I tested the 560EX in wireless mode with my Fuji S5 and found that it works both in Group A and Group B. I repeated the test with the D90 and it still doesn't work in group B. It therefore appears that wireless compatibility varies by camera model. I will check other cameras.
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
Hi everyone. Here are some of the upcoming posts I'm working on.
1. Aputure Gigtube Wireless II. Last week I showed a photo that I took about 10 feet high from where I was standing. I was able to do that by using the Aputure Gigtube Wireless II, a wireless monitor that you can connect to some DSLRs to get remote live view and shutter capabilities. What's cool about it is it allows me to take photos from unusual angles. Almost like having the power to levitate or shrink yourself when you take photos. That's the promise it holds. But I've been doing a few tests and it's more challenging to use than I had anticipated. Some have to do with the unit, some with the camera's inherent limitations, and some are just plain photography issues. I believe the issues can be resolved but I'm still working on it. So the jury's still out on this one. I wouldn't rush out to get one just yet.
2. Yongnuo YN-560EX (EX600). I posted my initial tests last week. I'm still waiting for the flashmeter to be returned from repair but I'm suspecting it is much weaker than advertised. I also don't know if my inability to control group B with my popup is a manufacturing defect or an inherent issue with the 560EX. Will post a more comprehensive review asap.
3. Aokatec wireless TTL. Aokatec recently released a radio-based wireless TTL system that supplements your existing IR-based wireless system by detecting the electromagnetic noise from the commander flash's pulses, sending out the signal as radio, then translating it into IR for receivers. It sounds similar in principle to the Radiopopper PX. At $110 for a transmitter/receiver kit and $55 for each additional receiver, it appears to be the cheapest radio-based wireless TTL system out there. I'm very tempted to get one but am somewhat concerned about whether they can truly deliver. I've never heard of Aokatec before. Lightingrumours.com is about to review it, so I'd like to see that review before deciding whether to get one.
4. Nikkor 24-70. I have more shots now with this lens but most of my recent shots have been with APS-C cameras, which is not really the intended market for this lens. I was thinking of postponing the review until I get a full frame camera again (either a D600, D800 or D700) but I may split it into two posts - a review for APS-C and another for full frame.
5. Nikkor 28-105 3.5-4.5. I've had this lens for a while but haven't done a review of it. This may be a good alternative for someone looking for macro capabilities on a budget.
6. Nikkor 70-200 VR vs. Sigma 50-150.
7. Spyder Express monitor calibration.
8. Choosing a budget laptop for photography.
9. Review of Dodging and Burning e-book.
10. Review of Ming Thein's Photoshop Workflow tutorial.
I often change my mind as to which post to work on next and sometimes I get too busy to work on posts, so consider subscribing to our feed (such as through Google Reader) or twitter account (@betterfamilypix) to get notified of new posts.
Friday, 24 August 2012
 |
| Kuala Lumpur at sunset, photo taken from KL Tower (through glass) during one of the moody storms |
This post is dedicated to Robin Wong, a Malaysian photographer whom I first knew about from Kirk Tuck's post about the BERISH 3.0 Malaysian Protests.
You see, I have traveled to Kuala Lumpur once and enjoyed my trip there immensely, and I really wish to go back there. I am also quite interested in Olympus M4/3 system, so when I saw Robin's blog, I enjoyed looking at his photos (especially the sharpness and the B&W treatment) and started back reading lots of his older posts that I missed, I have since been subscribed to his blog, and I enjoy reading everyone of his posts. More after the break.
 |
| Downtown KL, shot from the KL Tower |
I traveled to Kuala Lumpur (I'll call it KL for the rest of the post) on a business trip for 4 days, I arrived at noon one day before my conference started, and stayed for one more day afterwards, this gave me two opportunities to see KL in daylight.
Malaysia has tropical weather, during my stay there it was hot and very humid. The sky can be clear and shiny one second, and then suddenly there's a heavy rain shower which suddenly stops again, one of the essential things that I brought with me was an umbrella (we never use those in Egypt, but I had bought one during my trip to Sweden).
GEAR TALK:
One day before leaving for Malaysia, I sold my Canon 550D and kit lens, I had called a camera store in Malaysia and had them book a Canon 60D for me to pick it up upon my arrival, and I only took my lenses with me. This was a bit risky because if I didn't get/find the camera I would miss shooting everything during my trip. Little did I know, KL turned out to be a camera/DSLR heaven, and I bought way more things than I originally planned from there. I picked up my 60D on my first day of arrival just after I unpacked my bags at the hotel, you can read my initial impressions here.
