that what the grip is supposed to do, give you a grip?
So here's a pretty detailed comparison on the pros and the cons of the MB-D80.

Overall built quality
So far, I find the built to be acceptable. The screw that attaches the grip to the camera through the tripod mount loosens sometimes but you can just screw it back. It won't be so bad that the grip drops out. The grip is made of plastic and it looks similar to the body. The lock for the battery compartment is quite poorly built with just a pin that locks the door close. The dial and the AF-L/AE-L seems to be the exactly the same as the body. There is also a slot located at the long end of the grip that goes inside the battery compartment of the body. This slot allows you to insert the body's battery door that you have to remove to insert the grip in.

Pros	Cons
Better grip for portrait shots	Bulky/heavy
2nd shutter release button	Over sensitive 2nd shutter release button
2 EL-EN3e batteries	-
AA batteries	6 AA batteries
-	No additional features

Better grip for portrait shots VS Bulky/heavy
Now I feel very strange when I don't use the grip when I'm doing portrait shots. The camera feels very unbalance and like it will fall off. It also feels like I'm twisting my hand too much to get the camera in a portrait orientation.
However, when I put on the grip, the camera feels somewhat heavier when I lift it and somewhat bulkier when I place it into my camera bag.

This problem is easy to solve as it's personal preference, so when I want to travel light, I go without the grip, unless I need the grip like for some fashion shoot then I have not much choice since it will be stupid to be twisting my hand around for most of the shots.

2nd shutter release button
So this button allows you to shoot in the portrait orientation, so it's good. But I (and quite a few people) feel that it is oversensitive. Why? Because it is different sensitivity from the body's shutter release button. I feel that the half press on the body is the full press on the grip. So this is a big minus point for all the people out there who cannot switch their brains in time.

Body? Grip?
Portrait? Landscape?

I guess I've already gotten used to it so I don't really bother. After all, it's already mine, so I might as well use it. But if you don't think you can take the difference, avoid.

2 EL-EN3e batteries
More juice. You cannot go wrong with that.
I have not bought my 2nd EL-EN3e yet. I don't know why. I remember telling myself to get it once I've got a VR lens since they really do drain my battery faster but hmm..

AA batteries
The good thing about this is that I can use my batteries from my flash or buy from shops since it's readily available everywhere. It does, however, display a low battery sign when the battery is at about 50% charge and you're shooting burst shots. Nothing big really. The big problem is it needs 6 AA batteries. Why 6 and not 4 damn it. who sells rechargeable batteries in packs of 6. What am I going to do with the remaining 2 batteries? My flash needs 6.

so this is just another factor that you will have to consider when getting this grip, especially if you're getting it because you want to use AA batteries if there is an emergency.

Additional Features
The MB-D80 does nothing but give you a better grip for portrait shoots and allows you to either have 2 EL-EN3e or 6 AA battery.
Other than that, there is nothing else it can do.

No extra frames per second.

EOS 630

2008-06-23T10:17:00.001+08:00

I've had this camera for some time now but I never had the lens to use with it since it's canon and I use Nikon. But I've solved this problem since I've modded the 18-55 EF-S kit lens to an EF mount. Now I can test this lens and body.

I have yet seen what this lens can do but currently, I have found out that it meters constantly, so once the camera is on, it will meter. You don't have to press the shutter release button half way down. So this has become my problem. After taking a mere 4 shots from my 2/3 full charge battery which is almost impossible to find nowadays at convenient places, it has gone almost flat. Why?

Because I forgot to turn it off before going to bed. STUPID.
Now I have to buy the battery at $12. WASTED.

Canon EF-S mount to EF mount mod

2008-06-22T15:57:00.001+08:00

QianHu Fish Farm

2008-06-18T17:05:00.001+08:00

Went to QianHu fish farm with my group yesterday.
Wanted to check the prices of fishes for our bazaar.
We spent a long time there. Walked around, did some Kampong fishing, eat and drink, slack, ask around for our quotes.

Here are some pictures of the fishes and my group members

As we took a taxi in and there was no bus out, we had to walk.

While walking we found a dead lizard.

Punggol Park

2008-06-16T11:44:00.001+08:00

Spent some quality alone time today at Punggol park a few days back. I caught 2 fishes so it's not that bad.

