So i stop whining and brought my Sony A7S to the States!

So in my previous post i was GASing for the Fuji X70 because of its small compact kinda size compare to my Sony A7S for this trip to Washington DC.... in the end i did not buy it because i'm being wise and saved me $700USD at the same time. haha..Although i keep checking B&H photo and lensrental websites for great deals. There was a used X70 for $500 but in the end since i already brought my Sony, why would i buy the X70.... So i just stop whining and brought my A7S. My argument was hand carrying my Sony A7S for these 2+8+14 hours of flying not including layover. My lowepro fastpack seems to be a great travelling backpack although i hate using backpacks since it would sweat my back more.  Overview of the trip was i didnt get to shoot the milkyway (the original plan) because of lack of tripod and the distance of my hotel from the Washington DC Mall is quite far.

P/S Shopping and taking photographs for me cannot coexist lol. So in the end i think the best camera is still my iphone because its either you got your picture or you dont.

But here are some shots from my A7S....

reminds me of the Shining....pity who stayed at the end....long walk to the elevator 

Although its a bitch to carry this Sony A7S but i love the output id get out of it...

Another day another GAS!

This time its the Fuji X70!...
I used to have GAS for the X70 before but i never pulled the trigger..
But now the GAS is back...
I love my Sony A7S and the output i will get..
but somehow that camera just lacks the soul...
It didnt make me want to take a picture...
unless im shooting the night sky and maybe going for that crazy bokeh look..

The reason im GASing for the X70 is the size....
Because i have a trip to DC coming up...
so a smaller camera would come handy...
my iphone is small but id like the best IQ possible...
I would love to bring my Sony A7S but somehow thinking of bringing it already felt unliberating..
unliberating = not free = no freedom
Its kind of bulky although it is small, blame it on the protruding lens..
So if i have a X70, will it give me a peace of mind?
It is small for sure, and the Fuji quality is no question but will it be able to capture the milky way like the A7S did?

There are a few things that put me off from buying the X70.
First is money baahahah...
Will i go crazy and spend my life savings on a camera that i will use for a one week trip?
Will i fully utilise it then? or maybe it will stay in the bag?
Will i bring it everywhere? im sure i must!
I would love the X70 if someone can show me if it can take portraits with decent bokeh...
ive been looking online...its tough! i know i know....
it is wide angle and a bit slow lens at f2.8, not a popular choice for portraiture work but hey...as long it didnt distort way too much and at least decent bokeh, i dont mind...
i know Fuji is good at low light but im already used to the Sony A7S low light quality, will i be disappointed?
My heart says wait for the new iteration, X70S or X80 but my trip is this Saturday.
Have i told u that the X70 is a discontinued product? Not that it turned into a bad camera, its just i happen to like the latest and the greatest...
if i wait for the X80, it will have a new sensor and the ACROS mode but do i need them?
Do i need bokeh? I do love them but do i need them for all my photos?
Sure its good to have bokeh if it can but is it a deal breaker for me?
If i did buy the X70, why do i keep thinking that i will still bring the Sony A7S? whats the point then?
Hmmmm, decision is tough unless im super fucking rich.
And then theres the question whether to get silver or black...
Oh money why dont u grow on trees?

taken from/credits to photodoto

Smaller/shorter than an iPhone but cant fit pants they say...

Photography tips 101: It's all about catching the moment! Hashtag Sony a7s is quick!!

Just a quick note, the Sony A7S is quite quick/fast! To those who worries about AF performance, for travel/street i think it is quite capable.

One tip i've read about photography is to capture the moments....especially candid moments! Ones that can never be replicated back! Because those moments will never be back and if you able to capture those precious moments, it's like winning the jackpot, you know what i mean! and it also make a great photo.

I was walking and pushing the baby stroller in hand when i saw my subject approach towards me, i was quite impressed with my Sony A7S for able to focus quickly and capture the photo. Its not a super sharp photo as i was walking while taking the picture, didn't have time to stand still, also i want to be stealthy as well, its a combination of tricks and skills bahahaha.... anyway, what i like about this photo is i was able to capture that lady's face pure smirk of awesomeness, and that guy creeping up that cleavage and that kid's craving for milk "I want milk now", kid said bahahahaha

Anyway my subject was a 7-11 sign board. 😂😂😂

Photography tips 101: Shooting people (Please try to avoid this habit)

I've been spending a lot on photography magazines back in the day before internet was glorious, this been going on for years, and i dont just stick to one company's mag, there were a few, imagine how much money spent, i could have used it to buy more cameras?? hahaha... but i be honest, reading them magazines do taught me a lot, theres a lot of tips and tricks but still if only internet was there back then at least i can use them money to satisfy my GAS hahaha.

