The 3G model of Sony Tablet S will be available in Singapore on 13th January 2012, comes in a 16GB version, and will retail for SGD$798 at all Sony Stores and authorised outlets.

With effect from 13th January, the 16GB and 32GB WiFi models of the Sony Tablet S will also be revised to S$618 and S$748 respectively.

Be blown away by features such as vibrant colours and vivid image quality with Sony’s amazing TruBlack display, the smooth and smart ergonomic design which makes consuming entertainment a comfortable breeze and the ease of controlling your media devices with the built-in infra-red Universal Remote. In addition, one unique feature of the Sony Tablet S is that it allows you  to “throw” your personal video, music clips or photos to home entertainment devices, making content even more shareable than previously possible.

This year’s line-up includes the new Sony Handycam range, the Sony Cyber-shot W-Series and S-Series, the Sony NWZ-Z1000 series (Sony’s first ever Walkman powered by Android) and a new line-up of Sony BRAVIA televisions.

Sony introduces the new XQD memory cards (QD-H32/H16), which allows for outstanding ultra high-speed data transfer up to 1Gbps (125MB/s, write and read).

Available in 16GB and 32GB variants, the H-Series XQD memory card will be available from all Sony authorised dealers from February 2012.

The Sony XQD memory card H-series provides photo enthusiasts and professional photographers with more shooting possibilities as well as the ability to capture up to approximately 100 frames in RAW format  in continuous shooting modewhen used with XQD compatible high-end DSLR (Currently only the Nikon DSLR D4 supports XQD).

Also being launched by Sony is a USB 2.0/3.0 compatible XQD card reader (MRW-E80) that fully utilises the new memory card. Using the XQD High Speed Driver software that can be downloaded for free from the Sony website. In addition, an XQD ExpressCard Adapter (QDA-EX1) will be available for use with computers with an ExpressCard 34 card slot.

An optometrist by trade, the 57-year old James Chong would first burst onto the scene after winning the accolade of best amateur photographer in the Travel category for the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards - emerging triumphant with a stunning shot of a farmer on his way to work in the fields.

I’ve got a bunch of James Chong’s top Travel Tips & Tricks for the budding photographer looking to better his craft:

TIP 1 – CAMERA/FRAME SELECTION: With the myriad different situations photographers often find themselves in, perhaps above anything else camera selection is of the utmost importance.

• Full-frame DSLRs
  • More full-featured technical capabilities
  • Drawback of capturing lesser frames per second
  • Ideal for when ample time is available to capture the perfect shot – eg: landscape photography
• DSLRs
  • Greater portability, maneuverability. Consider cameras which allow for shooting from multiple angles such as the SLT-A77 from Sony, which features a convenient Xtra Fine LCD with 3-way tilting, allowing for great convenience and flexibility, easily supporting everything from extremely low and extremely high camera shooting angles, to even shooting from the side
  • Generally capture images at up to 10-12 frames per second
  • Perfect for split-second situations such as street photography, yet are still able to display all the detailed shooting information you need. The Sony SLT-A77 featuring the world’s first XGA OLED viewfinder (2.4 million effective resolution) for example, displays not just easily accessible shooting information, but also your scene with incredible contrast, clarity and colour accuracy

TIP 2 – ACCESSORIES: Because a camera is only as good as the accessories one pairs it with.

• Lenses & Sensors
  • Know the right lens to use, at the right time
  • Wide-angle lenses: dynamically magnifies the scene, engages and invokes emotion
  • Zoom lenses: to capture details when strongly focused on a singular subject (eg: Portraits)
  • Understand the capability and/or limitations of your camera’s sensors in various situations and scenes. The new 24.3-megapixel EXMOR™ APS HD CMOS sensor in the Sony SLT-A77 for example captures superior image quality in ultra-high resolution and detail; the extra-large sensor raising sensitivity in low-light conditions, while strengthening background defocusing effects
• Flash Kits
  • Misconception that it’s only for night usage
  • Fantastic for lighting up a frame during the day as well
• Batteries
  • Always carry at least one spare
• Memory Cards
  • Carry one for each day of shoots
  • Backup to a portable HDD each day if possible
• Tripods
  • A lack of stability would ruin your perfect shot – bring a good one or not at all!

