Hello Kuala Lumpur

Went to Kuala Lumpur last week over the weekend for a family trip, i thought i would take a lot of photos and man i was wrong. When you got your hands on the kids stroller all the time, you don't have a chance to take your camera out of your bag. Even if i did, we were quite rushing going places and there's no quality time with my X-pro1. I guess thats why i'd still prefer my iphone as a camera, its easy just slip in my pocket, cant do that with any of my Fujis. Looking to see if i can fit the new Sony Rx100 iii into my pocket, then it'll be my new toy!! C'mon Fuji, announce your new cameras!

7 adults and 7 kids and i'm being kind of the tour guide as i'm bringing first timers. there's no stopping, just walk, eat, shop and go! I don't want to bore or make them wait for me to take photos. 3 days are not enough for first timers going to Kuala Lumpur, too many places to visit, so it was like rushing/amazing race all the time. It was fun actually, my only gripe was the bullshit driver of ours who seems to be much more in a rush than us. All in all it was a great trip, too bad i didn't take a lot of photos as i liked to.

Silhoutte 

Above the clouds 

Lost balloons 

Busking N Robbins 

Not bad, not bad at all

Sunway

Night Market

To photogs nerds, these are all shot with an X-Pro1 + 18-55mm lens, edited in Lightroom with VSCO film presets. 

I'm also trying a different perspective, unconventional, quirky, unorthodox, screw-rule-of-thirds, out of the box ways of taking a photos+compositions. Just trying to be different than what i'm used to. Pretty or not, improve or not, as long as it captures the moments, the story, its fine with me.

So whats next?

Next on my wishlist will be a few lenses, hopefully not another camera. I hope i can skip the X-T1. So tempting and yet so not necessary. I'm in love with my X-Pro1, i'll be shooting with it exclusively. Now my X100s just sits in the bag, it is still my favourite camera but the X-Pro1 being the new toy, needs to be played more lol. I like the X-Pro1, its like the X100S but with different focal lengths. I didnt realize that i'm a fan of telephoto. Usually my type of photography just needs the 28, 35 and 50 in 35mm format. Now with the X-Pro1 with 18-55, i tend to use 55mm a lot more which is about 82mm in 35mm format. I used to be a wide angle guy. Now with the 55mm, I like the tight crop that it produced. More and more photos from my X-Pro1 are at the 55mm focal length, which of course led to GAS-ing the 60mm 2.4 lens. For a start, this lens is getting cheaper now, the prices are dropping, because there's a new kid in the block, the 56mm 1.2 which is selling like hot cakes.
Next, i would love to get the 35mm 1.4 but then according to fujirumors, there will be a new version, a version 2 of this 35mm lens. No more information about it, just rumor of a new version, it could be faster, or sharper, i dont know but i'd like to wait before buying the old 35mm. So the list goes like this, it might change in the future Ha!

1 - 60mm 2.4 lens
2 - 35mm 1.4 lens
3 - 14mm 2.8 lens or 10-24mm lens

Here are some random 55mm shots, my eyes through X-pro1...

Thoughts from my X-Pro1....

Just some random snapshots.....

i'm loving my X-Pro1 and if i had a chance to press the shutter, i go for it.

Lets call it my X-Pro1 journal...

Weird but true! (Metallica style)

When i first owned a Fuji X camera, i was a bit dissapointed/upset with the purchase, especially as it was GAS driven. I bought the X-M1 for its retro looks, silver on black colour reminiscing those old film camera days, Fuji's image quality receives a lot of praises from professionals which also doesn't help with the GAS mode. Actually it add fuel to fire! I was a Canon user back then and i said to myself after watching a Canon 650d ad commercial on TV that i wanted to upgrade my old Canon 350d to that. but at the same time i was also looking for a retro camera, and i also did not want to spend a grand on a new camera. When Fuji announced the X100, X10 and X-pro1, at that time my passion for photography is practically switched off and also the price of the Fujis put me off. The thing is with me, my passions are like a flick of a switch, back then when i'm into guitars, i just do guitars, when i'm into motorcycles, all i do was read and looked for motorcycles related articles and images, and now my passion for photography is back, all i want to do is take photographs and checking out new cameras or gears. Like i said a flick of a switch and it comes with GAS too. One time when i was into music instruments back then, guitars, from Fenders to Gibsons, i'd have like 10 or more guitars....now thats a serious GAS condition......