So yeah, reading them magazines there's a tip that i always stumble upon, when shooting people, try not to shoot that have lampposts, trees or flagpoles sticking out of the top people's heads. Once you noticed em its kind of distracting and for me it kinda ruined the shot. Believe me even the pros are fell into this habit. Let me screenshot what i got from Techradar since they said it nicely. 

taken from/credits to Techradar

That is a good tip. Believe me it is distracting when you have a subject with something sticking out of their head. Just take a look that pic above. Sheeeessshhh.....

So when i shoot i try to keep in mind and use this tip but sometimes i do still have photos of people with something sticking out of their head. grrrr....i guess i aint paying attention to details. But i have reasons/excuses, hahaha, im handholding a baby on one hand and the camera on the other and i wanted to be quick. but nevertheless still came back with this ruined shot hahaha. so the lesssons we can get from here is you can use Sony A7S one handed with the 35mm 2.8 lens. 😜😏

here's mine, just recently....

To the untrained eyes, it looks fine but after you read this tip, its a fu***n distracting! If only i moved a bit to the right or left. its worst when its at the center, narrow straight line sticking out of the head.
(Hello, i have a lamppost out of my head)
(Hi, I'm a lamppost stand)
(Hi, i'm a ............... OK OK WE GET IT!!!)

But yes thats your tip of the day!!

Unleashing my inner Ansel Adams wannabe! HashtagSonya7s

Trying out a black and white landscape ala Ansel Adams, i always like his work, from what i gather he did a lot of dodge and burn, im not sure if that is true or false but whatever it is, im just too lazy to dodge and burn. Taken with Sony A7S. i think i like my Sony more now.

Milky Way Hunting!

This is my first time trying to capture the milky way.... i've done stars photography before but i never capture the milky way...somehow it slips off my mind...

So last Sunday i went with a friend who's also a photographer so lucky me he wont be bored to death! Our mission is to capture Milky Way or at least locate it. The night skies were quite clear when we grabbed our coffee but it was kinda cloudy when we reached our location. Patches of clouds which kinda ruined some photos....but oh well.... this is my first time at capturing Milky Way, but it was fun, in the dark, trying to find the darkest place away from the light pollution... i think we found a place but there are still light pollutions from the oil rigs and ports. We are at a beach. Kinda.

I've downloaded an app called Sky Guide for IOS, it $2.99 i think its worth the price, just face your iphone into the sky and it will show you where the milky way is..... technology nowadays....fascinating!!! i dont have to put a stick into the ground and look at the stars anymore...but i think thats for direction kinda compass thing?? oh well whatevs....

I also wanted to test the capabilities of my Sony A7S, and i started to appreciate its size...i think i sunk in to the thought that its not any bigger than a Fujifilm i might say.... but the 24-70 f4 is still kinda huge....it got front heavy as i fitted it to the camera body, the camera moves from its locked position on the tripod.... but i needed the wide angle FOV and that lens covers.... slight heavy vignetting though surprisingly...

The live view of the SOny A7S also went bonkers...i dunno why, maybe its a bug or maybe i mess up with some settings it just didnt work that night.....dang!! i had to guess the focus old skool style and bunch of trial and errors.... my friend with an olympus em10 can easily auto focus with a touch of the LCD. AUTO FOCUS!! yes...damn!! AUTO FOCUS the frikking night sky!! WTF!

So anyway my Live View didnt work when i wanted to but when i showed off the other night it works impeccably! Maybe next time no showing off....

Anyway, we're off at about 11pm,  grabbed our lattes and mochas at Coffee Bean and reached our first destination at almost midnight. the skies were clear but some patch of clouds visible. Its not the darkest of places as well as the restaurant opposite road has blaring spotlight least to say.... So we went to the second destination wher emost of my photos are taken....its quite dark and scary if alone... but thats what you do for photography right???

I set my IQ to RAW+JPEGS....face my iphone to the skies, fitted the 24mm and shoot away.... my shutter, ISO varies...aperture at its widest in this case at f4.... and thank god for RAW....i was able to process and slightly able to see the milkyway despite covered in patches of clouds.....

Would be great to have more of the tree as the foreground...

 One of those moments when i misfocus...too bad!! Grrrr!!

Light pollution can be seen on the clouds

During shooting i also have a problem with condensation on the lens... its from the airconditioning of my car....so it took a while for it to normalize? with room temperature.....

Battery wise for a shoot that took about an hour plus is quite ok....i think i still have about 40% juice...but i have spares! So make sure to have spare batteries....

