Nikon 1 : Nikon's Greatest Technology Unveiled by Electroworld in the Philippines!

When you want the world a tad more colorful; when you want it to be much better than the real thing; there's only one brand preferred by photographers like me. I am NIKON. I am a child of the dark side. No offense to other brands because as of now, nothing seems to have been better than this.

Since July 25, 1917, Nikon has produced the best products for optics and imaging besting several other corporations in the market today. This is the preferred brand of most professional photographers and enthusiasts and there's no contest with its quality.

Nikon just this week launched a lethal gadget that will surely make the knees of the competition tremble. They ruled the DSLR market and it's high time they deal with the small compact point and shoot cameras now. They specifically redesigned this from scratch and made it totally different from the usual. Investing a lot on this technology took years and even thousands of dollars to make but Nikon knows it's time to make things better than they used to. It's time to show NIKON 1.


Nikon 1 Series: V1 and J1


The main difference between the Nikon 1 V1 and the J1 is the high contrast view finder. With most compact cameras doing away with this necessary part that they thing the "live view" component dishes out, this camera still has it for what it functions as in major DSLR's. You simply would have a grand time shooting like a professional with this futuristic camera that boasts of 72 focus points and the fastest recorded autofocus ever in the world. Since they engineered this from scratch, it evolved to something that most compact cameras couldn't do even now. Processing at 600 megapixels per second you can surely take shots of those which were initially impossible in professional DSLR's.

Clear and vivid HD video can also be shot with this fabulous piece of equipment. Yes, it can even do slow motion video like most high end professional High Definition video cameras do.

The camera comes with a 10mm lens so you are sure you can shoot the widest. I can even imagine using my lenses with this one via the F Mount Adapter to be released before January. Yes, you heard it right you can use your AFS enabled lenses with the camera AMAZING!

Various lenses are available for the camera so you make sure you choose more when you find your niche in photography. Click, click, click!

Imagine smooth continuous shots with your V1, it's possible with Nikon 1!

Just see how it gets a snug fit with the Nikkor 35mm. I have one of these lenses and if there's gonna be a next body, this will surely be a great candidate! Hope it doesn't outperform my D60 haha!

It's got a lot of colors too! The perfect gift this Christmas!

Nice, thin and sleek but VERY POWERFUL; that's what this is!

If you plan to get one today, ELECTROWORLD is offering this new camera on their stores. Make sure you visit their branches and Nikon stores nationwide!

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For more information

Visit their website

http://www.electroworld.com.ph

http://nikon1.nikon-asia.com


PS Thanks to GMCI for hooking us up! ;)

Christmas Wishlist #1: UWA-AAAAAAAA!

Okay, today sparks a very momentous event in my site and since I make the rules around here I'm going to put in my Christmas wish list for 2010. I know this is kinda lame for some people but I guess this photo above does justice eh?!

I need an UWA lens. Since the photographer in me itches to have this particular armament in my artillery it will cost me an arm and a leg. Almost 30K to be exact. Is it worth it? To tell you honestly I don't really know yet but I need it on some of my shots and therefore I need to invest in these kind of lenses because I do weddings too. I also have some fashion shots that require this particular type of lens (hail to the gods of experimentation) and I'm really thinking hard to purchase this full blown one or would it be smarter to buy an adapter at around 2-3K. That is a long leap but I am contemplating on this one because I might need it for landscapes too. There were a lot of negative reviews on the adapter for it being a little too vignetty if there is such a word on the edges and if you see how that ruins a photo it will be too much for me to crop on the megapixel capability of my soso entry level camera. I may actually be nearing the maximum potential of my camera and do an upgrade pretty soon (which would cost a whole lot than just mere body parts!) but I am still trying to force everything to Trish (my cam) and she might not like it. =(

Here's that thing I'm longing for! The Sigma 10-20mm Ultra Wide Angle Lens

Or this one from Tokina... the 11-16mm which everyone is raving about!


What's for number 2? I'll tell you later!

Happy Anniversary My D60KREW Family!

