Sight to Insight

This photo was taken with the Pentax 100mm f2.8 WR (Weather Resistant) on my Pentax K7, at the SAM (Singapore Arts Museum) where Clubsnap held its exhibition on 24-25th July. I like this lens as I had tried it twice on the previous version. It gives very strong bokeh (blur background), hence great for portrait. It also has the macro, and this is taken with the macro feature of the lens. The Pentax W90 comes with different colors, and the latest is orange. It costs about $405 with tax, and a very cool pns (point and shoot). This is good, if one is going fishing, snorkelling or into some adventures into the wild, where ordinary cameras may not be able to withstand the hard knocks. Living a good life is about able to afford the gadgets built for specific circumstances. My friend, Eleanor is now in Auckland, and will be going fishing down south, and she has a weather-proof Olympus. Ah, let us relax a bit more, as we have "weathered" half a century and seen the highs and lows of l

Chasing technology is like chasing the sunset as a photographer. Just as you thought you had the best picture on sunset, another one with more vibrant color will overtake it. Fuji has just announced four new cameras, of which two of them were what I was about to purchase. These are the Fuji 300EXR and Z800EXR replacing 200EXR and Z700EXR respectively. The 300EXR has an optical zoom of 15x, and a wide angle of 24mm! The specifications are very tempting. Well they have not been released yet in Singapore. Given the practice that Fuji always underprices Lumix and Sony, this buy is definitely on my radar screen. Today, iPad is also released by the three telcos in Singapore. I don't believe I will go the "Apple" way. More than likely, I will be picking up yet another Samsung with Android 2.1 as the operating system. Why not Apple? Perhaps it is my non-conformist attitude or perhaps I don't like the fact, you are not allowed to change the battery, and even to put in the SIM

I am in the process of buying another point and shoot. I have Fuji in mind. These models are 80EXR and Z700EXR. The former is a 10x optical zoom while the latter is 5x but with a 3.5" touch scream. Initially the prices on the market were S$539 and S$449 respectively. When I check with a low cost accredited vendor, the prices were $399 and $339 respectively without the 7% GST. The pricing is rather surprisingly different. This makes the purchase even more attractive. Is the camera what I should be spending money on, or shouldn't I spend it on the Samsung Galaxy with a iFlex plan costing around S$49 monthly payment and about S$148 on the phone? Wouldn't this give me more pleasure in surfing? I have already 3 working cameras (Pentax K7, Fuji s100fs and Fuji J250), and it doesn't make sense to buy one more. I have a Sony videocam which I don't even use now! It doesn't make sense to buy another camera, come to think about it. Perhaps I should focus on the phone upgr

Gen Y are people born somewhere in the mid 70s, and should be around thirtyish by now. Most of them in the developed countries are used to the good life style. Is this generation in trouble? Here's an article from Business Week. Think about our kids, who are part of this Gen Y. http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2010/pi20100715_116291.htm The Straits Times in Singapore carried a couple of articles as well on Gen Y. They are more attuned to pop, iPhone, gaming, luxury goods, pub, wine which the baby boomers avoid to plan for the future. What will the future hold for them and for us? Do we have to support the Gen Y as well from our retirement fund?

Which parents do not wish the best for their kids? Which kids (teenagers) ever understand their parents? Hence the arrival of the generation gap. While the parents work to fill the barn with grains for a stormy future; the kids pass out the grains to demonstrate their pride in having what their contemporaries may not have. This same phenomenon is like the Chinese saying of wealth will not last three generations. The first generation painfully work hard and save to grow the wealth. The second generation appreciates this hardwork and continues to grow but use the wealth cautiously and educate the next generation. The third generation does not see the hardwork, but that they have more than sufficient to use and lose their hunger to find food. Eventually they lose it all through laziness and extravagance. The Americans spend more than they earn to sustain the growth economy of developing and emerging nations. They owe the rest of the world about thirteen trillion dollars. Here is the live