It's All About Lenses

Santa is a bit early this year as I received two new lenses. And it's not even my birthday yet!

This lens' 2.8 aperture makes it easy to take pictures even with low light. And the macro allows me to go as near as I want and still get a great shot. I love this lens a lot!

18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Macro HSM



I have yet to use this lens but I've seen photos taken with it. No matter how far the subject is, the photo stays clear and crisp. Can't wait to use it.

18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM



I wonder how much I need to squint and pray to get this one:

30mm F1.4 EX DC HSM



Ba-Be-Bi-Bo-Bu
Perlas na bilog
Huwag tutulog-tulog
Sabihin sa akin kaagad ang sagot
Ba-Be-Bi-Bo-Bu

Wednesday Lust Focus - Nikon D5000

Here's the link to the tutorial for this camera. Digitutor rocks!

City Outing

The rain stopped at around 4:30pm. I was having second thoughts about leaving but I decided to leave at 5pm to try my new SB-800. What better way to test my speedlight than by taking photos in the evening? Uh huh. Duh!

I originally wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens. I like that place a lot. But I figured it's probably not a good place to go to after that heavy rain. So I ended up at the National Museum of Singapore. Surprise, surprise. They have an exhibit of a David replica, in RED! The exhibit is called Surrounding David.

Here's a few photos that exhibits the difference of having a speedlight. I am not very good at its use yet but I am experimenting while learning. ;)

The photo on the left was taken using the Nikon Diffusion Dome while the one on the right was taken with the built-in bounce card. Very big difference on the result.


The first photo was taken without the flash. I just wanted to show the difference of one with a flash.


I converted the image on the right into black and white and it became an eerie photo. Anytime now, I expect someone to look through the window at the top. Ha ha.


The one on the left is the original color of the David statue. Yes, it is in red. The one on the right is after I changed another photo into antique.


I saw this sculpture beside the Singapore National Museum. I thought this was at Clarke Quay. Or maybe it just looks similar. The photo was converted into antique.

SB-800

I finally bought my SB-800 after a long wait. I've been procrastinating because I was trying to decide if I should buy a 2nd hand or a brand new one.

Before buying one, I think it matters that you ask around and research about the different prices from different stores. Nikon.com.sg puts the retail price for the SB-800 at $816.33. You can buy the same from Cathay photo for $630. A second hand unit from clubsnap forums will give you a tag price of between $400 - 480. Sometimes a second hand piece will come much higher than that.

I was at Peninsula Plaza the other night and I bought a dry box as the one I had before was given away. I asked for the price of the SB-800 and was surprised to hear $530.

The next day, I went back to the same area and asked other shops for the same item. The price ranges from $620, $630, $530 (cash). The last shop I went to (De-Luxe Cameras Centre Pte Ltd) originally quoted me a high price but it went down all the way to $500, without GST. Thus, it came around to $535 (cash) or $550 (credit card). Not a bad price actually as a few of the people I know bought this same item for $630 or more.

I am not very familiar yet with the use of the speedlight but I think with practice it'll come easily. I am just so happy that I have finally bought this.

Happy clicking!