Before I start talking about my trip, I would like to talk about the lenses I chose to take with me, I wanted to travel light, so initially I planned to take the Canon EF-S 15-85mm zoom for all-round shooting, and the Canon EF 35mm f/2 for night shooting, but I knew I'd be visiting the famous KL Bird Park, so I took the Canon EF-S 55-250mm along just for that reason, and actually I didn't use it anywhere else. I had my Lowepro Top Loader Zoom 55AW with me (it has a rain cover that I actually used).
I bought the following things during my trip: Canon 60D, Canon 580EX II speedlite, BlackRapid RS-5 strap, Lowepro Top Loader Zoom 45AW and a few small accessories.
THE TRIP:
I didn't get to shoot a lot on my first day, I arrived at noon, unpacked my bags and went to buy the 60D, the weather was great when I arrived, and a few minutes before I left the hotel, a rainy storm suddenly started, oh well, an umbrella and a Taxi it is. I was staying at the Westin hotel, where we also had our 2-day conference, below are some photos taken at the hotel, and the parking lot outside.
 |
| Candles at the hotel entrance |
 |
| Desk lamp in my room, I like the pattern it makes on the wall |
 |
| A very cozy dining area |
 |
| Strange ceiling decor |
 |
| Lamborghini Murceilago, lots of nice cars in KL |
After we finished our first conference day, we were invited to a Thai restaurant for dinner, outside of KL. We took a couple of buses and went there, I took my 60D and 35mm f/2, light inside the restaurant was too dim, I had to shoot wide-open at f/2, ISO 3200 and even then shutter speed was around 1/10th and 1/15th risking motion-blur, it was the first time for me to use ISO 3200 and like the results, I limited myself to ISO 1600 with the 550D.
 |
| Rain and heavy traffic, KL traffic is incredibly jammed almost all time |
 |
| Rain bokeh blobs |
 |
| Restaurant entrance, dim, red lights everywhere |
 |
| I don't know half of the things I ate there |
 |
| Guava juice, in Egypt the juice is usually white and thick, not greenish and translucent |
 |
| Japanese friend, see the phone light on his face? |
 |
| The bus driver that took us back to the hotel |
 |
| My Swedish friend Mats, took this photo when we returned to the hotel |
Next day after the conference I went shooting & shopping until night around Bukit Bintang and the Pavilion mall, I usually don't do any street shooting in Egypt, culturally this is not a normal practice, even carrying a camera in the street will get you lots of hard stares, however, in KL I was very relieved to see 90% of the people carrying cameras and shooting every thing.
 |
| Pavilion Mall from inside |
 |
| Saw this sign on one of Robin's picture, that's why it's here |
 |
| McDonald's |
 |
| On my way to one of the camera malls |
Next day was my final day in KL, conference was over and I decided to go to the KL Bird Park, I was up and ready from 7 am, I finished my breakfast quickly and asked the hotel on the best way to go to the park, only to discover that the park didn't open until 10 am, drat, I had to wait for tw hours in my room since nothing else opened earlier.
I took the 60D with the 55-250 and my black rapid strap, I also took my Lowepro bag (in case it rained) and the 35mm f/2. I am very fond of the quality the 55-250 exhibited for such a budget lens, sharpness was great, bokeh was round and nice, and actually I dig the look a telephoto lens has, the background compression just looks creamy to me.
 |
| This bird usually stayed at high places, it looked like a park guardian |
 |
| Colorful beak and eye ring, look how smooth the color transitions are |
 |
| Luxurious duck, if it were a person, it would be a rich man wearing expensive suits |
 |
| Colorful duck, although more humble than the one above |
 |
| Eagles, they look scary, especially that close, all eagle shots were taken through the cage |
 |
| Same eagle, the telephoto lens makes the cage magically disappear |
 |
| Intimidating, here you can see traces of the cage on the right part of the picture |
 |
| Solemn |
 |
| This bird was everywhere in the park |
 |
| It was their mating season and I was fortunate to see this view |
 |
| Artificial frogs, I like how the moulds look |
 |
| Slippery stairs |
 |
| Green everywhere, see that net on the left side? The whole park is covered with it! |
 |
| Red parrot |
 |
| Colorful parrot |
 |
| School trip to the park |
 |
| Despite enjoying the park, I had to leave to catch a view of KL from the top |
I went back to the hotel around 3 pm, and only had a couple of hours before sunset, and it hasn't rained once since morning, so I decided to ditch my camera bag, and only left with the 60D and the 15-85 hanging at my side with the black rapid strap, no weather protection at all.
