National Zoo and more

Malacca’s zoo is even better. Okay, I could finally get myself to do an update, so here it is.

The amount and variety of wildlife there was pretty disappointing in my opinion. It’s not worth it going through the trouble looking for a parking spot just to look at some lethargic animals. They even display goats! How nice is that! Some animals were even sick, possibly due to the very dirty exhibits. Oh yes, something worth mentioning, they have the skin of a Japanese Giant Salamander in the Reptile House. It’s probably from a relatively small specimen, considering these things grow to about 150cm in length.

Okay, photos. Editing was kept at a minimum.

Beware, long post ahead.

I’m not sure of its name, but it probably belongs to the Bison family.

Sun Bear, native to tropical rainforests in Asia, including here.

One huge African Hippopotamus. It secretes a sunscreen called “blood sweat”, but it’s neither blood nor sweat.

Bengal Tiger. There was only one in the exhibit.

White Rhino.

Another one, looking very lethargic.

Indian Elephants reaching for snacks from visitors. Yes, I know, the piles of poop are huge.

Estuarine (or saltwater) crocs, the largest species known.

Some pretty large tortoises.

A Galápagos Giant Tortoise, the same species to that of Harriet, which was allegedly collected by Charles Darwin.

Albino python.

A Green Iguana that’s brown in colour

Another python, with nice body markings. This one’s for petting.

Two Green Tree Snakes.

Dwarf Crocodile, the smallest extant crocodile species.

The same Dwarf Crocodile. Might look more like a monitor lizard, but it’s a crocodile.

The only penguin there. Dirty glass and dark exhibit = rubbish photo. But I had to post it here.

Seal performing tricks. No Orca, dammit.

Same seal doing some pretty simple tricks. Why? Because the trainer throws the hoop towards it, not anywhere and the seal goes for it.

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For those who don’t know what I got for PMR, it’s straight As. iPod touch for that.

It’s pretty good, since it’s many steps up from my nano, although a flood of applications means rather frequent crashing. Fyi, Labyrinth (the app in the iPod) is updating, that’s why there’s a bar on the icon.

Another disturbing thing is that the iTunes store is not compatible in Malaysia, due to mass piracy here. Otherwise I would have got a couple of movies and songs

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Right, something else. I’ve been playing a lot of Flight Simulator, now that I go for ‘training’ at the integrated Learning Center and can land a commercial aircraft with both ILS and visual approaches without any problems whatsoever.

I love the realism of this simulator. You can download real-world weather with updates from Jeppesen for an added challenge. The dynamics of the aircraft is so real you’d be fighting crosswinds if there’s any on approach. You work almost like a real pilot in it. You check the fuel, monitor its usage, crosscheck it with your flightplan, etc.

Emirates Boeing 777-200LR departs Los Angeles International for Dubai International.

Canon Photomarathon Asia 2008

That was last Saturday. It started at Berjaya Times Square at 7am, which was before any shops there was even open. The queue to get your t-shirt, cap and towel went from the front of the boulevard all the way back. There were over 900 participants, mind you. Everyone’s required to wear the t-shirts so, well, KL was painted red. Everything lasted 7 hours, plus uploading time, a photography talk, prize giving and all that. I wasn’t there the whole time. I was something like a street photography walkabout. You just have to go to pitstops and follow themes.

The first theme is Indulge Metropolitan. It’s either their English sucks or they just enjoy twisting the words around.

The first pitstop, or starting point, Berjaya Times Square. It’s facade is HUGE it echoes when they announce the rules and themes.

Graffiti work on a building.

Bustling KL in silhouette.

The not-so-high-rise part of KL.

Noodle stall.

Roti canai man at a shack. Alright, enough of that, let’s head over to Pavilion.

Where most participants ended up early it wasn’t even open yet. So we started shooting around the area. The guards attempted to chase us off but failed. All they can do it blow their whistles and point at us and we’ll strike back with a cheeky grin or stare.

Bukit Bintang’s filled with these posh expensive stuff.

Just keep shooting and ignore the guards. Some put on their telephoto zooms so they wouldn’t know what are we shooting.

First pitstop. The general public was wondering what’s going on. Some asked if it was some kind of demonstration and we just laughed it off.

This was my submission for the first theme. The colour wasn’t edited in Photoshop. I only messed with the skies.

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.

evolved.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II has officially been announced just today. It isn’t the 7D like what has been speculated and even someone saying that it’s the 7D and his friend has tested it and all. It’s the Mark II, I’m guessing because it’s a high-end model, like the EOS-1 series.

They’ve revealed it completely here.

I gotta say, it looks stunning. It still maintains that evergreen 5D look but with an exotic mix of the 1Ds Mark III.

With the 24-105mm, a popular standard zoom since the EOS 5D. It’s still being offered as a kit with this lens. Where’s that speculated 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM? It’s either coming soon, or not at all.