It was hightime we did a photowalk again or as we had on some of our printed shirts FOTOWALK NA D60KREW! Because we are celebrating our Anniversary this June. Since the threads conception last year, my dear camera (Trish) and I have been buds with the same breeds as with my peers over at the D60KREW. I learned a lot from doing street photography and portraiture with them. I guess in its simplest form, I did have a lot to learn when I started this hobby and what great news to have but get acquainted with people who have been using the gear more than me... I met the D60KREW family when all I wanted was to take decent pictures and I think I got more out of that.... obviously it spurred lots of hot days under the sun and the camaraderie. All that and the fun quirky moments with the other guys and gals of the krew.

Here are some highlights of the Anniversary walk last Sunday:

Cid Estrada, Ryan Liberato, Ardiel Ross Topacio, Valynn Katrine Mag-usara, Francis Cayetano, Bangge Sella-Mahilum, Andy Rodriguez 洪安洛, Ronald Reyes Orcino, Me , Xander Solis, Andrew Alonto and Ms. Bambit. If names are missing facebook probably had something to do with it hahaha!

There were a lot of group hugs that happened. Some of them were really wacky as you might have known. What can we do, we're a happy bunch! If you combine the antics of the good guys and gals of the D60KREW, the long walk or travel would not probably tire you... but the laughs in between will. This walk was sort of a comeback since we held our first one inside the walls of Intramuros. It was scorching hot but we had a lot of fun!

Here's more of my BTS shots:

D60KREW Belle on a Bell Bangge Mahilum

Ms Bambit, Andrew, Geh, Ryan and Xander taking a rest. It was hot and we were tired!

Carlo, Joseph, Andrew, Ryan, Cid and Xander taking a seat on the streets of Intramuros.

D60KREW Noobs Andrew, Geh and Mhacdo. Ryan stands behind them.

D60KREW FOTOWALK NA! Art Topacio and Bangge wearing it proud!

To everyone who made this photowalk happen and to all my buds in the D60KREW....

Happy Anniversary D60KREW!
Until the next FOTOWALK! =)

The Day is Tiring...

Today was a little hectic, not because I just received news that University of the Philippines Maroons just beat the unbeatable Ateneo Blue Eagles... but because I had to do a lot of editing from this week's shoot. We went back to Intramuros and climbed its walls so we can shoot at a part sky part cityscape type of surroundings. I was very eager to shoot on plants because those are the ones you can easily pop out in a photograph. It was a nice day out with the D60KREW again and I learned a lot of things. Well not there exactly, but I had a small talk with Sir Andy Rodriguez.

I got a few tips to maximize the camera I have and learned that I have not been doing some things that I didn't know it could possibly do. What is it you ask? well, lets just say I haven't chosen some of the options on the post processing part for the camera. One that I should have chosen to do in the last 4 months of its existence! hahah... well we just figured it out how to have crisp pictures than normal ones so you will eventually be looking at better pictures from hereon heheh.

Actually this was a picture that was part of that shoot and I already used it on one of my posts. You'll see a better resolution when you click it so ENJOY!

My Laguna Photowalk with D60KREW

So there you go, I've got more but it would not really be good for the site since it would crawl a lot if I did put more of it here. Maybe soon I'll put the direct link for my photos here so you can all get to see em. Here's the KREW by the way:

From R-L: jake francis vince alex xander joseph Harvie kris Me carlo cid ray bangge me roy bambit olee Glenn
Group Hug PIC courtesy of Ms. Bambit

Along with my obsession with photography comes the arduous task of editing and post processing of all the shots I made in the Laguna photo walk with the D60 KREW. This was one awesome trip but I am still sick from it now but I don't regret the decision to come and enjoy my time with them. I got some of my pictures which I would like to show you now. Maybe it will load a little slow but bear with me alright?

This was taken on a fountain inside the premises of the Pila Laguna Church. It was floating on the second level I kinda pushed it in the water before I took a photo of it. Nice huh?!

