So what do I shoot?

Candids
I usually carry my A200 with the Minolta 50mm lens when I go out with my friends, gatherings, or parties. The 50mm lens is short and it makes my A200 very small and portable and it allows me to be part of the action and also be the photographer.

Concerts and Gigs
This is the main factor that made me buy the A200. The point and shoot compact camera is just too slow to take concert photography. The lighting at concerts is not always bright and the slow shutter speed will blur the musicians as they play with their instruments.

I gained most of my experience in shooting concerts where it taught me how to use a larger aperture to capture more light, allowing me to set a faster shutter speed in order to capture a sharp image of the musician. Besides that, a concert has a lot going on, the crowd reaction, individual band members actions, stage instruments, lighting, stage crew, and the stage props. From there, I can choose from so many subjects to compose my shot.

Toys
One of my main hobbies is collecting toys. I started collecting toys when I started working (no money, no toys) and my collection grew bigger as my paycheck grew bigger. I collect Transformers, Star Wars 3″ figures, Bearbricks, 12″ figures (both movie characters and military figures), small die-cast cars and some occasional odd toy every now and then.

Using my Minolta 50mm, I can easily create bokeh shots, making the toy stand out from the background and clearly focusing on the toy’s details. The A200 has made my toy photo shooting much more easier.

Holiday Trips
Well, since I have an A200, why not bring it along for a holiday trip? I attach the Minolta 50mm on to the A200 when I’m walking on the streets to make it more portable. When I am carrying a backpack, I will bring along the SAL1870 kit lens so that I can capture wider angle landscape shots. Some times, with a little planning, I can judge what I will be shooting, and will bring along the most appropriate lenses.

Experimental Shots
Sometimes when I get bored, I will just take my A200 for a round of random shooting, whether in my room, my living room, in my garden, on the streets, or maybe just Kuala Lumpur city. Since I’m not shooting a specific subject, I can be creative and capture whatever that strikes me at that certain moment, be it a street sign, rubbish thrown on the floor, an electric transformer on a pole, just random subjects.

I was attending the Levi’s Live Unbuttoned Event held at Ruums where Hujan was one of the bands in the band list. I brought along my Sony A200 together with my Minolta 50mm and my SAL1780 kit lens to capture some photos.

No prizes for guessing, the venue was filled up with Hujan fans. I was there to, packing up my things at the VIP area upstairs and rushing downstairs to join the crowd at the dance floor once Hujan was introduced. Band members started coming out with AG and Dukegong setting up their effects pedals and their guitars. Heck, Dukegong has a really nice shiny effects pedal cluster (for a bass player that is).

Noh (wearing a UK Hujan tee) casually greeted the crowded, made a quick mention about their debut album and also thanked the sponsors for the event. Hujan did not waste any time soundchecking (which was good) and blasted directly into Jiwa Kelajuan (not my favorite song, but heck, the lyrics are stuck in my head nonetheless).

For the first part of the performance, I was using my Minolta 50mm to capture some close up shots of the band members.

Hujan then continued their set with Ku Mahu Kau Tahu and then into their new song, Dugaannya, which was no doubt well received by the crowd. Ahmoi Chantek soon followed with Aku Scandal where I was moshing in the smallish pit with my camera held up high. I was using my kit lens this time so that I could capture a wider angle of the whole band.

Bila Aku Sudah Tiada slowed things down but the sing along grew louder with everyone singing along. AG managed to strut the sidewalk for the solo of the song. I went back to the front of the stage when Hujan was playing Lonely Soldier Boy and when they entered Pagi Yang Gelap, I was back in the pit, this time, with ah_mei holding the camera, in case things went bad. As usual, Pagi Yang Gelap will be the last song in their set, which is always followed up by Empayarmu.

Their set ended with Empayarmu and I felt really satisfied (everyone as well?). A real solid performance (which in part thanks to the sound system which was set up and tuned really well) by Hujan, quenching my thirst after not seeing them for nearly 2 months (2 months? Or 3 months?). The dance floor quickly cleared up as most of the Hujan fans left the venue (well, they were here just Hujan…). The dance floor was then empty, with just a few photographers standing by to snap photos.

