Chronicles of Zephy's DSLR

Project part Deux

2009-05-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

And what's installed into the casing?

First off, the motherboard!
Was a fight between Asus Rampage II Extreme VS Gigabyte EX58-UD5. I forgo the Gigabyte Extreme edition as it was practically the same as the UD5, just minus the hybrid water cool block thingy, in short for water cooling perposes.
After months of bugging usagi, zid and some random peeps all over, I ended up with the Asus one.
Reason for this was that there is a Service Center about 20 minutes away from where I live! Giga would have to be sent back to the seller -> distributor -> Singapore = long wait time!

The box!

From New Project

Outta the box with Processor installed i7-920. It's already in cause I asked the shop to install it for me. That way if anything goes wrong, it AIN'T MY FAULT! Woulda avoided any delay in setting up my PC, coulda exchanged the chip there and then if they screwed it up

From New Project

The nifty little joystick and power buttons for peeps that prefers to fine tune the board via hardware. Tried it, was fun! for the first 5 minutes lol didn't wanna risk screwing up the board that fast :P

From New Project

Next up! Since I'm planning to OC everything, had to get some slightly better colling capable RAM. So picked up some

From New Project

Installed on the board

From New Project

For sound, the motherboard came with X-Fi's SupremeFX by Creative

From New Project

To be continued....

Project Part 1

2009-05-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

About time I updated about this. Been to busy updating softwares and stuff.

so for this

Casing arrvied last weekend. Had to pick it up from the station at 4am in the morning. Didn't trust the shipping people there.

Silverstone Raven RV01

With a new concept based on the Law of Thermodynamics...Heat goes up. So what they did was, the Motherboard was basically placed in a 90deg rotated position, whereby your connecters and stuff would be facing upwards thereby with all exhaust panels are concentrating upwards where heat will go. Thus maximizing the hot air flow - Stack Effect Cooling

Here is a video demonstration of this. All fans removed.

How big was the box? I'm not that flexible so can't really show but yea, it's huge. I tried standing in the box and I went in easy.

Here's a pic taken by my friend who had to yank it all the way back to me. Thanks Ganesh LOL

From New Project

With the casing outta the box, it wasn't really that big but still big. From the side with the panel removed

From New Project

The top right corners have the tools-free installation thingy. Slide in the Blu-ray player and just press a button, and voila, it's locked in place. Under that, would be the HD compartments. They came with lil nifty drawers. All of them contained lil rubber to minimize vibrations and stuff.

Attached here is the drawer with my Raptor 10,000rpm HD for my OS.

This is how it looks like when it's inserted back into the slot

More to come soon! :D

40D firware update

2009-01-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

Just received a mail

Firmware update Version 1.1.1 incorporates the following fixes and improvements.

Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera's LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient.
Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera's LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position.
Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera's custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon's Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3.
Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite.
Enables an external flash connected to the camera's synchro terminal to fire even when the camera's built-in flash is popped up.

Europe

2008-12-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

Just got back with a painful experience. had ERR 99 randomly happening. Shutter locks up for a good 3 seconds before releasing. Then had to remove my battery, reinsert before the 40D will work again. Seems to be some software corruption. Will try reinstalling the firmware. sheash..anyway some pics!

Traffic in Paris is just as bad as in KL

Sausages and pork legs. Apparently, favourite food of Germans. *shrugs*

Black Forest cake, ate at a town where it originated from, coincidentally, Black Forest too, in Germany

A lion statue, memorial for the fallen soldiers

Sudden heavy snow. When we arrived it was practically snowless. Just took a good 2 hours to cover the whole city up

At the top of Mount Titlis

Milk from this goat is used to make cheese! Not bad I might add

SURPRISED!!!!

2008-12-06T05:12:00.000-08:00

A Saturday like any other, woke up, gym, market and ran some errands....then...to my surprised...my wife took me somewhere and gotten a....

Canon 580EX II!

Here is a comparison with the image at the top. This is with flash.

As with any other woman...there is always a catch...no more bday presents for 2009 and 2010! >.<;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

New GearS!

2008-12-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

Finally managed to save up some money to shop and LOTS of convincing to make a friend of mine let go some of his gears. So what did I get?

First of, I needed something to clean my lenses.Lenspen!

Here is the retractable brush

And here you have the patented cleaning carbon compound. Just move it around the lens voila done! close the cap back, give it 1/2 a twist and it's replenished for the next use.

Giottos Large rocket!