I’m going to give it a test run once it’s out here, if I can get my hands on one. See how it compares to our current classic 5D. The specifications on the Mark II look great. Here’s a run through.

• 21 MP full-frame CMOS
• Full HD video recording
• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting
• High performance DIGIC 4 providing superb image quality
• Maximum 310 large JPEG images in a single burst with a UDMA card
• 3.0” VGA (920k dots) Clear View LCD
• ISO 100-6400 (expansion from 50 up to 25,600)
• 9 AF points + 6 Assist AF points

So, D700 users, any comment? Really, it looks way more refined than the D700 in my humble opinion

Just as I’m typing this, DPreview has put up a preview on it. Hohohoh, I’m drooling. It’s officially my dream camera now. Time to work hard for that 7As I guess.

They’ve also introduced tons of mouth-watering new cameras and lenses (EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM!). See DPreview

Images from Canon Press Library and Canon Australia.

I feel sinful

Yes, after staying for just a few hours in a Genting Maxim’s Club Suite. Had to come home just because I have tuition tomorrow. And dad has a golf game. Might be going back there tomorrow though. Because we have 2 nights there. It’s my first time staying there. I’m normally used to staying in regular rooms at Highlands Hotel but this one is HUGE. In a way it’s crazy.

First of all, let me introduce to you the “team” behind the following photos.

Note: all photos in this post have been edited with Colour Balance, Curves, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation and Unsharp Mask tools in Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

My EOS 400D and EF 17-40mm…

… with the 17-40mm occasionally being swapped for this EF-S 10-22mm wide angle

Their carriers, my Lowepro bags

And the EOS 5D, EF 24-105mm, EF 70-200mm and Cokin P-Series Filters

The room is on the 16th floor so I thought I’d get great views from there. The lounge area on the 16th floor is so quiet it’s creepy. I kinda prefer the slight noise at the regular rooms. When you walk in, the first thing that hits you is this.

A little office corner. Ah okay, the basics of one. A printer/fax, telephone and a computer. Not bad. But things got better when I realised they provide you with internet connection. Yay. It’s rated at 100.00mbps so I guess it’s from Streamyx.

Oh yeah, the lounge area. The empty one.

I really wasn’t joking you know. Even this counter was empty.

But the decor is pretty cool

Back to the room, the bathroom takes up like, a third of the total area. Seriously, I think it’s ridiculous. You don’t need one like that.

You don’t get just a shower. But also this bathtub. That looks out to the view of Genting.

And a little LCD TV too. Madness. Oh yeah, notice that little steel dustbin in the previous photo? You don’t step on it to open it. You just wave your rubbish in front of it and it opens up automatically. And closes that way too. Just goes to show that people that stay here are probably lazy ones.

Here’s the room. Really nice. Crazily nice. Whatever.

So… interested in the view you get from the bathtub? In the evening, it looks like this.

Yeah, seriously. Okay, enhanced a little in Photoshop. And that’s only the clouds. I felt like I was in a different world, really.

Then we went out for dinner and a walk so I grabbed some night shots. This is one of them.

Yes, I know the 10-22mm is quite amazing (:

Right, that’s about all. It’s getting late now. And I have 4 freaking hours of tuition tomorrow. Might be going there again just for that 1 night left, so well, might have more photos That’s all.

Kuala Lumpur Bird Park and Orchid Park

Went there during the holidays with dad. Mum probably wouldn’t wanna go to something like that. Sweaty and all. Plus, we were there to shoot stuff, not enjoy the area or whatsoever. Took the Myvi, mainly because it was just on that day that fuel prices went through the ceiling. The Beemer would drink up fuel like nothing. Dad had his 5D + EF 70-200 f/4L IS USM and I had my 400D + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

The bird park is actually situated in the middle of the city centre, quite unlike the national zoo, which is something commendable for the environment. Entrance fees (I think) for myKad holders is RM 16 for kids and 25 for adults. People there are also quite friendly. I’m pretty surprised by the variety of feathered friends they have there. These friendly fellas include plenty of peacocks and peahens, the toco toucan, ostriches, emus, flamingos, pelicans and a few exotic ones like the rainbow macaw, owls, eagles, hawks and the rhinoceros hornbill. Most are kept in the whole enclosed sanctuary, which means they’re around you. Some (probably rascals and rare ones) are kept in cages so they don’t cause trouble whatsoever.

The man-made area is also quite well done up with nicely simulated waterfalls with a good variety of greenery and foliage. The walk around the whole area (except the duck area) took about one and a half hours. Here are some photos in no particular order.

Note: The following photos have gone through ZERO editing except for watermarking with layers

Hornbill sleeping

Click “Read the rest of this entry” for more!

I didn’t wanna disturb it so I avoided it and snapped…

…feather closeup!