I was there since 5pm and stayed till around 7 so I got to see the sunset.

A Picture A Day ( none )

2008-06-16T11:37:00.001+08:00

I'm going to scrap the APAD.
It has been inconsistent but it was good while it lasted.

I cannot seem to find the time to take pictures everyday.
No more pictures everyday for me.
I guess.

Saab 9-3

2008-06-13T23:56:00.001+08:00

Did a shoot on my father's car a few nights ago.
Just for fun.
Shot it at night at about 9pm.
Used the Sb600 and 18-135.
ISO may be 400 but the noise looks more like 1000.

WARNING!
Heavily edited.

A Picture A Day (11/06/08)

2008-06-11T23:45:00.000+08:00

Saab 9-3

Punggol End

2008-06-10T11:58:00.001+08:00

Went to punggol end on Sunday.
The weather was cloudy when i got there.
I saw a few photographer there too.
They had all the props. (flowers, helium balloons)
I just had my GF and my camera.

ISO 1000 !!

Bare

I cannot smile.
That's why I'm behind the camera most of the time.
For this picture, I used slow sync flash.

A HDR of dusk.

Do note that the APAD for 8/6/08,
the lizard is also from punggol end.

A Picture A Day (08/06/08)

2008-06-08T23:23:00.000+08:00

Critter.

A Picture A Day (07/06/08)

2008-06-07T11:45:00.000+08:00

Structure

A Picture A Day (06/06/08)

2008-06-06T14:45:00.001+08:00

Singapore Eagle 2

A Picture A Day (05/06/08)

2008-06-05T11:34:00.000+08:00

Koi at Suntec.

A Picture A Day (04/06/08)

2008-06-04T15:39:00.001+08:00

Rooster.

A Picture A Day (03/06/08)

2008-06-04T15:38:00.001+08:00

This is your yesterday.
Too busy to post.

Nothing Special.

A Picture A Day (02/06/08)

2008-06-02T18:56:00.001+08:00

Good Evening.

A Picture A Day (01/06/08)

2008-06-02T18:27:00.001+08:00

This is for yesterday.

Untitled 1

A Picture A Day (31/5/08)

2008-06-01T00:25:00.001+08:00

Shadow long.

Bounce Card

2008-05-31T10:35:00.001+08:00

This is my how I diffuse my light.
I use my "stofen" sometimes but prefer to use my bounce card as it is more compact and can fit into the pouch that came with the flash. Since the card I use is not paper but plastic, it's quite durable. I attach the card on with square Velcro tape.

This is how I usually fire my flash indoors.

For portraits, I use swivel the head this way.

Attach the flurry side of the Velcro on the flash.

Attach the hooks to the bounce card.
You can get the same cards as me.
I use Zebra/Eltron cards.

I sell the cards with Velcro too.
Ask me for pricing. Confirm cheap.

A Picture A Day (30/5/08)

2008-05-30T23:44:00.001+08:00

Blown.

Macro Experiments

2008-05-30T23:39:00.001+08:00

Did some experiments on macro these 2 days.
First one is using a barrel to extend the distance between the lens and the sensor. Simple set up of camera barrel and then 50mm 1.8. I don't know how much magnification but I think it's a lot. Pictures are edited for brightness. contrast and size.

How the barrel looks like.
Used the same one as the DIY fisheye but just longer length.
Sorry for focusing the wrong thing. Just wanted to test the lens to see if it still works after fitting the barrel.

Barrel experiment was done yesterday.
Today is another experiment. The 70-300VR and 50mm reverse.
This is one damn hardcore experiment. The macro seems to be a lot too. Way more magnification than the barrel method done yesterday. I think it's the most I've ever done.

This is a line drawn by my pen.

This is my pencil case and the set up that I used. ( 70-300Vr, 50 1.8 sb600 wireless)

This is the macro.

You can even see the fibers.
DAMN.

A Picture A Day (29/5/08)

2008-05-30T10:09:00.001+08:00

Late post due to revision.
Singapore's eagle.

Sharpwriter

2008-05-29T11:20:00.001+08:00

It was a hot and humid morning.
I was doing my revision for my upcoming test.
Reading through lecture slides and making notes.
There was a mosquito in my environment.
I could feel it on my skin every now and then.

