It’s hard to find any fault with the Samsung Note. The super AMOLED 1280 X 800 screen is enough to blow you away with its clear and vibrant images. It really got my attention. Because of the high resolution as compared to iPhone’s 960 X 640, your handwriting will appear so smooth, it’s like pen on paper. If you’re like me who loves to doodle and take notes, you’ll be very impressed with this device.

Size-wise, it sits in between the iPhone and iPad. Here’s a comparison between the Note and my iPhone 4.

It’s quite a fair bit larger than the iPhone but surprisingly not that much heavier at 178g compared to the iPhone’s 140g. But in most cases, the weight plays a less important role than the size. You would either love it or stay away from it.

They say the best camera you’ll have is the one with you all the time. I’m a firm believer of that so how does the 8Mpix camera perform? Specifically in the areas of noise performance and auto white balance. I like the fact that you can customize shortcuts by dragging and dropping the shortcuts to the left bar.

I just wish that I can operate the camera without accessing the app. This is where the iPhone 4S is so handy because the camera can be accessed right from the lock screen.

I would also like to have a dedicated physical shutter button. Especially with the large size, it really becomes awkward trying to hold it steady and using a finger to hit the button. All these features will make it operate more like a point and shoot camera.

So how about white balance? A straight forward outdoor shot like the one below should be easily handled by the camera. Image on the left was taken with Auto White Balance and on the left with Sunny WB. I’m not sure what you see on your screen but the AWB gives a cooler image compared to the warm tones of the Sunny WB.

Indoors, the auto white balance performed fairly well under warm lighting. This is one of the more challenging lighting conditions for cameras. I took this shot with mixed lighting as I’m drafting this post. So we have warm lighting from the LED spots in the background with color temperature close to tungsten and the cool white glow from the Mac in the foreground.

From top left to bottom right:
1. Flash
2. AWB – Auto white balance
3. Daylight
4. Cloudy
5. Incandescent
6. Fluorescent

Verdict: AWB was really close to the actual lighting condition whereas the incandescent gave the background a neutral tone. Works perfectly well in this example. I’m very impressed with the AWB in this instance.

So what about noise? In the example you’ll be able to see noise in the shadow details. On the left is an image taken at ISO 100 and on the right, ISO 800.

Looking at the shadows, the ISO 100 picture performs well but the ISO 800 image is very noisy, viewing at 100%. The good thing about the noise characteristic is the monochromatic quality (not the red and green dots), which to me makes it a lot more acceptable.

After capturing the image and viewing it in the gallery, the Note makes it very easy to share the picture. I like this a lot especially being able to share the pictures via bluetooth and wifi.

Moving on to data entry, I’m getting used to the S Pen. It fits nicely in a slot at the bottom of the Note. With this, you can easily sketch and draw just like any ordinary pen. You can use the S Pen for data entry with its handwriting recognition and also to write directly on notes. I actually would love something like this for the iPad. Writing notes with fingers seems so unintuitive. I have a few iPad apps for doing this but have stopped using them. Even with a third party stylus, the resolution is just not high enough. So this is one feature that makes the Note so appealing. Another added feature is the button. However, I still have difficulty locating the button with my fingers. Once you’ve done so, it adds another set of shortcuts which makes navigating a far richer experience.

This is an example where I incorporated a picture in the S memo. You also include maps and as before in the camera, share it easily. This is so useful to deliver your ideas and of course give directions to a hopelessly lost person.

Besides the impressive S memo, the Note comes with a few Samsung apps such as Social Hub, S Choice category of apps designed for the S Pen, S Planner to name a few. I like the S Planner. It can sync with Google Calendar which I use a lot. It also syncs which Microsoft Exchange although I have not tried that. The big screen of the Note makes it really useful to have a quick glance at all the appointments in the month screen. I use a third party app for my iPhone to do this but it’s a big plus that this is integrated as a native app into the phone itself. Moving appointments around is just a simple drag and drop.

So this concludes a short review on the Note. What I love is the AMOLED screen, the fast 1.4GHz processor running the Android 2.3 Gingerbread, amazing graphics, S Pen for note taking, media handling, etc. I’m still getting used to the size and pondering whether it’ll be my iPhone replacement. Comments from other users I’ve asked reveal that the strongest point is actually the size. Perhaps that’s where I’ll be gravitating to the more I use it.

I just collected a Samsung Galaxy Note this morning courtesy of the good folks at Samsung. I have a week to review this and I must say, I’m very impressed with my first impression. It’s straddles between a tablet and a smartphone. Exactly how the market will react to this remains to be seen. It’s a bit awkward to use as a phone, yet it fits snugly into the palm of my hand. Very portable indeed, with a great user interface especially with the stylus included. We were assured that this is no ordinary stylus (S Pen) and one can see why as the S Pen has a button which opens up a whole set of commands for easy navigation. Finding the button on the side of S Pen is a bit difficult but I’m sure it’s very useful..if you can remember all the commands. So far I like the user interface although I’ll take a bit of time getting used to an Android phone.