Water lily

Common bird by a (man made) waterfall

Greater flamingo. Honestly, I’d call it lamer flamingo because only its wings are pink, not like those in the wild as their diet is exclusively prawns

Showoff. lol Actually it was drying its feathers

Macaw at the photo booth. At times, it looked rather sick

Eagle at the photo booth. This guy stayed amazingly quiet and still in an open area!

These birds kinda enjoy the waterfall (?)

The toco toucan! It looks really fake, like some toy

I also went to the nearby orchid park. Admission is free on weekdays. Flowers there are pretty well cared for.

Off to the orchid park! Actually I was just testing if the light is sufficient for my pre-selected ISO speed

The beauty of being able to manually control your camera, something all dSLRs have

Blue skies and nice clouds all depend on good timing

No, no strobe work involved

In the orchid park we saw someone about dad’s age carrying a 5D and 135 f/2 L. A beautiful lens it is I must say.

Next, we went to KLCC, all sweaty to meet RHB people for dinner and the company’s paid-for movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at TGV, KLCC. The movie was great, very exciting I must say. Shia LaBeouf did very well as the later-revealed Indiana Jones’ son. I lol’ed everytime he started combing his hair. And the best part was probably when the scorpions went after him. Overall, I’d give it 8/10. A good watch.

Oh, btw, if YL Camera gets a 2nd hand EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens in, I’ll probably get it and dad will take my 17-40 as his super wide angle.

That’s about all. I hope you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for reading.

Canon World of EOS at Suria KLCC, 1st June

Canon’s World of EOS was in Suria KLCC this weekend starting 30 May to 2 June. I was there today, 1 June. Not much activities were held today, most were yesterday. Just too bad I couldn’t go yesterday instead because I had tuition… Yesterday’s event saw a model shooting, with models holding many, many nice Canon models and a chance for the photographers to win a Canon EOS 40D with a photo from the event. The give out cameras like nothing sometimes.

Of course, since there wasn’t many events, I have to admit the main reason I went there was for the Eyes of EOS section, which you’ll see later. Okay, also to get a basic checkup and service for my camera and lenses there, which is free to Canon EOS and SLR users

Random: atrium

Note: photos in this post have gone through no editing other than watermarks.

Click “read the rest of this entry” for more. I don’t wanna flood it.

Introducing…

3 new lenses! LOL

Right… I’ll go from widest to longest.

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

The must-have lens for landscape and architecture junkies like me using a Canon EOS 3-digit or 2-digit variant (because it’s EF-S, not EF and it’s only compatible with 1.6X Crop Factor cameras, so it’s actually equivalent to 16-35mm, not really 10).

I gotta say, this lens is very sharp, even at the corners and at wide open aperture settings. Distortion is almost zero, and no distortion and good sharpness is something VERY nice for wide angles.

Look Ma! I don’t need to step back! LOL

Another one taken at Pavilion KL.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

Superbly sharp in corners, which is why I just looovvveee L series (L=Luxury) lenses.

This one also has the Image Stabilizer, which can hold a shutter speed and compensate shaky hands for up to 3-stops slower than the suitable shutter speed without IS.

I really love this lens, the zoom range is huge but that does not make it soft or whatsoever. Which is why it’s the Canon EOS 5D’s optional kit lens. And there’s a little surprise at the end of this post

Also, barrel or pincushion distortion is almost absent.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM

This is a 4-stop Image Stabilizer, a full one more than the 24-105. It’s very sharp, as most telephotos are and with 200 X 1.6mm=320mm, I can shoot the moon.

I love the off-white colour and texture on it’s barrel. It’s off white to dissipate heat in the blazing sun for sports photographers, which can affect the speed and accuracy of the autofocus.

All three lenses have no shortcomings I noticed, so I’m very happy with them

And believe it or not, I went plane spotting with this 70-200mm in KLIA. lol

I’ll cut it short and just post photos. No, I didn’t get inside the runway, I’d get charged for that. I just stayed outside it at the end of one of the runways and at the Weather Station, which is a perfect spot for take-offs and landings. If you need directions, just leave a comment on this post.

AirAsia Airbus A320 as AT&T Wiliams F1 Logojet

Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737

Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330

AirAsia Airbus A320

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747-400! AWESOME!

Same fella.

Same fella just before touchdown

Ok the surprise at the end is my dad got a EOS 5D so the 24-105 has the perfect body to work with. Hahah

The 5D is a full frame so dynamic range, noise control and sharpness is superb.

And…

I got to try out a Nikon D3 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 G N or something like that. The D3 is super fast with 9-11 fps. It’s owned by the previous owner of the 5D, btw.

And…

I got to see this Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM in Canon Centre, Pavilion KL.

You wouldn’t wanna handhold this. Haha

I just noticed I haven’t changed my banner although it’s already half-past 2008. Well, I’ll get around doing it.

Well, that’s it for now. Take care and thanks for reading.