Then when I looked up after flipping my page,
I saw it. Without even blinking, I took my pen and poked it.
I took it down.

Did some macro on it.

Setup was simple. Really quick and dirty.
Wireless flash from SB600
Background was my some white paper.
Lens was 50mm with 28mm reverse.

A Picture A Day (28/5/08)

2008-05-28T00:11:00.001+08:00

A sudden spur to commit.
Took a picture of the box that was singing "A heart to hold".
Turns out Altec was singing again.

Hotlights Upgrade

2008-05-27T12:27:00.001+08:00

Upgraded the hotlights.
Now I can mount my SB600 on it.
Also Mounted the hotlights to a dolly for easy movement.
flash works great but I'm considering getting another one as I only have light coming mainly from one direction.

I am selling a few other dolly.
Check them out at http://random-stock.blogspot.com/2008/05/manfrotto-dolly-127.html

Here are some pictures of my new hotlights.

Did a test shot too.

Shot with new hotlights.
Used some backlight too but it seems to be too weak.
See shadow at right? Need a second flash unit.

Topman/ Topshop

2008-05-22T15:05:00.001+08:00

Went to the Topman/Topshop fashion show last weekend.
I wanted to try out my 70-300VR to see if it's a good lens to use for a fashion show.

Turns out that it was not a bad idea with the focus being fast and the VR helping me out at the longer end.

Here are a few pictures of the event.

Nikon 70-300VR

2008-04-26T09:13:00.001+08:00

Got this lens from HK at about $750 with B+W UV filter.
Maybe should have also gotten the polarizing filter but that's another story.

So now on with this lens.

-There is a really nice and fat zoom ring.
-The hood seems to be oversized if I mount it on reverse since I cannot really touch the big fat zoom ring anymore.
-AF is faster than my 18-135mm. ( I don't know why since both have AF-S)
-VR works. But feels strange but I can get used to it. You can shake really bad at 300mm but the VR seems to allow more steady pictures.
-Quite heavy compared to the similar but cheaper 70-300G.
-Very shocking 1.5M minimum focusing distance.

I actually had to make a tough choice between all the available 300mm lenses.

-Nikon 70-300 G
-Nikon 70-300 ED
-Nikon 70-300 VR
-Sigma 70-300 Macro

Since all are non constant aperture. And the VR is about $600 more expensive than the G. I got the VR since the Poor man pays twice.
Sigma was my initial choice but I really wanted to avoid 3rd party lenses as much as possible.

Moreover, I got my lens from HK. So it's cheaper ( equivalent to 2nd hand price for 1st hand.) and it has warranty. Everyone gotta love HK's free market concept.

So here are some sample pictures to end off with.

Quite good Bokeh eh?
Will post more finding about the lens if I have any.

MB-D80 Part2

2008-04-09T11:58:00.001+08:00

After using it for a few weeks, I have noticed that I shoot more in portrait than in landscape. The grip's button is still quite sensitive at times but it can be solved by locking the button.

I apologize for not posting the grip's pictures the other time cos my Samsung phone's picture quality is not very good, even with good lighting. But since I got my new phone by Sony Ericsson, which provides a little better picture quality, I can finally post up the pictures.

Shot with Sony Ericsson W910i in my DIY studio.

Reverse Mounting

2008-04-09T11:33:00.001+08:00

I reverse mounted both my primes a few days ago and found out that my 28mm can macro at a higher magnification than my 50mm.

I don't know why but it should be because my 28mm has macro so reverse mounting it will allow me to go in closer to the subject compared to the 50mm.

Here are two shots to compare the difference.

This is the 50mm reverse.

This is the 28mm reverse.

Even if I can get a higher magnification from the 28mm, I will be forced to move in too close that I'll block off the light coming from the top. Thus, it would be more practical to use the 28mm reverse outdoors. So for better reverse mounting efficiency, get a lens with macro capability and longer range. For example, the Nikon 105mm or the Tamron 90mm.

Yashica Samurai X3.0

2008-04-07T19:13:00.001+08:00

Having much to do, I decided to use my Yashica X3.0.
Some background info about this camera.
This camera uses half frame technology.
Meaning that it uses half of a 35mm film.
So for a 36shot 35mm roll, I'll get 72 shots or a little more instead.

