The long wait is over for Samsung fans. Samsung's latest flagship phone, Galaxy Note8--successor to last year's unsuccessful Galaxy Note7--has been revealed.
Presenters at the Galaxy Note8 launch are Kevin Lee, President and CEO of Samsung Electronics Phlippines (third from right) and Melanie Lok, Product Marketing Manager for Flagship Smartphones (second from left).
But of course, the highlight of the event is the launch of the Galaxy Note8. And to read my thoughts about it, check out my post on EsquirePH at the link below:
A true creative, as the saying goes, does not use a mouse to draw, to edit photos, nor to edit videos. To be a really productive artist, one needs to use, in a computer, a tablet for drawing. As another saying goes, “drawing with a mouse is like drawing with a bar of soap!” It can be done, but it isn’t easy...
One of the best brands when it comes to tablets is Wacom. Ever since I’ve started my digital photography, I’ve never been without one. And it has served me well!
So it made me really happy that they are officially launching here in the Philippines! On July 13, 2017, at the Draft Gastro Pub in Greenbelt, Makati, Wacom held their very first press launch! At the said event, they launched their line of Cintiq tablets, Intuos tablets, Bamboo Slate and Bamboo Styli. Every artists of every inclination will have something that will make them happy; and more productive!
Company officials from Wacom also made official Wacom’s partnership with the Philippine Society of IT Educators (PSITE), an institution that promotes IT education in the country.
Wacom was represented by Mr. KS Ong, Wacom Senior Director for Marketing in Asia Pacific, while PSITE was represented by Dr. Neil Balba and Dr. Rolando Lansingan, President and VP External of PSITE respectively.
Of course, the Memorandum of Agreement was signed by the signatories on a Wacom Cintiq tablet.
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It is not everyday that I get to attend a product launch in a gym. But on June 20, 2017, at the posh Kerry Sports at the Bonifacio Global City, Sony Philippines launched their latest mirrorless camera: the Sony Alpha 9.
The reason for the gym setting, as one of the Sony executive present intimated, was to highlight the new camera’s prowess in capturing athletes in their natural environ - in sporting events. In such a setting, speed is critical because things can happen really, really fast. And the sports photographer should be ready to capture such moments. With its fast focusing speed, plenty of autofocus points, and high buffer rate whether one shoots in RAW or JPEG make the Alpha 9 a very capable sports camera. And the fact that it is also weather-sealed means even outdoor sports can be covered by this.
A Sony representative demonstrated the prowess of the camera by shooting two boxers that were sparring at the event. Media people were able to get some hands-on time with demo units and the Alpha 9 surely impressed. It not only focuses on what I wanted to shoot quickly but, once it’s locked, even if something crosses in front of the subject, the Alpha 9 still retains what it was focused on. Sadly, I don’t have sample photos to show you since we were not provided SD cards that we can take home. Instead, all the photos that appeared here were taken with my iPhone 7.
(Note to camera brands: why not give media people a small SD card, say 512MB, so that we can take home sample photos of your cameras instead of us bloggers just saying that your cameras can do such-and-such? Thanks.)
Ergonomics-wise, the Alpha 9 felt good in the hand. It felt as if all the knobs and buttons are in the right place and within one’s reach. And it felt rigid and solid that I felt that the camera can take a beating.
The Sony Alpha 9 will be available in the Philippines at Sony Centers and authorized distributors starting on July 1, 2017. It will retail for 239,999 pesos.
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Last January 20, 2017, at the very cozy restaurant Marmalade Kitchen in Bonifacio Global City, Sony launched its latest flagship APS-C mirrorless camera: the α6500.
The α6500 has the following specifications:
it shoots 24 megapixel stills
does 4K video shoots
425 focus points
shoots at 11 frames per second
307 buffer images
in-body 5-axis image stabilization
a touch screen
an electronic view finder
has wifi, bluetooth and NFC antennas
among other things.
To demo the camera, Sony Philippines treated the attendees to the cooking of Chef Portia Baluyut of Rustic Mornings. And while she cooks, Food and Lifestyle photographer Gabby Cantero demonstrated what the α6500 can do. She shot stills and videos and she even made a short demo on the way she does food photography.
The Sony α6500 starts at 82, 000 Philippine Pesos, body only.
The photos were made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of that camera here!
Photos edited on an iPad using the iOS app VSCO
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Last January 19, 2017, at the newly-opened BGC Art Center, Canon Philippines celebrated its 20th anniversary in the country. On hand were people from the press, independent bloggers, and of course, people from Canon and Ogilvy.
