Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category
Friday, September 5th, 2014
Sony has expanded its lens-style cameras with the new ILCE-QX1 and DSC-QX30 during a pre-IFA event in Berlin, Germany. The Japanese camera maker also added two fresh new colour options for the DSC-QX10.
Available in Singapore from October 2014.

The new lens-style cameras from Sony: ILCE-QX1 (right) and DSC-QX30 (left).
Sony’s lens-style cameras combine the spontaneity and easy sharing of smartphones with the image quality of dedicated cameras.
These cameras are connected to the smartphone via Wi-Fi.
ILCE-QX1 lens camera
The ILCE-QX1 lets serious photographers make use of their E-mount / A-mount (requires LA-EA4 adaptor for A-mount lenses) lens collection – be it zoom, wide angle, tele or macro.

QX1 comes with built-in pop-up flash.
Users can exercise control over exposure, focus and shooting modes.
The camera’s APS-C size Exmor CMOS sensor has 20.1-megapixels works with Sony’s BIONZ X processor that now features improved area-specific noise reduction – producing low-noise images, even when shooting in near-darkness.
The big sensor inside the QX1 also creates pro-style ‘bokeh’ effects with creamy background blur – another trick that smartphones can’t match.
The QX1 comes with many features, including RAW recording and pop-up flash.
(more…)
Tags:cameras, IFA, IFA 2014, lens, PlayMemories, QX1, QX10, QX30, Sony, Xperia
Posted in Accessories, Announce, Cameras, cameras, Gadgets, gadgets, Lens, newArrivals, Photography, Seminars, Sony, Sony Mobile, Specifications | 3 Comments »
Thursday, September 4th, 2014
Getty Images has announced the availability of Getty Images Prestige – a new selection of the company’s highest-quality imagery, boasting a unique aesthetic approach, exceptional craftsmanship and uncompromising quality.

Through exceptional, quality imagery, Getty Images Prestige offers images of “exceptional quality” to boost brands that are increasingly up against flat advertising mediums, tiny screens and shortened attention spans. Photo: Tim Flach/Getty Images
Hand-selected by in-house creative experts and featuring unique collaborations between award-winning photographers and Getty Images’ Art Directors and Editors, Getty Images Prestige makes available the world’s most powerful images for important projects, without the costs and risks inherent in a custom photo shoot.
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Tags:Getty Images, photography, photos, Prestige, stock
Posted in Photography, Photos | 1 Comment »
Sunday, August 24th, 2014
Photo of the Day: Resinzbrunnen is the grand baroque fountain that sits in the middle Residenzplatz – right in the centre of Salzburg Altstadt (old town).

We couldn’t resist splashing the water in the fountain as well when we visited the Residenzbrunnen. Photo taken with a Sony A7 full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
It is also the fountain that Maria – in the movie “The Sound of Music” – splashes as she sings “I have confidence in me”, on her way to the von Trapp home.

The Residenzbrunnen is located in the middle of the Residenzplatz, one of the most popular tourist spots in Salzburg. Photo taken with a Sony A7 with 24-70mm lens. Sepia effect added with Adobe Photoshop CC (2014). Photo credit: John Tan.
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Tags:A7, Austria 2014, Carl Zeiss, fountain, full-frame, Maria, photography, photos, potd, Residenzbrunnen, Residenzplatz, Salzburg, Sony, Sound of Music, travel, von Trapp
Posted in A7, Austria 2014, Cameras, Events, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Sony, Travel | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 18th, 2014
The Alpha 5100 has a 24.3-megapixel APS-C Exmor CMOS sensor and the same Fast Hybrid AF system as the Alpha 6000, as well as the same BIONZ X image processor used in the Alpha 7 series of full-frame cameras.
Update (19 August, 2014):
The Singapore prices for the Alpha 5100 are up on the pre-order website.
The price for the camera body and SELP1650 lens is S$999, with S$229 worth of pre-order free gifts.
Purchase with purchase:
- SEL50f18 lens: S$319
- SEL55210 lens: S$300

