Sunset, Theatres on the Bay @ Esplanade

7x exposures, tonemapped for highlights and shadows.

Thanks for viewing! :)

CyanogenMod 7(Alpha Build) for NOOK Tablet, out now!

Here is what I got with CM7!

More fun ahead!

Credits to: XDA Developers

16-35L/17-40L or 17-55 for my Canon crop body?

EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Source: The-Digital-Picture.com

Hmm, seemed like I have been encountering such questions on the internet over and over again and I am kinda interested to do a write up on this issue, all based on my very humble opinion.

Nowadays it is not difficult to see Canon DSLR users(consumers wise) snapping up L-series lenses for whatever reasons they may have. BUT I feel that a lot of hobbyists are doing so due to the red ring lust. Yes, buying an L-lens because it is an L-lens.

Right, for the uninitiated, and I quote from Wikipedia:

"An L-lens is a line of SLR photography lenses made by Canon. L-lenses are Canon's top-of-the-line lenses. The "L" officially stands for "Luxury", a reference to the lenses' high price and proclaimed build quality."

More:

"L-lenses can be recognized by a red ring around the front part of the lens. Most recent L lenses have sealing to help resist dust and water. L-lenses are typically used by professionals and serious amateurs due to their high price and large mass."

 So from the definition, one can derived that an L-lens is:

1. Expensive
2. Heavy
3. Built to last
4. Able to deliver high image quality
5. Able to boost the user's ego(YMMV)

True enough, 5) may not apply to everybody but it certainly does have its effect on some users. So, the 3 lenses in question are the EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM and the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, 2 L and 1 non L-lenses. 17-40L and 16-35L pretty much function the same, with the latter having a wider end and brighter aperture. For simplicity sake, I will only mention the 16-35L from here onwards to reduce language clutter.

Many users buy L-lenses because they produce top-class image quality. I will not disagree to that because I myself have seen the prowess of L-lenses and I will put up all 4 of my limbs in resounding agreement. However, I will push out this question to people out there: Is the focal range of the L-lens you have, useful to you?

Say one has an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM on an EOS 600D, not exactly the best lens to have for an APS-C body. You are at Grand Canyon and want to capture the vast scenery in front of you in a single frame. Frankly speaking 24mm on crop body(38.4mm, FF equivalent) is not going to cut it and you will punch yourself in the heart for not buying the appropriate lens(18-200/15-85 etc) for your intended usage. My point here is, you can have the best image quality producing lens but if that piece of glass is not going to capture the shot, then ultimately there is no photos to look at, much less talk about image quality.

Ok back to the topic, let us look at the characteristics of the 16-35L and 17-55 first:

16-35L

-Primarily an ultra-wide angle lens for Canon full-frame camera body, will fit APS-C bodies too

-Red ring denotes its premium L-series status which translates to superb build and image quality

-3x aspherical elements, 2x ultra-low dispersion elements

-Ring USM equates to fast, accurate and silent focusing

-Constant f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range

-Does not extend/retract when zooming(however, the front element will shift front and back, within the lens itself)

17-55 IS USM

-Primarily a general purpose zoom lens for Canon APS-C 1.6x crop sensor camera body ONLY, will not fit 35mm full-frame and APS-H 1.3x crop bodies

-Consumer build quality but L-series image quality

-3x aspherical elements, 2x ultra-low dispersion elements

-Ring USM equates to fast, accurate and silent focusing

-Constant f2.8 aperture throughout the zoom range

-Image stabilisation which provides up to 3 stops of additional hand-holdability

-Lens will extend/retract when zooming

Advantages of the 16-35L over the 17-55 IS USM:

-Weather sealing(will only work with weather sealed bodies)

-Additional 1mm on the wide side when used on APS-C bodies

-Compatible with all bodies which can accommodate EF mount

Advantages of the 17-55 over the 16-35L, on a crop body that is:

-Additional 20mm on the longer end

-3 stops image stabilisation

16-35L is essentially an ultra-wide angle lens for full-frame bodies, using it on an APS-C body, will mean wasting half of the lens' abilities as it will lose its ultra-wide capability and act like a general purpose zoom lens. Image quality of both lenses are pretty much close, they are as sharp as each other and with the utilisation of ring USM, their auto focus performances are on par too.