TIP 3 – RESEARCH: Do your homework!

• Understand the photo opportunities available
  • Utilise Google, scope out the images and opportunities captured at the locale previously
• Prepare the appropriate equipment
  • Not just camera gear, but also the footwear and dressing required (eg: Trekking boots on long walks)
• Understand the dos & don’ts of customs, tradition, and local processes
  • Dress sensitively in places of religious worship
  • Plan ahead in countries/areas requiring complicated permits

TIP 4 – COMPOSITION: Do not let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go to waste with poor image composition.

• Control the exposure of your shots
  • Manually tweak aperture, shutter speed, frame rate and ISO settings to get the exposure that you like
  • Sony’s SLT-A77 for example allows one to shoot up to 12 frames per second with full-time phase detection and auto focus; making the capture of fast moving subjects like race cars speeding past a breeze with the proprietary Translucent Mirror Technology
  • Compare and contrast notes with fellow photographers
• Plan your set-up
  • Ensure the right vantage point (eg: Landscape shots require high vantage points)
  • Ensure sufficient lighting (eg: A compass would come in extremely handy to gauge the direction of the sun)

TIP 5 – POST-EDITING: Making a good shot great.

• Acceptable and encouraged in moderation
• Enhances colours, brings out emotions

About the Sony World Photography Awards

The Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s most comprehensive photography competition. It includes a Professional competition, which invites entries from the world’s leading photographers and ‘serious enthusiasts’, and an Open competition for everyone with an interest in photography. Each competition has been refreshed with new categories for 2012.   A ‘Nature & Wildlife’ category has been introduced to the Professional competition and three new categories in the Open competition include ‘Enhanced’, ‘Split Second’ and ‘Low- light’.

All competitions will open on Wednesday 1 June 2011 and will close on Wednesday 4 January 2012 at 23.59 GMT. The vast majority of winners will be presented with their trophies at a ceremony in London in late April 2012.  The winner of the L’Iris D’Or Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year Award will also be revealed and presented with $25,000 (USD) plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment. The overall Open competition winner will receive $5,000 plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment.

A naturalised Australian born in Singapore, Liz Loh-Taylor, 32 and winner in the ‘Travel (Professional)’ category at the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards, is a multi-faceted photographer who has picked up an impressive string of accolades, despite having turned professional only two years ago.

I’ve got a bunch of Liz Loh-Taylor’s top Travel Tips & Tricks for budding photographers looking to better their craft:

TIP 1 – CAMERA/FRAME SELECTION: What to bring, how much to bring, when to bring it.

• Don’t focus too much on gear
• Bring the appropriate equipment for your trip
  • Eg: Don’t overload on multiple spare cameras for a grueling hiking trip
• Travel light
  • One camera, one lens!
  • Cameras which allow for portability and maneuverability would be ideal. Consider one such as the SLT-A77 from Sony, which features a convenient Xtra Fine LCD with 3-way tilting, allowing for great convenience and flexibility, easily supporting everything from extremely low and extremely high camera shooting angles, to even shooting from the side
• Ask yourself what are you photographing, what’s the purpose of your trip?
  • Although full-frame cameras are affordable at the consumer level today, ask if you really need it for the photography you’re intending to capture
  • As long as you have a camera which has a resolution high enough for what you need, that’s good enough. Since at the end of the day, the focus is on taking a good photograph rather than capturing anything in sight

TIP 2 – ACCESSORIES: Your camera is only as good as the equipment going along with it.

