siem reap, finally!

heading to siem reap this coming thursday with my wife, bro and sis-in-law. weather outlook not very positive, cloudy for most of the days and raining on thursday morning and friday afternoon/night. did a quick check on the sunrise and sunset timing at www.weather-forecast.com, it's at 5.35AM and 18.27PM respectively.

this is the first time travelling with my specialist 85aw. i am able to load all my gears in the bag (exc. tripod), and am going to try walking around the temple at full-load for 2 days, hopefully it is still manageable.

photoaid 2 for victims of cyclone nargis

mother's day 2008 (the journey)

i can still remember vividly that i used to be very rebellious when i was a kid. throughout the growing-up years, i have made many silly mistakes and mum has never failed to be there to support me. the journey has never been easy for her in taking care of us, the three musketeers and finally we are here today, pursuing our career and dreams.

i want to thank her for everything she did, and still doing for us. i also want to say sorry to her, for the difficult period that she went through, when i was naive, childish and not understanding.

mum, i love you.. stay healthy and don't forget our bangkok trip!

a special thank to my lovely grandma, without her, we won't be who we are today.

mother's day 2008

lowepro specialist 85 aw (review)

sold off my offtrail 2 for specialist 85 aw but regretted over the decision due to:

1. 85 aw is more suited for fitting at the back of your waist and not at the side, meaning you can't carry your backpack while using it so there will be a big problem when you hike with it. it is not as versatile as offtrail 2 because of the size.
2. zipping and un-zipping is not as smooth as offtrail 2 due to the positioning of the zip is too close to the edge and obstructed by your body
3. the weight

the weak point of offtrail 2 is due to the positioning of side cases and the strap tightening mechanism. when you are tightening the waist straps, it will be pulling the two side cases nearer to your body at the same time and this causes the soft cases to sink in. you will find it difficult for you to take out the lens from the case after that.

purchase of 85 aw is supposed to solve this and seriously, it does work because all lens can now be fitted inside the bag which is hard and does not sink in during tightening but i did not expect to bump into more inconveniences with this new bag.

right now, i am using the 85 aw as shoulder bag with the shoulder strap provided and i am looking for another belt system that will work for me. perhaps it is time to look at other brands.

update: brought specialist 85aw along with me during the recent cambodia trip. it is not so bad after getting used to it but still, you can't carry anything else on your back (even my smallest daypack) due to the size of this bag.. argh.....

wishlist updated (28th June 2008)

wishlist:

1. camera - nikon d80 $1000
2. tele lens - nikkor 85mm f/1.8d $480
3. pc lens - nikkor 85mm pc micro $1700
4. fisheye lens - nikkor 10.5mm $850
5. square filter - singh-ray inverted GND $150
6. studio strobe - jinbei 300w $700
7. studio accessories - softbox, snoot $300
8. 9ft studio backdrop & holder - white & black $500
9. light meter - minolta iv $300
10. Lowepro offtrail 2 $75
11. Lowepro Fastpack 350 $145

what i have already gotten:

1. camera body - nikon d40 $700
2. wide angle lens - sigma 10-20mm $610
3. standard lens - nikkor 50mm f/1.8d $110
4. walkaround lens - nikkor 18-200mm vr $1050
5. macro lens - nikkor 105mm micro vr $1000
6. angle finder - seagull 3rd generation (1x/2.5x) $60, used
7. remote - nikon ml-l3 $20
8. flash - sb600 $330
9. bag - lowepro specialist 85 aw $75, used
10. tripod - manfrotto 725b c/w attached 484rc2 ballhead $90, used
11. tripod - benro a-500ex $150
12. ballhead - manfrotto 488rc0 $120, used
    
13. dry cabinet - digi-cabi ad050 $60
14. square filter - tianya grad grey, grad blue, grad orange, nd8 $85
15. round filter - hoya, tokina & marumi (uv, cpl, grad grey, fld) $?
16. off camera flash kit - $215
    

spending till date (excluding round filter): S$4675

sigma 10-20mm test shots (the journey)

trying out sigma 10-20mm that i bought from hk last week. overall, the contrast is good with minimum flare problem when shooting with sun in the frame. i vaguely recall that the first version that i owned (have since sold it off due to corner softness problem) has a mf/af switch but this second piece that i owned doesn't have any. it makes setting the hyperfocal distance slightly tedious since there is no mf switch on my camera body either. i will have to auto-focus, with my shutter release half pressed, then re-focus to hyperfocal distance.

sigma 10-20mm test shots (the moments)