Its been fun! 

Cant wait for the next milky way hunt!

My Sony Cameras Gear Porn

My Sony A7S and my A6000 with a bunch of lenses. To be honest i dont need to have any other camera brands, my Sony is almost complete, i would like to add a 28mm f2 and maybe the 85mm 1.8. My Sony line is almost complete...why do i still GASing for Fuji??!!

Sony A7S Quick First Impressions Review in 2017!

Sony A7S, what can i say??

I have not put it through it paces yet though, i only had it for almost 2 weeks.
All i can say is this is not what I would bring for my travels/street photography, that award goes to Fuji X100 series. But thats for another story. I dont want to praise X100 in a Sony A7S review.

 What can i say about the Sony A7S??

Low light is indeed impressive. This is what the camera is built for. It can see night. I only done indoor lighting, i have yet test it to do astrophotography or night long exposure photos. but in a dim room...damn! This camera can see!

Handling wise i gotta say, the A7Sii is better with the beefier grip, i've handled both, the mark II definitely better but it also add weight and a bit bigger size. Check comparisons on internet. Gaahh nvm lemme find for you.

For a full frame camera, the Sony A7S is small! I handled a Canon 1d Mark II or III, that thing is huge!! but back in the day, huge is the shit!! Small cameras are toys! Nowadays its the other way round now.... people prefer the smaller size.... and hell why didnt we think of that back then??

But the lenses size of the Sony's are quite awful, it just didnt complement the body... especially the zoom lenses... i have the 24-70 f4 fitted on the A7S and its just frikkin heavy....front heavy....i didn't like it but i probably need it for wide angle photography...i like the 24mm FOV. but for travels that thing is gonna stay at the shelf.

Or just maybe i got spoilt by X100. Again mentioning the X100. Stick with Sony please!!

Anyway yes, size wise i would prefer the X100, the A7S is for a specific job/photography. Studio work, portraits, astrophotography this thing is great. But for some lazy shithole that is me, every other camera is large...my iphone is the best camera.... but thats not the point... the point is if i need to bring a real camera for travels i would bring the Fuji or the A6000 for that matter but not the A7S... it just kinda heft for me.

I have a trip coming in a month, lets see if i can stand bringing the A7S everywhere. If i am a solo traveller then i would not mind. But with a baby stroller to drag around, the baby himself clinging on my shoulder, lets see if i ever get the Sony A7S out of the bag!! and i am also the only guy in this trip , all the luggages will be mine to carry!! 😓 😭

So far i've used it a lot with the 55mm 1.8 lens. I love that lens. i just love bokeh! Might as well glued it to the body... i find them to be heavy but not so heavy like the zoom lens...if you work in a studio i think its fine....or doing wedding, but for travels....maybe im just too nitpicky... slash lazy..... too much complains..... its just that i didnt like how the lens protrude, i find it not stealthy for me....people would know i am pointing that lens to their faces..... but with X100 i can get away with it.... or maybe i just didnt have enough balls.... i think its the latter not the camera....

I think that lens is a good size with the body, this is a killer combo if u like bokeh! Now i cant wait to get the 28mm f2 because that is my kinda go to FOV.

But the best lens body combo size is the 35mm f2.8. it is also the smallest compact Sony prime lens.

Cant wait to get my hands on a square hood for this lens! its a killer look! if you've been following me, you know i love aesthetic first than functions!

I have no problem with the shutter location on the original A7S but i do think it is better on the A7Sii

If you operate a Sony camera before then you are familiar with its menu. Most of the time i just googled what i cant find.

But there is no shortcut for silent mode!!!! you have to delve inside the menus....

Face detection works best with Wide Focus Area.... which i just discovered last night...i always use the Center Focus Area because i like to do focus and recompose technique.... Face detection only works if you frame the face at the center, but now with Wide Area Focus, i just need to frame and wait for the face detection to detects the face.

To be honest, now that i am using a Full Frame camera, i didnt really noticed about its looks, all these talks of Full Frame look and the likes..... to me i just realised that i look for sharpness in my picture.... i would take a portrait then i would zoom to see the sharpness.... so i guess i dont care Full Frame or APSC, i've used micro 4 third before, and Olympus was crazy sharp....more like oversharpen! but im not going back to micro four thirds anytime soon....maybe...because GAS is crazy...

Some photos...

Check out that 55mm 1.8 sharpness....!!!

When i edit my photos with the 55mm 1.8 i dont do any sharpening anymore...i dont like to oversharpen my photos, i think the lens sharpness OOC is enough!

