Return of the Macau pic spam!!

1. The General Post Office building


2. The Lou Kao Mansion


3. Inside the mansion


4. When you're inside cramped quarters like this, a UWA lens becomes God sent.


5. A UWA also let's you do this - get subject that's right in front while keeping the view behind. The man is the carver of the leaf. Yes. He carved that dragon onto that dried leaf and the leaf is still in one piece.


6. A-Ma Temple. The oldest and longest surviving temple in Macau.


7. Devotees offering prayers in the temple


8. The Church of Our Lady of Penha. Those black spots are not dust. Those are dragonflies flying around the place.


9.


10. St. Lawrence's Church



Note : All pics done on the Minolta 20mm f2.8 lens on an A850

I have one question : Do you guys mind the UWA distortion in shots like no. 10 and 8? How much can you take or do you prefer straight pictures?

*edit : fixed pic*

This post has been edited by shootkk: Nov 15 2010, 10:06 AM

Yes. You need the camera RAW plugin. I dunno what version of the file you need to get for CS2. You should download the latest one for CS2 and see if that works. If it don't then it means you need to upgrade your photoshop to later versions to get a camera RAW plugin that supports your cam.

The real question is why you wanna trade your A700 for an A55 or A580? Isn't better to wait for the A700 replacement? Sure it has better features than the A55 and A580. You've already waited so long what's another few months?

In terms of what? High ISO? The A700's IQ is not at all shabby in comparison. So the newer models tend to be cleaner at higher ISOs but have you compared by doing RAW conversions for A700 and A55/A580? What about dynamic range and colours?

Don't get caught up with the high ISO hype. It's good to have clean high ISO images but I'll rather have a broader dynamic range and colours plus the handling of the A700.

I give the A55/A580 a passing yawn. The A55 is a breakthrough but I'm really waiting for the A700 replacement to see what the real deal is.

My suggestion : sell your gears now and recoup your money but wait for the A700 replacement before you buy anything.

This post has been edited by shootkk: Nov 15 2010, 05:09 PM

Worm? Just kidding... I have no idea but the important thing is that it's gone!

albnok : Thanks for the comments. I sometimes do find it a bit difficult trying to align the edges using an UWA. Tilt a little this way or that way and the edges can really run off! Hahaha!

zstan : Wah! You go to Korea take pics of leng lui only ar? I dunno ler but this pic I feel the tummy a bit big ler... better she cover it. Hahaha! Otherwise I feel the shot is a wee bit soft? Hands shaking when in front of the leng lui?

Pic spam time!

Let's go on a Casino Strip romp today shall we?

1. City of Dreams. Well if you go there and gamble & gamble only then it may very well be the city of dead dreams. LOL!


2. The virtual mermaid that will make an occasional appearance inside the City of Dreams' entrance


3. This is how big the screen really is


4. Hard Rock Hotel Lobby


5. Wall of memorabilia in the Hard Rock Hotel.


6. Le Grand Canal Shoppes in the Venetian Macau


7. There really is a canal running through the rows of shops. Indoors! On the second floor no less!


8. The gondoliers even sing for you!


9. Main Lobby of the Venetian Macau


10. If you've never been here or to Las Vegas, you will have no idea how big the Venetian is. Genting is nothing compared to it.

mastering89 : The 35mm lens is a DT lens for APS-C only while the 85mm lens is a full frame lens.

SAM is the cheap version of SSM where the lens in driven by a motor inside the lens itself rather than being driven by the screw on the camera body.

Thus SAM and SSM means in-lens motor. Just that SSM is the expensive stuff.

Pic spam!

Night shots. I'm noob when it comes to night shots on a (borrowed) tripod. C&C please!

1. MGM Grand casino and bridge to Taipa


2. Lisboa - one of the oldest casino is Macau.


3. The pool in front of the Wynn Casino where musical fountain performances are held


4. The musical fountain of Wynn Casino.

I have one question. Anyone knows why this happens - See the Wynn logo on the top left corner? It seems to be running. My cam was on a tripod. SS off and every shot I had of this casino with that logo will show that the logo is kinda 'running'. Why is this so?

5. Across the street from Wynn's - guess what? More casinos!


6.

zstan : If it's ghosting then it should be the same in every shot right? But that's not the case. In some shots it runs more. Some shots it runs less. And yes I do have a filter on but the filter stays on for all the shots.

Thanks. I usually set my A850 to vivid and up my sharpness settings to +3 (I do this for all my settings as it uses a CMOS sensor that's usually less sharp than my A100 which uses a CCD! Haha).

During PP I normally adjust a bit of levels and curves and sometimes tweak the brightness a bit.

For my Macau shots, I shot in RAW and edited in Sony's IDC 3.2 - tweaked some shots with DRO and adjusted the curves only for most. I usually up the saturation about 10% from default when editing in IDC.

No extra sharpening for any of my Macau shots! I just love the sharpness provided by the Minolta 20mm f2.8 lens!

albnok : Flare! Why didn't I think of that? Must be the fact it's a night shot! hahaha! How easy for use to just link flare with sun and not any other light source. Yes. The 20mm does seem to be prone to flares and I guess having a filter did not help matters!

ahpingko : +3 sharpness is permanently dialed into my A850. +1 contrast in some settings and that's all.

8tvt : I have a filter so that I can chuck the lens cap away in my bag and carry the lens around and not worry. They do sometimes prove to be a nuisance with flares and ghosting but until it really gets on my nerves, I just leave them on.

bysquashy : Nah! Definitely not mist cause the shots where the fountain was not active also had the same problem.

lwliam : Coma? I don't think so. I think most probably it's a little flare made worse by the UV filter. I was shooting the scene at f8 so I think any coma that can happen should have been gone after stopping down so much.

Anyway, here's a little story behind the shot. As I was framing my shot and waiting for the fountain to start, along comes a Chinese (meaning from China proper) lady and asks to look at my cam.

So I stepped back and she peered through the viewfinder and said, "Wah! Jiang je kan dao hen ching chu or!" Or translated - "Wah! Like this can see clearly!"

She is very nice looking and the fact that she peered through the viewfinder without any prompting means that she knows a thing or two about cameras. If not for the fact that she was hanging off the arms of another guy, I would have made my move! .............. Or not! LOL!!!!

Haiyar! My cam mounted on tripod ady. Framing and settings all done ady and you want me to take the cam off the tripod meh? Even if I did the result will be the same - the gal already gone after I get my cam off the tripod!

zstan : The gal is behind the cam leh... she's looking through the viewfinder remember? Plus the cam was pointed upwards and not level leh.. and this is first time I use tripod leh... borrowed from my friend one some more... hahahahaha....

zstan : My handphone no cam one lar.... serious! My handphone can only call and do SMS! That's it! Save money to buy lens mar.... hahahahaha...

mikeshashimi : Nothing so special. Just that the 50mm f1.4 can capture a little more light and is FF compatible.

mikeshashimi : Nah! Bokeh is comparable and generally both of them do not have especially good bokeh. Sharpness also comparable.

Most people have the misconception that the larger the aperture, the better the bokeh. This is not true. Larger apertures makes it EASIER for you to get bokeh. It DOES NOT guarantee good bokeh.

Pic spam!

Panorama shot of Macau Peninsula from the Macau Tower.


C&C please.