Then get the Zeiss 85mm f1.4 or the 135mm STF. Sure can get kau-kau bokeh that will blow you away!

Nubie??!!! Haiyar... sifu azam dun tipu-tipu lar... Hahahahahaha...

If you're planning to get the twin lens kit then stick to the twin lens kit for the time being. Shoot with the twin lens kit until you know for sure which lens you want to buy before buying anything.

The twin lens will cover a range from 18mm to 200mm. It will let you explore what focal range you prefer to shoot with. 18mm is sometimes wide enough for some. Unless you feel very restricted by the 18mm then there is no need to go any wider.

The kit lenses are good enough. Don't let all those people tell you otherwise. If you cannot learn to maximize your kit lenses, premium lenses will do you little good.

You see, this is the hallmark of inexperienced newcomers lusting after gears' comment or question. No offense but like I said if you need to ask what are the preferred wide angle lenses then you are not ready to buy any lens be it wide or tele. The reason is there is NO PREFERRED lens out there. Each photographer will have his/her own preference that others may or may not find appealing. No one size fits all solution.

So how do you know which lens is right for you? Through experience! There is no other way. No amount of reading of reviews can tell you which lens is right for you. You will have to go out there and shoot and experience the focal lengths for yourself to find the 'right' one. So stop asking and start shooting. The answer will come but most newcomers will not take that advise. They will blow money on lenses only to find that they do not use them all that much.

More Macau pic spam! You guys won't hear the last of it! Muahhahahahaha!

Well...for the next 1 week at least... I still have dozens of RAW files waiting to be processed!



1. Macau Museum - on the top level of the Mount Fortress


2. Bronze statue signifying the friendship between Portugal and China


3. Light at the end of the tunnel! Actually it's the elevator to the entrance of the Macau Museum



And now for some Macau street shots

4. The street leading away from the St. Paul Ruins. The shop one the left is one of the more famous confectioner in Macau - Koi Kei (funny name when spelled in English). Famous for almond cookies and other biscuits!


5. A shop selling antiques.


6. Uncle drying some shark fins in an alleyway (shot is cropped)


7. Shop selling Portuguese egg tarts! Yes. I did try some.


8. 'I don't wanna hear that smart tone from you!'. I found this scene to be amusing so I shot it.


9. I didn't realize that thieves in Macau steal shops! I wonder how many Sasa outlets they have stolen!


10. Foreigners trying to decide if the Ick shop does indeed sell icky stuff.

8tvt : I did not purposely put it in slow shutter. Just set to A mode and shot. The narrow street was very much in the shade being flanked by rows of shop houses on either side so I guess the shutter was slow enough to get the blurry effect. Mind you Macau people walk faster than we do.

8tvt : Ok what... I don't mind the blurry effect in shots like these. I don't need them to be clear for these are not people you know or would be interested in. In fact it makes the shot a little more dynamic by adding movement. For me it gives the street shot the 'street' look.

cjlai : Holy crap! Is that the STF lens??!!

Seems like the first set of blades is not the actual aperture. It's called the flare reduction mask and is controlled by the zoom level.

Oh yes, got that info from google ... so does that make me a newbie too? hahahaha...

STF is the bokeh king lens. Nothing can come close and I mean nothing! Not even the other brands can come close to the bokeh produced by the STF.

More than enough! You can do with just the 18-55mm alone. Don't worry. Just shoot. I'm willing to bet that the 55-200mm will not get too much use even. Unless you like to skodeng lar...

It does not mean that the D90 will have sharper image. It just means that the base ISO of the D90 is 100 while the A550 is 200. The base ISO is the setting where you will get the maximum details, colors and dynamic range output. CMOS sensors usually have a base ISO of 200. It's nothing to worry about.

Pic spam.

Let's go for a tour of the Largo Senado Macau!

1. View of Largo Senado or Senado Square from up high


2. Largo Senado from ground level


3. Fountain at Largo Senado. White building on right is the Holy House of Mercy


4. View from another angle


5. Worm's eye view


6.


7. The St. Dominic's Church at the end of the square.


C&C welcome.

zstan : No. Did not try for close up. Did not change lens also. What would you suggest for a close up?

Yes. All these shots are done using my 20mm. Distortion is most pronounced when you are pointing a UWA lens up or down towards a subject. If you keep your lens level, then distortion can be kept to a minimal.


Thanks!

zstan : For a shot like that to work, you will need some dramatic clouds. As you can see in my shots, there are hardly any clouds on the day I shot. Also I feel that taking too many of these looking up shots they will start to look the same. It's a good suggestion but I guess I'm just not too much of a fan of this type of shots.

If you noticed, in your pic, the building is side lighted. This gives some interesting shadows to the pic. If you look at my pics, the sun hits most of the buildings head on in one row while the other is in full shade. Won't get much interesting effect on those.

I don't know the exact MFD of the 20mm but I can get within a few inches (3 to 5 inches IINM) to a subject.

This post has been edited by shootkk: Nov 4 2010, 10:40 AM

Haha! I can't take credit for that! You should compliment the designers of the buildings and pavement though I suspect that they are long gone.

I just took the pic but thanks anyway.



a. Digital SLRs does not need UV or skyline filters anymore. Electronic sensors are not affected by UV and the slight color of skyline filters can be PPed into your shots. So UV filters are purely for protection purposes.

b. Cheap filters are prone to flaring and ghosting and some even add unwanted color cast to your pic. Some expensive filters have tank like build for protection and are less prone to flaring or ghosting.

c. Anytime you add any filter to your lens you are decreasing the lens' IQ. You're adding another layer of glass to the front so at the very least, the amount of light transmission is going to decrease however minimal it may be. That's why some people don't use filters.

d. It's true. Adding any filter to your lens will increase the chances of getting flare. More glass = more chances of light getting reflected or bounced or whatever off it.

Actually, Zeiss lenses are nothing special ler... just that it's normally razor sharp, has excellent contrast and brings out colors better than most lenses. Then they go and put the T* coating on them.. dunno lar.. maybe can cut flare better gua.... Like that lor... not much special...

Hahahahaha....

wingster : Zeiss bokeh are not really the best out there lar... the bokeh crown still goes to the STF!!!

Heard that the Minolta 35mm G also has great bokeh. The Minolta 85mm prime also got great bokeh. Zeiss bokeh is so-so lar. Zeiss is known more for their sharpness, resolving power, contrast and color.

wingster : I'm confident that the STF pwns all is because Minolta built the STF specifically so that it can render out of this world bokeh.

All other lens maker, Zeiss included, build lenses for sharpness, contrast, etc. If Zeiss had to choose between increasing sharpness or pleasing bokeh, they will go for sharpness and sacrifice bokeh in a blink of an eye.

Try comparing the Minolta's 85mm prime's bokeh with the Zeiss 85mm. You will find that both are not that much different. So to say Zeiss is known for their bokeh is not really accurate.

destfull : No, no. The STF's aperture is at f2.8 but the light transmission that actually gets to the sensor is at f4.5

This is because the STF has an apodization filter to get the bokeh.

If you guys wanna know what good bokeh is, look at the top left hand corner of mastering89's series of pics. See that solitary light spot there? The STF renders it without any sharp edges and transitions smoothly from the light tones to the darker tones. On the other lenses, it gets a clear circle and stands out clearly from the dark background.