#1

Exposure: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/5.6

#2

Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/5.6

#3

Exposure: 1/200 sec
Aperture: f/5.6

#4

Exposure: 2.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#5

Exposure: 4.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#6

Exposure: 10.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#7

Exposure: 5.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#8

Exposure: 10.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#9

Exposure: 10.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#10

Exposure: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

not bad...

Nice one bro, love your night shots... so u carry ur tripod everywhere during the photoshoot eh?

Yes. I was traveling with my colleague and both of us were carrying tripod. I knew I'm gonna shoot a lot of landscape.

actually pic #1 is illegal snap. if u get caught they will warn u.

anyway , love the night shots. u sure know how to find the right lighting angle. why didnt u try HDR?

Are you sure it's illegal? I was taking the shot in the terminal, behind the glass.
I do not see how the night scene I took can be improved via HDR. If anyone would like to help, I can send you the hi-res image.

IIANM... every airport i went during my travels doesnt allow people snapping pic from inside the departure lounge. but i dont think it's mandatory.

anyway, for HDR, u need to provide all 3 (overexposed, normal, underexposed) shots.

You must be rather unlucky... none of the airports I've been to since owning a DSLR have stopped me from taking a shot in the departure hall waiting area. Must be deft to avoid the notice of security personnel, I guess. This one in particular was taken using a foot-long 50-200mm lens that's hard to be inconspicuous with:


San Francisco

maybe i'm not 'deft' enuff.

erm..mind asking how to set the aperture??

I set the aperture via 4-way button on my S3IS under M mode.

More photos:

#11

Exposure: 5.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#12

Exposure: 13.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#13

Exposure: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#14

Exposure: 15.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#15

Exposure: 10.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#16 China Town aka Niu Che Sui

Exposure: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2

#17 China Town aka Niu Che Sui

Exposure: 1/25 sec
Aperture: f/3.2

I had my dinner at the restaurant with red windows as shown in #18. The dumpling (Xiao Long Bao) was so delicious. I'd say it's more delicious than i-Dragon in KL. 3 pieces is sold at SGD3.50 if I'm not mistaken.

I love the first picture with the trail light to the plane wing.

2nd picture I like is the 5th one...

Great work! Can use such an affordable camera to do amazing shots!

Imagine if you have wider angle of dSLR advantages....

I will be getting an Alpha 200 before CNY. I can almost see it in my camera bag now...

wow, congrats bro..

really nice night scenes..
waiting to see your amazing DSLR shots.. u going for the single lens and get the sigma later on ?

Gong Xi Fatt Chai..

I'm getting the single kit package. And I already ordered the Sigma 70-300mm APO. I would like to have the 170-500mm but it's just too expensive for me. I may get a 500mm mirror in the near future to shoot bird. 300mm will not have enough reach if I want to shoot outside of zoo or bird park.

Heh brother... Why Sony? I know Sony got great lenses like Leica 85 f1.4 and 135 f1.8 but the 135 f1.8 alone cost double than of Canon EF135 f2 L. And I see no reason on it could perform the already excellent Canon prime

If you love potrait, why not getting a used Canon 5D that can give you amazing quality at super low price?

By the way, I suggest those good stuff because I see great potential from your pictures. I hope the gears will not limit you much.

For the very minimum gears of great quality, I would suggest 5D + EF24-105 L or 5D + 17-40 L + 135 f2.

This post has been edited by TheVoIP: Feb 3 2008, 08:52 PM

No, not b'cos of the lens. I've been using S3IS and I know I can't shoot without image stabilizer. I need a focal length of 300mm for wildlife and it will be a pain without IS. Canon's IS or Nikon's VR are just too expensive at that focal length. So it leaves me no choice, either Pentax, Sony or Olympus. I don't like the 2x crop factor, so Olympus is out. Base on various reviews, Pentax image stabilizer is no better than Sony, so I decided to get Sony.

Ahh, I've missed out the latest offering from Panasonic, but the price is crazily high.

Totally agree, without stabilizer, the tele zoom will be very hard. I tried 500mm reflex in my A100, i hold very very hard and hold my breath, the scene in my viewfinder still moving up and down....but after I shot, the pic is clear and sharp...Thanks to the stabilizer!

a monopod is helpful

Monopod is usually used with a huge lens. It will look funny on S3

These are the rest of the photos:

#18

Exposure: 5.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#19

Exposure: 8.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#20

Exposure: 10.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#21

Exposure: 4.0 sec
Aperture: f/8.0

#22 Going Home


C and C are welcome.

oh no lah.. i mean if you really buy the 170-500mm..

saw a professional photog using monopod at bird park.
He even with kneecaps on. And a bag full with accessories.



