waiaung

Dear Visitors,

I haven't been active on DeviantART lately. I felt it was a great community, but I'm now spending more time on my facebook page www.facebook.com/williamaungph… (dont we all spend time on facebook?!) So if you'd like to follow my works and my latest photographs, please follow me on my facebook page instead. I really really appreciate your support, but I think its time to say goodbye to my DA Community. It has been fun!




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I was mighty pleased to be part of Samsung SEA, Oceania and Taiwan Forum 2011 and the launch of Samsung new gadgets, at this really cool Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre as one of the three invited roving reporters. I was a little early when I arrived there, so I went and looked around and something I noticed first was their translation devices. They have translation for Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese languages. The event started shortly after I had my coffee at the MBS, and the presenters talked about the new products coming into the market. So its kinda cool to be one of the first few to know what's coming ahead of others. They've got pretty impressive stuff like the super sleek looking Samsung 3D TVs which you would be so proud to have in your living room, a laptop computer which is like half an inch thick ~ which I'd definitely go for instead of the over priced MacBook Air, their new sleek AirCon systems, and of course the Samsung cameras, which I was invited to look at! They've got a really impressive line-up of lenses.





The event started shortly after I had my coffee at the MBS, and the presenters talked about the new products coming into the market. So its kinda cool to be one of the first few to know what's coming ahead of others. They've got pretty impressive stuff like the super sleek looking Samsung 3D TVs which you would be so proud to have in your living room, a laptop computer which is like half an inch thick ~ which I'd definitely go for instead of the over priced MacBook Air, their new sleek AirCon systems, and of course the Samsung cameras, which I was invited to look at! They've got a really impressive line-up of lenses.




The new 16mm, 85mm f/1.4, 60mm macro, all look promising, really! But the stars of the show were the Samsung Galaxy Mobile Phones and the Galaxy Tab II. The audience was really excited, and made ooohs and ahhhs! Knowing typical quiet Asian audience, this is really a good sign people are hyped about the Galaxy! I am actually considering the tablet, which supports Adobe Flash! And after the talks, they opened up the exhibition for us to browse their new gadgets, almost none of them is in the market just yet!




The much hyped NX11 camera! I like the light weight and its ability to deliver great quality images. With the i-Function support and the 14.6 megapixels, APS-C size CMOS sensor, this smaller than average DSLR looks quite tempting. I love the grip of the NX11 over the NX100 series. And the new panorama mode is a great plus to have.





The 85mm f/1.4, and this lens is not in the market yet. They said it'll probably be coming in the second half of the year. Other promising lenses are 16mm f/2.4 wide angle, 30mm f/2.0, 20mm f /2.8, 60mm macro, great ranger 18-200mm and more. Maybe 50mm f/1.4 in the future will be a great one to have for a portrait photographer like myself.




The really cute HMX-Q10 full HD Camcorder with 5 megapixel BSI CMOS Sensor. This is just a size of a small water bottle, and it's pretty light weight. It also has its unique function called "Switch Grip" to work for both left handed and right handed. It also features the touch screen interface.




The pink one ain't going to be my choice of colour, but I think a lot of girls will go for this. Luckily, they have other choice of colours. The camera also comes with the optical image stabiliser, so it can help with the shaky hands. The USB charging capability also means you don't have to carry the additional charger while packing for travel.




One of the cameras that really caught my attention was this dual screen ST700. It has the impression of a normal compact camera from the front, but with a gentle knock below the Samsung logo, the second front screen is activated ~




And I think it's really good for taking self portraits. The front LCD screen also can be used as a countdown timer. The 16.1 megapixel and a 26mm 5x optical zoom are the brawns behind the outer beauty.




The story of this ST700 doesn't just stop there. From the rear, it has this interesting iPhone style multi touch screen interface. You can swipe around and browse the menus and the interesting utilities like "Beauty Shot", "Photo Editor", live "Photo Filter" in style. I'm really really considering this camera for future gifts. I personally won't buy a compact, but this definitely is a great great choice of gift for anyone.