This was taken inside the garden of the Rizal Shrine. They say that most of the plants and trees they planted there are all based on the former ones that existed in Rizal's time. I was a little disappointed about the shrine's color (they painted it green) but this Gumamela flower just POP in this scene. I've kinda been good at MACRO shots but never insisted going this path. Maybe soon when I get the hang of it I'll probably pursue it. But for now I like Glamor/Fashion and portrait shots more.

This is an untouched photo taken inside the Pila Laguna Church, it was raining outside so we were all trapped taking pics inside the church. I used flash but it kinda bounced off the gate where this was, it resulted into a nice shadow effect.

This was the church in Liliw Laguna where only a couple of us took shots. We were hurried by the other KREW so we kinda only took a few.

This was inside the garden of the Rizal Shrine. This was usually the place where Rizal and his siblings played during the day. It seems they were pretty well off at that time. Their stuff were kinda neat for an old family.

D60 KREW Conquers Laguna!

Us @ Petron Treats @ South Super Highway

I literally just got off the van and went back to work. Geeze! This was one fun day... I guess I enjoyed the company... the small laughs in between and the jokes that cracked me up. The D60KREW just conquered Laguna!

From Left to Right: Vince, Jake (sorry tama ba? hehe) , Xander, John (that's me!), Vangie, Carlo, Francis (slightly hidden), Cid, Olee, Roy, Alex, Ms. Bambit, Ray, and Rye (I'm a lil hard in remembering names sorry if I misrepresented anybody! heheh)

It was a hot ride but I guess that doesn't matter anymore since we all jumped into this awesome photo shoot. Early morning at 2AM I woke up and never slept again because I know I'll probably never wake up if I did. Went to Cubao around 4:30 AM and met some of the guys and gal and got out of QC at about 5:15 AM. We went back to Eastwood since we forgot to fetch Cid in C5. Met the others at the Sucat exit and waited for Olee in the Petron Treats Station along South Superhighway. We started the journey in Calamba, Laguna where the country's national hero Jose Rizal spent his childhood... the green paint on it was a little disappointing... but the things inside the house and the facade was greatly appreciated by me and my peers. I got a lot of macro shots also done on the garden outside his home.

US D60KREW @ Rizal Shrine!

There was also a nipa hut where the young Rizal and his siblings usually play. The beds, tables and chairs inside the home were old and rustic. The porcelain inside the cabinets were all heirlooms of the Rizal family and had some inscriptions on it that it was passed on from generation to generation. It was nice too see that!

D60KREW @ San Juan De Letran Calamba Campus

The second stop was a couple of landscape shots inside the San Juan De Letran Campus in Calamba which was a few kilometers away from Rizal's house. It was nice to see the landscape and the mountains behind it. It was definitely breathtaking. Although we were a little tired already we still managed to go to another one after that.

Boy Scout's Camp @ Mt. Makiling Laguna

US @ Philippine High School for the Arts on top of Mt. Makiling, Laguna

The third place was the boy scouts camp in Mt. Makiling, the path was really steep and the curves were really that hard to maneuver in. I didn't have that much photos there so we went on an overlooking site at the top of Mt. Makiling where the Philippine High School for the Arts was on. The place was grand but most of the views were blocked by human high grass stalks called talahib. It was really nice to see some sort of a basin inside Laguna De Bay. Aside from that, the lake also had an island in the center of it that had casinos owned by the Governor of the province. It figures why she won the elections! Where did she get the money? Go figure!

That's not my problem anyway! So, the next stop we had was in UP Los Baños. Even if we did not have that much photos in UP, it was at least nice to be there. I mean, I've never been there believe me or not. We ate lunch at the outskirts of the campus and everyone was sizzling under the sweltering heat of the sun! Ouch! I'm a negroid again!

Speaking of SIZZLING... I ate a TBONE straight from the hot plate. It was tough but what can an ordinary carnivore do in this day and age... of course eat chicken from Rye! Heheh Man! It was a lot to chew and swallow in one sitting. I guess everybody else was hungry at that time, and a lil bit sleepy too after that. I heard some suggesting a 30 minute siesta but that wouldn't really work... so we hopped on the van again; and went to our next destination Pila, Laguna.

