Lydia and Tony Pre Wedding

Congratulation to Lydia & Tony !! We had their pre wedding photos taken back in November (here and here), two months prior to their wedding. A truly amazing day !

Congratulation Lydia & Tony !

Benro Chameleon 101

I had introduced Benro before on their Travel Angel tripod. Benro started producing professional tripod under its own brand back in 2002. In the past 8 years, it has established a solid market with a wide range of tripods and heads. Only until recently in 2009, Benro steps into the camera bag market ranging from backpacks, shoulder bags, slingbags and rolling cases. First, you will notice that a lot of their designs are counterpart to  Lowepro, Kata, Crumpler.

I had a chance to check out the Benro Chameleon 101. The Chameleon series comes in three different sizes C100, C101 and C102. The largest can fit a DSLR with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens attached. A tripod can also be attached on the front.

Size comparison to Think Tank Street Walker Pro

In term of size, the Benro Chameleon 101 is less bulky which is much more suitable for travel or casual walkabout. It doesn’t feel like you are carrying a box on your back. However, the material used is much softer yet still adequate and the straps are a bit too thin as well. The Think Tank street walker pro is certainly more solidly build of the two.

The Benro Chameleon is a unique three carrying options in one while changing from backpack to right sling then to left sling by using its quick release buckles. So it is a backpack and sling bag in one. It also features side access similar to the Lowepro fastpack and slingshot.

What can you fit in the Benro Chameleon 101 ?

The bag is divided in to two compartments, the top and bottom. The top compartment is large enough fit quite a few things, filters, batteries, a 70-200mm f/2.8 or two even.

The main compartment can easily fit a 24-70mm f/2.8 attached, SB-900 flash, 14-24mm f/2.8. 50mm f/1.4. It also comes with a raincoat.

I would say Benro Chameleon is more suitable for those who are looking for a small-ish backpack that doesn’t look oversize but still want to carry quite a bit of gear. While it is nicely designed and well made, it is certainly not as strong as the Think Tank street walker pro.

Other camera bag blog entries:

Benro Chameleon 101

Think Tank Street Walker Pro

Think Tank Street Walker

Think Tank Modular Set

Crumpler Whickey and Cox

Lowepro Flipside 400 AW

Lowepro Flipside 200

Lowepro Flipside 300

Lowepro Inverse 200 AW

Lowepro Stealth Reporter D200 AW

Lowepro Fastpack 350

Lowepro Fastpack 200

Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW

Lowepro EX180

Nikon D3000

A new addition to my Nikon collection is the Nikon D3000. Why did I get the D3000? It was on sale with a very attractive price tag and I was looking for a smaller camera. In fact, the twin lens kit was cheaper than a G11 :D. Having been using Nikon D700 for quite some time,  certainly it didn’t take too long to notice what’s missing on the D3000. However, it is not really fair to compare a D3000 with a D700 which costs three times as much. There are so many detailed D3000 reviews on the internet, so I won’t need to repeat it here, but leave you with some quick thoughts if you are choosing between an entry level DSLR and compact camera (P&S) like the G11 and LX3.

	Entry level DSLR D3000/1000D	High end P&S (G11/LX3)
Image Quality	Far better on DSLR, you will notice the difference. See sensor size	Adequate if you are not pixel peeking
Size	Small enough to give a decent grip of the camera, but it is not something to carry to everywhere	Much smaller, possible to store in jacket pocket or purse
High ISO	Noticeable noise @ ISO1600	Noticeable noise @ ISO400
AF Response	Noticeably much faster	Adequate for those snapshots, anything more will be frustrating
Functionality	Has all the main functions, access to these function usually through the menu system. Has less customise features than the D700	Has all the main functions, but usually require to fiddle with the menu system using the small camera buttons
Flash	The onboard flash is much more powerful and with the possibility to add a proper flash such as SB-600, the combination should get you through a lot of places.	Onboard lash power is limited ,until you add a specific design external flash
Lens	The 18-55mm kit lens has an aperture of f/3.5-5.6 and an equivalent focal length of 27mm on the wide side. Even though it is 1.5 stop slower, DSLR offers much less noise on higher ISO. Not to mention it has a dedicated zoom ring.	Usually equip with a fast wide angle lens, eg: 24mm f/2 on a LX3
Build Quality	Solidly build but probably won’t pass a drop test	Solidly build but probably won’t pass a drop test

Nikon D3000

Panasonic LX3

Here the smallest meets the biggest, Nikon D3000 with the 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII

The twin lens kit comes with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR and 55-200 f/3.5-5.6 VR. Below shows a size comparison of the kit lenses to the professional lenses of similar focal length. They are (left to right)

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII

Nikon 55-200mm f/3.5-5.6

Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8

Nikon 18-55mm f/2.5-5.6

What about micro four thirds Olympus EP2 or Panasonic GF1? They are good cameras (probably up to ISO800) but their price tags are still high at the moment. After all, even iphones take great pictures sometimes :D

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• Nikon DSLR D3000

Happy Valentine’s @ Akaroa

A great Valentine's Day @ Akaroa

Happy Valentine’s Day, Grace !!

Summer @ Sumner

A beautiful summer @ Sumner, Christchurch.

Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4 and Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4 VRII

Nikon's new addition to its Nikkor line up was announced today.

 Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4

Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4 VRII

Some test shots of the Nikon 24mm f/1.4 by Bob Krist. Stuning DOF and Bokeh on this wide angle lens.
Looks like I will have to get my hands on one. Available in March 2010

Where can I find the equipment seen on this site?

If you find this site useful and planning to purchase any of the equipment seen on this site, please show your support by purchasing your photo equipment at B&H Photo Video or through any of the affiliate links seen on this site.