2008 Kuala Lumpur Photography Festival

Went there last Saturday. Tons of exhibitors, they occupied the whole lower ground floor of Times Square. Largest booths being Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, Fujifilm and Futuromic AV. Futuromic AV is Malaysia’s sole distributor of Tamron and Ricoh. KLPF is like Malaysia’s version of Photokina. The newest cameras are on display, and so are some of the rarest ones. The one getting the most attention that day must have been this.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II. I tested it out with the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. Noise control is superior to the D3 and D700. It’s H2 ISO mode, or ISO 25600 is actually better than my 400D’s ISO 800. It may be hard to believe, but I’m really being honest with ya. Probably about a dozen people tried it out within a 15 minute timeframe, most being 5D users, including my dad. Pricing wasn’t available yet, but my best guess is under RM 10K but above RM 9K. The Canon person at MidValley also quoted less than RM 10K. It can’t be priced at the original 5D’s launch price tag of RM 15K, because Nikon’s D700 is less than RM 10K. Because so many asked about the price, they put a sign saying “No pricing, yet” or something like that. This is a beta camera, which means no testing with your CF card like I wanted. They don’t want corruption of the firmware.

Even the EOS-1Ds Mark III didn’t get as much attention. Yes, Malfrinko, this is the camera you called crazy.

I gotta say, I think whoever prepped this camera before the show isn’t at all smart. The CF card inside it can only hold one of its 21.1 megapixel photo. Which means I formatted the card about 10 times when I tested it. There’s someone watching you when you use it anyway, so there’s no chance of stealing the card. Oh yes, that’s a 135mm f/2L USM. Amazing portrait lens.

Canon booth, they had the 50D too.

Canon’s photo gallery displaying some of the finest images taken with Canon cameras. Armand Ali’s shot of a MotoGP race bike spitting fire out of its pipes is just stunning. Okay, let’s move on to the Nikon booth, just next to Canon.

D3 and AF-S VR Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 G ED. For a zoom lens, it performed far better than expected. And that D3, I just gently pressed its shutter for a moment and it clicked 15 frames or so, blistering speed…

I don’t think Sony’s booth even had any cameras… so let’s move on to Futuromic.

Tamron display at Futuromic’s booth. The 18-270mm superzoom is now available for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Olympus mounts (I think). Oh and here’s another highly anticipated lens, especially for Nikon DX users, and even more so for mini Nikon DX users (D40, D40X, D60) who are in need of a good UWA lens instead of the 12-24mm f/4, which performs lousily, and want something wider than 11mm as on the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 DX.

Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5. It’s got a 2mm advantage over my Canon 10-22mm UWA on the tele end. Although I don’t think it’ll perform as well as my Canon, Tamron’s optics are excellent. Just look at the 17-50mm f/2.8. It’s sharper than both Canon’s and Nikon’s 17-55mm f/2.8, which are regarded as pro-level standard zooms for 1.6X crop bodies. I guess it’s fair to say that their AF motors and technology aren’t as advanced as Canon and Nikon. Head over to Olympus for a fantastic display of camera tech.

The Olympus Zuiko EF 7-14mm’s internals. Just look at those ground glass lens elements, that’s why you pay so much for lenses.

Olympus does it ala-I Didn’t Know That. Yes, it’s a half-cut. Notice the glass isn’t cracked.

They also did it on their E-3 and a lens. Amazing to see the internals, eh?

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM and Canon EOS 30D from YL Camera. The lens was at their shop for quite a while now, and wouldn’t sell so they used it here to promote tripods. It’s about 16 kilos, the lens.

Probably Canon’s fastest ever lens, the 50mm f/0.95 from 1960. Its aperture diameter is larger than its focal length. Canon EOS users, don’t get off your seats, it’s for rangefinders, like the Canon 7 it’s on. Manual focusing will kill you because its depth of fiels is soooo thin. Shown by Keat Camera. Next to this is a Leica Noctilux 50mm f/1, also for Rangefinders, under the Leica M42 mount. The price for the Noctilux? RM 19K. It’s a very sought-after lens, mind you. Even a cult object among Leica users.

The new Leica M8.2 digital rangefinders at Eng Tong Photo Systems. Looks crappy but it’s every street photographer’s dream.

Eng Tong also had a full range of Kata bags. DR-467 (brown one to the right and black one next to it) looks great but apparently the straps can snap.

Finally, they had photography talks for the public there.

That’s it from me. Thumbs up to the organizers of KLPF. Canon Goes Green is coming up!