Low Light Express

I must say I was expecting way thick from the iPhone 6 camera. The day I got my 6 Plus I took it to Pavilion to do some testing. Not in daylight but right after sunset. I really wanted to know how good it was.

There were plenty of people and more than enough subject keep me going. The lantern show was still on, and mixed with the lights at the fountain, it was quite a spectacle.

I got snapping straight away, alternating between the iPhone and the GR. The results? It was better than I expected. And the main reason was the optical image stabiliser. The shots looked crisp and the noise level was more than just acceptable. Not as good as the GR, but certainly no slouch.

Would it replace the GR in my pocket? Unlikely. Was it any better than the 5S. I wager to say that, it was not as big a jump between the 4 and the 4S. The main reason why the shots were successful was the image stabilisation system. You'd never be able to get the same shot on the 5S due the low shutter speed.

The image on the 6 Plus also appeared less contrasty as compared to the 5S. It was certainly easily rectified with apps such as Camera+. Otherwise the camera retained the 8MP sensor size, but I was sure much of the update happened under the hood at the software level.

Shooting speed was reasonable although the bigger size of the phone felt cluncky in my hands. If felt too big for me to position the shots freely, unlike the older iPhone or even my GR.

All in all, the iPhone 6 Plus still carried the reasonably good camera and with the addition of some software magic, the output still was among the best compared to other phones. I felt it better than the Oppo. From what I heard, the Lumia was still the King, and this latest Apple offering did little to knock the Windows phone off its perch.

Gearing Up

Another year had passed and it would be another installment of my yearly photo walk and getting to chill out with friends with a camera. Scott Kelby's Annual Photowalk was back. As usual, time to get ready with the gear, get the batteries filled up with the juice, polishing the lens and the lot.

Tomorrow, I would be bringing a couple of cameras. My XT-1 attached to the 56mm Fujinon f1.2 and the smaller Ricoh GR. That way, I would be able to cover wide angle - with the GR able to capture 28, 35 and 47 mm - and the XT-1 obviously the equivalent to 85mm in old money. Should be a great outing although the weather forecasters to be suspect. And there was the issue of the haze as well although it hasn't been too bad today.

My Fenix 2 also needed chargingThis time, we planned to congregate near Pudu Plaza by 9am and would be venturing towards Pudu Market. Should be a decent sized crowd and looking forward to great snap.

We would be spending the evening at the apartment hopefully after that, whereby could get on with post-prodiction and uploading. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

The walk last year was written up here.

Lantern at Fahrenheit

As I walk towards Bukit Bintang from where I parked last Monday morning, I caught this exhibition at Fahrenheit 88 just across the road. Good thing I got my GR with me and got snapping away. They were holding a lantern festival there showcasing some work both local and from Taiwan.

Some really neat work there and definitely was a spectacle.

Since it was Monday, the crowd was pretty thin making taking photos unobtrusive. 20 minutes passed while I was exploring the place. Better rush through to settle my bill and have a quick lunch. I have a clinic later that afternoon.

Photos at ParkCity

Photos at ParkCity : Even though I've closed the morning clinic at ParkCity today, I still went there after my mourning briefing to see a referral. While walking down the corridor, something caught my eyes. Apparently on one of the foyer, they had a small exhibit.

Nothing fancy, but a selection of photos of rural Malaysia celebrating Malaysia Day. Nice photos although I felt they were too small to be called a proper exhibition.

None the less, it made me smile. As a courtesy to the photographer, I refrained from posting close-ups as I was sure they were all his bread and butter. A nice little showing none the less.

Nu Sentral

As mentioned, I had some for lunch today. I had always wondered what does Nu Sentral looked like as I passed through it a few months back. It was before the opening hours then when I joined a few fellow photographers venturing around Brickfields. So, I decided to have lunch there today.

I was surprised at how big the place was. Quite easily 8 floors of shops and each floor took some walking to cover. Not as big as Berjaya Time Square in terms of square footage but just as dizzyingly big. Bear in mind that not all the shops were opened yet.

Loving the curves and anglesAnd also at the outside courtyardGetting into the mall could be tricky if rounders not familiar with Brickfields. I drove from the centre of Brickfields towards the town centre with the mall being on my left. I then entered the parking lot from here, an easy drive as KL was still quiet after the Raya celebration. And the parking lot was practically empty.

As Deepavali was around the corner, the main foyer was filled with kolam, the colourful rice decoration on the floor. A competition was being held and the patterns looked very impressive.

And then the climbing started. I was sure that Anita would've been pleased if she were to come along. Most of the major outlets were there, including Godiva Cafe - Idlan's favourite. The outlet at Pavilion doesn't have any seating any more. Uni Glo, H&M, even Burton was there. The food court were located on the upper floors. The anchor tenant was Parkson.

Nice cafe ...Must say that the architecture did not reflect the surrounding neighbourhoodColourful kolam as part of the competition. Deepavali round the corner.From one of the upper floorsLooking downStaring at the ceilingIn the coming months, there would be a bowling alley and multiplex opening. By then the place would be impressive.

But what struck me about the place was the architecture. Impressive. Not just the inside. The outside walkway was also as impressive. The mall was linked to KL Sentral and Monorail, hence transport should not be an issue.

After walking around the place close to one and a half hour, I then settled in for some fast food before heading back to my apartment 10 minutes away for more reading.

Would definitely be visiting again, this time with Anita and the boys.