This post has been edited by mindkiller6610: Feb 5 2008, 08:34 PM

Just curious, how do you know he's professional? Because of the white lens and vest? Hehe

Anyway, if I get to purchase that Bigma, I'll surely buy a monopod.

ya from his physical out look..at least he looks professonal .
he got knee caps on, a bag with many lens, filters, around 10 filters i think.

This post has been edited by mindkiller6610: Feb 5 2008, 08:53 PM

Hmm, I'm considering to get kneecaps. Even after using DSLRs with Live View for the past couple of years, I now find that I prefer to compose with the optical viewfinder and only use Live View as the last resort, and as a result, I do go on my knees quite often to take lower vantage-point shots. Must be that huge viewfinder coverage on the E-3 that tipped the balance of preference...

great night shots!!! i would like to ask a question about night shot...what if use aperture f/2.8 for night shot? any difference to the shots using f/8.0 or any other?

my F31fd seem can adjust the exposure time only but i cannot adjust aperture simultaneously...its either exposure OR aperture cannot set both

This post has been edited by navilink: Feb 7 2008, 05:33 PM

There are two reason I use F8 rather than F3.5 on my S3IS:
1) F8 gives a sharper photo, although this is only noticeable at 100% crop.
2) F8 creates star effects on light spots which I think is beautiful.

TheVoIP: Uh the 85mm F1.4, 135mm F1.8 and 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 DT are Carl Zeiss AF lenses.

Not Leica. Don't confuse them yo!

The original 1988 Minolta AF lenses were made as a marriage with Leica - Minolta made some Leica bodies, Leica shared their lens design expertise with Minolta. That's why the old Minolta lenses (70-210mm F4 beercan, 28-135mm F4-4.5 etc.) all have that Leica image look - creamy bokeh, good object/background separation, with liquid colors.

Later Minolta lenses were also designed with BOKEH in mind, not insane sharpness. They also made circular aperture blades mandatory. Other brand lenses may be sharp but they render near backgrounds as 'sharp' or 'blocky' or 'double-lined'. In other words, distracting. Minolta would not have any of that.

If you get into hardcore potraiture, Minolta also made a 135mm F2.8/T4.5 Smooth Transition Focus lens, which Sony also made. That is the undisputed bokeh king, Canon and Nikon have nothing that gives the same effect. Defocus Control/Soft Focus != Smooth Transition Focus.

http://www.ishizuka-takao.net/materials/mi...28t45/index.htm
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11302 (note how it renders tree leaves in the background)
http://www3.xitek.com/testreport/xitek/135stf.htm
http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4488
http://photoxp.daifukuya.com/index/lens/135mm.html

Also, Minolta lenses are coated so that the colors match between all lenses. Canon lens color runs all over the place if you shoot with Kelvin WB and don't shoot RAW. Not consistent.

Finally if kelvinyam gets the Minolta/Sony 500mm F8 mirror lens, that's the only mirror lens in the world with Auto-Focus. It's damn light and short also at 662 grams/12cm.

So yes, a Sony gives you the expertise of:

1) Minolta when they married Leica. Plus auto-focus!
2) Sony when they married Carl Zeiss. Plus auto-focus!
3) Sony when they own some of Tamron. However Sony adds a circular aperture and faster focusing compared to the Tamron versions.

Sorry ah tumpang thread cerita datuk lens all.

thanks for explain...guess i think it works same like our eyes, when we squint our eyes we can see the trail of lights as u mentioned

Exactly. You are a fast learner

albnok, there's nothing to be sorry about. The info given is very helpful

thanks, really noob with photography, therefore i really underutilized my f31fd!!! is it ur camera can set BOTH shutter speed and aperture at the same time kelvin? i don't think my camera can...

Yes. S3IS has full manual control. If it's not because of the noise and jpeg artifacts, it's as good as my Alpha 200.

i love it much dude, especially photo #10.

This post has been edited by yumiex: Feb 8 2008, 11:39 PM

It's not really difficult to take. I got the SS and aperture listed, so you can just use those setting. Once you work out on the composition, you can take similar photo easily

Nice pics ...I like #19 the most ..

all photos very nice.
sharp color especially #19.
wooooo.....the powah of S3IS

bu seems all night shots using tri-pod ?
due to the shutter speed ?

All tripod. You got to bring your tripod along if you plan to do night shooting.