The 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display is very bright and super impressive. There were some videos preloaded and the quality is just mind blowing. What I like a lot is the data entry. You can type as per the usual smartphone style or you can write with the S Pen like below. So far it performs really well in recognizing my handwriting. It’s about 90% accurate which is a lot. I remember the days of my palm devices where I needed to learn keystrokes for handwriting recognition. We’ve gone a long from that generation of smart devices. Also, for note taking, the resolution of the screen (285ppi) is so high that everything is so smooth and fine. I love to take notes and doodle so this is a real plus point.

I’m going to have a lot of fun with it the next week or so, so stay tuned for more updates! I’m very interested at how the 8 Mpix camera performs so do come back.

Oh at the Samsung showroom at Vivocity, several prints from my earlier review of the NX11 are up on display. Look out for them if you drop by the showroom!

Tested the Samsung NX-11 at my friends’ wedding last weekend. I was shooting the type of shots I normally shoot at weddings with the 30mm F2 pancake lens and the 50-200mm F4-F5.6. The bright F2 lens performed beautifully and good thing for me, the area where the ceremony took place was bathed in beautiful warm light. So I could use the 50-200mm despite the small aperture. I kept my ISO to 800.

The verdict. I shot aperture priority throughout with a -2/3 EV at some point and the exposure was pretty spot on despite the tricky spot lights. Image quality was quite good. I’ve been pampered by my 5D Mk2s so I had to get used to the higher noise but compared to a lot of other cameras in the same range, I’m very happy with it. Because of its compact size, it’s not a problem holding the camera at low shutter speeds. The above image was taken at a focal length of 137mm (35mm camera equivalent) at F5 and 1/20s. I could easily hold this rig at even lower shutter speeds with its OIS (image stabilizer on). Colour reproduction was good. I shot mostly with AWB and looking at the images in Aperture, I’m seeing quite accurate colour. In the picture above, I only added a bit of sharpening and reduced the saturation a little. Just a preference since I don’t like overly saturated images. But straight out of the camera, it looks good.

More images will be available in the Samsung facebook page at a later stage.

So far, I’m quite happy with this camera indoors. I didn’t use the flash at all though since I work a lot with available light. Will have to find an opportunity to test that out one day.
My next shoot will probably be fireworks over at Marina Bay. I think I’ll be there this weekend. If you like to join me, please let me know.

I was shooting mostly with the electronic viewfinder to conserve batteries and that didn’t disappoint me either.

For a couple of months I’ll be using this new mirror-less interchangeable lens camera from Samsung. This is a loan unit from Samsung and I’ll be subjecting this camera to my type of photography: people, action, street, etc. I’ll blog about my experience and sometime next month, I’ll post images on Samsung Cameras Facebook page Feel free to comment on images, ask anything and I’ll give tips and advice to help you with your photography.

At first glance, I’m impressed. The 14.6 Mpix NX11 kinda sits in between the DSLR and the micro-four thirds of the Panasonic and Olympus. It looks like a small DSLR and size-wise, the body is slightly larger than my Canon G9. I’m a sucker for well-built. well-balanced and ergonomic cameras so the NX11 feels perfect in my hands.

The images below are taken with the 30mm f2 pancake lens.

Focusing is fast and silent. Actually I was a bit surprised at how fast it is. This should be quite useful in taking action shots. I’ll see how true that is when I start shooting moving objects. Shutter is triggered almost instantaneously. Everything works like a DSLR does.

With the pancake 30mm f2 lens, it is probably the size of the micro-four third cameras but once you fit the kit 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and the 50-200mm f/4.0-5.6, it tends to be bulkier than the MFT. This is also because of the APS-C sensor which is physically the same size of sensors used in entry-level DSLR. I love the layout of the buttons. Very easily accessible and I really think the i-Function on the lens is god sent. It’s a button on the lens that allows you to change settings like aperture, shutter speed, ISO, EV and WB without lifting your eye off the viewfinder. The focus ring changes the variables. Of course, like any SLR user, I tend to use the viewfinder instead of the bright AMOLED screen behind. It’s just habit. Like any other mirrorless system, the viewfinder will be electronic since, well, you don’t have the mirror. As for the electronic viewfinder, there’s a slight lag when sweeping the camera fast but I have yet to see if it bothers me later.

My first impression is definitely positive. I think I’ll be using the 30mm pancake lens a lot. It really suits my style – shooting with prime lens with large aperture.

Read more about my experience here.

Ok so here it is. After fiddling with my new purchase, 100mm f2.8L Macro, I took this shot. Nothing really fantastic except I shot it at 1/15s handheld. I’d say it’s pretty sharp, with the IS working just fine. Conditions were less than ideal. Muted window light only from the back, I overexposed +1EV and used f7.1. Can’t get more depth of field without getting movement blur in the image.

And yes if you’re wondering, the bigger ring is for my finger and the other one’s for Lydia.