• Lenses & Sensors
  • Go with something that gives flexibility for shooting in various situational conditions
  • Understand the capability and/or limitations of your camera’s sensors in various situations and scenes. The new 24.3-megapixel EXMOR™ APS HD CMOS sensor in the Sony SLT-A77 for example captures superior image quality in ultra-high resolution and detail; the extra-large sensor raising sensitivity in low-light conditions, while strengthening background defocusing effects
• Batteries
  • A must to carry spares, as especially with travel photography, you never know the situations you might find yourself in
  • “I have a phobia of having no electricity wherever I go… so for me personally I always charge up and carry 4 batteries!”
• Memory cards
  • Bring at least two memory cards and alternate between the two
  • This is to ensure that even if one fails you have a spare
  • Do not just keep shooting until your memory card is full, clear it daily!
• Data back-up
  • Back up images up to a portable HDD daily, as well as your laptop if you’ve brought one along
  • In essence, ensure you have multiple channels of backup

TIP 3 – RESEARCH: Know what you’re getting into!

• Research is an absolute must
  • Do as much research as you possibly can, even up to a month’s worth if required
  • Make sure you have a good understanding of the location you’re headed to before setting foot there
• Ensure that you’ve got the relevant customs and traditions right
  • Understand the appropriate dressing (e.g. women should not show skin in Pakistan)
  • Take note of the places you should and shouldn’t go to
  • Steer clear of streets and places which are unsafe for travellers
  • Be open to local customs, do not unwittingly offend the locals (e.g. accepting hospitality of drinks like coffee in Northern Ethiopia)
• Utilise relevant resources such as the Lonely Planet forums
  • Be wary of ‘commercialised’ information you find on the internet
  • Source for information as close-to-the-ground and localised as possible
  • Always try to speak to locals, get to know locals who’ll know the location much more intimately, and even possibly open up contacts on-the-ground where you’re headed
  • One will never know as much of a local community as compared to the precise information from someone who’s actually lived there
• Stay in the same environment as the locals when possible
  • Put yourself in their shoes, live their life as they live theirs
  • Do not run off to the escape of a 5-star hotel at the first chance you get, you won’t fully experience the locale as much if you do

TIP 4 – COMPOSITION: Ensure that your perfect moments are captured beautifully as you envisioned them in your images.

• Patience
  • When it comes to photography, one really needs that patience in terms of waiting for something interesting to happen rather than just capturing whatever’s in front of you
• Angle
  • Move a couple steps left or right, back and forward, that alone changes the entire perspective of what you’re looking at
  • This opens up a completely different viewpoint in terms of looking at your image’s composition
  • Consider cameras which allow shooting from multiple angles for even greater convenience such as the SLT-A77 from Sony; which features a convenient Xtra Fine LCD with 3-way tilting, allowing for great flexibility, easily supporting everything from extremely low and extremely high camera shooting angles, to even shooting from the side
• Being observant, and anticipating what’s going to happen
  • Sometimes situations are unfolding right beneath your eyes, and yet one does not notice them
  • If you’re not observant, your camera wouldn’t be ready
  • Sony’s SLT-A77 with the proprietary Translucent Mirror Technology for example allows one to shoot up to 12 frames per second with full-time phase detection and auto focus; allowing for the easy capture of fast moving subjects
• Ultimately there is no right way to photograph, no right way to compose
  • Let your mind be free
  • Do not be too focused on a subject, or too fixated on the composition and ‘force’ a shot
  • “If your mind is free, your eye will start to see”

TIP 5 – POST-EDITING: Enhancing the essence of a beautiful shot.

• A photograph should have originated from the moment it was taken, not conjured up after
• Minor editing is acceptable
  • Adjusting exposure
  • Tweaking contrast
  • Dodge and burn
  • Conversion to black and white

About the Sony World Photography Awards

The Sony World Photography Awards is the world’s most comprehensive photography competition. It includes a Professional competition, which invites entries from the world’s leading photographers and ‘serious enthusiasts’, and an Open competition for everyone with an interest in photography. Each competition has been refreshed with new categories for 2012.   A ‘Nature & Wildlife’ category has been introduced to the Professional competition and three new categories in the Open competition include ‘Enhanced’, ‘Split Second’ and ‘Low- light’.

All competitions will open on Wednesday 1 June 2011 and will close on Friday 6 January 2012 at 23.59 GMT. The vast majority of winners will be presented with their trophies at a ceremony in London in late April 2012.  The winner of the L’Iris D’Or Sony World Photography Awards Photographer of the Year Award will also be revealed and presented with $25,000 (USD) plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment. The overall Open competition winner will receive $5,000 plus Sony digital SLR camera equipment.