Managed to catch Noh and Tya downstairs as I was leaving the venue. Had a short conversation with them and went off for dinner.

You can save the RM15 off the labor costs and take some time to know your engine! All you need for a car service (or rather engine oil change) is just a new bottle of engine oil (Shell, Castrol, choose whatever that suits your taste and ask the shopkeeper for the suitable SAE rating for your car) and a new oil filter. If you are driving a local car, those items can be gotten at nearly any petrol station or kedai tayar.

The engine oil should cost about RM30 and the oil filter about RM7 for a Perodua Kancil. If your air filter is dirty, change it as well as a dirty air filter might reduce your fuel efficiency by 10%. Dirty air, dirty engine, less efficient, burn more fuel, dirty exhaust. All bad.

You might require some additional tools such as a wrench to unscrew the oil draining nut and also a container to collect the drained engine oil. We had to use a jack to jack up the car as we did not want to do the servicing in the house and the road outside the house was a little bit inclined, making it difficult for us to access the under carriage.

After getting the car up, remove the number plate so that you can access the oil filter. You need to remove the old oil filter as you are going to replace it. Removing the oil filter can be as easy as unscrewing it off the engine block, or in some cases, if it is too tight, you might need a special wrench to wrangle it out.

There it is, the oil filter is the white cylindrical object

After you have removed the oil filter, it’s time to drain the old engine oil out. You need to find the drainage nut and unscrew it. The moment you unscrew it and remove the nut, the oil will drip out, so prepare a container below it. You do not want black engine oil all over the floor.

Comparison between new and used oil filter

While the oil is draining, you can use the time to install the new oil filter back into the engine. Just angle it correctly and screw it into place tightly. You can replace your number plate after that.

Once all the old engine oil has been drained out, remove the container and screw the drainage nut back on. If you do not screw the nut back on, your new engine oil will just flow out from the bottom of your car. So, once you screw the nut back on, you can pour the new engine oil into your engine. Just remove the big black cap on the engine with the word OIL on it and start pouring. You can make things easier by using a funnel.

Engine oil dipper

After the new engine oil has settled down, you might want to double check the engine oil level. You can do this by pulling out the engine oil dipper, cleaning the tip, then putting it back into the engine again and pulling it out again (uggh, confused?). If this is your first time checking oil levels, you might want to squint a bit to see where the engine oil is. It should be just slightly below the F (full) mark. As you can see from the picture above, my engine oil level is just about 80% full, which is just fine.

While the bonnet is still open, check that your water and coolant levels are good. You can just refill them with regular water from the garden hose, but make sure not to go over the FULL mark. If you want, you can get some coolant (it will be green or blue in color) from the hardware shop and fill it in as well, but water will do fine.

Finally, note down the mileage of your car so that you know when to change your engine oil again in the future.

By the way, I do not hold any responsibility if in any case your servicing goes awry. Perform at your own risk (it’s not that risky anyway). Good luck! Learn to love your car and it will love you back!

This lens is long! It becomes even longer after you attach the hood. At this length, it looks like a telescope and it makes you feel that the zoom length is more than the actual 210mm.

After attaching the lens (up to you if you want to attach the hood), you wil have to hold your camera with both hands, with the left hand supporting the lens. You can hold the camera with only your right hand while previewing photos but definitely not while taking photos, this lens is heavy and long. It will really strain your right hand.

What makes the lens so heavy is its all metal construction and also maybe due to the old school construction of the lens (maybe it has a few extra elements compared to similar lenses released now). But it’s all good considering the medium-large fixed aperture of f4.0. Yes, you can get f2.8 for a 70-210mm telephoto lens but the price for those lenses are way more expensive than our cheap sub-RM1000 Beercan (you can get a near mint condition Beercan for around RM1,200).

