Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

What’s better than a Canon EOS-1D X? Ans: A Canon EOS-1D C!

Friday, April 13th, 2012

Canon has announced the EOS-1D C, a DSLR capable of recording video at 4K resolution (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) at a frame rate of 24p, or Full HD resolution (1,920×1,080 pixels) at 60p – whilst retaining the still image shooting prowess of the EOS-1D X.

This new flagship DSLR will be available from end October this year (prices TBA).

Canon EOS-1D C, flagship DSLR with 4K video - available in October 2012.

Canon EOS-1D C, flagship DSLR with 4K video - available in October 2012.

The Canon EOS-1D C is designed for use in motion picture, television and other high-resolution digital production industries.

The DSLR provides its users a physically compact yet digitally powerful machine to meet the high demands of today’s production standards.

The Canon EOS-1D C records 4K resolution video (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) at a frame rate of 24p, with 8-bit Motion JPEG compression, cropped to an APS-H-equivalent angle of view.

It can also record Full HD video (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) at a maximum frame rate of 60p, answering the demanding needs of industry professionals.

In addition, the EOS-1D C allows for efficient workflow during production and post-production, with features within the firmware and the accompanying software suite.

Connections panel on one side of the camera.

Connections panel on one side of the camera.

The camera records all video, including 4K, directly to the inserted CF card without having to use peripheral equipment such as external storage devices, bringing increased mobility to its user.

When required, captured video (excluding 4K video) can be output to an external recorder via an HDMI terminal, using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.

For motion-picture productions, the camera incorporates a Super 35mm crop function, enabling video to be recorded in the industry-standard 35mm angle of view.

The Canon Log Gamma enables the recording of high-quality video with rich gradation expression.

This produces the impressive image quality required in motion-pictures by minimizing both shadow detail loss and highlight detail loss while retaining a high level of color-grading freedom.

Top view of the Canon EOS-1D C

Top view of the Canon EOS-1D C

The EOS-1D C ships with software applications such as EOS Utility and Picture Style Editor.

Canon EOS-1D C body

Canon EOS-1D C body

EOS Utility allows a whole host of camera operations to be controlled via a PC, while the Picture Style Editor allows users to edit and register customized image settings in the camera.

These two applications enable real-time processes such as editing the picture style and confirming results on a monitor during set up or even on the shooting set, increasing production efficiency.

Playback software that ships with the camera allows 4K/Motion JPEG and Full HD video at 60p shot on the EOS-1D C to be output on an external monitor with no loss in image quality.

It also enables video shot with the Canon Log Gamma to be output on a monitor with video gamma applied.

Can’t afford a Leica S2? Rent one!

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

The Leica S2 comes with a hefty price-tag: S$32,550. Now you can rent one from the Camera Rental Centre, at S$588 per day, together with a choice of two lenses.

The medium format professional camera system - Leica S2.

The medium format professional camera system - Leica S2.

The available lenses are the Elmarit-S 30mm f/2.8, Summarit-S 35mm f/2.5, Summarit-S 70mm f/2.5 and the APO-Macro Summarit-S f/2.5.

“This rental program offers photographers a chance to test-drive the S2 under their preferred time and desired duration,” said Sunil Kaul, Managing Director of Leica Camera Asia Pacific.The retail prices for these lenses range from S$6,560 to S$9,630.

Special arrangements can be made to cater time for photographers who wish to get acquainted with the 37.5-megapixel camera before using it for a shoot.

Upon request, Leica lens adapters for the Mamiya 645, Pentax 67 and Hasselblad V system are available too, at no extra charge.

Camera Rental Centre
email: info@camerarental.biz
tel: +65 9650 4158

The medium-format Leica S2 is built with a weather-sealed body that ensures that photographers can shoot even in the most extreme conditions.

High-speed, accurate autofocus aids photographers to nail the perfect shot, frame after frame.

Facebook to buy Instagram photo app for US$1 billion

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

US$100 billion Facebook Inc has agreed to fork out US$1 billion in cash and stock to acquire the photo-sharing application for smartphones. The deal is expected to be completed this quarter.

Is Instagram worth one-hundredth of Facebook?

Is Instagram worth one-hundredth of Facebook?

Facebook is probably looking at attracting the users of mobile devices through its acquisition of Instagram – its biggest acquisition yet.

