A brief moment with Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135 f/1.8

Here in Kota Kinabalu, we do not have outlets that offered lenses or even bodies for us Alpha users to try out before buying. We normally just wait for friends to buy those lenses then we can 'poisoned' ourselves with it. Luckily, those good guys from Mega Avit in Wisma Merdeka organised a mini studio and model portraiture shooting yesterday afternoon and ended today. The best part about the event is that we get to try those fine expensive Carl Zeiss lenses and the A850.

My friends and I came early. Actually we were the first few people who came. But then, I was there the earliest! Haha. I reached there around 10 am no thanks to the excitement hormones in me.


The mini studio.


250W strobes.




A very big umbrella.


The Alpha system and some lenses ready to be 'molested'. Wish all the lenses especially the 70-200mm f2.8 was made available.


The Zeiss glasses. From left to right, 16-35 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, 85 f1.4, 135 f1.8


Close up on the Carl Zeiss 16-35 f2.8


I want that waist/sling bag! Sadly it only comes with new purchases.


Recommended retail prices. Street prices are cheaper though. :D


A550 package.


Hey, it's the new TX-7 with AVCHD movie that's going to be incorporated into Sony's new dslr soon.

As the event still hasn't started, we did a short street shooting outside Wisma Merdeka building.


Mahayuddin with idol.

Then the event started with the four of us 'officiating' the strobes. I used the Minolta 50mm f1.7. Strobes were triggered using F42 and F58 on our camera bodies.


We still have a long way to go with studio shooting.

Finally, my chance came to try out one of the Zeiss lenses, the Sonnar T* 135 f/1.8. The other 135mm lens in Sony's lineup is the STF (Smooth Trans Focus). The STF provides exceptional, high quality bokeh but no autofocus.


Looks really good when mounted.

Did some shots with the lens wide open(f1.8).


1/40, iso 400 f1.8


Cropped!


1/40, iso 400 f1.8


1/60, iso 400, f4


1/40, iso 400 f1.8


Cropped!


1/40, iso 400 f1.8


1/40, iso 400 f1.8


1/40, iso 400 f1.8

At the end of the day, only one word can express how we felt about the 135mm. DAMN!

Futsal in Lawas

Puma Futsala IV.

Our futsal game slowed down last month because we were denied playing at a school compound in Lawas because of conflicting opinions. So we literally quit the game and I continued my usual jogging session. Even though I just picked up the game and slowly honing my skills, I enjoyed kicking the ball, passing the ball and even scoring. I did score a few but mostly by pure luck. No skills used whatsoever. :p

Anyway a new futsal court was opened recently and we were ecstatic! Just that we can't play often because we have to pay RM50 per hour. Last time it was free and we played almost everyday.

Apart from the court fees, we paid the boat fee as well. Where's our court you might ask.


There it is! Across the Lawas river!




Here's our boat. RM1 round trip.


It can fit 12 adults comfortably at a time.






Just a short one-minute trip.


The court. We can even play at night!


Actions before the game.

A short Brunei trip with Cybershot T70.

Two weeks ago I joined my wife's family for a trip to Brunei to attend their relative's funeral. It was my first time being in Bandar Seri Begawan, its capital city. Before this I just drove there as a transit visitor.

We reached the city at night, and stopped beside the big Omar Ali Saifuddin mosque. The abundance of road signs helped us from getting lost. As I didn't bring my cam with me, I borrowed my wife's Sony Cybershot T70 for this shot.


Sony T70, 6mm, iso 1600, 1/40, f3.5.

Well, that's all about my trip there. Hehe. I just want to show this shot using a PnS and I'm quite impressed with the output. The manual controls only allows adjustments for iso, focus area, metering mode and EV values.

I owned a PnS previously and I remembered I didn't use the manual settings much, nor I understand how to use it. Most shots were using Auto or the default scene selection. Nice photos taken but somehow I'm not satisfied. But after I owned and handled a dslr, I realised that I'm starting to enjoy fiddling with a PnS limited but still interesting manual adjustments. How I wish I have this knowledge and experience last time.

Fire drill

This morning, my school organised a fire drill. Finally, something I can shoot while at work! The school invited some firemen to conduct the fire drill session.



8.20 am. The alarm sounded and the students and teachers ran(or rather walk) to the school compound.




The fireman evaluating the earlier drilling process.




Preparing the fire extinguishers.


The fire pit is made of cut oil drum and filled with fuel.


Back during my school days, we used real woods piling up on the ground, and extinguishing the big fire is even spectacular!

Then, came the 'cadet firemen' to help save the day in various poses.








The dry foam extinguishers tasted sour!



Let's learn on how to extinguish fire using a fire extinguisher.


After pulling out the extinguisher safety pin, hold the nozzle towards the fire source.


Press the trigger to release the dry foam.


Keep pressing until the fire is controlled.


Done! Don't get near the foam though.

Tired, busy and APC

Phew! This past few weeks was quite a busy period for me. Work piling up on my table and I rarely could find the time for photography. Last week I went to Brunei to attend my wife's relative funeral service and witnessed how cremation is done there. I couldn't find the time to send my car for a major service too! Anyway, just an update.




If you wonder about the photo quality, these two were taken using my trusty Sony Ericsson hp.

I'll be receiving the APC (Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang) tomorrow. APC is an honour given to the government staffs who excel in their work on the previous year. And the receivers will receive an incentive of RM1000! Nice. Till then, take care and have a nice day!