shuttered light: 01/2012

January 21, 2012

Pearl of My Personal Audio

Decided to join dyxum's Challenge Your Creativity despite my busy schedule and I found myself shooting make-up shots :P

My subject is a very hard one: my custom IEM :P

I've been wanting to make it look less yucky and get a good view of the single driver inside the acrylic shell to no avail. It always look - as you guess - yucky and un-clear.

But today, like any other day - a lucky shot would save the day...

and here's one that I like the most so far:

January 14, 2012

End-to-End

Got the chance to test the lens today in Greenbelt Park.
I mostly went for the extremes and did a wide-end and tele-end shots :P

Wide - Frog

Tele - Frog

It's just a statue :P

Wide - Turtle

Tele - Turtle

Ok - this one is for real. The turtle needs to sunbathe.

And finally, just a bokeh 'study' w/ a macro shot. Not bad :P

January 13, 2012

Zoom!Zoom!Take2

April of last year when I got the chance to own the m.Zuiko 14-150.
It was VERY short lived and fortunately, I was able to return the lens to Amazon.

The m.Zuiko 14-150 is a very light and able superzoom but the primary use is for stills shooting.

I debated much on the alternative which is the Panasonic 14-140. Bigger, heavier and more expensive and the primary use would be for video shooting.

Fast forward to today and I was able to acquire the lens with a good price tag. Was actually debating if I should get the Olympus E-P3 and 14-150 but the E-P3 can't be found on body only sale.

The lens is really 'slow' at 14/4 and 140/5.8 but I am able to get decent shots with the help of MEGA O.I.S. Recalling my time with the 45-200 and I do remember getting good shots with Mode 2. Mode 1 is supposed to be for video and Mode 2 for stills.

Anyway, here are some samples indoor in our office. Already brought home my favorite subject so here's an alternative subject :P

@14mm (28mm equivalent FOV)

and @140mm (280mm FOV)

quite impressive and it should get better under daylight.

January 11, 2012

VideoCamCorder Redefined

Many moons ago, I bought a mini digital video camera in the form of Panasonic NV-DA1. It can record video resolution of 720x480 and can take still images w/ OK IQ - compared to a digital camera that time.

(image borrowed from http://www.calhamar-tv.blogspot.com/ - thanks!)

It was one of the early DV recorders (circa 1999) and the spec was very good:

Camcorder Type: Digital
Recording Format: Mini DV
Optical Zoom: 17x
Display Type: With LCD Panel
LCD Panel Size: 2.5 in.
Digital Zoom: 200x
Image Stabilizer: With Image Stabilizer
Low Lux: 1 Lux
Night Shot: Without Night Shot
Audio Format: ATRAC Stereo
Digital Still Shot Mode: With Still Shot Capability

It even came with FireWire port which supports 400-3200 Mbit/s transfer rate which was fairly new that time. I think the format is virtually dead by now while USB2.0 remains king.
It was also the time when Night Shot by Sony was very popular. Not sure why I chose Panasonic which doesn't even sport this feature - but I always relate portable devices with Panasonic (even my portable cassette player is a Panasonic :P) than Sony. Most of our home A/V equipments are Sony specially the TV sets.

Fast forward to this day and I now have this:
A Micro Four Thirds system based Digital Video Recorder :D

Body is a Panasonic GH1 which I already hacked to GH13 and can already record 1080/24p@44mbps [I hope that's correct] movies. This particular model is discontinued already and you may want to check the GH2 which is said to better RED Epic's specs/performance.

And the lens which I just acquired today after many days of waiting - is a Panasonic Lumix 14-140 which is a 10x true blue optical! zoom :D

USD650 at Amazon

One of the best superzoom out there that even people in the industry is using - mostly with the ~USD4300 Panasonic AF-AG100 Live MOS Full HD Digital Camcorder due to mount compatibility.

So far I am impressed with the wide and tele end of the lens. Will post sample shots soon.

Thinking of getting a Panasonic Plasma Display soon... :D Sorry Sony - have.no. plasma :D