“Instagram, owned by San Francisco-based Burbn Inc, was valued at $500 million after raising about $60 million last week from investors,” Bloomberg was told.The idea is to attract the advertisers interested in reaching the mobile users.

Instagram started out as the top free photo-sharing app on Apple’s App Store with more than 30 million users.

Only last week, the company introduced the app for Android devices as well.

Instagram has only 13 employees so the offer works out to some US$76 million per employee, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook. That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently,” – Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook fanpage.Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger with a seed funding of about US$500,000.

It subsequently raised US$7 million in 2011, when it had 1.75 million users, according to Bloomberg.

California-based Facebook is the biggest social-networking service today and intends to raise US$5 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) – which is to date the biggest IPO for an Internet company, valuing it at US$100 billion.

Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said it plans to let Instagram retain its independence, in an effort to reassure Instagram users and potential advertisers.

Event: I AM NIKON DAY

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Nikon Singapore will be organising “I AM NIKON DAY” on the weekend of 28-29 April at the Raffles City Convention Centre. The event is free and open to all photography enthusiasts.

Walk-in auditions for The Big Shot Season 3 will also take place at the same venue during the photography weekend.

I AM NIKON DAY - 28 and 29 April 2012 (Raffles City Convention Centre)

I AM NIKON DAY - 28 and 29 April 2012 (Raffles City Convention Centre)

Online registration of seats begins today (here) and is based on a First-come-first-served basis. Registration closes on 25 April.

Event I AM NIKON DAY
(Talks & Workshops)
Date 28 & 29 Apr 2012
Time 11 am to 7 pm
Venue Raffles City Convention Centre
Location Level 4, Atrium Ballroom

Nikon’s Professional Photographers (such as award winning photographer Stefen Chow) and guest photographers will be speaking at the photography weekend, sharing their experience and expertise on a range of topics for beginner photographers and seasoned amateurs.

Speakers include past winners of “The Big Shot Season 1” (Liew Tong Leng) and “The Big Shot Season 2” (Affandy Razak).

Check out the list of speakers and the detailed programme here.

The Big Shot Season 3 (Audition)

Event The Big Shot Season 3
(Audition)
Date 28 & 29 Apr 2012
Time 10 am to 8 pm
Venue Raffles City Convention Centre
Location Level 4, Orchard Ballroom

Auditions for “The Big Shot Season 3” will also be held during the weekend. This third installment of the photography reality television series will air in 2012.

The competition is open to the public for photographers aged 18 and above. Detailed requirements can be found here.

Photos: iLight 2012

Sunday, April 8th, 2012

I brought the kids down to the Merlion Park last Sunday to catch the last day of the iLight Marina Bay 2012. The lighting display was beautiful, while the kids enjoyed the “DIY” light-painting of the Merlion – despite the hour-long queue.

The lasers were not out yet because it was still early. The rainbow lights from the boats provided its own light display.

The lasers were not out yet because it was still early. The rainbow lights from the boats provided its own light display.

The iLight Marina Bay 2012 lasted from 9 March to 1 April 2012 this year.

This was the second edition of the sustainable light art festival, which was first organised last year.

Merlion during iLight Marina Bay 2012It was organised by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in collaboration with Smart Light Singapore.

The lighting festival had the photography community in Singapore abuzz with excitement as photographers, both professionals and amateurs, flocked to the vicinity to snap beautiful pictures of the light.

Children loved the Merlion light-painting.

Using a large touch-screen monitor, they could select parts of the Merlion and then paint it with a colour of their choice from a colour palette.

Brightly-garbed Merlion spewing its blessings onto the Esplanade.

Brightly-garbed Merlion spewing its blessings onto the Esplanade.

As they filled in the colours, coloured light was projected onto the actual Merlion statue, according to their selections.

The Merlion has never been more spoilt for choice when it came to choosing his party clothes.

Singapore editor wins Mishmash Asia prize

Saturday, March 24th, 2012

Singapore-based freelance editor Christie Madley was awarded a local prize for submitting the best entry in South-East Asia & Hong Kong. Her video art – Lilac Chaser – is a unique mix of experimental movement that creates a hallucinatory sensation.

The Mishmash music/video/remix competition received 300 entries from more than 50 countries around the world over a two months period that started in January.

Getty Images has announced the five winners of the annual competition.

