Damn.
I've never seen so many gadgets that I'd love to own in one place before.
I went to Glorietta earlier today to check out PhotoWorld Manila 2007 with a few friends who were also camera nuts (in Am's case, just plain nuts). We wandered around for a bit looking at the things on display, lingered in the more interesting booths, played around with some of the toys on display and exercised out right to lust over equipment that we'd likely never own.
It's sad really...
The JT booth had lots of gear and we stayed there for some time with me coming back over and over to ogle a bit. They had SIGMA lenses, but sadly the 10-20 Nikon mount wasn't in stock. If it were, I might have had difficulty controlling myself from buying the damn thing... I'll need it next week for my Bohol trip after all... I'd like to experiment with an ultra-wide soon so I wanted to get this lens. I seem to always miss out on the opportunity to get it though.
JT also had LowePro bags, Stofen diffusers, SIGMA flash guns, waterproof/shockproof cases (which had the funniest commercials i've ever seen) and tripods. Velbon tripods to be exact.
I've been looking for a decent tripod for the past few weeks. I have a really old Velbon aluminum tripod that's fit for holding up small vehicles if you judge it by how it looks and weighs. This thing is heavy! So heavy that if you forget to lock the legs and it moves and manages to clamp your hands between the legs then it will HURT! To top it off, it has no quick release platform for your camera so you're forced to thread the tripod mounting screw every time you want to play around with it. I wanted to purchase a Manfrotto ball head at PWM2k7 earlier today but they didn't accept credit cards at the Manfrotto booth so tough luck for me... Anyway, I was looking for the Velbon 400-series tripod but JT only had the 600R. The price difference isn't much, only around 500 or so but I kept thinking about the Benro tripods at 24k in Hidalgo. Roughly 3-4k price so it might be a better buy overall. So my new tripod will have to wait.
In the Island Multi booth, they had Manfrottos, Cokin, Mamiya, Hasselblad and other known name brands. they also had National Geographic stuff and it was cute! Imagine running around with a Manfrotto tripod with leg neoprene covers with the NatGeo logo, NatGeo emblem on the ballhead and NatGeo equip bag? You'll probably get into events a bit faster and be revered in travel shoots... Maybe. Heh...
I got a Cokin circular polarizer from Island and it was pretty reasonable in price. 1.4k compared to the Fujiyama or Tiffen which are 2-3x more expensive. Reviews n the Cokin aren't bad so I'll try it out and see for myself soon.
After playing with the VRs, 2.8s, 1.8s and etc in the Nikon booth, I bought the cheapest thing they had but something I really needed. the BC-5. It's the plastic LCD cover for my D70s. My cover's bottom latch snapped off after multiple removals so this was a nice find for the day. At P350 it wasn't too painful on my pocket either.
We wandered over to the Canon booths since Pacs (office mate/photonut) was a 350D user. Lusting after lenses apparently isn't restricted to the Dark Side (Nikon). While I love the Nikon lineup of lenses, Canon's L-series lenses are impressive. If you see a white Canon lens it's an automatic mark of respect since he's either a pro or filthy rich (which doesn't entail much respect now that I think about it).
I played around with the 400D, the 1DS and finally the MkII. The MkII is huge! Seems bigger than the Nikon D2H in my hands... but maybe that was due to the 100-400 L lens on it. This combination is heavy enough to require the tripod mount be on the lens collar since extended use might stress the mount rings... I can't imagine this lens on a 350D since the camera will be dwarfed by the humongous optics.
Sony had a booth as well with their new Alpha dslr, video cams and Cybershots. I looked at the alpha. I lifted the Alpha. I looked through the viewfinder and focused. Conclusion, I hate the alpha. It's too light I think to damp down shutter vibration and hand tremors. While it's true that Sony's version of VR will alleviate much of this issue, it still won't cure it completely. You'll still have to go through the trial-and-error approach by taking multiples hots and picking the sharp one. This could make you miss a critical shot that happens once in a lifetime. Also, the lightness of the body with a lens already attached (18-55) makes it feel like a cheap toy. Honestly, I might be biased towards my tank-like D70s but the Alpha just feels too flimsy for my tastes.