The auto white balance can be inconsistent indoors.... when taking photos in quick successive, as i have amber lighting most of the photos are warm but one of the photo would turn out cold... 

i dont have plenty of photos to share just yet.... but here are some...

I think i have more to say about this camera, maybe i might take back what i said but lets wait for part 2 of this review.....

To be continued......

This is how you clean iPhone7plus

Okay, as the title above suggests, i accidentally put my iPhone7plus inside my washing machine...Yes..accidentally... this comes with age...im not a teenager nor yet a senior, i what you would say the mid-life crisis age and my age has not yet reach that certain age when your life began..... but memory loss is getting frequent nowadays

Anyway, i thought i had a broken washing machine when a rattling sound coming out of it, so the usual me i just let it be and see what happens after, i have no clue that my phone was inside not until i the machine stops washing and me taking out the clothes out of it....and there voila...at the bottom of the washing machine, my iphone!! Gasp!... at that moment i was quite amaze how forgetful i was.... but somehow i have a feeling that it would still be working and to my not-so-surprised, it still works!! Fingerprint scanner works! Its like nothing happen....except a few scratches on the screen and a lil bent iphone....

Thats how you test iPhone's waterproofing

and

Thats how you clean an iPhone...

Anyway, water did enter the iPhone as i saw some dark marks/spots (caused by water) on the screen. My iPhone camera was foggy as well. It was on silent mode all the time, and when i pressed the phone to take out the case, water droplets coming out of the ear speaker...Ouch! Stereo speaker did not work well, the left side was a bit quiet... no ringtones due to it being keep on silent mode. but what impresses me is it is still ON. I didnt bother to switch it off, i was afraid that it wont come back on, touch screen still works, no glass breaks, like i said it just bent a bit...because when i put it flat on the table, the phone would not lie flat...

They say to dry off phone is to soak it in raw rice... the rice would absorb the moisture out of the phone...its kinda supernatural (Rice and technology doesnt seem to walk hand in hand) but in theory it seems to make sense. . Anyway, i did soak it in, not sure its the rice or some voodoo, the dark spots on the screen does fade away little by little.

I did some drying with a hairdryer as well but im worried that i might overheat the components inside..bahaha i guess i just wait it to dry out by itself...

they say time heals all wounds.....

in this case, time would probably make it rusty inside....

iPhone8, come soon!

Sony A7S vs A6000 Indoor low light test

*UPDATE*
"Apparently i had the Sony A6000 High ISO NR to OFF but the A7S is on LOW! Thats not a fair fight!! Instead of editing this post i'll just make a new post"

I am getting way ahead of myself.

Actually i wanted to do a quick first impression of my brand newly own Sony A7S... but to satisfy my pixel peeping OCDness, and to convince myself that the A7S is truly the king of low light as many netizens called it....i did a non scientific comparisons between Sony A7S and the Sony A6000..... fuck science. You wanna shoot charts n bricks go ahead....not gonna find it here.... bahahaha.

Anyway, long story short, after owning the A7S, there's a side of me keep telling me that Fuji can also take great pictures in low light, i mean of course they do duh, then whats the advantage of my Sony? why did i bought the A7S? Should have stayed the idea on buying Fuji. Reading reviews on countless blogs didnt help. Steve Huff compared it with Olympus EM1 mark ii and the results were kinda astounding for a micro four third sensor! Its almost on par. Then why the hell did i go with Sony?? Or is this just GAS talk? just because i already have the A7S, now i want the Fuji....fuck sakes GAS...

Anyway, enough crap talk, lets get to the comparison. Lets compare apples vs apples. No one apple is the same right? 😂 I did this comparison because,

1) i have pixel peeping OCD
2) To convince me that the A7S is truly great in low light
3) and because i happen to have two Sony bodies, namely the A7S and the A6000.

Lens fitted on A7S is 55mm 1.8 (I FRIKKIN LOVE THIS LENS) and on A6000 is 35mm 2.8 (I USED TO LOVE BUT AFTER 55mm NOT SO MUCH) , so FF equivalent is roughly the same focal length about 52mm. I set the aperture of both lens to f2.8 and shutter speed at 1/60. ISO varies depends on comparison. Everything OOC JPEGS. Noise Reduction LOW.

*UPDATE* (A7S HIGH ISO NR LOW vs A6000 OFF) Sorry this is what happen when i do a rush job!!

This is the level of darkness the eyes see. Not pitch black dark but still pretty dark for general photography.

 First the A6000, using ISO 25600 (Max ISO). Color noise is partying!

Here is the Sony A7S, same ISO 25600, Hmmm pretty darn impressive! There's noise of course but looks pretty clean (Useable). I think i satisfied my OCD. Yes A7S has that low light advantage.

