Eye Spy
My old Tapo C320WS CCTV that I bought more than two years ago has just a 2K resolution that is adequate but there were times when I needed more details in the security recordings. Since Harvey Norman was having their Merdeka sale, I decided to buy online the Tapo C560WS that is a 4K pan/tilt camera, for only RM257 instead of the normal RM373 price. A bargain indeed!
I quickly moved the older C320WS to the garage area at the back, while the new C560WS took over at the front entrance. I didn't have a means to mount the newer camera on the wall, so for now, I just rested it on a metal bowl. It was so easy to setup and it works splendidly.
You can see more pictures here.
Storage Queen
My Drobo 5C DAS that I bought in late 2018 for about RM2,300 had gone kaput a few years ago. I had replaced it with a Synology 1522+ NAS which costs around RM4,500 and that is working brilliantly so far. But i needed a backup just in case. I almost purchased a Synology DX517 expansion box that would connect to the 1522+ and provide another 5 bays, but that would have cost me almost RM2,500.
Thank goodness I spotted and bought online a 5-bay DAS from a China manufacturer that is the Orico 9958RC3-PRO which is a simpler and less expensive storage enclosure similar to the Drobo. It only cost RM1,399 and the 4TB hard disks that were still in the Drobo could be re-used into the Orico.
I configured it to use RAID 5 by just setting the switches at the back of it. The Orico works just fine and is very easy to use. More photos of it here.
Stabiliser King
As I've been shooting handheld video more often nowadays, the need for a gimbal became more apparent. Not just to tame the handshake but also to level the horizon. The best candidates currently include the new DJI RS5 or the FeiyuTech Scorp 3 but those are typically large, expensive and weigh more than 1kg.
By chance, I came across this new stabiliser, the Niyien A1 Senseflow Gyroscope. This tiny hot-shoe mounted device is only 30g and cost RM348.
As you can see from the above pictures, I am able to mount in on my Nikon Zf together with the external Sennheiser MK440 microphone.
What it does is that it records gyroscope data while the camera simultaneously records video. Later, you can bring that gyro data into the computer and sync it with the videos taken and automagically stabilise the videos. I normally do this inside Davinci Resolve as there is a provided plugin that does the processing. The few tests I've done confirm that it works well.
Highly recommended and no need for bulky and weighty gimbals!
New Glass for Portraits
For the longest of time I've loved the 85mm focal length prime lens, especially with a large aperture so that it can make the subject stand out by blurring the background. However, they are rather expensive. That is why my very first 85mm was the affordable Samyang f1.4 manual focus prime. This lens with such a shallow depth-of-field is a challenge to nail focus manually. Several years later, I purchased the Nikkor 85mm f1.8G that is autofocus and this works well on my Nikon D750 and Zf attached to the FTZ II adapter.
The time has come to migrate to a proper Z-mount version that was not only affordable but has an aperture ring to match the retro functionality of the Zf.
My decision was to buy from Amazon the Sirui Aurora 85mm f1.4 Z that costs me about RM 1,911, including shipping and import tax, a price that is cheaper than buying locally even with the end-of-year discounted sale prices (eg. Shashinki was offering it for RM 1,999 instead of its usual RM 2,650). So, it was such a steal deal that I couldn't miss, partly due to savings provided through Sirui's own festive discounts and also, at the time of purchase, unusually stronger than normal Malaysian Ringgit value in the currency exchange rates.)
What can I say. This is a pretty impressive lens that is not only compact and light, but performing acceptably well on my Nikon Zf, in terms of autofocusing speed as well as final image results. Also it has an aperture ring that I'm sure Nikon will never introduce in their Z-mount lenses. In any case, if Nikon were to produce its own 85mm f1.4 Z, it would easily cost more than double of what I had paid for. Some pictures of the lens can be seen here.
You can see a few comparison photos I took verses my older 85mm lenses taken on the Nikon Zf here. The older Nikkor 85mm f1.8G is no slouch and has very good image quality; in fact, it has a closer focusing distance. But it can't challenge the buttery bokeh produced by the f1.4 of the Sirui, not to mention its excellent micro-contrasts, sharpness, and colour rendition. Highly recommended!
New Eye for the Street Shooter
I've been waiting for a long time to get this since I first bought my Nikon Zf.
You see, Nikon has the 40mm f2 SE lens, which currently costs around RM 1,350. This is marvelous for street and documentary photography as it is small and light with a retro design matching the Zf. The sad thing is that it does not have an aperture ring.
Then, just late this year, TTArtisan released its 40mm f2 AF Z-mount lens that has an aperture ring. Costing less than half of Nkon's older version at RM 597, it was a no brainer to buy it considering it has very good reviews on the Internet.
Once it had arrived, I updated its firmware to the latest. On my Zf, it works flawlessly with quick autofocusing and brilliant resulting images.
You can see more picture of it here.
You can also see photos that I took with it, in and around my house (Note: all pics are SOOC handheld and had film grain added using built-in Zf feature).