BlogMunch

We need to help…

Heaven is a crowded place these two weeks. First Cyclone Nargis ripped through Myanmar, killing an estimate of 43,000 people, then a Earthquake on a Richter scale of 7.8 hit Sichuan, China. That killed 20,000 people (mostly children) at the moment with an estimated death toll to reach 50,000.

To appreciate the power of a 7.8 quake; in wikipedia,  it is rated at 600 megaton TNT. From the same source, we know the most powerful nuclear bomb in USA arsenal is 1.2 megaton. So it’s as if 500 nuclear bomb hit Sichuan at the same time. That’s how horrifying it is.

Nothing much can be done for Myanmar, as its Government is refusing outside help to enter its country. Though if you want to donate here are some of the websites you can go to:

• Friends of the World Food Program
• Foundation for the People of Burma

The quake in Sichuan happen at a bad time (though nowhen is a good time) where all the schools is in session. So when it hit, all the school buildings collapsed, killing and trapping the school children and teachers inside. Now, most of the roads to the area are damaged, so a lot of the relief efforts have to go through the air route. Army troops are mobilized to bring in food, clean water and medical supplies. Paratroopers dropping into inaccessible areas. This is almost like fighting a battle. A battle to retrieve the dead and help the survivors.

You can help in the relief aid In Sichuan, China by going to these website and donate:

• MercyCorps
• International Red Cross
• Singapore Red Cross
• Salvation Army

I blog about this in hope you will read more about these two disasters and know the magnitude of the destruction that is currently in China and Myanmar. Go on, spread the word, blog about it, podcast it, stream it and no matter what media you are on, get the word out. And Help…

Incredible stop-motion animation - MUTO

Of all the things I am amazed by creative people on the web, stop motion animation is one of them. These animations takes sooo much time to make and the results are always inspiring. Here’s one I found today. From what I can see the creators just use white paint and markers to draw each sets. All their drawings are surreal art a la Salvador Dalí. The full website is http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm. I embed it here so that I can watch it anytime I want.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Wow, incredible stuff…

Take a photograph and win a DSLR camera…

This is strange…to win a camera, you need to take a photograph and to take a photograph you need a camera. Hmm, a chicken and egg story???

Well, it is not that weird actually. Most of you have a compact camera. You phone should have a camera. Your laptop have a camera. So no excuse to not participate in the Smashing Magazine - Smashing Texture Contest.

All you need to do is take a picture of interesting textures (more examples here)

…And then zip it with all the relevant information. Finally send it to sven@xxsmashingmagazinexx.com. Remember to remove the “xx” in the email before you send.

…And you can win a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 Lens. The winner will be determined randomly.

The dateline is 21st May 2008.

Upgrade my Photo Equipment…Part 2

Well, the last picture from my previous post is a bit misleading. Obviously it is a Sony DSLR. But from this DSLR body, there are 3 Sony models. Namely, the A200, A300 and the A350. The difference between them is the megapixels and Live View.

During the IT Show in March, I got very interested in the in the Sony A series. I got a feel of it and the shutter really click with me (pun intended).  I test out the Live view that is getting rave reviews on the web. It works great. It is almost like using a compact camera. For those who don’t know, it is quite difficult to get live view on DSLR because of the mirror. So Sony solved this by adding an additional sensor for the live view.

But since only the A350 and A200 is out then (I would really like the A300, best of both worlds), I decide to get the A200. First, I would like to train myself to use the view finder. Second, I don’t need the 14 MP on the A350. Lastly, with the extra money saved, I am able to buy the A200 with the 2 lens kit. The 18-70mm and 70-300mm.

As this is not a technical review, I will leave out all the other tech stuff for other professional reviewers. Just a few thoughts after using it for a couple of months.

As Sony have eaten up Minolta, now all Sony DSLR are compatible with all the previous Minolta lens. The BBB (buy, buy, buy) virus has infected me to buy a third lens. It’s the 50/1.7 prime lens.My favourite lens now. It’s a bit slow focusing and at wide angle, its soft, but at 2.8 above, I got great portraits of my kids.

The in-body image stabilization (Super Steady Shot) works so well that I never off it while shooting. It allows me to take sharp pictures at 1/30 shutter speed. Another feature that I use often especially during the middle of the day where shadows are cast is the D-Range Optimizer (DRO). It helps to open up the shadows while keeping the highlights. Just take note not to use it in high ISO range, the noise is really bad. Speaking of high ISO, I am able to get good pictures for printing at ISO1600. Below are 2 pictures I took while bringing my kids to the Zoo.

Overall, I am glad to upgrade to the A200. My F30 is not able to keep up with my kids and now the A200 can. But with them speeding up day by day, I am sure within the next 2 years, I will need to upgrade my equipment again.

See you then…

upgrade my photo equipment…Part 1

You might have wonder what I am up to these few months that I stop blogging. Well, I sort of take up photography. Not that I have my virgin camera for the first time, but I bought a DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Camera) to upgrade myself from the amateur photographer to an enthusiast photography.

I own the legendary Fuji Finepix F30 (look at some of the reviews and pics from dpreview if you  don’t believe me) before my current DSLR. Fuji abandoned the megapixels race to create this neat little camera which have excellent high ISO performance, normally only found in DSLRs.

Looking at my snaps, even the ISO 1600s is usable if you are only printing 4R photo. The noise control in the F30 is so  good that its ISO 400 looks like most ISO 100 pics for all camera at that time. Sadly, Fuji cannot withstand the the lure of the megapixels race and have since produce higher megapix camera (F50fd) that is not as good as the Legend.

So the next step up will be a DSLR. If you have read any information on choosing a DSLR, most would have recommend the big 2. Nikon and Canon. The reason is not mainly of fanaticism (though each group is quite protective to their brands), but of adaptability.

It is often said, when you buy a DSLR, you are actually buying into the family. All the different types of lens, flashes, remote control, teleconvertor, etc. Especially the lens. This is an area where the second hand market is very important. If you search carefully, you will be able to find mint lens floating around ebay less than half the price of the new ones. And they are extremely usable.

At the period which I decide to buy a DSLR, budget is important to me. So some of the models I look at is:

• Nikon D60
• Nikon D80
• Canon 450D (not out at that time)
• Pentax K200D
• Olympus E-510

It so happens that there is a IT Show in Singapore at that time, So I was able to hands on on each camera to have a feel. After dancing around the area, guess which DSLR I am holding now? Here’s a picture of it. More on it next time….