Coming VERY soon!!!
I've been shooting in RAW again with the Canon, and oddly enough, I found it a lot easier to work with than JPEGs, and have actually been going through them a lot quicker...
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Proton Gen2 CPS long term review...
An updated review after 6 months...
It's proven to be a nice car to drive, with no problems at all that required warranty claims.
Just went through the second service (at 5,000kms) and the engine's well run-in by now. It as gotten a wee bit smoother (but that wasn't an issue to begin with) and has gotten more responsive with the extra miles on it.
The clutch take-up point as mentioned earlier ceased to be an issue as the bite has become more progressive, so my initial belief that it was due to the new-ness of the parts was valid.
As for the gearshift, it actually became even tighter over time to the point of being annoying and tiring to shift. But a simple gear oil change (to Castrol's Protector series) seemed to have magically transformed the gearbox into a smooth shifting creature. Excellent!
The throw between the gates of course is not about to change, but it's no deal-breaker.
So all in, a very satisfactory car to own, and to drive.
From my previous post on first impressions... (22/8/08)
Yes, a review of the still-very-rare Proton Gen2 CPS. It's actually my brother's, which he bought on my recommendation. I had wanted to get one for wifey, but she wanted a smaller car, so there...
Bro actually booked this way way back in May, and it's been a constant flurry of calls to chase the poor salesman until we got it in mid-August. Proton seems to be concentrating all their resources into the Saga and Persona, and despite that the overwhelming demand still ensures that you'll wait at least 3-4 months for those models. I've actually test-driven both and can safely say they are really good buys (don't go into the NAP and its effect on pricing of other cars...) Good job!
Anyway, back on topic, I picked up the car for bro as he was not used to a manual transmission, as I drove it back from Hartamas (a distance of about 15kms) these are my thoughts:
It's proven to be a nice car to drive, with no problems at all that required warranty claims.
Just went through the second service (at 5,000kms) and the engine's well run-in by now. It as gotten a wee bit smoother (but that wasn't an issue to begin with) and has gotten more responsive with the extra miles on it.
The clutch take-up point as mentioned earlier ceased to be an issue as the bite has become more progressive, so my initial belief that it was due to the new-ness of the parts was valid.
As for the gearshift, it actually became even tighter over time to the point of being annoying and tiring to shift. But a simple gear oil change (to Castrol's Protector series) seemed to have magically transformed the gearbox into a smooth shifting creature. Excellent!
The throw between the gates of course is not about to change, but it's no deal-breaker.
So all in, a very satisfactory car to own, and to drive.
From my previous post on first impressions... (22/8/08)
Yes, a review of the still-very-rare Proton Gen2 CPS. It's actually my brother's, which he bought on my recommendation. I had wanted to get one for wifey, but she wanted a smaller car, so there...
Bro actually booked this way way back in May, and it's been a constant flurry of calls to chase the poor salesman until we got it in mid-August. Proton seems to be concentrating all their resources into the Saga and Persona, and despite that the overwhelming demand still ensures that you'll wait at least 3-4 months for those models. I've actually test-driven both and can safely say they are really good buys (don't go into the NAP and its effect on pricing of other cars...) Good job!
Anyway, back on topic, I picked up the car for bro as he was not used to a manual transmission, as I drove it back from Hartamas (a distance of about 15kms) these are my thoughts:
- The clutch take-up point is relatively high, it doesn't bite until almost halfway up, but this is more something to get used to than a real fault. Besides, I think it could be adjusted.
- Engine is impressively smooth, despite having less than 100kms on the clock. Insulation was on the whole very good too.
- Low-end torque is decent, so no more complaints about the torque dip that plain-vanilla Campros had. Still not a lot of torque from under 3k rpms, but this is relative as I'm pitting it in my mind against the low-down-torque champs of Toyota and Peugeot. But then certainly nothing to complain about.
- Gearshift is quite stiff and vague, in particular the gap between 1-3 and 2-4 being particularly close. This really annoyed me as I got caught in the rush-hour jam on Sprint. It should loosen up a bit so let's see if it improves over time.
- The exhaust makes a lovely burbly sound at idle or low revs. Again this was evident when I was in the traffic jam. Might be endearing to some, and annoying to others, but I think it suits the car's character (and sporty placement) just fine.
- The centre stack of buttons including the rear demister and foglamps are awful! This is the only real complaint I can level at the interior. Will go into detail for the interior later.
I'll put up a long term review later when I've gotten some miles with the car. I won't go into the specs and all because you can get them off the Proton Edar website.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
From The Dark Side... To The Dark Side...
Here's to make clear I do not have a fixation with anything Star Wars...
After 9 years of being a Nikonian, I have finally moved from Nikon (known in certain photographic circles as the Dark Side) to Canon (also known in certain photographic circles as the Dark Side).
Confused? Apparently the term applies interchangeably depending on who you talk to... Reason Canon is known as such is due to their (previous) dominance in the digital photography world. And reason Nikon is known as such is because of the prominence of Canon's white L lenses (which makes Nikon with its predominantly black lenses the Dark side...)