I was also an Iphone-no-grapher (iphone photographer) which i find good enough and easy to bring anywhere to take photos. I was keeping tabs on Fuji developments, its not until they announced the Fuji X-M1, that got me looking into them seriously, its really a cheap affordable camera from their X series. It got the same sensor as its bigger brothers, no EVF... which i dont really need coming from an iphone user, and it's almost small like a point n shoot compact camera but the X-M1 breath DSLR.

So i decided to purchase it while i was in Singapore and as usual GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) just went gone when you done paying. Poof! I remember the first few weeks that i owned it i felt a lil bit regret. I was kind of disappointed that i didn't bought the Canon instead. The learning curve of using Fuji was full of frustration if i remember. I dont know why but if i think about it now after owning Canon, Olympus and Fuji, the Fuji was quite straight forward! easy! lol. But of course, anything new there is a learning curve to go through.

With the X-M1 i got a little taste of what Fuji X systems is all about. I am experiencing the Fuji experience, Fuji's image quality, small and lighter than the Canon and crazy HIGH ISO performances. Upset is no longer the word nor the feeling, it turned to happy and satisfaction. it was a pleasure to use such a system. No more regrets. Suddenly if i bought Canon instead i must have regret that decision. The Fuji colors is just amazing. and the tonal range is just crazy good. its something about the color, the richness and deepness, its not about sliding vibrance and saturation or one once said its all in the white balance, no, there is just something about the colors. i cant explain it. You just have to experience Fuji. Someone commented on my post which i fully and truly agree "Once you see a Fuji, you cant unsee them"  . and i'm talking JPGs here. Imagine what you can do with RAW.

As i've got a taste of what these X cameras are about, i am on GAS once more. When you google Fujifilm, everyone is talking about the x100s. Everyone seems to love it. Almost a perfect camera they said. DSLR killer....well, almost they said. All professionals praised this little beautiful camera. Everyone owned it. David Hobby aka the strobist owned it. Zack Arias called it the Leica killer or Leica is dead. Adam Lerner posted on youtube and raved all about it. Suddenly i'm reading up a lot about the X100S. And when you're on GAS you seem to just make up excuses on the why's. Why do i need the x100s? Why is the X-M1 not a x100s? Why is x100s better? why this why that.....

When you're on GAS, everything seems to be beautiful and perfect on the new "must own" camera. The X-M1 has lost its appeal. Its no longer retro. Suddenly no EVF on X-M1 becomes a reason to own the x100s for its EVF/OVF. But to be honest i do miss having an EVF as i like to plant the camera on my face lol. Since the X-M1 breath DSLR, i just wanted to plant it to my face and peek through the EVF. It didnt feel right to not peek through the EVF. Okay okay okay, i want the EVF, lets just buy the x100s already. The more i read about the x100s, the more GAS got pumped into me haha. Its just a beautiful camera, rangefinder looks, silver on black, as you know i am more on aesthetic than functions/features. But the x100s is only one fixed focal prime lens.... gasp!! i'm so used to having a camera with zooms but as GAS help explained, coming from an iphone user, i dont normally zoom with my iphone camera, i zoom with my feet. Oh thank you GAS, thats perfect technique for X100S. in fact thats how they operate the x100s. So off i went to Manila and i must bring home the x100s or dont bother coming back.