Sony Alpha SLT A77

I had the opportunity to try out the Sony Alpha SLT A77 during the SingTel Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix race in Singapore. I’m not the technical kind of photographer reviewer that will go down into the details of the specifications of the camera, but I’ll just write about my experience with using the Sony Alpha SLT A77.

The Body

This is the first time I’ve ever used a Sony Alpha camera for more than reviewing, so it comes to a surprise to me that the Sony Alpha SLT A77 is actually pretty decent. The grip is well formed with a good size and fits firmly in my small asian hands. This might not be good for larger hands, but I find the mold and the material used provides a comfortable fit. The body is well balanced to hold with 1 hand without being too heavy on one side, especially when using with the kit lens.

Sony Alpha SLT A77

The 3-inch adjustable LCD display proved to be very useful when taking photos at the F1, especially when I had to raise up the monopod to an obscenely high place. I needed to get used to the positions of the dials and buttons, but it feels natural after a while. I especially like the position of the dial in front because it just fits into your hands so naturally.

Using the Sony Alpha SLT A77

Although the electronic view finder (EVF) uses a 0.50″ XGA OLED with 2,359k dots, a huge improvement from the older Sony Alpha SLT models, I still felt it could have been better. During low-light conditions, the EVF display still becomes noisy (not as bad as the previous models) in order to compensate for the photographer to “see” the scene. However, the actual photo taken isn’t that noisy. The inability to provide a 1-to-1 representation of the actual scene in low-light conditions still leaves much to be desired. With that said, I like how I can view my photos, all the on-screen information like color balance, ISO, menus, etc. right in the EVF without taking my eyes off the EVF to view the LCD display.

I couldn’t get the ISO too high without getting too noisy photos, but I assume it is the beta firmware and will be fixed in the final release. I could only get up to ISO 800 without getting the obvious noise in darker conditions, and only up to ISO 1600 for the F1 shots.

I’m very much a manual mode guy, so many of the additional features of the Sony Alpha SLT A77 didn’t quite apply for me. But one feature that stood out was the continuous auto-focus, which is great for moving objects like people walking. However that proved little help for F1, so I finally gave up and reverted to manual focus instead.

The 24 megapixels gave me enough pixels for the F1 to crop, especially if you’re not using a good enough zoom lens. Well, I used a 300mm prime lens, so I didn’t have to do much cropping.

Using to take video

Those who don’t know me, I usually use my DSLRs for taking videos. Of course, I took some videos using the Sony Alpha SLT A77. It still has the same problem as the Sony A55 with the overheating sensor. I could only take about 5-7 minutes worth of video. So if you’re planning to use the Sony Alpha SLT A77 for video, you shouldn’t. Once it overheats, you’ll have to wait for some time before it cools down to be ready again for the next shoot. Above was a short video I took during the start of the Championship of the F1 in Singapore.

Summary

The Sony Alpha SLT A77 is a great improvement from the previous Sony Alpha SLT models. If you’re a fully manual guy looking for a professional camera with video functionalities, this might not be the one for you. However, if you’re looking for a feature-packed professional camera and just don’t want to think about how to manually set your camera for great photos, I think the Sony Alpha SLT A77 is a good camera.

+ Adjustable LCD display is great at many angles, especially when raising the camera up high
+ 24 megapixels, lots of pixels to use for cropping
+ Love the EVF, because I didn’t have to take my eyes off the view-finder while reviewing my photos
+ Body and grip are well-balanced and well-fitting
- The EVF could have performed better in low-light conditions
- Photos taken above ISO 800-1600 become obviously noisy in low-light conditions (hopefully it’s fixed in the final build)
- Couldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes videos due to overheating

Photos from SingTel Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix

Here are some of the photos I took at the SingTel Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, using the Sony Alpha SLT A77 together with 70-200mm Sony lenses with F/2.8 and 300mm Sony prime lenses with F/2.8.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S has 3D sweep panorama; a visually brilliant 4.2” Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine; 8.1mp camera with HD video capability; and Exmor R for mobile image sensor that enhances still images and videos even in low light conditions.