To cut a long story short, I dumped the last vestiges of my Nikon system; the D60, Tamron 17-50mm and SB400 in early January. In place came the Canon 450D, Canon 17-40L lens and a Nissin Di622. It wasn't really a pain as most system changes go, as over the recent years I have been slowly selling off most of my Nikon stuff...
Why??? (amidst ugly looks from my Nikon-toting friends...) I chose to go Nikon in 1999 when I ventured into SLR photography due to their supposed ruggedness and superiority in lenses ie good and affordable. Canon seemed then to be very commercialised and it showed in their plasticky products. Also back then for whatever reason most Canon bodies bar the top ones didn't have spot metering.
Recently, the tables seemed to have turned, and Nikon is increasingly trying to milk consumers for all they're worth. (as evidenced by the D3X pricing fiasco...) Of late, Canon lenses on the whole are also cheaper than Nikon's. Witness the 17-55mm lenses of both camps. Nikon's is a f2.8 and costs the better part of 5 grand. Canon's is similar except for one crucial aspect; it comes with IS (Image Stabilizer) and you can actually get change from 4 grand. To add insult to injury, there are claims that the Nikon's optical quality is not as what its price tag suggests...
So far I've been pleased as punch with the 450D. Pictures are amazing, and I can shoot up to ISO1600 with little noise, which I had great difficulty with the Nikons (be they D60 or D80, apparently the D300 is a different story). The 3" LCD is also a nice touch, unlike the dreary Canon LCDs of yore.
Complaints? Mainly the size of the grip. I have to learn to hold it in a different way from the large-gripped Nikons. After a while I learnt to live with it...
Other minor issues are flash related. In aperture priority mode with external flash attached, it would go to crazy low shutter speeds ie 1/15, unlike Nikon which would default to at least 1/60. It can be set to default to a locked 1/200, but in some lighting conditions this would not let in enough light, and force the flash to fire at maximum, hence harsher shadows etc. Also Canon does not make a cheap tiny convenient flash like the SB400, forcing me to go to Nissin. Didn't want to spend too much on this as I don't really shoot flash that often... But as the Nissin offers really nice features ie tilt and rotate, built in diffuser and bounce card, can't complain aside from the size...
So from this day on, the pics you see on this site are very likely to be the product of the CMOS sensor and the DIGICIII processor...
After 9 years of being a Nikonian, I have finally moved from Nikon (known in certain photographic circles as the Dark Side) to Canon (also known in certain photographic circles as the Dark Side).
Confused? Apparently the term applies interchangeably depending on who you talk to... Reason Canon is known as such is due to their (previous) dominance in the digital photography world. And reason Nikon is known as such is because of the prominence of Canon's white L lenses (which makes Nikon with its predominantly black lenses the Dark side...)
To cut a long story short, I dumped the last vestiges of my Nikon system; the D60, Tamron 17-50mm and SB400 in early January. In place came the Canon 450D, Canon 17-40L lens and a Nissin Di622. It wasn't really a pain as most system changes go, as over the recent years I have been slowly selling off most of my Nikon stuff...
Why??? (amidst ugly looks from my Nikon-toting friends...) I chose to go Nikon in 1999 when I ventured into SLR photography due to their supposed ruggedness and superiority in lenses ie good and affordable. Canon seemed then to be very commercialised and it showed in their plasticky products. Also back then for whatever reason most Canon bodies bar the top ones didn't have spot metering.
Recently, the tables seemed to have turned, and Nikon is increasingly trying to milk consumers for all they're worth. (as evidenced by the D3X pricing fiasco...) Of late, Canon lenses on the whole are also cheaper than Nikon's. Witness the 17-55mm lenses of both camps. Nikon's is a f2.8 and costs the better part of 5 grand. Canon's is similar except for one crucial aspect; it comes with IS (Image Stabilizer) and you can actually get change from 4 grand. To add insult to injury, there are claims that the Nikon's optical quality is not as what its price tag suggests...
So far I've been pleased as punch with the 450D. Pictures are amazing, and I can shoot up to ISO1600 with little noise, which I had great difficulty with the Nikons (be they D60 or D80, apparently the D300 is a different story). The 3" LCD is also a nice touch, unlike the dreary Canon LCDs of yore.
Complaints? Mainly the size of the grip. I have to learn to hold it in a different way from the large-gripped Nikons. After a while I learnt to live with it...
Other minor issues are flash related. In aperture priority mode with external flash attached, it would go to crazy low shutter speeds ie 1/15, unlike Nikon which would default to at least 1/60. It can be set to default to a locked 1/200, but in some lighting conditions this would not let in enough light, and force the flash to fire at maximum, hence harsher shadows etc. Also Canon does not make a cheap tiny convenient flash like the SB400, forcing me to go to Nissin. Didn't want to spend too much on this as I don't really shoot flash that often... But as the Nissin offers really nice features ie tilt and rotate, built in diffuser and bounce card, can't complain aside from the size...
So from this day on, the pics you see on this site are very likely to be the product of the CMOS sensor and the DIGICIII processor...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Feeding Time 2...
Now Jun Yen knows how to lie down on top of her pillow for milk too! Only thing is Jun Lee can tuck her hankerchief under her neck on her own, not always spot on, but it's a start...
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