I wanted to see KL from above, and there were two options, either the famous skywalk on the KLCC twin towers, or the KL TV tower, I wanted to go to the former, but I learned there are long queues and lots of waiting. One of the Malaysian participants in the conference advised me to go to the TV tower instead as it has a better view, so that's where I went, and he was correct, the skywalk on the KLCC was a path connecting between two buildings with a limited view to the sides only, the KL tower has a 360 degrees view and much higher (~280 meters).
 |
| This is the view from my hotel room, and it shows the KL Tower in the middle |
I assumed that I'd find an open air observation deck or something, but it was all covered with glass that is not clean and has lots of reflections and glare that reduced the contrast, however I was able to get some good photos.
|
| High in the sky |
 |
| One of the benefits of the 360 view, I can see everywhere |
 |
| Pool on the roof |
 |
| Zoom was quite decent with the 15-85 |
I decided to leave and do a bit of shopping before my plane was set to leave, but a funny thing happened, a sudden thunder storm, and a strong one at that, I saw lightning strike buildings around us, and I was worried at the beginning, but the attitude of the others around me told me that there is nothing to worrying about, however, there was another problem, rain and cameras are not friends, I didn't have my umbrella or my Lowepro camera bag, so I was stuck at the tower until rain stopped, but I'm glad I waited because of this picture you see below taken after sunset, one of my favorites.
|
| KL from the top |
Rain didn't stop and I had to leave, so I asked about a way to get a taxi and ride it without having to walk in the rain, turned out there was a covered place below the tower where taxis took passengers, now I was back to the hotel with my camera safe and sound.
I finished the remaining of my shopping, exchanged the remaining Malaysian money to USD and went back to the hotel to pack my bags. My plane was set to leave at dawn, and I was quite surprised at how empty the airport was from inside at that time, it was as if I will be the only passenger.
 |
| Ghost airport |
I hope you've enjoyed this post, and if you're interested in traveling to Malaysia, I urge you to go, it's a great tourist destination with lots of things to see, and I wish I had enough time to visit all the different places outside of KL.
 |
| See that plane? There was another one at the right side as well, is this normal? |
Posted with BlogsyThursday, 23 August 2012
After deciding that my Nikon D90 was a keeper, I ordered a GGS screen protector for it. I've used it before and found it far clearer than the BM-8 LCD plastic cover included with most Nikon DSLRs (a few such as the D3 and D5100 don't have one). Recently I also found out first hand about its protective capabilities.
There is now a new 3rd generation version of the GGS available for some cameras. The biggest difference is that instead of the screen protector being affixed to your LCD screen with an adhesive, the screen protector clips on just like the BM-8. The 3rd generation GGS is also supposed to have a film to prevent shattering, thus reducing the risk of damage to the camera in case the GGS breaks. Another difference is that the 3rd gen GGS includes an anti-fog protective cover for the eyepiece. Like the top LCD and main LCD covers, the viewfinder cover is also made of glass. Remarkably, the price is about the same as the classic GGS.
Both the viewfinder cover and top LCD cover attach via stickers around their edges.
With the viewfinder cover attached, I could not fit my generic rubber eyecup over the viewfinder. However, an original Nikon DK-21 rubber eyecup can fit over the viewfinder with GGS cover.
The main LCD protector clips on the LCD just like the BM-8 plastic cover. However, unlike the BM-8, the GGS protector includes a black frame around it that fits the camera snugly. The fit is tight enough that I could not slide a piece of paper in between the cover and the LCD unless I used the very thin kind of thermal paper used for receipts. Even then I could only get it through one of the corners.
On Amazon, there is a review that criticized how easily the main LCD cover falls off. However, with my D90, the protector stays on firmly. It's certainly not more easily detached than the BM-8 cover.
EDIT: Pls. see comment below from reader Opt.
The frame matches the camera's body pretty closely, so that it's not easy to spot it at a casual glance.
There is a small hole on the bottom left corner of the main LCD cover. I believe it's there to prevent fog. It might allow dust to enter between the LCD cover but at least the cover is easily removable.
The new protector appears to be about as clear as the old one, although there is a very slight ghosting that I didn't see in the old protector. This is probably due to the larger gap between the protector and the LCD.
So far, I am satisfied with the new 3rd generation GGS protector, and I would probably buy it again instead of the old protector because of the viewfinder cover. The main LCD cover might allow dust to get in between the cover but that's outweighed by the decreased risk to the LCD because of the new film and because of the larger gap between the cover and the LCD. In addition, if the cover is damaged, removing the cover presents absolutely no risk to the LCD.
I will update this review if I find that it's unduly susceptible to dust or being dislodged.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
