The Edgy Camera

iPhone had always been the go to smartphone for photographers. It gave a consistently pleasing results, and with each iteration of the phone, the results kept getting better and better. It is a given that any flagship smartphone would come with a great camera.

The Lumia series then redefine the concept of a cameraphone. I own a Lumia 930 and the results had always been fantastic. But the main drawback with the Windows platform, was the lack of software, although the Windows 10 looked promising. Hopefully more apps would be available of the likes of Snapseed and VSCO cam for a bit of post-processing.

Even the Blackberry - at least on the Z10 - had a decent camera. I really like the output from the phone, but it was grainy and blotchy on low light. It also relied heavily on post-processing as the out-of-the-camera result wasn't always that great.

Then came the Android. They tended to be a mixed bag. Sony tended to have great sensors for their camera. LG was not far behind although I was disappointed with the Nexus 4 - which was made by LG. Oppo made great hardware and screen, but their camera was always so and so. The we came to Samsung. They were improving over the years and the output from Note 3 and S4 was pretty decent.

The S6 edge was a different beast however. The 16MP - or in my case 12MP since I use the 3:2 format - snaps I was getting from the phone had been mind-blowing. Yes, they tended to be oversaturated one minute and subdued in another, but overall I was not expecting it to be this good. I would have bought the phone on the camera alone, let alone the scrumptious screen and form factor.

The jpeg had issues in high contrast situation struggling to cope with a wide dynamic range, but it held its own pretty well. On par if not better than my iPhone 6 plus in most situations although it occasionally tended to underexpose indoors. The iPhone tended to get the exposure right compared to the Samsung. Low light performance? Astounding. However, I still rated both the iPhone 6 and the S6 lower than my Lumia. The Lumia could challenge even a half-decent compact cameras at times.

At the moment, I was pretty happy with the results from the S6, and paired with Snapseed, it was definitely worth a look as a compact travel shooter. As they say, the best camera was the one you have with you at the time.

A Sunday Outing

It was not often that I had a Sunday free. This time it was through a combination of patients being discharged that morning as well as my last call being a good 10 days ago. I might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

So, today Anita came along for a monorail ride with me towards Bukit Bintang. Again we started off from Nu Sentral, parking our car there. A short hop to Berjaya Time Square then. We had lunch and Anita did a bit of shopping afterwards before we hopped across to Low Yat.

The entrance to the theme park at Berjaya Times SquareBut we decided for an early lunch firstAnita's power bank failed and she needed a new one. Not an easy decision as she climbed six floors of the mall looking for the one that she liked. We finally found one at the second floor from the top.

It was threatening to rain then, so we chilled out inside the mall for a little bit before making our exit. And then came the street party at one corner of Low Yat with the road leading to Federal Hotel being blocked off. More on that here.

After mingling around in the crowd, Anita wanted to have a drink. We initially wanted to go towards Jalan Mesui to have some coffee there. But the sky was getting grey again. We didn't risk it and walked towards Lot 10, then further on towards Starhill Gallery.

At the salonSome ice-cream maybeAnita was suspiciously happy to see the blob!!Starhill Tea Salon was the destination. We had scones - although I had a mocktail rather than tea this time - and some pasties. Proper English style!

All together a nice little outing. Walking back to the monorail station quickly to avoid rain. It poured by the time we got into our car at Nu Sentral. More entry on the Nippon balls here.

Flowers for Mothers

Mother's Day was fast approaching and my boys had been asking me what I would get for Puan Anita. Well, she is their mother, so the idea must come from them. Still no news.

The Bukit Bintang entrance at Pavilion though had some really nice fake tulips on display. Not sure if they were a start for something more spectacular. Would have to wait and watch. Could do with many more of them ....

Them Nippon Balls

Definitely colourful and attractive, located right in front of Fahrenheit towards the crossing to Pavilion, right between some building site.

I was sure it was sponsored by Nippon Paints, but this was the kind of colourful advertisement one didn't really mind. It made the area more distinctive with the rather sterile background during the MRT building around Bukit Bintang lately.

Looking at the exhibits closely, I noticed that each of the balls were made from different material. You had wwod, ceramic tiles, bigger tiles, cements and even glass. Clever and subtle. It showed that the paints could be used on any surface ...

Not sure for how long it was going to stay though. Better get snaps of them while they last ...

Labour Day Walk

Last weekend I was in Kota Kinabalu. And with the gorgeous weather we had yesterday, I just couldn't resist taking my camera out. I had to do some banking and pay some bills as well. So, it was a good enough excuse.

The after was just as gorgeous although Anita didn't let me go into town with the anti-GST rally going on around KLCC. Most of my friends were there, with their camera on tow. Some excellent photos to be had.

Instead we had a nice family outing.

But for now, let just stick with the photos. A couple of theme. Mother's Day was just around the corner and some cute paper flowers were on display at the Pavilion main entrance.

Across the road, there was also a small space right into of Fahrenheit with some cute colourful caricuture from a paint company. Nicely done...