For crop body users, I almost always do not recommend using the 16-35L/17-40L as a general purpose zoom lens because the 17-55 pretty much do the same thing, plus giving the user image stabilisation. Unless one is upgrading to full-frame body soon(when I say soon, I mean one month's time), else the lens purchase decision has already been clearly brought out: 17-55 that is.

Till the next post~

User Review: Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Block diagram of the 10-22mm
3x Aspherical elements, 1x Super UD element
Courtesy of Canon Camera Museum

Marketed: November 2004

Lens Construction (group): 10

Lens Construction (element): 13

No. of Diaphragm Blades: 6(circular aperture)

Minimum Aperture: 22-27(1/3-stop increments is 22-29)

Closest Focusing Distance (m): 0.24

Maximum Magnifcation (x): 0.17

Filter Diameter (mm): 77

Maximum Diameter x Length (mm): 83.5 X 89.8

Weight (g): 385

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM joined my stable of lenses approximate one year ago and it has seen considerable amount of usage. This ultra-wide angle(UWA) lens features a variable aperture range of f/3.5-4.5 and Ultrasonic Motor(USM) focusing mechanism.

The 10-22mm is designed for EF-S mount(APS-C 1.6x) and will not fit full frame and APS-H(1.3x) camera bodies. In 35mm format, it will translate to a focal length of 16-35mm. Till date, this is the only UWA lens which Canon has for its cropped sensor camera bodies. Coming up next, is my user review of this lens.

General Handling

The 10-22mm comes in at 385g, a pretty light and portable weight. Being light-weight, I feel that the lens does not bog down my camera. In fact with my BG-E7, the camera seemed a little back-heavy when coupled together with the 10-22mm. However being back-heavy has proven to be useful to me, as my 7D does not tilt forward when I side-sling it. In this way, I can shoot photos from my waist discreetly and without much difficulty. This is definitely useful for non-intrusive genre of street photography.

The 10-22mm shares the same build quality as the 17-55mm. Similar materials were used to construct the 10-22mm but with the absence of the plasticky feeling. Zoom ring of the lens is smooth, with the focus ring being even smoother. The protruding AF/MF switch makes switching between auto and manual focus an easy task.

Similar to its bigger sibling, the metal mount, distance window, focus ring and finally the zoom ring.

The AF/MF switch.

The front element of the 10-22mm is actually not that huge but Canon decided to give it a 77mm filter diameter which is commonly seen on pro-grade lenses.

The 10-22mm fitted with a 77mm B+W XS-Pro UV filter.

Size comparison:

L to R: EF-S 10-22mm USM with third party EW-83E lens hood, Sanyo Eneloop AA battery, EF 50mm f/1.8 II.

Front: EF-S 10-22mm USM
Back: EF-S 17-55mm IS USM

Real-time Operation

If you have used EF-S lenses before, then mounting the 10-22mm on a APS-C camera body should not pose a problem to you. Align the white dots, turn, click and you are set to go.

I may be getting very repetitive but the 10-22mm feels just like the 17-55mm. You do not get a rotating front element because the focusing is done internally. Internal zooming is also a notable feature of the 10-22mm. The length of the lens does not change when zooming in and out but the front element does move forward and backwards within the lens.

Full-time manual focusing is available in one-shot focus drive mode which means there is no need to switch to manual focus when you want to manually adjust your focus point when in auto focus mode. The 10-22mm focus very quickly and silently. Focus accuracy is good, even when at close distance.

Image Quality

Multiple aspherical elements plus a super ultra-low dispersion(UD) element, with a focal length identical to the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM in 35mm format, the 10-22mm is essentially another hidden L-lens. However, to fully materialise the potential of this UWA lens, one has to really work on his/her fundamentals of photography.

An UWA lens requires some knowledge to use because the lens enhances the depth of your pictures, enlarging objects nearer to the camera and minimising the size of objects further away from you. With such a wide focal length, the 10-22mm takes in hordes of stuffs into its field of view, therefore composition can sometimes be a chore, with a lot of unwanted objects in the photo. Slight tilting of an UWA lens will also have enormous keystone effect on the photos. Having said so, when in the hands of an experienced user, the 10-22mm will definitely shine.