We tried our best to get some old houses in the D60 cameras that we had but after a few shots outside we all went inside the church to pray and get some of those evils off. I don't know if it was me or something in me, but it suddenly was dark outside... a few drops, then lightning and thunder... drips a little... then the whole cats dogs and the zoo fell down. We were all trapped inside the church for a good hour or so because if we went out we would probably have had all our gears wet. That would not be a pretty picture! I got a few excellent shots there that didn't require that much post processing but since I'm not at home yet at the time I'm writing this novel LOL, I would probably be able to post that later ayt!?

After the few rounds of Green Sweet Cold Gulaman from the Rye Foundation heheh... we skipped and hopped to the vehicles again and went to Nagcarlan, Laguna. The specific location was the Underground Graves that the municipality was known for. I guess that is what you call catacombs too right? Well I didn't have time to check that out on Google so I'd let you do that instead hehehe... This was where most Filipinos at war planned schemes against conquistadores from other countries. This was some sort of a secret meeting place. The graves were indeed kinda creepy but the outside was a bit picturesque and very rustic. We didn't have that much paid for entrances because most of these sites we visited were for free and only required donations which can probably range from 6 to 7 million dollars... joke! any amount will do actually! It rained a little but it did not dampen our spirits so we went to our final destination for pasalubong shopping Liliw, Laguna!

It was nice there although it looked like a market of some sort I enjoyed haggling a little with the locals on biscuits and sweets and the Uraro cookies I like. I kinda was confused between this URARO and the ARARO cookies we had in Bacolod... I guess that version in the visayas was sweeter and whiter than this one. The Uraro cookies looked more like butter cookies when baked til golden brown. We even had free samples before we bought anything. That lady who sold us these was quite good I guess, or is it because we were tourists? I dunno! Heheh... We also passed by the Liliw Sacred Heart Church which looked like a ton of bricks! It was nice outside and equally nice inside too. I took some pictures but couldn't post it because I'm still at work typing this in. Darn! I wanna go home! Hahah...

(Stopped for a while and took a shower, reflected on the things we did wrong like shouting inside the church and cursing on one time or the other heheh... changed clothes because I felt filthy!)

Continuing...

Group Hug @ Nagcarlan, Laguna

Everybody forgot to take group hug pictures in Nagcarlan so we all went back to that place and shot a few. Ms. Bambit and Carlo did set up their cams and went on clicking their remotes so we can take pictures of ourselves and jump on a few frames. It was hilarious because Bangge and Roy kept cracking up jokes while doing this... and the other things between trips the whole day heheh.

It was really fun and I had such a nice time with the guys at D60Krew. I guess we all went home with tired feet, but very happy faces because we did enjoy each other's company. The camaraderie and the joy a good shoot can deliver is just priceless! I guess that's what the D60Krew did today, and I hope this isn't the last of it!

Thank you D60KREW for this wonderful trip!

P.S. Credits to photos are from Ms. Bambit Gaerlan

KUMAGCOW'S Day, July 15, 2009

This evening I missed watching Ice Age 3 with the rest of the moderators at work. I guess I was so much tired so I over slept. Now I'm just staring at my phone with 10 missed calls and a lot of text messages from them, oh I wanted to review that movie! I guess I have to watch that at home instead because I have no one to take to the malls this weekend. I'm going out of town for a photo shoot so I'm gonna be quite busy.

I'm watching TV and waiting for the right time to take a shower so I can get to work. The show "May Bukas Pa" was being watched by my Mom and Dad. Well, lets say I can relate to them quite a bit because there are some incidents on this show that are remarkably similar to real life. This show should be commended on content, its really great to see TV is improving in the Philippines. Though I would have wished more movies to be shown than TV. It would really be nice to see that instead. I'm gonna check the thread and finalize the details of our photo walk this weekend so I don't have any hitches on Sunday. I have to go back early since I have work that day too. Lets just cross our fingers that I won't be late that day. Aside from that, the weekend shoot was nice. I got some pretty nice shots, but am currently post processing them. I'll be posting some of them later I guess so watch my flickr account!