But lets get real, normally people would stop at max ISO6400. For nowadays-camera this is the max usable highest ISO for a clean image.

Here's A6000, i brighten it in post by 2 stops to get the optimum exposure. Hmmmmm...

Here's Sony A7S. I brighten it 2 stops just like the A6000. Its definitely better than the A6000.

Here's for fun, Sony A7S ISO51200,

Thats still usable right? Yeah sure there's noise but look at the wordings on the lens, still look kinda sharp.

And a word about AF, i think both camera are pretty much the same speed. I didn't noticed who, what or which is slower or faster. They do hunt initially but once they locked focus, afterwards its just quick AF....(thats As Fuck) bahahahahahahah.... i meant Auto Focus....... or both. 😂

And that concludes my non scientific comparison.....

Ciao...

I caved in........

In the end i caved in. its just an offer i cant refuse. i bought the used Sony A7S facebook deal. At $1500USD thats a great deal. It includes the body and 2 lenses, 55m f1.8 and 24-70 f4. But there is one catch though. But obviously its not a deal breaker. cos i bought it?? 😂

Shots taken with iphone7plus. VSCOed to death!

Here is the catch.......

The rubber near the card slot peeled off. But everything else work perfectly.

In operation wise, the rubber didn't really get in the way, its just annoying looking at it because i like my cameras to be smart/neat, no dangling rubber. but for the price, its a fuckin great deal.

"So far so good" - Joshua Faraday

I am so happy with my purchase.

But honestly afterwards, i was reading the X100F review! bahahaha 😂

Talk about GAS!
GAS wins everytime.

Trying out the Cinematic Stills

I was reading someone's blog when he mentioned about doing a cine stills. Basically its a photo that looks like its been taken from a movie. i do dig that kinda look. So here goes some rush shit job color grading in lightroom. Just some random photos i took with my brand new camera. Uh Oh did i tell you that? Yes! I got a new camera!

I need to work more with the color grading or spent more time on it. These pictures are rush jobs, just how i like to be. i hate too much time spending on post processing. i really love using presets! And also i had to do a quick refresher on using photoshop...boy i was rusty! Thanks Gods fors youtubes ands googles!

Or i could tell you that these are stills from a local drama??

Convinced yet?

GAS happens!

Well, im definitely on GAS.
One minute i was about to purchase the Sony A7ii, and then the next i was leaning towards Fuji X-T20.... and i forget all about the Sony, its Fuji all over. Sigh.... And then i saw my old Fuji X100T pictures, i really like the X100 series but i think its time to try a different X model but i still want the latest X100F.....and i like the 35mm FOV and they have converters too 28mm n 50mm. Nice. But maybe next time. And then i saw a great deal on Facebook, a used Sony A7S with 55mm 1.8 plus 24-70mm f4 at a jaw dropping price USD$1500!!! Da Fuq! At that price, anywhere in the world it is body only price but this guy, he sells it with 2 $1k lens each.... *gasp emoji here*

Im the type of guy who are unable to resist a good offer like Don Corleone said "Make him an offer he cant refuse" or in my case its "Dont refuse a good offer"... i am terrible with that kind of deals, i just cant control myself.... it messed up my mind... just like that, i forget Fuji, i'm back to Sony. I always wanted to try the Sony A7S, too bad we dont have camera rentals here, it would be a big help to my GAS problems....

Why i like A7S??
- high iso capabilities.
- low light performance.

actually those 2 points are the same. I tend to shoot a lot indoors, so it would be great to not have to worry about high ISOs. ISOLESS they say. Back in the days, but not so long ago, i would worry about blurry pictures when shooting indoors or at night, Ur up on your highest ISO but the shutter is still slow to get the right exposure or at least a decent exposure, most of the times i would just shoot underexpose so i can brighten it in post.....just like how i do it on my Leica M8...sigh...my favourite Leica, sold it though, and also how i did it on Fuji X100 series, shoot underexpose and brighten in post, so far so good, i got keepers........ now that i think about it, actually i dont need this A7S, but but included a $2k worth of lenses? Man, i cant resist.

Here are some pictures that i brighten in post.

Leica M8. One of the tricks is to convert it to black and white, so grains would look good...GAH! The shot is underexpose, i brighten up in post. 

Color works too!

All shots above are Leica M8 shots...it is a bit underexposed, but i liked it, it gave some atmosphere, feel, vibe, i dunno how to explain it....

Shit, now i'm GASing for Leica M8. 

Off now heading to Ebay. Bahahah

Ciao.