7d and 60d

I'm not sure why, but... Both of these cameras have the 'ON,OFF' switch at the wrong place, which is the left side of the camera. Since both of them are considered semi-pro (7D) and enthusiast level (60D), they are quite expensive, to have made such a 'huge' error in terms of ergonomics. Why is the 'On-Off' switch very important to be at the right side?

[Canon 7D]

[Canon 60D]

Well, before you turn the camera on, you have to use your left hand, instead of grabbing the lens, with the right finger ready at the shutter. This decrease the 'start-up' time. If it were at the right side of the body, your right hands are naturally at the area, quick to start it up and shoot. You will come to appreciate it when your battery is dwindling, needing to conserve as much power as you can, squeezing the last 100-50 or so shots on your camera.

Well, many have used them, and I would think that it would only effect us Nikon shooters which have the 'ON-OFF' switch right at the shutter, ready for quick action. I think its something that most people grow into.

Well, this is just a rant, not to diss Canon or anything. Just wondering if accidentally switching the power off during shooting with it at the right side were what the engineers were thinking over at Canon.

To say the least, Nikon got a few buttons at the wrong place too, like the play button or delete button needing both hands to operate. Guess they want you to be really sure to delete the image.

Why Lens Sharpness don't Matter as Much.

Thinking of getting that 50mm f1.4 or that 85mm f1.4?

Well, I'd admit if you are getting it for the speed of a super fast prime, than go ahead. If you think that you are getting it got sharpness, then, I would think that those f1.8 is a good bargain.


Why?
Click on the Jump to find out why.

Countdown to 2011

Genting + Fog = No Fireworks... =(



[1. Even the caterpillar is sad of the fog.]


That's what happened that night, while we were waiting at the side of the stage, my arms, primed on a post next to me for bulb mode, and... NOTHING!





[2. Hmm.. Stage... Ear almost went deaf...]


Well, got to the stage instead, and did gig shooting. All using the 18-105mm, and forgive the flare in some of the pics, since its foggy, don't want my front element to be naked.




[3. Stage Lights]

Click on the jump for more pictures.

Backlog - Xmas 2010

Sorry for the backlog of photos. Well, been busy, you know, with stuff, homework and class and the fyp..


Today's feature will be the nifty-fifty, or the Nikon 50mm f/1.8, since its small, light, and cheap, and sharp. My only qualms will be that, its bokeh is not the best you can get, ranging from average to poor, depending on what you take. On a DSLR like my D90, its actually a 75mm lens, about reaching the portrait lens focal length. Great for portraits for those smooth out of focus background, depending on your background that is.


The Nikon 50mm f/1.8 reminds us that, you don't have to buy an expensive lens to get sharp results, its even sharper than my 18-105mm lens which cost 2-3 times as much. Its fast, since its aperture is at f/1.8, its 2 stops faster than my zoom lens at 18mm at f/3.5. 2 stops is about 4 times as much light that will enter through the lens, or, reduce my ISO from 800 to 200, or increase my shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/120. Great eh?


But, I still need my 18-105mm since, at 18mm, its about 3 times shorter the focal length, giving me about 1 stop extra (or more) for my shutter speed, and it allows me to grab photos of 1-2 second exposures hand held, since I've got a greater depth of field, meaning more will be in focus. And the VR helps too. But, at the longer end of the zoom, what I really need is the 50mm f/1.8 where it will make more sense.


Another great thing about the 50mm, is that it has zero distortion. If Nikon made all their prime lenses to have zero distortion, I think that primes would be more popular. They have made a wide angle rectilinear lens with zero distortion, called the 13mm f/3.5. Google it and be amazed.


Examples and explanations will be provided when you click on the jump.

Firmware

If you have a Nokia XM-5800, best check your firmware, especially if you had it like forever, (before the iPhone was really that awesome). Why?

Recently updated the firmware on the hand-me-down 5800, from version 11.x.x.x (forgot the exact firmware number) to version 52.0.007.

Big difference.

1. Its faster, I mean physically, since they up-ed the clock speed on the processor through the firmware, from 369MHz to 434MHz.

2. Its not as stupid. In the old firmware, having your screen (in typing mode, a.k.a messaging) in portrait mode initially and switching it to landscape does nothing. Now, it switches to QWERTY mode when in landscape. (Isn't that what the iPhone did all along? (To be clear, IO.S 4.1 or something, as of the latest of the time of posting) Well, no. Reason why I dislike typing on the iPhone is that its capacitive, and the QWERTY pad or layout is small in portrait mode, and sometimes (like entering your details in iTunes or some form info) you can't switch it to landscape QWERTY which suck a hell lot, since my fingers are not that small. Some users might not find this an issue.

3. Did I say its faster? How fast? Did a Hard Reset on the phone, still slow. Then did the firmware update, FAST!

4. Less Buggy. Its still has its bugs, like un-logical sequence and UI. But, the iPhone have the same problem too. Like the landscape QWERTY thing in (2).