The camera has some fungus in the front lens.
The Viewfinder is extremely small.
I don't know if you can manual focus with the camera, but the zoom ring moves a little when you turn.
But since the view finder is awfully small, you can't really tell if it's in focus.

But then again, you don't really need to.
All the pictures come out quite OK.
Quite grainy, even though I used ISO 200 film.

Here are some shots.
You'll need to tilt your heads.
The person who scanned my film did not do a really good job.
I'm going to tell her it's half frame next time.

Instructions on DIY Fisheye

2008-04-01T10:46:00.001+08:00

Here are the steps to get your very own DIY door peek hole fisheye lens adaptor.

Step 1
Get
-PVC tube
-PVC cap
-Door Peek hole
You'll also need
-Drill
-Saw
-Nut and Washer to fit the door peek hole
Your door peek hole should look like this.

It should cost you $3 for the cheap one.
There is also a more expensive one at $12.
The $3 one produces quite poor quality images, the $12 MAY be better.

Step 2
Start off by marking the center of your cap.
Then Drill a hole to fit the door peek hole.
It should look something like this.

Step 3
Assemble everything,
Remove the other end of your door peekhole.
It should fit nicely like this.

Then put a washer over it.

Then use a nut to tighten it

Step 4
Now you'll need to saw the PVC tube.
For my 50mm i use a 3.5cm long tube.
It should be ok for you too.
If not, you'll need to saw little by little and trial and error till you get what you want.
You don't need to saw it super flat/straight as the cap will cover it.
File/sandpaper it if you want.
Spray it black if you want.
It should look like this.

Step 5
Last step, cap the PVC tube.
Final product should look something like this.

Output of your shots will look like this.

Lastly, PLEASE DO NOT DROP IT.
The build is quite solid, but it is still a "lens".
The glass should land first if you drop it as it's heavier there.
then you'll just get a broken glass.

MB-D80

2008-03-19T09:52:00.001+08:00

Got the battery grip a few days ago.
I feel that the button is really sensitive but i guess i can get used to it.
The dials also feel like they are of different quality.
Somewhat of a lower grade plastic compared to the body.
However, the grip really makes shooting portraits easier.
And i can use AA batteries.
I also feel that I'm draining my batteries faster than before.
I don't know if it's me or the battery is getting old..
But once i have the spare money, I'll go get another battery.

Will post pictures soon.

DIY Studio Hotlights

2008-03-11T23:27:00.000+08:00

My DIY studio hotlights
I've finally completed the studio hotlights.
They now come with umbrella.
Here's how it looks like.

Umbrella facing subject.

Umbrella reflect to subject.

Mount- This took me days to complete.

Happyness.

All shots taken on D80 with 18-135.

Total Damage.
Tripod free but spoilt.
Halogen lamps free but on loan from father.
Bracket free.
Umbrella mount, i'm selling for $25 but free for me.
Umbrella- $5

DIY Fisheye Lens

2008-03-10T00:14:00.000+08:00

Yeap. Another DIY item.
This time is a DIY fisheye lens adaptor.
Did this with my father, spending more quality time with him lately.

Here's how it works.
Buy the door viewer from any local hardware store for about $3.
Attach it to the back of a PVC tube cover.
Then saw the PVC tube to the desired length where your lens can focus.
For me, i sawed it quite short as i'm using the 50mm 1.8 with this.
Since i had some leftover PVC tubes, i also got them in different lengths for different needs.

Here's how it looks like.
Click for larger picture.

As you can see, it's quite quick and dirty but it gets the job done.

The results are horrible.
Extreme flair and ghosting.
Not sharp on center and/or edges.
Lomo results.
And i'm loving it.
After all,
Total damage= $3 for Door viewer + Free PVC tube (can get it for less than $5 i think)
= $3 fisheye.

Firmware Upgrade

2008-03-09T16:38:00.001+08:00

I've updated the firmware for my D80 this morning.
Could not update it last night as the battery has to be i think 3/5 full charge.
Anyway, charged the battery last nignt and updated the firmware this morning.
After that, i went out to do some test shots.
FYI- The update is said to solve the overexposure problem.
Here are some of the pictures.

Taken with 50mm 1.8

Taken with 50mm 1.8

Taken with 28mm 2.8

A bend in the road. I did not photoshop this, taken from roadside mirror using 50mm 1.8