Meanwhile I’m taking a break from photography…

I have stop taking photo for 4 months and still have no motivation nor inspire to pick up camera to shoot something. Too many thoughts going in my brain and can not settle down on what I should be doing right now. My focus stray from photography to listening to music then. I’m going on holiday soon and looking for some decent audio gadgets to entertain while travelling in plane.

I done a lot of researches online and settled on a few items. It was an enjoyable process and hunting. I’m pretty satisfied with these purchases. This photo was taken from tiny sensor on my phone. Items in the photo were:

-Sennheiser  Momentum Over-Ear Black (Subconsciously picked the black and red one, Canon user I am btw)

-Etymotic ER4s with custom ear tips (It was almost impossible to get it in Singapore fortunately after hunting a few shops found the last one of the shop display)

-iBasso DX50 (Shortlisted Fiio X3, X5 & iBasso DX90 and DX50 fits the bill and my preference)

-Soft case (To replace the bulky Sennheiser Momentum hard case)

-Fiio E12 (Got it at cheap bundle price)

-Fiio E18 (Interesting toy that improved the sound of my android phone but it charge my battery)

-Pelican Case 1010 (To keep my Ety phones)

-Sandisk Ultra 64GB uSD card (One of my trusted brand choice for memory cards, to store Flac)

-Western Digital Green 3TB (Another one of my trusted brand for HDD, for my Flac library)

Healing 21.11.13

Often I wish I live in a place where I can stay away from the city as far as I can. It is nearly impossible where I am now. Singapore is a country and is a big city too. I’m living in a concrete jungle. I’m surrounded by man-made objects. Every time I look up for open sky, I cannot get rid of the building roofs. I look out from the beaches, the horizon is dotted by cargo ships.

There is no natural park around here. There are no mountains, no untainted rivers, nothing are natural here! Even this place, my little secret garden where soon its going to make way for residential development. Gone are these trees forever!

I love nature, I love trees. Maybe I want to avoid the noise pollution. Just a day of without construction noise and dust, honking and carbon monoxide, soccer betting and screaming.

There is no place I can find like this in Singapore. We have parks but those parks are so ‘man-made’. I find peace at this place. Maybe because this place used to be a cemetery but it was left undeveloped for several years after it was exhumed.

Sometimes I need a break from the pollution and find some places to unwind myself. I usually have healing sessions at this location. I like to imagine that I’m surrounded by nature even though this particular location is just next to a road. I tap on my memories to help me beautify the scene as much as I can. The fresh air help to cleanse my lungs and let out all negativeness within me.

My Old Friend: Ricoh GR

AN OLD FRIEND

I really meant it. I related myself to GR as my old friend. I had stopped taking photograph for many moons. I lost my focus on photography. Something distracted me or I needed a break from holding a camera. I’m not sure too. So when Ricoh finally announced to release the GR. It woke me up. I did not managed to buy it at first shipment. When  I received a call from a friend, I rushed for it immediately and finally hands on it. The initial feeling was so familiar. I asked aloud in my heart, where have you (GR) been all this while, instantly I realised it was a more relevant question to myself. It was this camera has helped find myself again like a trusty old friend. Despite my current circumstances, it brought some happiness to me.

INSIDE THE BOX

• Ricoh GR
• Hot Shoe Cover
• Rechargeable Battery DB-65
• USB Power Adaptor
• Power Plug
• USB cable
• Hand strap
• CD
• Instruction Manual

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I have used Ricoh GRD I to IV, GXR and GR1v so I consider myself as long time Ricoh GRD user. When a long time Ricoh GRD user hands on to this camera, immediately noticed the familiar handling and at the same time knowing in mind that the major upgrade inside of this camera was as exciting as rapid beating heart now. It looked more sharper, I meant the edges were not as curvy as GRDs.

The weight was slightly heavier than Ricoh GRD IV after loaded with battery. The camera came with the same battery as GRD III and GRD IV, the rechargeable battery DB-60 for GRD I & GRD II were compatible too. A good news to long time GRD users. Turning on the camera would prompted you to set language, date and time. GR lens barrel was larger in diameter but was shorter in length.

Unlike past GRD models, GR did not shipped with desktop charger. To charge the battery in-camera, it took 5 hours to fully charge whereas desktop charger (BJ-6) took half of the time. Again, long time GRD user needed not to worry about it.

KEY SPECIFICATIONS

Lens:

• Focal length approx. 28mm (35mm equivalent) Note that it is mentioned approx. 28mm. I will show you more later. Read on.
• 7 elements in 5 groups (2 asperical lens elements)
• Aperture f/2.8 to f/16

Image Sensor:

• APS-C CMOS (23.7 x 15.7 mm)
• approx. 16.2 MP
• Max Resolution 4928×3264

ISO:

• ISO 100-25,600

Focus Range:

• Normal: Approx. 0.3m to ∞
• Macro: Approx. 0.1m to ∞

Shooting Mode:

• Av, TV, TAV, P, M, Auto, My settings 1, 2 & 3

Shutter Speed:

• 1/4000-300sec, Bulb

Flash:

• GN 5.4 (ISO 100 equivalent)

Video Recording:

• 1920×1080, 1280×720, 640×480

Click here for more details.