Before even using the lenspen, it's recommended to blow off the dust first. I've tried several blowers but they end up using a lot of my energy and not creating enough wind to actually do anything. This blower is my last and only blower i will ever get. It looks solid, and stands on it's on! but do not be deceived. I barely used much effort to squeeze this guy but packs quite the punch to blow off any dusts on my lens!

Next up....my first REAL Lens! ,Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8

Moon!

2008-11-13T21:30:00.000-08:00

It's been hazy and cloudy for the past few months, so catching a nice moonlite night is almost impossible. Fortunately, it's been raining a lot recently and finally I am able to play with some night shots. Still learning, but here is one.

50mm, f/9, 6 seconds

DND night!

2008-10-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Was our fun night/ball/dance. Theme, Back to School! So dig out your school uniform and have fun as you would in your school days!

and oh yea, I still have not gotten any flash yet, and I am still reluctant to use the build in flash, so these images are purely as is, no flash.

Also thanks to this guy, CK for loaning me his lenses (was trying to poison me actually)

Motorola's Global Day of Service

2008-10-15T07:12:00.000-07:00

It's a day where Motorola employee gives back to the community. This is a worldwide event. For us in Malaysia, we had the opportunity to extend our help to an orphanage in Batu Maung, Penang.

Some images taken with the Canon 50mm f/1.8

Canon 50mm f/1.8

2008-10-12T06:58:00.000-07:00

I am low on cash but I needed a lens desparately. One I can use and afford. Ended up with this,Canon 50mm f/1.8

For such a low priced lens, it's actually quite good. very fast aperture, and quite sharp, compared to some kit lens that I tested.

Butterfly Farm

2008-10-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

Really had fun! Managed to loan a macro lens to play with!

Here are some of the outcome

Outting!

2008-10-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Met some collegues who then introduced me to the company's camera club. And coincidentally, they were planning an outting. To where you might ask?

Penang's Butterfly Farm!

Although I was without a lens, I was invited nontheless and assured that someone will be able to loan me one. So to prepare for this outting, I got what everyone should at least have one, a bag!

Got myself a Lowepro Flipside200

It's not huge but with my current gear, it'll suffice.

it arrived!

2008-09-30T05:23:00.000-07:00

After the long wait it finally arrived...in the end I still ordered it online and had it shipped from USA.

I ordered a 450D...yes, due to limited budget I ordered the 450D with kit lens...

or that was what I planned

A handful of people knows what happened, and how I ended with the above DSLR LOL. Despite what the box says, it was without a kit lens. SO now I'm a proud owner of a Canon 40D body...with no lens sitting in my arms.

450D

2008-09-15T05:05:00.000-07:00

so what's so nice about this?

• 12.2 megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor for high resolution images of superb quality and detail.

• DIGIC III Imaging Processor for high quality fast image processing,

- Provides ultra-fast processing system

- Reduces false colors and improve image quality

- On-chip noise reduction circuit for low levels of noise even at high ISO

• 14-bit A/D conversion. 16,384 gradations per color.

• 3-layer optical low-pass filter (LPF) effectively reduces false colors and maintains excellent resolutions.

• Expanded dynamic range due to improvements of the S/N ratio of the CMOS sensor (inhibits over-whitening) for better highlight retention and noise reduction.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System

• EOS Integrated Cleaning System is Canon's comprehensive measure to minimize effects of dust.

• Includes both Self Cleaning Sensor Unit (hardware) and Dust Delete Function (software)

- Self Cleaning Sensor Unit: Uses piezoelectric element to generate ultrasonic vibrations in the first optical low-pass filter in front of the CMOS sensor to shake off dust.

- Dust Delete Function: Camera detects and registers the location and size of extremely sticky dust adhering to low-pass filter and then appends this information (dust delete data) to the image taken. The Digital Photo Professional 3.3 (DPP3.3) software detects this data appended to the image to execute dust deletion

• Manual Sensor cleaning is also available

LIVE View shooting

• Versatile Live View functionality with 2 new AF modes for flexible focus via its 3” LCD monitor

- Quick Mode (Phase difference AF)

- Live Mode (Contrast detection AF)

High Responsiveness

• High-speed continuous shooting at 3.5 frames per second up to 53 burst JPEG format or 6 frames RAW.

• High-precision 9-point AF with 35-zone metering sensor.

• Reduced lag time resulting in quicker operations.

• Spot metering, approximately 4% of screen is metered.

• Continuous shooting with a self timer (first in a Canon SLR camera).

• Maximum shutter speed of up to 1/4000 sec. and X-sync speed of 1/200 sec.

