Taong Bundok

A couple of years ago my former girlfriend (now my better half) wanted to get her hands on a digital camera, she called me up and asked me what to buy but unfortunately I was more familiar with DSLRs rather than Point-and-Shoot cameras so I went to dpreview to check things out. I was a canon fan back then so the Canon Powershot S80 caught my attention, a small camera packed with features that almost replicates a DSLR and it had a “Highly Recommended” tagged on it so I told her to get that particular model. It was a week or so after we had the time to catch up, she was complaining and nagging because she wasn’t quite satisfied with the camera, I told her to bring her camera so I can have a look. I went deep into the menu and saw that it was a very interesting piece of equipment,  it even had “manual settings”. I was playing with it but after I while I got frustrated because it didn’t work that well with the flash, specially when set on “full-auto” its either over exposed or underexposed. If you use program mode you will usually get blurred pictures when shooting at night. A few years passed and we tied the knot, she was still complaining about it (I think I should have used nagging instead of complaining) I gave it some  thought and finally arrived at a decision! I told her to sell it because she wouldn’t need it anymore, we are together most of the time and I had a Canon Rebel XT anyways. She agreed and finally sold the camera, I taught her how to use my camera but she just isn’t used to carrying a big bulky piece of equipment just to take photos so I told her that I will ask around and we can use the money she got from selling the S80 and buy a new one.

I was having dinner with a couple of my good friends namely Rhea (because it was her birthday), my good friend and mentor Ken, his wife Abbie and two kids Pao and Patty.  After our meal Ken mentioned that there was a new point-and-shoot camera that had an aperture of f2.0-f2.8 and it immediately rung a bell because I am a fan of fast lenses. Ken being a professional photographer knows heaps about cameras so I took advantage of that particular moment and asked him about it. He told me that a part of the specification sheet that is sometimes easy to overlook as a string of numbers. With the LX3 it’s really worth spending a moment thinking about it because starting at 24mm equivalent is pretty unusual in a compact camera, and it also offers an aperture range of F2.0-2.8 is extraordinary. Combining the two and include Image Stabilization is simply astonishing  this is not an everyday lens and it’s something that defines how the camera behaves and what it can be used for. Beyond that, there the new, higher-resolution rear screen that conforms to the more traditional 3:2 aspect ratio, rather than its forebear’s 16:9 unit.

I finally decided and told my better half that the Panasonic LX3 got my vote, we both ageed and I visited an old friend Mr. Tony Leung, unfortunately the LX3 was out of stock!!! Tony said that he will call me as soon as he gets his hands on one, after a week or more of waiting my phone rang… it was Tony and he told me that he got one and he already had my name on it. I thanked him for his call and went straight to him. The reason why I like buying stuff from Tony is because first of all he knows his products and will give you his honest opinion, his prices are competitive, he is a man of  his word and warranty is not a problem, most of all I get to play around with  the equipment before I decide if I really want it or not hehehe.

Here are some pictures I took with my wife’s LX3

Its the beginning of a new year and I guess its time to begin a new blog, I’ve attempted to try and write blogs, but its either I can’t think of anything to write or I become  too busy and can’t find the time to write. This time I’m planning to make the most out of my year with the time I have, I hope I can share with you the world through my eyes.