The Sony Alpha 5100 ships with NFC and is designed to make selfies easier.
Sony has unveiled what it claims to be the world’s smallest interchangeable lens camera.
“日本相机制造商 Sony 刚公布了新的 Alpha 5100 相机。八月廿日至九月二日可上网预订。九月四日起在新加坡面市。” – 科技点心(微薄)
The new camera will be available for pre-order from 20 August to 2 September 2014 online.
It will be available in Singapore from 4 September 2014 onwards.
Singapore prices have yet to be released but its US price is US$550 for camera body only and US$700 for body plus 16-50 motorised zoom lens (SELP1650).
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Tags:A5100, Alpha, cameras, MIL, Sony
Posted in Alpha, Announce, Cameras, cameras, gadgets, MIL, newArrivals, Photography, Prices, Sony, Specifications, Tickers | 4 Comments »
Sunday, August 17th, 2014
Photo of the Day: Cavalia is an equestrian theatrical performance that leverages innovative multimedia displays and multi-disciplinary performances. It is now running in Singapore from 12 August to 14 September 2014.
* All the photos in this article (except the portrait of Alain Gaulthier) were taken with a Sony A7R full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, with a 55-210mm E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

This pretty lady kept looking in my direction, so I took a portrait for her.
The production was created by Normand Latourelle, one of the co-founders of the famed Cirque du Soleil.
“Cavalia” is a fabricated word, inspired by the Spanish and French words for horse (caballo and cheval) and the English word cavalry.
Hailing from Montreal in Canada, the lavish production involves 50 horses and 46 riders, aerialists, acrobats, dancers and musicians from all over the world.
Since the show’s debut in 2003, some 4 million people from North America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East have watched the show.

Cast and dancers of Cavalia at the end of the show. I love how the lady’s face lit up when she turned around and smiled at her fellow dancer.
There has been more than 2,400 performances over the course of ten years. The 50 horses in Cavalia comprises 11 different breeds.
(more…)
Tags:A7R, Austria 2014, Cavalia, Fuji Xerox, full-frame, horses, MBS, performances, photography, photos, potd, Singapore, Sony, Vienna
Posted in A7, audioVisual, Cameras, cameras, Entertainment, Events, events, Fuji Xerox, MIL, Performance, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Shows, Sony | 10 Comments »
Sunday, August 10th, 2014
Last Friday, I brought the two kids to the Alive Museum Singapore at the Suntec City Mall.
* All photos (apart from the first photo) were taken with the Sony A7R full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA Full-frame E-mount Prime Lens.

Fun Friday night out at Alive Museum Singapore. Photo taken with Samsung GALAXY S5.
Although the estimated time needed to cover every exhibit was around one-and-a-half hours, we lingered for two-and-a-half and ended up with 250 photos.
More importantly, we had oodles of fun and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

“Can I join the ballerinas in the painting?”
The Alive Museum was opened in 2009 in South Korea and debuted in Singapore on 12 June this year.

Taken from the right perspective, this exhibit gives the illusion that sea water and penguins were flooding out of the painting.
The 3D visual illusion museum aims to serve as a fun and unique treat for the whole family, locals and tourists alike.
It offers a sensory experience that tricks one’s visual, physical and environmental perceptions, bringing fantasy to reality.
Not only can you touch and feel the exhibits, you can also hop into the frame and become a part of the art masterpieces that play on optical illusions.
(more…)
Tags:Alive Museum, entertainment, lifestyle, museum, photography, photos, Singapore, travel
Posted in A7, audioVisual, Cameras, Entertainment, Events, events, Lifestyle, MIL, Photography, Photos, Prices, Sony, travel, Visits | 10 Comments »
Saturday, August 9th, 2014
Here’s wishing all Singaporeans a Happy National Day.

Fireworks over the bay. Photo taken with a Sony A7R with Sonnar T* FE 35mm F2.8 ZA Full-frame E-mount Prime Lens. Post edited using Photoshop. Photo credit: John Tan.
One highlight of the annual National Day celebrations is the fireworks, which are usually fired off in the evening towards the end of the National Day Parade (NDP) and mass display.
Here’s a video of the fireworks.
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Tags:Fireworks, Marina Bay, National Day, NDP, One Fullerton, Overeasy, photography, photos, potd, Tiger Beer, uncage
Posted in A7, Cameras, events, Holiday, MIL, Party, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Sony | 8 Comments »
Thursday, August 7th, 2014
Photo of the Day: Nonnberg Abbey (Stift Nonnberg) is a Benedictine monastery in Salzburg, Austria.
This was the convent where Maria served as a postulant before she was sent to look after the children of Captain von Trapp in the musical and movie “The Sound of Music”.