Key features of Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S:

• upgraded 1.4Ghz processor
• 4.2” Reality display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• 25% faster camera start up and 20% faster web page rendering compared to Sony Ericsson Xperia arc
• 8.1mp camera with HD video capability and Sony’s award winning Exmor R
• Latest Android platform Gingerbread 2.3

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S is now available in Singapore in the colours Pure White, Midnight Blue and Sakura Pink at a Recommended Retail Price of S$788 without contract.

Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V is one of the first Xperia smartphones to launch with the new 2.3.4 Gingerbread upgrade and includes all the features like Google Talk with Video Chat and enhanced Facebook inside Xperia functionality.

In addition, this smartphone will feature the world’s first 3D sweep panorama functionality powered by Sony where images can be captured and then viewed in 3D by connecting it to a 3D TV using the HDMI output.

Key features of Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V:

• 3.7” Reality display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine
• Gesture input making texting a breeze
• Updated Facebook inside Xperia functionality for enhanced like, share of media and apps

]]> http://justinlee.sg/2011/10/07/sony-ericsson-xperia-arc-s-and-sony-ericsson-xperia-neo-v-launches-today-in-singapore/feed/ 0 http://justinlee.sg/2011/10/06/ps3-long-live-play-advert-playstation-characters-say-thanks-video/ http://justinlee.sg/2011/10/06/ps3-long-live-play-advert-playstation-characters-say-thanks-video/#comments Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:00:47 +0000 triplez http://justinlee.sg/?p=11492

This is by far the best video game advertisement I’ve ever seen in a very long time.  Sony Playstation, you’ve out-done yourself with this awesome tribute from PlayStation game characters to all gamers. Can you recognize all the quotes from all the various games? Thumbs up!

The Sony Tablet S is an Android 3.2 Honeycomb device with a NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor, 9.4-inch LED-backlit TruBlack IPS screen (1280×800) and WiFi (no 3G), weighing only 598g and its unique asymmetric design conveys a sense of lightness. Sony Tablet S comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 0.3MP front camera, infrared to enable Universal Remote Control, DLNA to connect to other devices and the first Playstation Certified tablet.

A range of optional accessories is available for Sony Tablet S, including a cradle, AC adapter, LCD screen protector, carrying case and USB adaptor cable, as well as a Bluetooth keyboard.

Sony Tablet S is available in both 16GB and 32GB version for $668 and $798 respectively and will be available in Singapore at the end of October 2011. You can pre-order the Sony Tablet S at all Sony Stores (except T3), Sony Centres, Best Denki, Courts, Harvey Norman.

Initial thoughts:

• I’ve held the Sony Tablet S, it really “feels” very light, even compared to the iPad 2 or the Samsung GALAXY Tab 10.1. Love the sleek ergonomic design.
• The Universal Remote Control makes the Sony Tablet S a very good coffee table device.
• The IPS screen has very good viewing angles, but it’s a fingerprint magnet.
• I wish they had more content delivery service available for Singapore, like integrating their PSN content, video, music, e-books.
• If the Sony Tablet S had, 3G would be a perfect device.
• The Playstation games run very smoothly. Resizable and moveable onscreen controls and buttons.
• I think the touch responsiveness still needs to be better and I attribute that to Honeycomb rather than the hardware. However, it’s obviously more responsive than other Android tablet device.
• Uses a proprietary connector for charging and docking. Not sure if the microUSB can be used to charge the device.

Next 2 key features of the Sony Tablet S is Connectivity and Entertainment. The Sony Tablet S wirelessly connects to DLNA compatible devices, such as Sony BRAVIA televisions, so users can “throw” their favourite photos and movies onto a big screen for greater enjoyment with friends, family and that special one. A built-in infrared sensor also allows the Sony Tablet S  to function as a remote control.

The Sony Tablet S is also the first series of PlayStation Certified tablets on which original PlayStation games like Crash Bandicoot and Pinball Heroes can be played anytime and anywhere. There’s actually more entertainment available like music, video and e-books, but there’s no word on whether if it will be available in Singapore.