Sungai Tua slow shutter capture

No time is wasted..
Sungai Tua delivers in terms of finding the right spot to set up a slow-shutter shot.
After capturing a few bugs on my Canon EOS5DmkIII, I diverted my attention to a stretch on the river and set up my tripod for a slow-shutter capture of the water movement.
I had a Canon Powershot G1X for this purpose and snapped a few shots using 1/4th, 1/15th on the dial selector.
The results were pretty pleasing to my eyes..

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A slow-shutter day

Standby, standby, standby...
The Powershot G1X may be one flawed camera.
But if you understand its shortcomings, you will get some really good shots from it.
Its large sensor can produced some really interesting photos.
I lugged this camera to Templer's Park with the intention of snapping some water flow shots from its streams.
The objective is to hike up to the waterfall and set up a shot using a tripod to steady the frame with shutter speed settings down to 60sec.

My first shot: A subject at the falls, notice the ghosting due to movement..

Built-in ND filter...
Like its predecessor, the G1X comes with an built-in Neutral Density filter. When you set it, the images would not be overexposed during long exposure shots.
The LCD viewing panel helped in framing the shot, but this will drain the camera's battery really fast.
To get a soft effect on the water flow, I set the camera to capture with Shutter Priority (TV-mode) and toggled down the shutter speed to 4, 10, 15 and 30 seconds.
The bracketed shots revealed the water movement in a very soothing manner. I loved the effect.


Angles
I should have brought my travel tripod instead of my Slik Mini-Pro tabletop tripod.
What I shot was from a low angle using a remote shutter release trigger.
It would have been interesting to see the falls from eye-level. Maybe next time, I'll bring my large tripod.


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The G-zilla rocks!

Fully charged!
My powershot G1X is now ready for action!
This is seriously one kickass compact digital camera and its built like a tank...

 

G-enerations...

The time has finally arrived... 
I started rather late on the digital camera scene.
Back when I was a feature writer in The New Straits Times, I reviewed a couple of compact digital cameras.
In the mid-90s, these cameras were crude and consume a lot of power.
But as technology progresses with more powerful microchips, a new generation of digital compact cameras came into the fray, gradually replacing film.

The Canon Powershot G1

 Canon Powershot G1
I was recovering from a broken leg. 
At times like these, I needed a camera to work with. 
My good friend Mr CH Loh had offered me a showroom model - the Canon Powershot G1 at RM1.6K.
It has never been used and was at bare-minimal. The G1 uses a CF card and I used to joke at its capacity at 8MB a piece.
That was back in the year 2000. We've crossed into the new millennium at that was the latest technology in consumer digital camera.
The G1 was a 3.3megapixel compact camera offering RAW capture with a 3x zoom lens.
For a travel writer, it was the stuff of dreams. Battery life was good and the image quality was quite decent.
Through the years, I cycled through at least six G-series cameras.
From the G1, I skipped to the G3, eventually settling for the G7, G9, G10 and G12.
Of the lot, the G6 was the rarest of the lot. A small batch had showed up in Malaysia and before I knew it, the camera had vanished. Months later, the G7 was announced. This was a camera which was different and to the G-series fans, it was a let-down as it could not capture RAW files. Soon, my G7 too had died. It was replaced with a G9 and succeeded by the G10.
I waited a bit till the G11 was announced. This one I skipped and went straight to the G12 which was one of the most awesome in the G-series line-up. I nearly sold my G10 to a buyer who had cold feet. Lucky for me, his loss, my gain. As far as built, quality and finish was concerned, the G10 is the best of the lot.. Way above that was the G12 with its top-notched performance in low-lighting conditions...


Sweat, sweat, sweat...
I took up some serious bicycling and had abused the G12 in numerous outings including some shots taken in light rain shower.
Worst was the sweat from my body dripping onto the camera.
A couple of months back, the G12 had showed signs of imminent death.
The back panel buttons could not be operated.
I brought the camera to the Canon Service Centre in Wisma Peremba to get it fixed.
The first attempt by the technician there had failed.
I returned with little hope of seeing it in action.
The solution is to move on with the G1X that succeeds the G12.

Enter the G1X!

G-zilla!!!!
The G1X distances itself from its predecessors.
As a matter of fact, it has the largest sensor compared to most digital compact cameras of its class. No Nikons and Olympus can come near it.
Its the big bad boy from Canon to appease the enthusiast market.
Styling-wise, its back to basics.
Rather than a retractable cover, the G1X uses a lens cap, just like the G1 which was released more than 12 years ago.
It retains its variable angle swivel screen, this time - measuring 3" in length. Definitely a far cry from the G1 that has only a 1" screen.
The G1X is also one of the bulkiest compact cameras I ever handled. My last multi-role film compact camera that was as bulky was the Konica Hexar. This was the best there is.
So far, my only beef with this camera is the fact that its macro mode can only focus from 20cm away. Compared to the G12, it was no match.
The plus factor is the bells and whistles that I can add on it. Like a lens hood! 
Oh well, its time to cut the jibba jabba and get to work with the G1X, so, stay tuned for more field use report on the G1X! Thanks for watching...

An offer you can't refuse..

A pre-order offer..
Canon Marketing Malaysia is offering its first 75 customers a dib at purchasing the Canon Powershot G1X at RM2,299 a pop.

An offer you can't refuse.. Only for EOS World members

The catch
If you are entitled, you have to cough up 10% up front for the purchase.
Upon remittance, Canon will contact you with further details.
But, if you get cold feet, the payment is non-refundable.

Best man wins!
Well, give and take, the goods are arriving in three week's time. So, if you are one of those competitive losers, chances are, you've already placed your order. 
Best thing to do, is to wait for a while till the dust settles and move in for the kill.. 

G-Zilla!

Canon's frontal assault...
Canon Cameras announced their new flagship compact camera: the Powershot G1x.
As far as high-end compact cameras are concerned (I am not comparing this with micro four-thirds). Canon is way ahead in the pack.
And with the large-sensor G1x, its clear that Canon is leading the way in this category.
Having said that, its current contender: the Nikon P7100 is nowhere compared to the G1x in terms of features and design.

Monster compact camera: The G1x and its predecessor, the G12

Better image quality, top-notched features
People would have high expectations on the G1x.
Unlike the previous model, this one has a 4x zoom lens which roughly gives you the focal lengths of 28mm - 115mm. 
This is enough to cover all my basic needs of having a walkabout camera without sacrifcing weight and bulk.
But, having said that, the G1x is slightly larger than the G12.
This is apparent in its larger image sensor, said to be able to produce better quality shots.
In this case, its enough to fulfil my needs when it comes to getting some good pictures for my food articles.


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Summary
Well, I guess that its still too early to tell how this baby will perform.
I can definitely look forward to its debut here in Kuala Lumpur in the months to come as it is a timely replacement for my battered and used Powershot G12!