One of the cutest little features is this mode called "Child Mode". When activated, it displays some cartoon characters in the front screen, definitely going to attract the attention of the children. As photographers, we all know how challenging it can be to attract the little ones. This one is going to make life a lot easier when taking snaps of the little kids. On top of that, this camera also comes with functions like pose guide, magic frame and etc. Besides, the ST700 has a lot of colour choices, but my favourite is the silver one.









The other product, which caught my eye was this WB210 compact camera. It is a 14 megapixel camera, from the front, and looks just like any other ~ but the interesting features are the ones on the user interface. It has live photo effects for both still and video recording.

In short, it was an awesome day at the Samsung forum. It really was an eye opener for me, and also the little compact cameras which I have neglected for years are the ones that came to amaze me today. Having concentrated on the high end DSLRs since 2005, I had a sceptical view of the little compacts until today. *(No I ain't gonna trade my 5dmkII for the compact ~ nice try! But I definitely won't underestimate the power and the quality of the smaller cameras anymore.) The mid size mirrorless cameras like NX11 are getting really promising, and are definitely better than all of the previous DSLRs I've used. In fact, it's even better than my backup camera, when I go for shoots today.

For more information about these gadgets that will coming your way in the next few months, you can go check out the Samsung website "www.samsung.com/sg"

Oh one most important, which I almost forget:
All images in this journal are taken with the Samsung NX10 Camera!

A friend of mine passed me this Samsung NX100 Camera and asked me to try out... so I did. Id be honest, this camera isnt comparable to my Canon 5DmkII with L lenses attached (muahahaha ~ attach the Evil laughter here). But the price is a friction of it (less than a quarter of 5DmkII and it delivers decent quality images), so to be fair, I will compare NX100 with my previous DSLR Camera; Canon EOS 30D.

Well, I dont wanna bore you with the specs much, its a 14.6 Mega Pixels Camera. (You can go read the specs at www.samsung.com/sg/nx100/) But something worth mentioning is that the sensor size is APS-C. Which means the sensor is the same size as most of the DSLR cameras. (In a nutshell; Samsung did something cool; which allows to make smaller DSLRs. The only downside; it has no real viewfinder like the DSLRs, for the exchange for a smaller and more portable camera.) And you can use different lenses from Samsung, which is like a smaller version of DSLR with the promising image quality.




So I took the camera equipped with the kit lens (20-50mm f/3.5-5.6), and brought it for a test. Well it actually isnt a test. I just brought it to a restaurant for dinner. (Nono!! I aint gonna eat the camera! If thats what you're thinking!) And then I shot pics with this camera.

The problem is: The restaurant turned out to be extremely dark (its suppose to be cozy and romantic, but not exactly a photographer's heaven!) So not having a built in flash, I decided to give it a test under ISO 3200. (well, there was no other choice anyway )






I must say at ISO 3200, I was fairly impressed. With my previous 30D, I wouldnt even shoot pass ISO 800. But this little NX100; what its delivering at 3200, is pretty cool. Noise is noticeable, but pictures are definitely usable. Then came my birthday muffin... well it isnt a cake. So here, its a Birthday Muffin, took another shot with the NX100., before I gave it a blow. I mean the candle light.



Well I didnt really have much time to try out the camera (the food was awesome, really!!), but I have to say its definitely comparable to most entry DSLRs in terms of image quality. It does comes with pros and cons as usual. (mm.... the muffin is really yummy by the way...)

Pros:
Small, Light Weight
Inexpensive
Interchangeable Lenses
Canon/Nikon style Hot-shoe
some in-camera functions and iFunction which I didnt really try.

Cons:
Limited range of Lense at this point of time
No built in flash.
The built of the body and lenses can be better.


Anyway, Im gonna try shooting more images with this camera and hopefully will get a chance to try out other lenses. I'll upload more images in the future. Here's my parting shot:




If you want to find out more, check out the details specs (you geeks!!) or pricing details at www.samsung.com/sg/nx100/