Pentax SMC DA* 60-250 f4 ED (IF) SDM – User Review   I had the opportunity to try out the Pentax 60-250 f4 professional grade lens during the Pacu Jawi in Padang a few days ago. I have tried this lens last year but was not entirely satisfied with it. Some of the images were soft. This time round I took it as a challenge to find out what was wrong with this well regarded lens. Before I go into what I did with the lens, let...

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Pentax MX-1, Hands on Review   Pentax is playing catch up with retro designed cameras. This trend was started presumably by Fujifilm with their introduction of the Fujifilm X100. Now almost every major camera manufacturer is trying to put a retro designed camera in their product line. With the introduction of the MX-1, Pentax is going into a crowded high end point and shoot camera segment.  The competitors of this market are Canon S110,...

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  Over the years I have realized that I only need to carry the minimum equipment for long photography trips. When I first started this photosafari.com.my I used to carry almost the whole dry box, however, over time I did an audit on the camera bag and lots of stuff which I do not need for the trip were thrown out. This helped to save my sore back.   I have been evaluating this fisheye lens for sometime. My thanks to DSC World who has...

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  I have been shooting in natural light all these while. However, when there was an opportunity to shoot Thaipusam Festival over a period of 3 days organized by PhotoSafari, I was looking for a solution on how to take pictures of the night Chariot Procession and documenting 10 families as they participated in the Thaipusam Festival.   I hate carrying those huge TTL flashes around especially on a photosafari trip. It just took up...

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  I have been searching for an ideal camera to take BnW images since I moved from the BnW films and the wet darkroom to digital. Most of the time I was disappointed. Perhaps it was the lack of exposure latitude (dynamic range for digital users) or the toe and shoulder characteristics. I often find digital black and white too clean and clinical. Where is the gritty Kodak Tri-X look which I have grown accustomed to? The mellow and yet...

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  A couple of years ago I did a Ricoh GRD III hands-on review. I was excited when I was offered an opportunity to take the GRD IV for a spin on the 10 days trek from Besi Sahar to Manang in Nepal a couple of weeks ago. On inspection, the camera looks and feels the same, like the GRDIII. Nothing much has changed. The controls were where they were in the previous model. So what were the improvements? Ricoh GRD IV compared to GRD III Larger...

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