As with many high-grade lenses, the 10-22mm is sharp and it will get sharper when stopped down. A little colour fringing can be seen along the edge of the photos @ 10mm however it is minimised with the usage of the super UD element.

Distortion control of this lens is excellent, only slight barrel distortion at 10mm and even less pin-cushion distortion at 22mm. Put it to real-time usage and you should not even notice the distortion at all.

The 10-22mm vignettes like all other UWA lenses. Light fall-off is estimated to be at 1.5 to 2 stops, wide-opened at 10mm. Stopping down to f/8.0, will cut down the vignetting to 0.5 to 1 stop of light. As you zoom in to 22mm, light fall-off will be reduced by approximately 2 times the amount at 10mm.

Resolving power(ability to 'see' details) of the 10-22mm is very good, considering the enormous depth of field of a typical photo at 10mm:

At 10mm.

100% crop from centre of frame. Click to enlarge.

The 10-22mm does not flare easily under normal circumstances, unless you are shooting directly into light sources. Even so, the flaring caused is of minute amount, nothing to lose sleep over:

2 spotlights shining directly into the lens, only slight flaring can be seen.

Again, to demonstrate the resolving power of the 10-22mm:

100% crop from centre of frame. Click to enlarge.

There is not much background blur to speak of, unless you are shooting wide-opened at minimum focusing distance(MFD). The bokeh is average, as seen below:

f/3.5, 0.24m away from flower @ 10mm.

Conclusion

It takes a lot of practice to extract proper photos from the 10-22mm but once you get it right, you will continue to want more out of this fantastic lens. Again, image quality of the 10-22mm is very good and if you long for an ultra-wide angle lens for your Canon APS-C camera body, then the 10-22mm is a worthy contender.

Likes:

• High image quality
• Highly resistant to flare
• Has little to no distortion
• Good resolving power
• Silent, fast and accurate focus

Dislikes:

• High price for a non-L lens
• Lens hood not included in the package despite the high price
• Incompatibility with full-frame camera body

If you are bounded by budget issues, you can always consider third-party offerings such as the brighter and faster Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 or the Sigma 10-20mm variants.

I got my copy of the Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM at SGD1094 from Cathay Photo.

Sample Images 

I apologise for the keystone effect if it is not to your liking.

Unboxed: Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black

With numerous tablet PCs popping up all over the market in the recent 2 years, tech-savvy consumers now have an array of products to look into - from the expensive Apple iPad 2 to cheap China-made ones. Some may prefer a device which works right out of the box, others may be more adventurous and try to turn some really high specifications e-book readers into full fledged tablet PCs. Notable few such readers include the Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble NOOK Color and the newly introduced NOOK Tablet.

Here I have, the Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black which I got off BN's website.

Delivered by DHL Express via comGateway.

Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet + Elsa Cover in Black.

Specifications are listed on the back.

Unboxed the NOOK Tablet first.

Content of the box.
Top left: 2 pin power adapter
Top right: NOOK Tablet-specific USB cable
Bottom: NOOK Tablet
Not shown: User guide

The out-of-the-box NOOK Tablet.

Staring at it, straight on.

On the top left, the power button.

On the top right, the volume control buttons and 3.5mm earphone jack.

At the bottom, the USB input.

And to the back, the speaker port + microSD card expansion slot underneath the 'NOOK' rubber flap.

Next, we have the Elsa Cover in Black:

Looks like a book!

'The art of reading', with proper rails to hold the tablet in place.

Flip the cover to its back, here is the signature 'n' logo.

The NOOK Tablet sits snugly in the cover.

Size comparison:

The NOOK Tablet in its Elsa Cover, with a Sanyo Eneloop AA battery in the middle.

In case you are still wondering if I am going to use the NOOK Tablet as an e-book reader, my direct answer is - no. I am going to turn it into a full fledged tablet PC like I first mentioned in this post. The NOOK Tablet runs on open-source Android Operating System, which means a huge user base over at XDA-Developers forums. Rooting, the Apple equivalent of Jail-breaking, has never been easier with step-by-step written/video guides.

Do stay tune for my user review of this awesome tablet!