When this lens was take out of the pouch which it has been in for umpteen years, it looked good but once attached to my camera, it looked hazy and dark when viewed through the view finder. When looked from the top, we could see specks of what looks like crystalized specks on the front element of the lens. A service visit to Albert Cheah (post here: http://alpha.lifeinkl.com/2008/10/my-%ce%b1-journey-servicing-lenses/) managed to clear things up. Albert managed to polish the lens, removing all the crystalized specks and now our Beercan is clear and bright as ever! Well worth the money paid to Albert.

Before and after servicing

Look inside! It’s clean!

Without the hood

With hood

I spent some time with the Beercan, taking pictures here and there with the aperture set at f4 for indoor shots to test its speed. Even at f4, the pictures are good and clear. For outdoor shots, I set the aperture higher and dang, I could even see the lines on the cover of the streetlamps. I haven’t got the chance to test it out at gigs yet since this is month is Bulan Ramadhan and there are less gigs happening around town.

Here are some test shots.

1/50 f4.0 ISO200

1/15 f4.0 ISO400 (indoor)

1/50 f6.3 ISO200

1/30 f6.3 ISO100

1/40 f7.1 ISO100

Finally I was able to collect the lenses from Albert Cheah of Cheah Camera Repair. It was fast as well. He managed to service 2 of the lenses in 1 week. Not that i was rushing, but I couldn’t collect it if he finished servicing them faster as I work 9-6 jobs and he closes shop at 7pm on weekdays. He is open on Saturdays from 10am - 5pm and closed on Sundays.

You can call him on his mobile at 012-6679756 or better still, visit his shop at Complex Mutiara, Jalan Ipoh. His shop is located on the 1st floor, Lot 15 (568-1-15). It’s just beside the Digicolor (http://www.digicolor.com.my) shop, once you see Digicolor (heck, they sell a lot of stuff at good prices!), head towards it and walk into the lorong. To get to Complex Mutiara, just use Jalan Kuching and head towards Jalan Ipoh. When you get to the roundabout, turn off to Jalan Ipoh and drive straight passing through 2 traffics lights, and there you can see Complex Mutiara.

So, back to the lenses…

This Minolta 70-210mm/f4 “Beercan” lens belongs to my friend, which was passed down from his dad. The external condition of the lens is EXCELLENT. No scratches, nothing, 100% MINT! The hood, lens caps and filter are all in excellent condition as well. Even the lens pouch is still good. The only downer is that the internals of the lens are hazy, suspected to be fungus as it was kept in the pouch, unused for years. I was afraid that the fungus could not be cleaned, rendering the otherwise perfect lens totally useless.

The other lens which was repaired is a Minolta 35-70mm/f4 “Mini Beercan”. This lens has a macro mode and barrel which extends like crazy when zoomed. Heck, I call it a ‘mini-cannon‘. The lens is a bit worn and the filter is totally unusable but the internals are good, clear and non-hazy. Well, before I got too happy, I found out that the aperture blades were sticky, but nothing to be afraid of as it could be serviced easily.

After the servicing from Albert, the old lenses are back to good working condition, ready to be snapped onto my Sony Alpha A200! The lens of the Beercan are superbly clean now. Heck, everything is crystal clear when you look at the inside of the lens fro the front. Scary indeed. The mini-beercan has snappy blades now.

My friend is happy now that he can replace his kit lens with the 35-70mm/f4 which will serve him well at the docks and shipyards where he will be spending most of his time, working and snapping pictures of huge transporters, trucks, containers, heavy-lifters, ships and cranes. I love short, snubby lenses! Makes my camera so compact and have this nice ‘classic’ look.

Before I end this post, here’s picture of my Minolta 50mm/f1.7 lens which I acquired quite some time ago.

What was inside shocked us… real hard. We pulled out a near-mint Minolta 70-210mm/f4 lens! Yes, the legendary Beercan lens! It has the lens hood, front and back caps, and a UV filter as well. We wasted no time attaching the lens onto my trust A200 only to find out that it was hazy and dark when viewed through the viewfinder.

After looking through the lens from the front, we could see some crystallized specks on the front lens elements. Hmm, could be fungus. We were a little it worried that the fungus might be stubborn and stayed there permanently, but we were not sure.