Pentax had a booth right next to Sony. Doesn't matter much since I know jack about their camera except for pricing which is comparable to Canon/Nikon so I'd rather go with the brands with more support with it's installed base and with a better 2nd hand market.
So how was Photoworld for me? Not bad. I saw some interesting things on display, saw stuff I'd like to buy but can't afford, saw stuff I can afford but don't need to buy right now, saw things I was curious about and will research on in the next few days and other things...
I would've preferred that they had more vendors attend. I only saw one Quiapo store represented and I really would have liked to see Mayer, 24k, Henry's and others represented there. It would have given the photographers more options, more things to gawk at and generally liven up the event a bit more.
Instead of going here though, maybe you can just trek on down to Hidalgo... They've fixed up the streets, cleared the vendors and generally made the place as good as in it was in it's heyday. You'll likely find great bargains in the unseen corners of the little stores there. You can haggle with the shop owners. You can canvass prices next-door. There are an infinite number of things to look at, purhcase and fondle while in Hidalgo for us camera buffs. Don't let the harassing travel get to you. It's part of the experience of getting to Quiapo. =)
Photoworld is a great place to showcase your latest and greatest products for the big names. It's a venue for displaying your noteworthy and strange items and somewhere you can get your name recognized if you have a shop. It's a place to entice non-photographers into the "dark side". For buying your preferred lightsaber and other tools of the trade though, head on down to Hidalgo.
2/02/2007
New Toys
Did you ever really want a toy when you were a kid? Something that you swore would be the last thing you'd ever ask for?
I said that when I purchased my Nikon D70s. It would be the last DSLR that i would buy, with the condition that if it broke, got stolen, or became obsolete then I could get a new one (you never know...). I realize that I can't afford it right now but I really want a D200... Do I need it? Well the 70% increase in pixel count wouldn't hurt. The robustness of the body is a plus as well since it's made of magnesium. The metering is much more versatile as well as the white balance controls. The photos are a bit warmer than the D70s' without needing a warming filter.
Will I get one? Well I want one... Should I get one?
Probably not.
The benefits aren't that big a leap over the D70s and while it may turn out to be more resilient to shocks and drops than the D70s, I do believe in something I read somewhere... "metal dents, plastic just bounces". If it doesn't shatter into a million pieces first... Maybe I'll wait for the D73.6s or something or other...
New bodies in the future will probably have better software, hardware, sensors, specs and due to Moore's law might be cheaper for the package. I'm sure we'll hit the 20MP mark in a year or so with the pace of development these days. If so, that'll be twice the resolution of the D200. Prices have continued to drop as well.
Nikon D1, Circa 2000
The D1 launched at around $5500 with 2.7MP and now the D40 with more MPs (6.2), better overall specs and more versatile settings is just $600 with the 18-55 kit lens. That's around 10% of the price of the D1 after around six years. Nikon's baby DSLR does more things better than the D1 so hopefully the trend will continue in the coming years.
Some things I haven't tried, but I do want to get, are teleconverters and fisheye lenses.
While TCs (teleconverters) only work on lenses with the largest of apertures (uo to f4 or so), it'll be nice to extend a 400mm F4 to an 800mm F8 for serious in-your-face shooting. that'll make great shots of the moon, sports events where you're on the bleachers, car races and etc... An F4 400mm lens though would cost around P200k, and the TC-20E II (an autofocus 2x Nikon teleconverter) itself is no lightweight at around P25-40k.
Ouch.
Anyway... Photoworld Manila is on right now. I think i'll pop over later today and see what they have there. Last year, they had Manfrotto tripods at 50% off, EOL Canon and Nikon lenses going for 20-30% discounts, off-brands like Sigma and Tamron showing their wares and anything photo related scatterred all over the place.
So see you in Glorietta! I'll be there later today. Maybe I can pick up n 18-200VR for 10k...
Asa... (and I don't mean ISO...=P )
I said that when I purchased my Nikon D70s. It would be the last DSLR that i would buy, with the condition that if it broke, got stolen, or became obsolete then I could get a new one (you never know...). I realize that I can't afford it right now but I really want a D200... Do I need it? Well the 70% increase in pixel count wouldn't hurt. The robustness of the body is a plus as well since it's made of magnesium. The metering is much more versatile as well as the white balance controls. The photos are a bit warmer than the D70s' without needing a warming filter.