So i bought it and returned to my hotel room, played around with it and there it is again that feeling creeping up on me, a bit upset and disappointed, a slight mist of regret of purchasing the GAS driven Fuji X100S. I mean cmon, this is the camera that i wanted right? rangefinder looks, leica look, EVF/OVF, fast lens, easy bokeh. But somehow that upset feeling is ever present. Press the shutter and looked at the LCD display, "hmmmm, just normal picture, it didnt look like those gorgeous x100s pictures on google" is what i think to myself.  This is just what i would get with the X-M1, so why is it never enough? (buying cameras). i have GAS to blame and myself. And again there is a learning curve to go through. I got a bit frustrated, even though it is similar to X-M1 but yet different. There is a view mode, drive button, EVF/OVF settings, definitely more learning curve to learn. i have no time to RTFM (read the frikkin manual). i want to point and shoot. I just wanted to skip the learning curve but in the end i just had to go through with it because thats how i became comfortable and became the master of my x100s. i need to know the workings of my new camera.

When i first used it, i always misfocus/backfocus (focus the background) since i was using the OVF a lot and was closer to my subject. i didnt count for the parallax error.....like i said, i just wanna skip the learning curve. i did got WTF for a while. until i discovered the "Corrected AF frame" in the settings. Phew, that saved me from misfocus all the time. The more i use the x100s, the more i love using it, it became my go-to, bring anywhere camera. I didnt regret purchasing it at all, in fact i would regret if i did not buy it. And once again that initial feeling of frustrated and disappointed by the Fuji x100s turned into joy, pleasure, fun and satisfaction.

As usual, as much as i loved my x100s, GAS reared its ugly head, next on the list of course is the X-pro1. Another sexy black rangefinder looking camera with the ability to swap lenses. Another camera to add into my collection. I always loved the look of an all black Leica, i guess the X-pro1 is indeed a poor man's leica. I'm not ready to shell out 5 grand 7 grand for a camera, so of course Leica is out of the picture. speaking of rangefinder, I almost bought the first digital rangefinder, the epson RD1 used on ebay but based on review and cost i better off use that money to buy a new X-pro1 which has better IQ than the epson. Maybe i'll just wait for the reboot Epson RD1.  The thing with me is, when i get passionate about something i just have all these GAS to buy more gears. That happened to my guitars, motorcycles, classic cars and now cameras!. I guess i'm addicted to buying more gears, it's GAS faults.

So back to X-pro1, after browsing on Ebay, looking for great deals, i indeed purchased the X-pro1 after selling my beloved Olympus omd em10. I just had to go all Fuji. Something about its files that looked right to my eyes, not with Oly. As much as i loved the Olympus, i had to sell it to fund my new X-pro1.
And this is also the first time i bought a new camera online. i got worried if it got smashed on its way here or anything bad will happen to it. i dont like the hassle of returning it, being without a camera for a few weeks, that will just drove me mad. Fingers crossed, click buy it now and wait.

When it arrived, the unboxing begins, setting up was easy and quick as i'm used to the Fuji menus and did some test shots. and then as usual, that feeling is creeping up on me again. regrets? maybe, disappointed? yes.... i dont know why but somehow the files didnt look right to my eyes. it didnt looked like the Fuji's i'm used to. It looked more like the Olympus to be honest. Not a bad thing i guess but it did made me feel regret selling it too quickly, should have kept it first for a few weeks. I guess its a wrong decision to sell it to a fellow colleague as i see my Oly hanging round his neck everyday like a necklace. Bummer!

So back to my X-pro1, i was kinda not happy with the files that i got. I thought i had a bad copy. A factory defect maybe. The files just look too noisy. I do feel like returning it but the hassle that i have to go through put me off, i gotta give my new camera a second chance. I guess its wrong to set my bar high comparing the IQ to a Fuji X100S. x100s = cleaner images, x-pro1= not so much. Isnt it supposed to be the same image quality? But there the files do the talking, indeed something is wrong with my X-pro1 . I dont want to talk much about my X-pro1 here i'm saving it for another post. But what i'm trying to say, after getting grips with my X-pro1, i finally able to turn my disappointment to joy. again. i'm repeating myself here. do you see a pattern? lol

So yeah, after i bought my Fuji, i got disappointed, slight regret, weird but true, these goes to my X-M1, X100S and my newly acquired X-Pro1 but in the end, those feelings turned to joy, happiness and satisfaction (i sounded like a broken record here), the X100S made me want to pick up the camera and take pictures. Same goes to my new X-pro1.