The other Minolta lens, the 35-70mm/f4 was good, no fungus or specks inside the lens. The only downside is that the aperture blades were a little bit sticky and slow. That wouldn’t be much of a problem though, a minor service should do the job.

Through the Alphanatics forum, I managed to find out a good lens repairman who goes by the name of Albert Cheah whose shop resides at Mutiara Complex along Jalan Ipoh. We shall head there soon in order to get our new found lens back to its former glory.

Can’t wait to use the Beercan!

Well, after a month I bought my Sony Alpha A200 (original post here: http://alpha.lifeinkl.com/2008/10/my-%ce%b1-journey-the-purchase/), Sony reduced the prices of the Alpha range by about RM300 for each model. It didn’t affect me that much as I got my A200 at a very reduced price. Anyway, after the price reduction, my friend who was initially interested in getting an Alpha after I bought mine (and finding out that his old Minolta lenses could fit and work perfectly on the Alpha cameras) finally bought one. At a special price too, heh!

One interesting thing to note is that all our other lenses are old Minolta lenses! Kumbang has a Minolta 35-70mm/f4 AF and a Minolta 70-210mm/f4 AF lens. Oh, and for those who didn’t know, then 70-210/f4 lens is very widely known as the Beercan lens due to the fact that it does not expand when it zooms (well, it does expands when it focuses). I personally have the Minolta 50mm/f1.7 AF lens (original post here: http://alpha.lifeinkl.com/2008/10/my-%ce%b1-journey-my-first-lens-minolta-50mmf17/) which is superb for low light conditions and also bokeh shots.

Well, what’s new in the A300? The specs are similar to that of the A200 and the only thing new is the Live View function. The LCD screen bulges out from the body a tiny bit and it can be extended out from the body and be titled upwards 90 degrees and downwards at 45 degrees. No sideways rotation though. One interesting thing to note is that when you are in the live view mode, the LCD shows the ‘expected’ exposure based on the current shutter speed/aperture/ISO settings. At least you can judge how bright/dark your image is when you are playing around with the settings. The auto focus is fast indeed, doesn’t have the lag that I expected it to have.

Then again, it’s a really weird to use the live view to shoot pictures on a DSLR. Heck, feels like an all new experience altogether!

I have been using the Sony Alpha A200 with the kit lens (SAL1870, 3.5-5.6/18-70) for the past 2 months and it did prove to be very useful, especially with the extended 70mm range (instead of the usual 50mm range on other kit lens). The only major gripe with the lens is that the f3.5 only applies when it is at 18mm. 1mm more than that and the f-stop goes higher. No problem indeed, f4 or f5.6 is bearable, thanks to the built-in Image Stabilizer (IS, in Sony terms).

The problem arises when taking indoor pictures with poor lighting especially at concerts and gigs where I can’t get up close and personal to take shots. I have to rely on the zoom and this poses 2 problems. Shaking is multiplied when using zoom and the aperture size. Add the extra shake factor with the slow shutter speed (and sometimes crowd movement) and the IS can’t stabilize no more.

After spending quite some time browsing several forums and websites (Dyxum is really good), I came across the KM50, which can then be deciphered into Konica-Minolta 50mm. Which then brings us to the actual product, the Minolta Maxxum 50mm/f1.7, a prime lens. Don’t be surprised. This lens is actually manufactured and released in 1985. YES! It maybe as old as us, or maybe older than some of you guys. If I am not mistaken, it comes with the Minolta Maxxum 7000 SLR camera (Wikipedia entry). Somehow it wasn’t that popular and was chucked into cupboards for storage.

Since the Sony A-series DSLR cameras have the A-mount and are compatible with any A-mount Minolta lenses, the KM50 can be easily used with my Sony Alpha A200, just plug and play. The KM50 is an auto-focus (AF) lens and it works with the Sony A-series DSLR cameras.