Graves within the compounds of the Nonnberg Abbey, just outside the Abbey Church. The entrance to the church can be seen in the background.
Maria Augusta Kutschera had joined Nonnberg Abbey as a postulant after graduating from college when she was eighteen.
My family and I took a stroll to Nonnberg Abbey after descending from the Hohensalzburg Fortress in the evening.
We wanted to visit the convent from which Maria came from before joining the von Trapp family.
It was really peaceful and tranquil – and free of other tourists.
As a postulant, she was requesting admission into the Abbey as a nun, which may or may not be granted.
The original plan was for her to look after one of Georg von Trapp’s daughters and return after 10 months to formally enter the nunnery.
She eventually went on to look after all of Georg’s seven children and agreed when the latter proposed to her, asking her to stay with him and become a second mother to his children.
(more…)
Tags:A7, Abbey, Austria 2014, Carl Zeiss, convent, full-frame, Maria, monastery, Nonnberg, nunnery, photography, photos, potd, Salzburg, Sony, Sound of Music, travel, von Trapp
Posted in A7, Austria 2014, Cameras, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Sony, travel | 8 Comments »
Sunday, August 3rd, 2014
Photo of the Day: Our first two nights in Austria were at the Villa Trapp, the original mansion of the Von Trapp family, in the suburbs of Salzburg.

The entrance to the Villa Trapp – where the real von Trapp family lived and played.
* All the photos in this article were taken with a Sony A7 full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, with Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 ZA OSS full-frame E-mount zoom lens. Photo credit: John Tan.

The back of Villa Trapp with the lawn and facing the mountains. We picnic-ed for lunch here upon arrival on the first day.
I first watched the movie, “The Sound of Music” as a child and loved it – so did my entire family.

Fountain on the wall of one of the sheds on the grounds of Villa Trapp.
So when we decided to visit Austria, we jumped at the idea of staying in Villa Trapp, where the real Von Trapp family actually lived from 1923 to 1938, when they migrated to the US.
This house was not the one seen in the movie, which used two other grander houses for exterior shots and a studio set in Hollywood for the interior scenes.
The stately three-storey building was built in 1863 and has 22 rooms.
Georg Von Trapp had bought and moved to the house in 1923 with his seven children when his wife died of Scarlet fever.
Maria Augusta Kutschera came to the von Trapp family in 1926 to take care of one of the children – also named Maria.

Wedding photo of Georg and Maria von Trapp, on a mantelpiece in the lounge of Villa Trapp.
Although she was to stay for only 10 months, she began looking after the other children as well and married Georg in 1927.
(more…)
Tags:A7, Austria 2014, Carl Zeiss, full-frame, hotels, photography, photos, potd, Salzburg, Sony, Sound of Music, travel, villa, Villa Trapp, von Trapp
Posted in A7, Austria 2014, Cameras, Holiday, MIL, Photography, Photos, POTD, POTD, Sony, Travel | 6 Comments »
Saturday, July 19th, 2014
Lamch & Co introduces three revolutionary photography solutions, the WEYE FEYE, the U-Shot and the Me-Shot – from XSories, the brand created by X-Treme Video for the extreme sports industry.

The XSories Weye Feye (S$469) is compatible with most DSLR cameras.
For 20 years, XTreme Video has worked with more than 500 extreme sports producers worldwide, capturing breath-taking images of athletes and talents who live and breathe extreme sports.
With their expertise, XSories reinvents the art of imagery with innovative solutions for sport, travel and video fans.
(more…)
Tags:accessories, Lamch & Co, Me-Shot, photography, U-Shot, WEYE FEYE, XSories, XTreme Video
Posted in Accessories, Availability, Gadgets, gadgets, newArrivals, Photography, Prices, Specifications | No Comments »