Ease of Operability

• Auto Lighting Optimizer function

- Analyzes the brightness of the photographic subject, and automatically corrects the dark parts to make them brighter

• The EOS Integrated Cleaning System, a comprehensive sensor dust solution.

• Newly developed Li-ion battery, LP-E5 with an improved capacity (approximately 1.5x)

• 3.0” LCD monitor with 230,000 dots offers ease of viewing with its increased magnification ratio and brightness.

• Light weight body, weighing only 475gm.

New Optional Accessories

• Complete Canon EOS system with over 60 Canon auto focus lenses and wide range of accessories, compatible with EOS 450D.

• Other optional EOS accessories include battery grip (BG-E5) and semi-hard case (EH19-L).

Canon 450D Price

40D

2008-09-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

hmm

Some info I found on the net.

• 10.1 megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor for high resolution images of superb quality and details

• On-chip noise reduction circuitry on CMOS sensor minimizes interference from electrical noise; keeping image data clean for clearer images even at high ISO settings and long exposures

• DIGIC III Imaging Processor’s 14-bit A/D conversion gives rapid processing speeds while maintaining fine detail and accurate colour reproduction

• New sRAW file format gives you the versatility of RAW at a smaller file size

High Speed & Quick Response

• High continuous shooting speed of 6.5 fps up to a maximum of 75 shots

• Shutter speed of 1/8000 sec.and X-sync speed of 1/250 sec

• Fast 0.15 sec. startup time

• Shutter release time lag of 59 ms

Live View mode

• Shooting from the LCD monitor allows easy verification of focus, composition and exposure

• Silent shooting mode for quiet environments

• Shoot remotely from your computer via a wired/wireless connection (with WFT-E3)

EOS Integrated Cleaning System

• Comprehensive measures to minimise the effects of dust particles on images

• Includes Self Cleaning Sensor Unit and Dust Delete Function

Durable Body with Rugged Design

• Magnesium alloy body for rugged field use

• High shutter durability of approx.100, 000 cycles

• New 0.95x viewfinder for large and clear view of the scene

• Large 3-inch LCD monitor (approx. 230,000 pixels resolution) offers wider viewing angle with visibly clearer images and larger text

Fast & Sharp Focus

• High precision 9-point auto-focus (AF) system provides high degree of focusing accuracy

• Flexible setting of ISO speed to adjust camera’s sensitivity to light for best exposure (ISO 100 – 1600, expandable to ISO 3200)

• 4 metering modes: Evaluative, Partial, Centre-weighted average and Spot.

• 9 White Balance settings to fine-tune white balance as desired:

- Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light, Flash, Custom, Color temperature

Size wise this has quite the feel to it. fits my hand quite well, tad bit heavy with the lens the shop owner showed me. can't imagine if I had flash attached

Canon 40D Price

Prices

2008-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Woah....crazy lol reality just kicked in for me. Body, lens, flash, tripod, bag, filters....and etc LOL What peeps have been telling me is true haha once you get your hands wet...it's for life! and I can see why. But so far still no regrets. But i'm going to take it slowly, one item at a time.

Thanks to a few peeps I met on the net that gave me some valueble advice, things newbies like me wouldn't have known and would easily have been easy prey for the shops.

Gonna be ordering the body with kit lens for now. Get a feel of what I like, what I want and what I expect from my DSLR first. Then I'll see what else i'll need and want.

Local shops?....even after bargaining they are still crazily expensive. Looked around online for a few, and even with shipping some are still more competitively priced than local here.

I'm down to two units, 450D or 40D. A few said that if i'm sure of what I want, get the 40D, which would last me longer. A few others adviced me otherwise, as most of the features will not be used and if I do quit, the damage on my wallet wouldn't be that bad...guess time to head out to the shops again to get a feel for it before I start shopping .

Canon 40D Price

Canon 450D Price

Poisoned

2008-09-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

Have been thinking for a while, and finally after touching a DSLR, I'll have to admit, I got poisoned BAD.

Have been doing research for a few weeks now and finally...I'm gonna pick up a Canon DSLR.

Why? Just some personal reasons I guess. For one I like the feel, and the ergonomics. A few peeps I met were like "eh...why? Nikon is nicer". I dont' know to be honest, but I just like Canon's feel. Another reason is the Lens availability and the Service center. There are a few where I am at, and as for nikon, I have no idea where to send for servicing. I'd prefer to be able to see the person myself so that's another minor reason.

Soo...time to shop for my canon!