Prize Winner Video
Global Grand Prix and Americas Jason Harper (US) In This Shop
Asia Pacific Marcia Hawira (New Zealand) Natalia
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Blake Dixon (UK) The Newton N. Minow Experience
Public vote prize Bartolome Barrero (Spain) Mother Nature
Local prize (South East Asia & Hong Kong) Christie Madley (Singapore) Lilac Chaser

“So colourful and meaningful!” was how jury member and leading Bollywood film producer Aashish Singh from Yash Raj Films described Madley’s entry.Each of the winning entries cleverly blurred the lines between imagery and video to create works which both impressed and challenged the judges with their creativity, story-telling techniques, slick editing and innovative subject matter.

The competition was judged by 29 of the world’s leading music, technology and film production professionals.

“Very unique, very original,” commented Toshiya Kono, Creative Director of Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Japan, on Madley’s remix.Mishmash entrants could choose to enter one of three categories: short story, music video or video art.

Each film, which needed to be between one and three minutes long, was created using Getty Images video, music and imagery content.

Exhibition: 4 continents in 3D

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

Extremely realistic 3D imageries of people and places across 12 countries in 4 continents. I was amazed at the dimensionality of the imagery.

The free exhibition is from 14-29 March (10am to 7pm) at The Arts House.

Stefen Chow being interviewed at the launch of the exhibition.

Stefen Chow being interviewed at the launch of the exhibition.

The exhibition comprises a number of wall-mounted LG Cinema 3D TVs using battery-free glasses.

Each of the two cameras need to be aligned and adjusted manually for each shot.

Each of the two cameras need to be aligned and adjusted manually for each shot.

Each TV showcases a different set of imageries taken by award-winning Stefen Chow for the international Denis Group, a Singapore-headquartered company established in 1862 which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

The stereoscopic imagery were taken using a pair of Nikon D7000 DSLRs mounted on a slider which allowed the distance between the two cameras to be varied whilst maintaining the carefully calibrated alignment between the two cameras.

The slider was in turn mounted on a tripod for stability.

The whole contraption was custom designed and built after a survey and evaluation by Chow found the quality of 3D pictures produced by consumer cameras inadequate for his liking.

Improvised twin-barreled 3D shooting rig.

Improvised twin-barreled 3D shooting rig.

He did not use the higher-end Nikon cameras because the minimum distance between the two lenses – when the two cameras were placed side-by-side – were bigger than that needed in certain shooting situations.

For each imagery, every setting (focus, white balance, exposure etc) had to be put on manual to ensure both cameras produced imageries with consistent focus and exposure – so that they could be merged into 3D imagery.

Chow told me that the time taken to set up the rig and prepare for the shot took at least 30 minutes. In all, he snapped more than 700GB of imagery for the project.

Who is Stefen Chow?

Stefen Chow, award winning photographer.Stefen Chow has been awarded in PDN, PX3 and was nominated for the PDN 30 and World Press Photo Masterclass.

Stefen has worked with Geo, Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Aurora Select, Cartier, Keppel Shipyard, Nikon and Shell International.

His works have been exhibited in cities including Los Angeles, Paris, Beijing and Singapore. He is an endorsed Nikon Professional with Nikon Singapore.

An accomplished adventurer, Stefen summitted Mount Everest, becoming one of the rare individuals to climb and photograph the mountain.

TODAY! Three super-zoom Nikon COOLPIX cameras arrives in Singapore

Friday, March 16th, 2012

The Nikon COOLPIX L310 (S$339), S9200 (S$509), and S9300 (S$549) are available in Singapore from today.

The Nikon COOLPIX super zoom S9200, L310 and S9300 hits the shelves in Singapore today.

The Nikon COOLPIX super zoom S9200, L310 and S9300 hits the shelves in Singapore today.

The three COOLPIX compact cameras were first unveiled on 1 February as part of Nikon’s COOLPIX Spring 2012 collection of 14 camera models.

Below are the details:

Nikon COOLPIX L310, S$339 COOLPIX L310

S$339

  • Black
  • 14.1 megapixels
  • 21x optical zoom with wide-angle capability.
  • Focal range: 25 mm wide-angle to 525 mm super-telephoto.
  • Large 3-inch TFT LCD monitor.
Nikon COOLPIX S9200, S$509 COOLPIX S9200

S$509

  • Silver
  • Black
  • Brown
  • Navy
  • 16.0 megapixels
  • 18x optical zoom lens with 25 mm to 450mm
  • Night Portrait, Backlighting, Night Landscape Mode
  • Records Full-HD Movies with Stereo Sound
  • Crisp 3-Inch TFT LCD Monitor
Nikon COOLPIX S9300, S$549 COOLPIX S9300

