The PenFan's PhotoBlog

Last December we noticed a mid range budget mobile phone in an IT Hypermarket offered at a very attractive price.  At that time the built-in battery in my one year plus handphone was having a high internal resistance problem, the phone would suddenly shutdown without warning. Unfortunately for mobile phone with  built-in battery when it comes to battery replacement it has to be sent back to the repair center and takes at least two or more days just for that. Normally, replacing a battery is an easy task that any one can undertake. However with built-in battery it has to be done by the mobile phone makers. That is their tactic to secure repeat sales for battery and revenue from service charges but cause much hassle and inconvenience to their customers. Hamachi Sashimi taken with the TP-Link Neffos C5 mobile Phone has natural colour rendition and reasonably good details but noise is visible.  --   Camera: Neffos C5 mobile phone.  shutter speed 1/20seconds...

Whenever the word "cheap" is mentioned someone will be quick to jump the gun and say "Good things are not cheap and cheap things are no good". Although this statement is true most of the  times but it is not absolutely true. For instance sunshine and fresh air are free therefore cheaper than cheap. Do you dare say they are no good? IT products such as computers, mobile phones and cameras are getting cheaper as technology progresses, so are today's IT products no good? What about cameras? Are cheap cameras any good or no good at all? Personally I think we should open our eyes and look at cheap cameras with an open mind. Most cheap cameras are good or good enough for most users. If you pay more you will buy yourself more features, longer zoom lens with wider aperture and better camera body. However very likely the cheaper cameras and their slightly better brothers from the same company may have the same image sensor. Recently I did some checking and compared ...

I bumped into a few talented photography geniuses who claimed that they couldn't and they wouldn't know how to handle any camera if it weren't a DSLR. This could be egoism or lack of self-confidence. If they did not have a big formidable looking DSLR with them they just didn't know what to do. Equipments should be used according to the situation and requirement. If you need a medium format camera for a pro shoot then use one. If you need to have pro equipment with you to impress your client by all means.  If not don't limit your choice - just pick up any camera that works best not necessary a DSLR. I don't think a DSLR is so easy to use or anything less than a DSLR is so complicating either. While looking for some old photographs I found some shots I took with a crappy cheap web-cam back in early 2000s. The camera was an Umax AstraPix 380 web-cam with no LCD screen. It could double as a digicam and run on a single AA...