So, why X-pro1 and not X-T1 you say?
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X-T1 is next!

X-pro1 or not to X-pro1 .... plus Royal Enfield

We have discussed this before have we? More like I myself rambled about this a lot.... i've been eyeing a new or a used X-pro1 on fleabay.... i even make a bid last week and boy was i frustrated... losing at the last minute.... not really losing but my bid was not that high enough... i think it was a real bargain.... damn..... only USD$580 i think... for a used X-pro1 body.... i got confused with the australian currency exchange thats why i didnt bid high enough because i set a limit on the bidding value. i was worried that i might end up paying more, if only it was bid in US dollar... the X-pro1 could be on its way here...

Anyway, enough with X-pro1.... my focus at the moment is to purchase the 25mm 1.8 by Olympus... but still X-pro1 clouds my judgement....

Over the weekend, my friend borrowed another friend's royal enfield, boy, it sure is such a breathtaking view.... i just love classics motorcycles although this one is brand new.... i think its a remanufactured, reproduced, reviving back Royal Enfield by India... i think Royal Enfield got bankrupt and India bought the company to revive this legend.

Shot with OMD EM10

i always brought my camera so its a chance to take photos of this classic! Of course, OMD EM10 being new, it gets to shoot it.... i'm still testing the high ISOs on this one.... i always have the mindset, that the Fuji is better than the Olympus...but many have said that the OMD is capable of doing High ISOs.... maybe i will compare them next post.....

High ISOs make me pixel peep.....

VSCO preset Kodak Tri-X 400+

You may be wondering what its like in color, here's one and VSCOed of course..

All shots taken with Olympus OMD EM10

Street Shooting in Singapore with Olympus OMD EM10 ..... VSCO style!

Ok, today i'm gonna be lazy. I'm just gonna post process my pictures with VSCO's Fuji Superia 400 preset and adjust the tone curve to make it look faded and washed out. I wont bother with the color or white balance or exposure, this is OOC jpgs applied preset and boom!. I am no street photographer but with this kind of hat/thinking i get to just fire away shots, unlike back in the day, i was only shooting iconic places, or statues, or famous landmarks and so forth sometimes with that kind of habit i didnt get to really use my camera because Singapore is full of buildings, what so nice about shooting buildings?...yes, yes, yes, some buildings are awesome, like the white house, abe lincoln memorial, empire state, but those are still iconic, okay cityscapes is beautiful too but you know what i mean... i'm talking about boring buildings.... just an ugly tall building with windows...  but with street photography kind of thinking, i finally be able to just take pictures of whatever in front of me.... its gonna be shitty but hey, at least it brought back memories of the trip!

Just shoot shoot shoot....
thats where digital wins over film, flexibility to delete or keep photos, unless you're super duper rich to buy rolls of films, i dont. i just need an SD card.

So the story goes like this, i just bought an OMD EM10 at Vivo city Singapore, and i straight away want to test the camera.... i havent figured out how to focus at the center, it automatically chooses for me. Hell, lets just do it. This is also in 4:3 format thus the non wide look. i set the auto iso limit to 3200. i dont remember which mode i was, its either aperture or program mode. and so i left Vivo city with a brand new OMD EM10. Black.

Hop into the MRT 

 And stopped by Chinatown

So this is Chinatown, my first time here. its a street market. nice.

Lanterns anyone?

 My main reason to go Chinatown is to eat Chilli Crab or Satay, i'm looking for Maxwell Hawker Centre.

That aint maxwell hawker centre, lets move on

The year of the horse. Chinese new year just ended last week.

i love this kind of shot. blurred pedestrians. in chinatown nobody gives a shit if you have a camera with you. its a tourist area. so its kinda cheat/easier street photography 

My first taste of Boudoir photography. Some onlookers may think i'm a pervert and give me a strange look but hey the lighting is nice. Sorry but VSCO didnt do it justice. told ya im lazy!

This guy needs a bed

Told ya, nobody gives a shit with your camera but i do think twice here that white tshirt guy just seem so mean looking! dont hit me please!

