Kwee Buck Chew

Kwee Buck Chew 开眼景。 It’s a play on the Hokkien phrase open one’s eye to what we see. As we go about our

Just received the Fujian 35mm F1.6 in the mail today and boy is it tiny. Takes 37mm filters and works well with the Fuji...
23/01/2020

Just received the Fujian 35mm F1.6 in the mail today and boy is it tiny. Takes 37mm filters and works well with the Fujifilm XE2. No complaints so far.

Decided to do a piece in tribute to those who are facing a terrible calamity in Australia. May you receive rain soon. Pe...
22/01/2020

Decided to do a piece in tribute to those who are facing a terrible calamity in Australia. May you receive rain soon. Peace.

No amount of YouTube tutorials can help if you don’t have the patience and perseverance. After many failed attempts at t...
22/01/2020

No amount of YouTube tutorials can help if you don’t have the patience and perseverance.
After many failed attempts at trying to obtain an acceptable level of clarity in the refractions of the flower in the background, I finally managed to score a clear copy.

Steep learning curve tonight after not touching Photoshop in a decade.
17/01/2020

Steep learning curve tonight after not touching Photoshop in a decade.

Went to try this Fujian 35mm F1.7 CCTV lens which goes for around $35 on Aliexpress. As it came with a C-Mount adaptor t...
16/01/2020

Went to try this Fujian 35mm F1.7 CCTV lens which goes for around $35 on Aliexpress. As it came with a C-Mount adaptor to micro four-thirds mount, I decided to mount it to an Olympus OMD EM5 Mk1 which I happen to have lying around.

While this lens has been around for years, I never got round to testing it out. However I chanced upon it when surfing on YouTube one day and was curious on how it would perform. Now, we all want a fast aperture lens for low light situations. We also want a nice creamy bokeh for our portrait shots. So here are some sample pictures of the lens and a couple of pictures taken with it wide open and closed. Bear in mind, the setting was my dining room with only one set of lights turned on. ISO varied between 1250 & 1600 and pics were taken handheld .

The purpose was to examine the background blur and not how sharp this lens is. Plenty of reviewers have already confirmed that this lens performs well in the centre of the frame.

As observed, the fairy lights in the bottle at the back rendered as perfect circles when taken wide open. Not too bad.

For the longest time, I have always said it’s not always about the mega pixels. Here we see sample pictures taken with a...
14/01/2020

For the longest time, I have always said it’s not always about the mega pixels. Here we see sample pictures taken with a Sony A7R (36MP) vs the Fujifilm S5 Pro (6MP interpolated). No editing has been done with the exception of adding the text into the picture to identify which camera it was taken on.

If you are going to print mural sized pictures, then perhaps the extra mega pixels on the A7R will help resolve more details in the final product.

But for most applications like social media and the occasional home projects, you really aren’t going to need it. I remember way back in 2006-10, everyone was going crazy over the Nikon D700 and Canon 5D while I was happily shooting with my Nikon D1 (2mp) and other simpler entry level cameras like the Canon 300D or 20D. The marketing divisions at both Nikon and Canon were pounding away at trying to get photographers to upgrade their gear to 12mp and higher. The chase was on and many did. Personally other than the improvements in low light photography, I didn’t really see the need to fork out the extra cash to obtain them.

My advice to users now is this, don’t get caught up in the marketing game, see your final product, and hone in on your skills more than the tool which helps you take better pictures.

Sony A7 Body with Nikkor 24mm F2.8 Lens .
11/01/2020

Sony A7 Body with Nikkor 24mm F2.8 Lens .

Decided to plonk an old Nikkor 50mm F1.4 on the Sony A7 body and shoot manual focus all day during my walkabout. Picture...
11/01/2020

Decided to plonk an old Nikkor 50mm F1.4 on the Sony A7 body and shoot manual focus all day during my walkabout. Picture shown is unedited.

After staying off from photography for the last few years, I decided to get back on the saddle and polish up my product ...
08/01/2020

After staying off from photography for the last few years, I decided to get back on the saddle and polish up my product photography skills.

This particular shot was taken with a Fujifilm X100 23mm 1/6 Sec F8 ISO400 without any flash. Lighting was provided by a couple of LED stub lights which can be easily purchased at Challenger for a few bucks. Accent lighting was aided by a couple of 4-bulb LED strips that uses AAA batteries.

Armed with a steady hand I went for the shot and got these.

With the recent announcement of the Nikon D780 DSLR , you will likely see some softening of prices from older models lik...
08/01/2020

With the recent announcement of the Nikon D780 DSLR , you will likely see some softening of prices from older models like the D750 and D800.

As long as the camera is in decent shape, I think picking up one of these older workhorses is fine. The higher end D800 series have a shutter lifespan of approximately 200,000 and it will likely last you for a few years before needing a replacement.

While the newer Z6 or Z7 is aimed towards videography, the D700 & D800 series still takes beautiful pictures.

More importantly, learn your tool well and don’t be a GWC (Guy With Camera) only. Shoot the heck out of it and remember how you got those shots.

First insect macro shot after 12 years. Subject:- Juvenile grasshopper.I was all excited to test out the Tokina 12-24mm ...
08/01/2020

First insect macro shot after 12 years.
Subject:- Juvenile grasshopper.

I was all excited to test out the Tokina 12-24mm F2.8 DX lens on my Fujifilm S5 Pro that I actually forgot to bring my Tamron 90mm F2.8 with me.

Thankfully the Nikon D800E was able to retain 60-70% of the image after cropping and the Nikon 24-120mm F4 held up the best it could.

Must remember to have a checklist next time I go out for a shoot!

Address

48 Arab St
Singapore
258500

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Kwee Buck Chew posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category