Marina South Pier and Cruise Centre

Today's lunch walkabout led me to Marina South Pier.

This is probably one of the most "ulu" MRT station in Singapore. Except for the station control master, I didn't see anyone else in the train station.

The MRT exit to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre and its surroundings.

 

Directional signs indicated this was a 500 metres walkway.

Along the way, it was quite scenic and there were a few fishermen trying their luck in the scorching sun :)

I guess you could try to grow rice here if you're desperate enough.

A distant view of the Cruise Centre. Looks like a cruise ship doesn't it?

The front or rear (stern?) of the cruise centre. Is the hole supposed to represent a swimming pool?

This was the warning sign posted at the hole. So I guess I can try to take a dip next time?

 

Before this gets replaced by another shopping centre, the field looks like a good place to fly a quad or a heli here when the ground is dry.

Right-side (starboard?) side of the Cruise Centre.

Close-up of the terminal fenders/bollards (?)

Loved the sea-nery.

More fishing.

The cruise centre itself was pretty boring though. It seemed so... desolate.

As there were no ships berthed at that time, I couldn't get in to explore further.

So I walked back to the Marina South Pier and its ferry boats.

For those old enough will recognise this riverboat, which used to be at Sentosa.

 

The pier's second floor had a maritime gallery, but due to time constraints, I didn't go in.

And on the top floor, you can get a bird's eye view of the pier and its surroundings.

Capture of a fleeting moment

I was at Peninsula Plaza two days ago when I saw the Leica x1 being sold. 

When I came today, it was gone. 

Love Boat

Luminous Reds

Review of the Sony Ericsson Arc S

Having owned this phone for 3 days, I think I've been able to pen down some thoughts of my personal experience with it.

Weight and Handling

The first thing that came to mind was compared to my previous phone LG's Optimus 7, this phone feels light and almost like a toy.

It's a little slippery because of its glossy back and I have, on occasion feel it slipping out of my hands.

However (fortunately), it hasn't done any damage to the floor yet but it does give me an impression that it would from time to time.

The wider screen (4.2" vs 3.8") also makes it slightly more wieldy but IMO, the Galaxy Note's even more challenging in that aspect.

Screen and Viewing Quality

In the past, when I step out of the MRT station, the screen would be washed-out by the ambient glare.

But now even in the afternoon sun, I'm now able to watch my videos or check emails on the move.

Photos and videos also appear more vibrant on the Arc S' screen.
 
Media

With Android, I can just take out the micro-SD to transfer videos, pictures etc. directly from my network drive to the phone.

More conveniently, I did find an app, AndSMB which allows me to connect directly to my network drive to download the files.

This means I can download my media files without even taking out the card.

Apps
Android has most of the apps that I had been using, so I didn't encounter any problems here. The apps currently on my phone are:

• AndSMB
• Angry Birds
• Camera360
• Dolphin HD Browser
• Evernote
• Facebook
• Gmail
• GO Launcher
• Google Search
• Mindjet
• MX Video Play
• Pudding Camera
• QuickPic
• Show Nearby
• SG Buses
• Skitch
• Snapbucket
• SpeedTest
• Wifi Analyser
• YouTube

 Battery Life
The battery can support a day's worth of surfing, SMSing and watching videos, but it does come precariously close to being critically depleted when I return home.
 
Camera and Buttons
The 8mp EXMOR camera sensor was one of the main reasons why I had upgraded my phone. However, I haven't had the opportunity to review the imaging quality much so far. But initial impression is that shutter button is too small to be used properly. However, I have found some photos apps that are able to remap the volume buttons and will be testing the camera more comprehensively.

Cost
The phone is now priced at $168 with the M1 iPhone Value plan.

Coupled with a $100 trade-in value from my Optimus 7, I think it's a steal for $68.

When God powders the skies

My SX20 Part 2

Just stumbled across a post by a fellow Canon-er (SWriverstone) who had explained the pros (and cons) about ultrazooms such as the SX20:

1. If most/all of your images will end up on the web (e.g. you don't plan to print lots of large images for wall-hanging and gallery display), then the quality of a DSLR is really a non-issue. The quality of superzooms is MORE than enough for excellent 800x600 images online. But if you *do* plan to be printing a lot of large images (bigger than 8x10") then you'll need the superior resolution and quality of a DSLR.

2. If compactness/portability is important... and you don't want the hassle of switching lenses, then the superzoom is definitely the way to go. Some have commented that superzooms like the Canon SX10 are almost as big as a DSLR...but they're still *not* as big (especially when you add a long-range zoom to the DSLR).

3. Superzooms give you virtually all of the manual control of aperture, shutter, and focus that DSLRs offer. They also offer advanced features like exposure and focus bracketing, and even white balance bracketing (on some models).

4. Depth-of-field control is somewhat more limited with a superzoom, but this primarily applies to shorter focal lengths. The great thing about superzooms is focusing at 20x zoom on an object just 10 feet away...which gives you amazingly narrow DoF for some beautiful results.