Olympus focusing here is a snap. Olympus really is fast at focusing. Beats Fuji everytime. Thats why i got this shot. i hope there's no car on my left...

Made my way to the temple. Some chromatic aberration here. poor olympus.

 Which way to Maxwell Hawker Centre? No? No Sign?

Wide angle is really handy here. The Fuji X100S cant fit this scene from where i stood. but you can fit a wide converter lens which costs millions.... just kidding... its about SGD$500 here, so thats about usd$390

 Finally here....

 Damn, this place blows..... everything is closing. I did not find any Chilli crab here and the satay here is pork satay. i dont eat pork. What a waste of walking time.

In the end i settled for Indian Mutton Steak. Man, this stuff is tasty. and the lime juice is cold and yummy. i can feel my sweat dried off after drinking that lime juice. The Fuji X100S is for aesthetic only haha, i didnt bother to use the x100s as i had to carry a backpack too.... i dont want too much to carry around. i also want to test the EM10 capabilities. i think at this point the battery died on me.

THE NEXT DAY

By this time i'm already exhausted from my yesterday all day walking trip but i still have to make my way to the airport, i dont know where else to go, i dont want to go to Orchard, i already spent on a new camera, i should just stop shopping now and just wait for my plane but flight home is at 9pm. There's more time to kill. a lot of time to kill. i need to go somewhere. chill somewhere. last thing to do is to eat some good food. shitty part is i have to walk with my backpack and my hand carry luggage, dragging it around. i love that luggage. its been with me everywhere i went, Washington, Vegas, London, all throughout UK, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore.....drag drag drag and the wheels are still working. one bad-ass hand carry luggage. Almost didnt fit all my stuffs but when there is a will there is a way hahah...

Anyway, i charged my OMD EM10 battery the night before and it took about 3 hours plus or maybe 4 hours.... and the charging light went off... i thought it never gonna went off..... pheewww... i thought id fully drained the damn thing till theres no more juices to charge. Again, i keep my x100s in the bag and hang the em10 on my neck.... but to be honest i just wanna stop taking pictures.... too tired.... too exhausting... too many things to carry.... a full hand.... i just wanna go home....

After checking out, i'm heading to Little India 

 Assalamualaikum brothers

i love how that path leading to ............... there....

 i dunno how to explain that...

perspective this perspective that...

 Some funky cool looking buildings...

or a failed window measurements hahah

Uhuh!.. Little india mari.... 

 I had to adjust the shadow slider here to get more details... i wanna take picture of the lady, so i pretend that im shooting this "chef" here... but i havnt figure out the focusing so the camera chooses the background...oh well.... and metered the background too... this is actually a dark picture.

Ah well..

 i'm not being sexist but please ladies... dont urinate here.. hahaha just kidding.

Okay okay its for the guys... Dude, please dont...

 Some dudes waiting for their meal

 The main reason to come here in little India Tekka Centre.. the let-me-translate-the-malay-words

"Power red bone soup"

 And 2nd reason, the briyani.... oh man... i need to lose some weight...

After my little india trip and my awesome lunch, i did not do a thing. i went to Funan, just to feed my GAS some camera window shopping and sit in one corner just killing time. so i decided to go to the airport early. by this time i'm already too tired to take pictures. but when i saw a moment i just took some pictures anyway. i just cant resist.

Thats a giant ass ceiling fan, just circling around like a windmill speed... i wonder how crazy it is on full speed. 

 For the life of me i havent figured out the auto exposure lock, i was trying the Zack Arias skill, pretending shooting the sign board and want to shoot those strangers on the bench but in the end, i couldnt figure to set the exposure right...the camera meters for the background, 

 so i'm left with this dark picture

on 2nd look, this silhouette looks nice too.. 

 Time to head home, 

"its coming home, its coming home, its coming," - Lightning Seeds Three Lions

Again AEL fail, but i like this photo. 

Its not the EM10 fault's, its just me not reading the manual yet!

Thats me on the airplane.... i used my OMD EM10 wifi to shoot this selfie in the plane.. hahahha

just kidding!

That is a lot of pictures...phewwwww....

See you again Singapore.... March!