M16 Professional Paste Wax

50mm, F/8, F/160s, ISO100
Canon EOS5D, EF50mm F/1.4 USM

Product Shots

Just to share what I shot before I went to bed...Two light sources diffused with umbrellas. The bottle was positioned far enough from the background (which was my cupboard :P) to take advantage of the rapid light fall off and specular highlight (of the umbrellas).

Meguiar's Cleaner/Wax

Meguiar's M82 Swirl Free Polish

Canon EOS5D, EF35mm F/2, Speedlite 580EX (x2), PocketWizard Plus II (x3)

Windshield Repair

Exactly 3 weeks ago, while I was driving the Accord up North for "cheng meng", the windscreen was chipped and cracked by a flying stone inflicted by a speeding modified Satria. I was at the speed of 110km/h and I guess that fellow must be beyond 130km/h. The chipping sound ain't loud but the effect of it was quite bad. The glare caused by the star crack is very annoying while driving under harsh sun light.


To prevent from further cracking, this morning I brought the car to Glass Mechanic located at SS2 for repair. Since the windshield was insured, they advice me to claim the repair fee from the insurance company. Unfortunately, they're not the UniAsia's panel, else they can even claim it for me.


A few pictures captured while they're working on the repair. The result is acceptable while leaving some chip mark on the surface is unavoidable. More important is the crack will not further grow.



Fujifilm F11

Makan-Makan @ 1Utama

What a great way to spend my lazy Sunday afternoon having lunch with close friends at 1Utama! We had our sumptuous meals at Canton-i and delicious dessert at Haagen Dazs. It was so satisfying though I'm still in the middle of flu. No car detailing over this weekend. :P

Canon EOS5D, EF35mm F/2

Another Weekly Wash

I put on the 2nd layer of Meguiar's M16 Professional Paste Wax on my ride last week. After a week of rain, the water still beads nicely. In terms of water beading durability, it wins NXT Tech Wax hands down. Not quite sure about NXT Tech Wax 2.0 which I'm still waiting for the stock to arrive Meguiar's Malaysia. I stopped using Soft99 Fusso Coat because it sticks dirt easily especially on horizontal panels.

Check out the water beads on the paintwork after hosing down the car. To minimize DOF, I switched on the macro mode on the Fujifilm F11, positioned the camera almost as near to its minimal focusing distance (6cm) and took this photo. The water beads as if the paint was just waxed.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/160s, ISO80

I simply love the image quality of the F11. Bokeh is considered excellent in its own class. And most of the time, the sharpness wins some DSLR kit lens! Another two closeup shots after the car wash.

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/60s, ISO100

Fujifilm F11, 35mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO100

Fujifilm F11: Samples

This camera is so light and small that I don't feel there's a burden carrying around. Auto focusing is quite fast and accurate. Unlike DSLRs, compact cameras will not suffer from front/backfocusing issue. If there's any focusing error found, most of the time it's due to human error. Talk about DSLR AF issue, I got my Canon EOS5D calibrated a few months ago. When shooting with aperture larger than F/2.8, it is exhibiting backfocusing error. On the other hand, my EF50mm F/1.4 USM suffered from frontfocusing error! This is annoying enough but once sent in to Canon for calibration, it works perfectly fine again.

Back to the topic...Here are two samples taken over this weekend. The first one is my gf's F11 and the second is my car.

81mm, F/4.3, 1/100s, ISO80

36mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO200

Fujifilm F11: Noise Challenge

*Photo courtesy of Watch Impress

Most of the photography enthusiasts might have heard of Fujifilm F11 regarding its low noise performance at high ISO setting. Other models such as F10, F30 and F31fd share the same platform. Though it was launched in 2005, but it's still being rated as one of the top performers in that range. By using a larger than conventional compact camera sensor (1/1.7") with 6.3 megapixels on it, it's one of the reasons why it could produce very low noise at ISO800 and 1600. Focal length range of 36-108mm (3x zoom) is quite usable for light travel.

The best part was lately my buddy encountered a bargain on this model at one of the Foto Shangrila chain stores, selling at only RM499. This price tag includes a 1GB xD card and also a camera pouch (which is useless for me). Without considering much, I grabbed it while stocks last.

Why do I still need a compact camera while I have a range of lenses and a fullframe body? You guessed it correctly, it's due to its size and weight. At around 200g, it's almost weightless compared to let's say a EOS5D fitted with EF35mm/2. When you don't wish to grab attention from the public while capturing street photos, this is the "weapon". Most people might assume that you're not so serious in photography, hence less obstruction.

Alright, not too much of reviews here, but just to share with you photos I captured this evening. Photos had been resized, no touch up.

35mm, F/2.8, 1/80s, ISO800

35mm, F/2.8, 1/60s, ISO1600

Meguiar's Show Car Detail Center: Grand Opening

28th March 2008, Hypercoat Enterprise.

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