S$549

  • Silver
  • Black
  • Red
  • Blue
  • 16.0 megapixels
  • 18x optical zoom lens with 25 mm to 450mm
  • Night Portrait, Backlighting, Night Landscape Mode
  • Records Full-HD Movies with Stereo Sound
  • Crisp 3-Inch TFT LCD Monitor
  • GPS, Electronic Compass, Log Function, and Point-of-Interest Display

Lumix compact cameras: Spring/Summer 2012 line-up

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Panasonic has a line-up of 10 new Lumix compacts comprising 4 from the High Zoom series, 2 from the Tough and Active series, and 4 from the Stylish Casual series. Prices are yet to be announced but they will be available in April.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ30 pays a visit to the Mont Saint-Michel.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TZ30 pays a visit to the Mont Saint-Michel.

The slew of 10 new models features optical zoom LEICA DC lens starting from ultra wide angles, ultra-thin aspherical lens system. as well as nano surface coating technology for superior image quality.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-SZ1, SZ7, TZ25 and TZ30 from the High Zoom series.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-SZ1, SZ7, TZ25 and TZ30 from the High Zoom series.

4 new High Zoom LUMIX cameras

The four new travel companions comprises the LUMIX DMC-TZ30 (14.1 MP) and TZ25 (12.1 MP), as well as the slimmer LUMIX DMC-SZ1 (16.1 MP) and SZ7 (14.1 MP).

The TZ30 comes with a powerful 20x optical zoom and an upgraded built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) for the avid traveller.

Starting from a wide angle of 24mm to the maximum zoom at 480mm, the TZ30 sports a 20x optical zoom LEICA DC lens, up from 16x in its predecessor.

The GPS allows geo-tagging for photos taken in 203 countries.

The DMC-SZ7 has a 14.1-megapixel MOS sensor with full-HD video recording while the DMC-SZ1 has a 16.1-megapixel CCD sensor and HD?? video recording.

The more modest 10x optical zoom starts from a wide angle of 25mm and zooms to 250mm.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FT4 and FT20 from the Tough and Active series.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FT4 and FT20 from the Tough and Active series.

2 new Tough and Active LUMIX cameras

For the more adventurous photographers with a more active lifestyle, there is the LUMIX DMC-FT4 (12.1 MP) and FT20 (16.1 MP).

The all-weather DMC-FT4 is fully protected against water immersion (up to 12m), dust and sand, as it is strengthened with inner rubber padding and reinforced glass.

It is also freeze-proof, enduring temperatures down to -10 degree Celsius.

With shock-resistant material on the exterior and folded optics and supplementary dampener to protect its lens unit, the FT4 is dust-proof up to a height of 2 metres

The FT4 is also equipped with a built-in GPS.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FH6, FH8, FX80 and S2 from the Stylish Casual series.

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FH6, FH8, FX80 and S2 from the Stylish Casual series.

4 new Stylish Casual LUMIX cameras

For casual users looking for a stylish and compact shooter, there is the LUMIX DMC-FH6 (14.1 MP), FH8 (16.1 MP), FX80 (12.1 MP) and S2 (14.1 MP).

The DMC-FX80, DMC-FH8 and DMC-FH6 are all slim, because of the LEICA DC Vario-Summarit lens rated at F2.5.

The 5x optical zoom ranges from 24mm ultra wide-angle to 120mm.

The DMC-FH8, DMC-FH6, and DMC-S2 are capable of recording dynamic HD video in 1280 x 720 p at a smooth 25p (PAL) in MP4 (FH8) or Motion JPEG (FH6).

The DMC-FX80 is capable of full-HD recording at 1920 x 1080 50i (PAL) videos in AVCHD (MPEG-4/H.264) format.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III in Singapore on 17 March

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III will be available at all authorised Canon dealers on Saturday, 17 March. Body only: S$4,699. Body + Kit lens: S$5,999. The kit lens will be the EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

 

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III will hit Singapore stores on 17 March, Saturday.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark III will hit Singapore stores on 17 March, Saturday.

Globally launched two weeks ago, the 22.3-megapixel DSLR from Canon will hit the stores in Singapore this Saturday – two days from now.

The online estimate of US$3,500 for the body turned out to be rather accurate.

The BG-E11 battery grip will be only be available in end April.