5. Superzooms shoot video; most (if not all?) DSLRs don't. If you ever want to shoot some video, this is a consideration.

6. RAW format images: most superzooms won't shoot RAW (the Canon SX10 doesn't, but I think the Panasonic does?). For me, this isn't really an issue, because almost all of my shots end up on the web (see #1 above).

7. Low light - no question, DSLRs perform better here with less noise. But I've found my superzoom (with image stabilization) does perfectly well when (again) the final result is destined for the web.

The bottom line is that if you are NOT a working, professional photographer, there's a LOT to be said for going with a superzoom.

In my opinion, (and I'm not a working professional photographer), the gains achieved by going with a DSLR are simply not significant enough to warrant the increased price and reduced compactness.

For their price and their relative compactness compared to a DSLR, superzooms are a fantastic deal with enormous range and flexibility.

The most important thing is to know what you want from your camera, what it can do and set appropriate expectations on it. You might be pleasantly surprised when it delivers more when least expected.

My SX20

After lots of deliberation, pondering and goading, I finally settled on the Canon SX20 and got it on 23 Dec 2009.



To save 20% off the market price, I even got a "grey set" at $529.

The camera was put to the test immediately during this festive season.

Other than missing a gathering with friends on the 22nd, this camera was used for several occasions during the past 2 weeks:

a. Hayley's First Haircut
b. Photo archival of Caeden's old Art and Craft projects
c. Christmas parties
d. My cousin's wedding
e. Caeden's Birthday at school
f. Family Outing to SSC
g. Friend's Kid's Birthday

After using it these weeks, here are my key observations of the SX20:

1. HD Recording

I really liked this function. The movies came out gorgeous even in normal indoor lighting. The stereo sound came out crisp and clear, especially those taken indoors. Light-years ahead of the mono recordings that I had from the mju 850.

However during my boy's birthday celebration, which was held indoors under normal lighting, the camera had trouble focusing and kept searching for a focus lock (I could see the dust on the lens during the focus search due to its macro function) for an extended period of time.

This "problem" happened only when I was recording the singing of the birthday song (although the camera did search for focus from time-to-time but recovered it in less than 1-2 seconds). I suspect the yellow uniforms that the kids wore could have confused the sensor but haven't been able to replicate this issue though.

2. 20x Optical Zoom

I didn't really believe some of the reviews that I read on the Web about the ability of the camera to capture stuff that were actually too far for the eye to see.

I caught some butterflies flitting in the trees just outside my home one morning and took a couple of shots at wide-angle (28mm), 20x optical (560mm) which are displayed below. These were taken handheld.

The third picture is a crop from the optical picture showing a close-up shot of the butterfly.





The butterfly pic is obviously quite grainy (On Sports Setting - 1/640 f5.7 ISO640) but still presents some fine details that would have been missed if such a zoom capability was not present.

3. Shooting at high ISO settings

I like natural lighting and try not to use flash whenever possible. But one of the issue that I faced during these few weeks whilst taking pics using natural light is that I had to use high ISO in order to obtain proper exposure. Reviews on the SX20 stated that the noise levels increased drastically once ISO was set above 200.

I found myself using ISO 800-1600 most of the time at low shutter speeds (1/15 to 1/30) when taking pictures:



Judge for yourself if these pics came out well.

I also wanted to find out if the resolution at which the pictures were taken could affect the noise levels, so I did several shots at 12mp, 8mp, 5mp and 2mp of my son's cupboard:




Can you see any difference in the pics?

In my opinion, not much unless you want to enlarge pictures beyond A4-size (which I don't most of the time) or crop your pictures to improve their composition (which I also don't normally do).

4. Handling and Ergonomics

Weighing in at about 700g (1.5lbs), it is not exactly featherweight when compared to the FZ35 that I had been evaluating before choosing the SX20. In spite of the heft, I found the large grip of the camera fairly easy to hold and the four-way buttons were quite ergonomic and intuitive to use.

I also liked the articulated LCD as it allowed me to take pictures at hip level (without bending over) to take shots that would otherwise have been difficult to compose.

That being said, trying to take pictures (and waiting patiently for a nice shot) whilst taking care of an extremely active four-year old and an "expectant" wife with a five-month old daughter is never an easy task.

5. Power Supply

The SX20 uses 4xAA batteries, which is a double-edged sword. Some people swear by Lithium-Ion batteries as these provide the highest density and result in lighter cameras.

But I think they'll do fine as the manual states that more than 300 shots can be taken with the LCD on. I've yet to reach the point where my batts run dry as I pop them into the quick charger just before leaving home.

It's probably easier to obtain AAs that proprietary batteries when overseas (or even inside our own country). I've yet to hear anyone say that they couldn't find AA batteries. Besides, I have a four year old kid that loves trains and cars; so I have plenty of rechargeables lying around that I can quickly swap whenever battery juice runs low.

Conclusion

Given the amount of money spent, I think the SX20 is great value and I'm quite pleased about its performance. I'm looking forward to use it to record valuable moments so that I can view them again when my memory fades with time.