It was such a lovely event, highlighted by the remarks from Lim Kok Hin, president of Canon Marketing Philippines. In his speech, Mr. Lim Kok Hin highlighted the company’s commitment to making great products and more and direct interactions between the Canon and its consumers.
Also highlighted were the new Canon products like the Canon Powershot G9x Mark II, the Powershot SX430 IS, and the Pixma Ink Efficient G4000 with wifi and fax, among others.
It was a lovely event and it is always a lovely affair to meet with some of my favorite people from Canon and Ogilvy as well as my fellow bloggers and friends in the media.
Keep the conversation going! Contact me via my Twitter or Facebook account. You may also email me here!
The photos made with the Canon G7x Mark II. You can find my review of that camera here!
I absolutely love tech. And I drool every time a new gadget is announced, especially from the brands that I already love and adore.
However, not all models make me want to vote with my wallet. For example, I loved the iPhone from the very start but the first ones didn't really strike my fancy enough to make me own them. So, my first iPhone is the iPhone 4. The same is true for the iPad; my first one is the iPad 4th Gen.
And the same is true for cameras.
When the Canon Powershot G7x Mark II came out, I was greatly impressed by it. And almost immediately, I decided that I should have that camera.
Long story short, I got the camera for my birthday. And immediately after opening the box, I got very much impressed.
There isn't a Canon camera that I haven't been impressed with when it comes to its construction. And in this regard, the G7x Mark II didn't disappoint. The build quality is top-notch and there are no creaking parts. The camera just feels really solid.
As far as buttons and knobs are concerned this camera didn't disappoint! There are a lot of them. And this camera, as far as buttons and knobs are concerned, will give a lot of advanced compacts a run for their money. I also love the fact that I don't need to dig through the menus just to go through a particular setting.
When you switch on the camera, the lens barrel goes out and it shows the massive lens in front. If you have ever used a typical point-and-shoot camera and you switch into this, you will be greatly surprised by the size of the front lens. The reason for the size of this front element is because the Canon G7x Mark II, like its predecessor, uses a 1-inch sensor, something that all smartphones can only dream about.
And if you are not yet impressed by that, then I hope the 4.2x zoom will. The camera zoom ranges from a wide 24mm to an impressive 100mm (35mm-sensor equivalent). Even Canon's closest competition has a zoom range from 24-70mm only. Surprisingly, the change in length of the barrel from 24mm to 100mm is really not much. The maximum aperture is 1.8 at the wide end and 2.8 at the telephoto end.
Around the lens is a ring the function of which is customizable. For my usage, I set it to change the zoom of the lens. And there is a flick switch at the lower left of the ring if you are looking at the lens straight on. This switch will toggle the ring to have step changes or smooth changes. The latter is important when you shoot videos because, if you are on "step" mode, the noise produced by the ring will be heard in your videos.
Going to the back of the camera, you find a touch screen that tilts 180-degrees up and 45-degrees down. You can set the camera to shoot photos when you touch the screen, but I'm a little old-school and I still prefer to shoot using the actual shutter release button. And yes, the 180-degree tilting screen is perfect for selfies!
At the top of the camera is the built-in flash. It's on the smallish side, but you really can't expect much from a camera of this size. However, you can tilt the flash up so you can bounce its light, though I really don't know if that will help.
Looking at the camera head-on, on the left side, you will find an HDMI port and a USB port. You can connect an HDMI cable to project your media to, say a television. And that USB port? You can use that to download stills and videos to your computer.
But wait! You can also use the USB port to charge the replaceable battery! Yes! You can charge the camera directly from a wall outlet or the battery pack that you already have for your smartphone! However, I cannot charge the camera when I plug the other end of the USB cable to a computer. The camera enters the "data transfer" mode and the camera is not being charged...
Also you cannot use the camera when it is connected to a power source, which is a let down... That means you cannot use the camera, for example, if you want to shoot videos with it for hours. Yes, that's a big let down... The only thing you can do when the camera is being charged is to look at images.
But what is great with Canon is they still included an external battery charger. So this means if you have an extra battery, like I do, you can charge at least two batteries at the same time: the one in the camera via USB and the extra one using the external battery charger. I just wished that Canon designed the external charger to have a USB port too, so that you will not need to bring an extra wall charger if you want to charge the camera directly.
And to finish off the physical aspect of the camera, I should say that the G7x Mark II has the best thumb rest and finger grip in this line of cameras! The thumb rest is big enough so that my thumb does not spill to the touch screen. And the finger grip here is actually much better than the one on the Canon Eos M3!