Will I get one? Well I want one... Should I get one?
Probably not.
The benefits aren't that big a leap over the D70s and while it may turn out to be more resilient to shocks and drops than the D70s, I do believe in something I read somewhere... "metal dents, plastic just bounces". If it doesn't shatter into a million pieces first... Maybe I'll wait for the D73.6s or something or other...
New bodies in the future will probably have better software, hardware, sensors, specs and due to Moore's law might be cheaper for the package. I'm sure we'll hit the 20MP mark in a year or so with the pace of development these days. If so, that'll be twice the resolution of the D200. Prices have continued to drop as well.
Nikon D1, Circa 2000 Nikon D40, Circa 2006
Enough about camera bodies then. How about lenses? Granted, the Nikon 18-70 "kit" lens from Nikon is pretty much all you'll need for casual photography. It's 18mm is pretty wide but with Nikon's crop factor, that'll end up being the equivalent of 26mm or so on 35mm film, which isn't that wide at all.
I admit, I do have Lens Envy, Lens Lust, LAS (Lens Acquisition Syndrome), OCD (Optics Collection Disorder) and any other euphemism and acronym you can call it. While I only have three lenses now (kit, 70-210 4-5.6 and the 50mm 1.8) it doesn't stop me from wanting to acquire the latest and greatest of the Nikon lens stables.
So which ones do I want? Damn... too many to mention I suppose. In a nutshell, all the VRs and all the 2.8s... That should do. For now...
Realistically speaking though, I can name several that I'd like to shoot for in the coming years.
In no particular order;
18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor
17-35mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor
28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom-Nikkor
10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor
12-24mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor
70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
200-400mm f/4G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor
105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor
All that would cost more than a million and a half PhP! Considering that, then I'd probably just reach for the 18-200VR (P45,000-50,000) and the 12-24mm (P40,000-47,000). I don't really need a lens longer than 200mm right now since I have no plans to go into wildlife photography so the 18-200 should suit me just fine for everyday stuff. You can't go wrong with an ultra-wide though so the 12-24 is a must-have. If i'm in dire enough straits, then I'll opt for the sigma 10-20mm which is around half the price of the Nikkor. reviews aren't bad and I've tried one on several occasions... it's not bad.
Nikkor 18-200VR
Some things I haven't tried, but I do want to get, are teleconverters and fisheye lenses.
While TCs (teleconverters) only work on lenses with the largest of apertures (uo to f4 or so), it'll be nice to extend a 400mm F4 to an 800mm F8 for serious in-your-face shooting. that'll make great shots of the moon, sports events where you're on the bleachers, car races and etc... An F4 400mm lens though would cost around P200k, and the TC-20E II (an autofocus 2x Nikon teleconverter) itself is no lightweight at around P25-40k.
Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye
Nikon's new 10.5mm Fisheye is a digital specific lens meaning it'll only work with the APS-C sized sensors. It's a fun lens. the fisheye effect is similar to what you get from looking through a door's peephole. It gives you a very large degree of vision in a 205-deg arc in front of you. That's huge! Also, since it's reallllly wide, focusing on a single point up close will give you strange distortion effects. sort of like barrel distortion magnified a thousand-fold. Taking a portrait gives you an abnormally large nose ith the ears absurdly placed on the side of the subject's head. .It's cute ^_^ In general use though, it's a nice toy and interesting for architecture work since it'll really give you weird perspectives. the total damage - P42k.
Fisheye samples:
Ouch.
Anyway... Photoworld Manila is on right now. I think i'll pop over later today and see what they have there. Last year, they had Manfrotto tripods at 50% off, EOL Canon and Nikon lenses going for 20-30% discounts, off-brands like Sigma and Tamron showing their wares and anything photo related scatterred all over the place.
So see you in Glorietta! I'll be there later today. Maybe I can pick up n 18-200VR for 10k...
Asa... (and I don't mean ISO...=P )
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