Added this baby to my arsenal this evening. I shoot with mainly prime lenses these days and the 100mm range is ideal for portraits. Plus the macro part is actually the deal clincher. I don’t shoot a lot of macro photography but when I want to shoot details and food, not having a macro lens is a pain. I was using extension tubes for macro work all this while but outside the studio, it’s a pain to setup.

So new toy = new pictures to shoot. I fired a few test shots with this lens and I’m impressed with the speed. I’ve used the older non-L version before so this new lens is quite a jump. Focusing is very fast considering the elements having to travel from 1:1 range to infinity. Of course, selecting the range with the selector switch helps reduce the ‘hunting’ time.

I wished the aperture is bigger than the f2.8 though. The IS really helps in low light but only to reduce camera shake. Moving subjects would be a problem at shutter speeds as low as 1/15s. I’m planning to use this for portraits mostly and the occasional macro work. Looking forward to using this lens the next few days.

I’ve started using the 580EX II after one of 580 EX died on me. It was about time anyway, after 5 plus years and I don’t even know how many thousand flashes. Served me well. So the EX II is a recent addition to my arsenal but some things irritate me. In particular the missing wireless switch to toggle between master/slave shooting. Sure I understand the need to be weather resistant, hence the possible omission of the switch but it’s such a pain to not access this function easily. I’m sure other photographers use this a lot.

I came across this website with points on a wishlist I fully agree with. Right down to getting rid of the penguin in the manual (point 16). I’d love to know the reason behind the penguin in the first place. I’d also really love a built-in RF trigger so that I can place the ‘slaves’ anywhere I want. I have resorted to bouncing off the infra-red signal off a mirror to fire off a flash in the background before when there was no line of sight. With RF, I can leave the flashed in a softbox, behind the subject, heck in anywhere that makes a good image. And for goodness sake, allow me to trigger my studio strobes! Ok, maybe Canon may not sell that many other speedlites if that happens but photographers would love them for it.

So here’s the wishlist by Syl Arena.

Down with the penguin!

Finally the day has arrived when I retire my Canon 1D Mark 2. This camera has served me for 6 years! I get nostalgic when I think of the time I got ‘her’. She was one of a handful in the shipment to arrive in Singapore. The rest were routed to Athens for the 2004 Olympics. For 6 years she endured the hardest abuse and came out unscathed. Two of the most memorable experiences I had were:

1. Shooting a triathlon in Bintan in heavy rain. Mid-way through the race, a thunderstorm developed. What started as a light drizzle turned into a fierce tropical thunderstorm which blew my makeshift shelter, made of black trash bags, away. I was in the middle of nowhere and my 1D had a 70-200mm lens coupled to it. Together they formed a completely weather-sealed system. So here I was in a thunderstorm, with my camera exposed to the elements, still shooting away. Onlookers would’ve been amazed at this sight. I was strangely confident that the rain would not get into the camera and lens and I was right. I wiped them dry in the hotel room and went on shooting the next day.

Continue reading 'PUTTING MY CANON 1D TO REST'»

I had a discussion with a friend this afternoon who blogs at NikonD90Lab.blogspot.com and the issue about lenses cropped up. He wanted to know what’s the most versatile lens to get. I have 6 lenses and if I were to go shoot street photography, I’d pick the 35mm F1.4. I use a Canon 5D MkII, so on the full frame without FOV (Field of View), I get the full 35mm. For street photography, Continue reading 'The Versatile Lens'»

A few days ago I was asked to give some advice on someone else’s photography assignment relating to architectural photography. The theme was ‘Extraordinary out of the Ordinary’, using compositional techniques such as two thirds rule, diagonal approach, balance of negative and positive space, and colour. Here’s the content of the email I sent out (with more explanation here). Continue reading 'Composition'»

Light modifiers

They do exactly what they are called, modify or change characteristic of light. You’ll see some of these terms used frequently in this blog since photographers use these a lot to get the effect they want, kind of sculpting light. They can be used for both strobe-based (flash) or continuous light. I’ll explain the ones I use a lot in studio and on location, and in my opinion the most basic if you want to start getting into studio lighting. Continue reading 'Light Modifiers'»

One day Kevin, from Yellow Octopus, informed me he’s bringing a bike over and if I were keen on shooting it. Sure, I said. I love bikes. So he came over with this fantastic piece of art. I couldn’t keep my hands off it! We discussed how the shoot would go and we wanted to shoot it in a way that it won’t look obvious at first what it is, concentrating on the parts of the bike. The design of the bike is a collaboration between YOLO and bike designer, SOUL and this is the resulting YOLO-SOUL website. Here are a few images from the shoot. Continue reading 'YOLO'»

I’ve been asked frequently what I would pack for an overseas shoot. Of course a lot depends on the shoot itself ie, duration, location, complexity, client, etc. However, since I’m now overseas for a wedding shoot and had to go through some packing last night, I’ve listed these few items: Continue reading 'Packing for an Overseas Shoot'»