So yeah, a 50mm lens with a large aperture. Great for indoor shots and it could also be used as a street lens. I could get a 135mm prime lens, but then again, I am strapped for cash and am looking for something which I can use for a wide range of applications, will specialize later when I get more cash and lens along the way.

I managed to come across a local camera enthusiast who has a couple of Minolta 50mm/f1.7 lenses for sale. After testing out a few of the 50mms that he had brought along (and other lenses such as a 135mm prime which I might buy later), I decided to take the one which costs RM480 (there was a slightly worn one at RM350). The focusing is very smooth and the coating of the lens is perfect. The lens body looks very damn new, no deep scratches or dents. And yes of course, the aperture blades are snappy and smooth. I really wonder how the original owner (or owners) kept this lens in such tip-top condition.

For RM480, I have no complaints at all. And for RM480, I am amazed at its clarity, performance and SPEED. Not to mention that I can inspect all aspects of the lens before purchasing it, unlike eBay (not to say that you can’t get good lenses from there, but there’s the risk).

[The photos of the KM50 lens were taken by the SAL1870 kit lens]

I took quite a lot of photos over the weekend and here are some sample photos to highlight the amazing clarity (ok, it might not match those of professionals) and the ease of putting ONLY your subject in focus. I haven’t mastered its aperture range yet, but I am digging the manual focus (AF sucks at dark lighting, so…). At f1.7, you gotta get the focus right, or else there will be no focus (if you need speed, you got speed!!). It is more forgiving on higher apertures like f2.8 and f3.5. Bokehs are easily done, even at f3.5. But at f1.7 to f2.2, the bokeh is just simply fantastic. Separating your subject from the background/foreground is an easy task with this bugger snapped on your camera.

Night shot (f3.5 1/15)

Kancil speedometer at night (f1.7 1/80)

Indoor shot (f2.2 1/40)

Superbly shallow depth of field (f2.2 1/250)

Slightly higher depth of field (f3.5 1/125)

Kancil oil filter (f2.5 1/200)

A simple macro shot (f2.2 1/2000 ISO800 lol)

After much procrastinating, I finally made my decision to purchase the Sony Alpha DSLR-A200 camera. Actually, I wanted to buy a digital SLR (single lens reflex, more info at Wikipedia) camera when the Canon EOS350D was released (kinda the first ‘affordable’ prosumer digital SLRs in the market at that time) but somehow the decision slipped. Later, Nikon released the D40 and it seemed really attractive, but my brother managed to snapped it up, so I decided to play around with his one before he took it away with him to Melbourne.

So, I’m left with my Panasonic Lumix FX-3 compact point and shoot camera which works really good as a compact point and shoot camera but it is really slow on focusing and the anti-shake feature don’t really live up to its name, resulting in difficulty trying to snap photos at darker environments (gigs, anyone?).

Then, around half a year ago, Sony managed to revamp it’s flagship Sony Alpha DSLR-A100 digital SLR camera and in came the A200, A300 and A350 cameras. The A200 is the baseline model and the A300 series are built on the A200 platform and they incorporate the live view feature with a pop-out, rotating LCD display. The A700 was also released later, but it was the highest end model. So, with the A200 being on the lowest end of the technology scale, it naturally made it the cheapest model of them all. The RRP for the A200 as of now is RM1,999 (you can get it for around RM1,850 at Sungei Wang with a whole bunch of accessories thrown in together with it).

So yeah, I managed to get my Sony Alpha DSLR-A200 single lens kit (18-70mm) at a very yummy price (the major factor in making my decision). It didn’t come with any memory card nor did it have any on-board memory, so I had to fork out RM60 for a 2GB Apacer 133x CompactFlash card (RM100 for 4GB, but I decided to buy that once I really needed that capacity).

Now, I currently lack a mount-on flash unit, LCD screen protector (can’t get the clip on ones, Sony has troubles with local stock supplies) and a fish-eye lens (RM3,600). I’m curreny eyeing the Sunpak PF30X (RM300+) and the Sunpak PZ42X (RM600+) instead of the flash unit which Sony sells (RM800+).

So let’s see how can it help me in the next upcoming gig!!