TRUE 28mm???

I spotted this difference when I was comparing the photos taken with GRD IV and GR. I noticed the photo taken using GRD IV was wider than GR. Look at the photos and you know what I mean.

Ricoh GR

Ricoh GRD IV

Ricoh GRD III

A quick Focal length comparison:

Ricoh GR: 18.3mm (1.5x crop factor is 27.45mm)

Ricoh GXR A12 28m: 18.3mm (1.5x crop factor is 27.45mm)

Ricoh GRD IV: 6mm (4.7x crop factor is 28.2mm)

Nikon Coolpix A : 18.5mm (1.5x crop factor is 27.75mm)

You might not agree with me on taking 4.7x for 1/1.7″ sensor but the photos explained it clearly. :)

UNDERSTANDING GR vs GRD IV

What are the nice and useful features:

• It is APS-C sensor in a small package! I really love the photo quality it produces.
• The low price tag as compare to its peer. Enuff said.
• It has built-in 2 stops ND filter. A sweet new feature.
• Usable ISO 1600, at least for me as I like the grainy effect on the photos especially on black and white photos.
• Slightly larger hand grip.

What are the improvement Ricoh can provide in their next firmware update:

• GR’s Auto focus (AF) is slower than GRD IV, it is more obvious when test in low light. Even with the assist AF light on, it does not improve significantly.
• GR colours are flat and unpleasing as compare to GRD IV. I guess it could be due to different technology (CMOS vs CCD). I have to manually adjust the color settings to match GRD IV’s colour.
• GR tends to underexpose a bit. I often found myself increase compensation to +0.3

Ricoh GR

Ricoh GRD IV

OVERALL

Despite some minor issues, I still in love with it. Ricoh’s ergonomic design of this new camera is excellent and all the buttons fall on correct places, great for one hand operation. Additionally, the newly added AF mode selection switch are welcoming. The in-camera menu are logical and easy to navigate by using the front dial, back lever, directional buttons and EV compensation +/- button for express browsing. The TAv mode created by genius in Pentax are new to me and yet it will be useful when I get to understand it more.

I always want to write reviews on cameras but I do not know how to. But I still put this one up as I want to share what I have found during my familarisation with this new camera. I hope you find it useful as much as I hope.

The sun, the clouds, the sea and rustic houses

An upcoming overseas trip never failed to excites me and kept me awake at work while in mind knowing that I’m going to a great place. In April 2012, I applied vacation leaves for a trip to a photography paradise and get your skin burn.

I took two planes and flew to Semporna, it is located at the east coast of Sabah Malaysia. One of the beautiful places in Malaysia that I have visited so far.

I have seen numerous photos of this place in Google and the place was so photogenic that it thrilled me a lot. I always dreamt of frying myself under the sun on the beach of Maldives and spent whole day just looked at the clear blue sea. I would said this place almost came close to it. I’m a person who loves to see clear sea water. I could never get such a clear horizon views from the shores of Singapore.

The villagers are called Bajau. I’m unable to communicate with the locals as I don’t speak Melayu nor their native language, I had to use gestures to ask for something or a photo. They lived in houses which were mainly built with woods and dried leaves. The houses were relatively weak as they were built above the water by wooden poles. Minor of them dwelt on boats and did their daily activities such as shower, cooking and sleep. Amazing feat!

Their main source of food and income were all from their door step. To my amazement, some of them prepared puffer fish as part of their meals. Most of them work as fishermen and they learned to row those narrow boats at early age of 5 years old!

Unlike we lived in city, while the adults went to do their daily chores, the kids would play among themselves and swims in the clear cooling sea water, under shiny sun and clear blue sky.

During the trip I was so excited everyday to meet the people and get my eyes massaged by the beautiful sceneries. I’m envied they lived in such a beautiful place and lived a simple life. However, every good moments has came to an end. It was like woke up from a beautiful dream when the pilot announced the plane had touched the ground of Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1. I wished I would visit the place one more time. :)

About

I live in Singapore (a sunny island). I live in a house where homes were stacked on top each other and formed what was called a flat. It was where most islanders dwelt in.

I took a long way to achieve a diploma in building engineering and degree in construction management. I usually don’t do well in my studies during my early days. After 2 years of national service, I began to study hard, and went further to get a degree in 2009.

I came from low income family and I was not able pursuit my love for photography during earlier days. The interest grew from childhood when I used to love drawing. I bought my first point and shoot camera when working part time jobs during term breaks. Eventually, I bought a DSLR in 2007 after I graduated. That was when I started to shoot seriously. I started to snap everything interest me. It took me awhile to search the right kind of subject that I liked to shoot most. I picked up every books and magazines whenever I could to improve my knowledge and techniques. I constantly seek inspirations from all photographers.

I decided to create a blog to showcase my photographic works. I hope this is can be a channel for me to reach out to people that has the same interest as me and could share their thoughts and discuss anything about photography.

 

Image usage policy

Please ask permission before use any of my photographs for any profitable purposes as these photos are copyrighted. I will be glad and excited to know if you tell me what you are going to do with my photos. You can contact me at LENNON[dot]LIM[at]GMAIL[dot]COM

As for sharing my photos, I will appreciate it if you credit me and redirect them to my blog.