I wonder how many photography lovers out there still use film SLRs. Or still own one for that matter. I fell in love with photography when I was a teenager in school, and started with a very good Nikon F-301 that belongs to my dad. I still have that camera with me, in full working condition except for one of the lenses i.e. a 135mm zoom that succumbed to the dreaded fungus. I started using that camera again last year but I can't help but think that it would be much better if I have something that I can use with my collection of Pentax lenses.

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Following on my previous posting (Look Out Point), below is a panorama of Kuala Lumpur at night from a couple of sets I took during the outing.

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Saw this pic on the web today and I just couldn't resist to re-post it here. My oh my... I feel sick in the gut just looking at them.

From top to bottom left to right:

• DA*200; DA*55; DA*300
• DA 12-24; DA 14; DA 17-70; DA*16-50; DA*50-135
• DA 18-55; DA 16-45; DA 55-300; DA 50-200; D-FA 50; D-FA 100

I've got three of these i.e. those with strike-through, and a smattering of other lenses. I long for the bolded one - DA* 55mm f1.4 and of course, a few others not in this pic.

LBA kills!!!

Photo credit to Paolo Flores - http://www.pbase.com/pablof

I sometimes take a lot of photos during events and have been looking for ways to effectively share them with others (friends, colleagues, contacts etc.). Flickr and Picasa are two of the better options out there, but then both have its limits in terms of storage capacity but most importantly, not too many people are on them. These days most of the people I know that are active online mostly use Facebook. I guess it makes sense as Facebook is more of a general social site, whereas Flickr and Picasa are geared for more specific stuff i.e. photos.

However, Facebook photo app is rather lousy if you're thinking of sharing a slightly higher resolution photos, so that the viewers can download and print them. So far that I can tell from the photos I've downloaded, the maximum dimension is only 604 x 405 (though some say it's 604 x 402). I guess I just have to live with that, and have decided that for now my solution is to use both Picasa and Facebook.

This is actually easy to do because with Picasa3, you can upload the photos to both Picasa Web (the online version of Picasa) and Facebook. To upload to Picasa Web, just use the big Upload button at the bottom of the Library. As with Facebook, there are several steps to do first as it involves a separate plugin to Picasa3.

• First, go to Facebook and do a search on Picasa or just click this link: Picasa Plugin for Facebook.
• Follow the instruction from the plugin page. This will install a plugin into your Picasa application, i.e. another button for Facebook will be addded into the Picasa library.

That's it really. You can now easily upload up to 60 photos at a time from your Picasa3 application into your Facebook account. By the way, if you've been uploading a lot of photos to Facebook you probably already know that each Facebook album has a limit of 60 pictures. Don't know why but that's just the way it is for now.

Pocket hole size: RM1,300

Now this is the elusive one. The one that I have been wanting to have for a long, long time. I even purchased a couple of studio strobes before I managed to get this, and I'm not quite sure why either. Anyway, the important thing is I got it, and I will see to it that the flash earns its keep for all the night shooting that hobbyist like me do a lot. Only journalist, pros, and retirees have the time to do mostly daytime shoots. Hardworking people like me and you have only the weekends and holidays for that... sigh-

If you're serious about photography there's no escaping this. Yes I know there are photographers who don't like flashes as it can be quite cumbersome to carry one around. It means that you can't just take your camera with a lens attached in a small pack and go. With an external flash you certainly will need a bigger pack to bring your gear around. I got a really good, compact bagpack that carries a camera body, 17-70mm + 70-300mm + 50mm lenses and of course this flash but that's another story.

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Things have been quite hectic in the past two months and I had to do some long distance travels (mostly work related). Not that I'm complaining... at least I get to take some photos and meet friends that I only see once every year.

In spite of that I still managed to add a few new gadgets into the already burgeoning photography stuff in my non-existent studio. Namely a Pentax K200D with the non-negotiable must-take 18-55mm lens (at least it's version II) and the D-BG3 battery grip.

Oh, in the mail yesterday was a bunch of MAHA PowerEx and Imedion rechargeable batteries too. How big the hole in the pocket you say? Well, not too much as I mostly got them at very good prices. Read on...

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This is the lens that has created quite a buzz among Pentax users recently, and umm... I bought it. I can quite confidently say that I can put off my LBA (lens buying addiction) for quite a while now that I've got it. At 17-70mm focal range, it perfectly complements my existing 70-300mm Sigma (this post).

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Took a stroll at the Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park and then later went to Chow Kit to get some fruits. I definitely need to visit both places again soon as there are so many photo opportunities there. Below are new additions to the gallery, a few from today and a couple shot from KL Tower a few weeks ago (from KL Tower).

Enjoy!

Another good shopping experience, this time online at Shashinki.com.

I've been aware of this website for a while and have been drooling over many of the photography items they sell. Just never brought myself to order anything - all my photography purchases have always been offline.

But last Thursday I had one of those moments of impulse online buying. It was early in the morning at the office, going through my RSS feeds and somehow ended up at Shashinki... Before I knew it, I've placed an order for 2 items i.e. a camera strap and spirit level for a total RM63 - cheap and free shipping, which is why the decision was easy.

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I do. No question about it.

However, I also see so many people getting into the Digital SLR bandwagon without really thinking whether they really need it or not. One thing that escapes many when making the decision to spend their hard-earned money on a camera is that buying a DSLR is not just a matter of buying one camera and that's it, you're done. It is about investing into a system. In my case, I've decided to dive head long into the Pentax system almost by accident, but it's a decision I'm very happy with nonetheless.

Have a look at this photo on the left (click it for full image). Guess what camera was it taken with? If you're thinking any of the usual digital cameras, either point and shoot or DSLR, you would be wrong. This was taken by my dad (my first photography teacher) with a Sony DCR-SR300E, a digital video cam that can take JPEG still images instead of just videos. Yeah you read that right, not even a real photo camera! Put a lot of us DSLR-totting wannabes to shame, really...

By the way, for you Canon p&s users out there who would like to do more with your camera but can't afford a DSLR yet, you should try the Canon Hacker's Development Kit, or CHDK. In simple terms, this is a non-destructive, software-based way to get more out of your Canon Digic II & Digic III cameras. It's a software addon to you firmware, loaded from the memory card when you start the camera, and it will enable you to access a variety of functions that were not available to you before. And that include stuff like capturing your images in RAW format, take longer exposure shots, auto-bracketing, etc.