As far as photos are concerned, the Canon G7x Mark II doesn't disappoint. It is the first Canon camera to use the company's latest processor, the Digic7 chip. With this, handling of low-light situations are improved, as well as the speed with which the camera can capture images. With this chip, the G7x Mark II can capture photos at a burst speed of 8 frames per second! No, it is not a replacement for the Canon Eos 7D line but for people with very energetic kids, the G7x Mark II will be a big help. I was even able to capture motorcycle demos one time.
The camera also has improved autofocus speed compared to the Mark I. With this camera, I was able to photograph motorcyclists and the camera didn't lose focus the whole time. Even in very low lit situations.
There is a new time lapse movie capture and when I found this capability, I almost shed a tear. Finally, Canon! Thank you!
However, panorama is still missing in action...
There is a built-in wifi and NFC antennas so, if you use an Android phone and if you have the Canon app in it, then just tapping the phone to the NFC antenna will open up the application. As I use an iPhone, I have to open the app itself instead of it being automatic. However, after those differences, the app on both systems function the same. With the app, you can browse images in the camera, use the smartphone as a viewfinder for remote shooting, and geotag your photos. Sadly, GPS is not built into the camera so you will have to use the GPS inside your smartphone. I wonder why Canon didn't just put a GPS antenna inside... It's a minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless...
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An aside, this is how you geotag photos in all the Canon cameras I have tried so far.
Open the Canon app, go to "Location Information" and click "Begin Logging"
The app is not the most stable of apps, well, as far as the iOS version is concerned. So, there are times when I re-open the app and I find that the app has stopped logging GPS coordinates. This is a pain because I would have some photos that are not geolocated! I don't know what causes the geolocation to close; even if it is the front most app open the geolocation just quits. So, I end up checking if it's still running about every five minutes. Yes, an inconvenience...
After you shoot, you go to the settings of you smartphone then pick the camera as the wifi router.
Once the phone and the camera are connected, go back to the Canon app and the app will ask you if you want to geotag the photos. Click yes, of course.
You can either transfer the photos via wifi, the easier solution since you are already connected to the camera anyway, or, you pull out the SD card and use the lightning-to-SD card reader for iOS (if you have it). I prefer this second, more cumbersome route. Why?
It turns out if you transfer the photos via wifi, the geotagging in the photos disappear!!! No kidding! I transferred the photos twice, once via the SD card reader, the other via wifi. On my iPad I have two versions of the same photos one version geotagged, the other not. I don't know if Canon knows of this but I hope they get to read this if not.
Canon seriously needs to do something about the smartphone app...
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Using your smartphone, you can also set the camera to "Bulb Mode". With this, you can expose for your photos up to more than four minutes, so long exposure photography will also be available for you.
The RAW photos are great and they are huge in size since the camera shoots at 20 megapixels. There are a lot of details in the photos and the camera is really good at handling mixed lighting scenarios like strongly backlit sceneries.
JPEG is no slouch either. Most of the time, I only shoot JPEGs and I have been greatly impressed by it. I love the color reproduction of this camera and the Digic7 chip and the 1.8 maximum aperture also means less noise in photos, even in low light. These two alone are enough for me to jump to the G7x Mark II bandwagon.
And I also love the built-in ND filter. If you have not used one before, then I suggest you try it out. The ND-filter is the difference between having a bland panning shot and a great panning shot. And what's more, you can set the ND filter to auto, so, you can use a big aperture for that creamy bokeh even in a well-lit environment.
ND filter was switched off
ND filter was switched on
There is video capture also and you have several choices, like the aforementioned time lapse, standard and full manual. With full manual, you can change the aperture, shutter speed and ISO while you are recording! You can even change the zoom of the lens while recording. Also, you can use the touch screen to change the focus point of your video.
However, I still am baffled by the fact that Canon has not included 4K video capture in the G7x Mark II. It is 2016 already and I feel that cameras, all cameras, must provide this as an option. I am not particularly bothered by its omission but some customers might be turned off by its absence.
All-in-all, I love the new Canon Powershot G7x Mark II. It's a worthy upgrade to the Mark I and, this time around, I feel that it is a worthy replacement to my aging Canon Powershot G15. The great build quality, the big sensor, the big maximum aperture, and the lovely photos, among other things, make this a compelling camera to have for those who want to have the portability of a point-and-shoot but the full manual capability of a DSLR.
Photos of the Powershot G7x Mark II shot with an iPhone 6s+ using the iOS app VSCO. All photos made using the Canon Powershot G7x Mark II were not altered except for cropping.
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