unbox the box pt. II

maybe some of you have read about what i received in my previous post.
http://yusrihussain.blogspot.com/2010/05/unbox-box.html

ok..many asked about what it is. i don't want to reveal it last week coz it still under testing. but i will uncover it now. it was Minolta 135mm f2.8 lens

you can refer the preview of this lens at this website: http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Minolta-AF-135-F2.8_lens75.html

since sony is a rebrand name of the old skool Minolta, all Minolta mount lens will fit nicely into any Sony Alpha mount (or we used to call it A-mount). Sony itself has its own 135mm lens namely 135ZA f2.8 and SAL135 STF. while the price of SAL135 STF (smooth trans focus) are well over my budget and the 135ZA ('ZA' mean it produced by the legandary Carl Zeiss) is sure beyond reach, the opportunity to own this lens is hard to turn down. the sizes maybe small, but it do bring a big reputation

the size is almost like u stack up 2 50mm lens and almost the same height of my 1680ZA lens

another shot at the lens. still looks great although the lens itself age almost 20 years.

i done a test shot of this lens for the whole weeks, with my sons as a subject. what can i tell u is this lens were really a gem;
since it was a fixed focal length lens (or popular known as prime lens), it should have the best sharpness output compared to zoom lens. i test at widest aperture (f2.8) up to f4 (normally at f4, many lens will start producing a nice aoutput).

this is taken at f2.8. i focus at my son's right eye. the output was sharp enough at f2.8 although there are some CA at its widest aperture.

this shot was taken at f4.0, in which i think the output was at its best. what do you think?

Malaysian dilemma

"SEANDAI Persatuan Badminton Malaysia (BAM) tidak menangani segera masalah ketandusan pemain berkaliber, ia berdepan senario menakutkan apabila skuad negara mungkin tidak layak beraksi dalam saingan Piala Thomas bagi edisi 2012.

Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Datuk Zolkples Embong berkata, gelagat bergantung harapan kepada satu atau dua pemain adalah sesuatu yang membimbangkan dan barisan pemain muda yang ada belum dapat merapatkan jurang pemain dengan pemain elit.
Seandainya senario itu berterusan, Malaysia akan menghadapi masalah menampilkan pemain terbaik, bukan hanya untuk beraksi dalam Piala Thomas tetapi juga dalam Sukan Olimpik, Asia dan Komanwel, situasi yang pernah melanda skuad badminton negara pada 1970-an dan awal 1980-an. "
(dipetik daripada Berita Harian Online)

Malaysian bandminton are going ready to major downfall; just like what happen to other sport like hockey and sepak takraw. we use to be a world power house but now it is all but history. the question here is; why NOW you realize our national team are short of new player? after every defeat, then you realize. what happen to those day when you only concentrate on one player to pursue his quest for world ranking while the backup player are nowhere to be seen. act faster BAM, act faster...

Unbox the box

Last week i received a parcel from Penang.

i was excited; and decide to open it straight away using my super sharp knife

when i open the box, there are all rubbish...all the way from Penang and i only got rubbish? when i look closely, i found something..

...here it is...

my knife was called for action again...

..and it got message in it..

wonder what it is? wait for the next entry. hehehehe

Tanglin - Revisited!

During my school days, i used to come here everytime i come to KL. the reason? my auntie used to work at Tanglin polyclinic and i normally follow her. there are one nasi lemak stall there that attract many customer for their delicious nasi lemak.


so last week, i have to go for a meeting at Jln Duta. while the time are still early, i decided to drop by there and have a plate of nasi lemak at Tanglin. although it was not as nice as they are used to (my personal view ok..may differ from others), it still a nice place to remember the old time there.

OKU - Orang Kelainan Upaya?

i dont know if Rapid KL are right or wrong, but as far as i'm concerned, OKU is not Orang Kelainan Upaya!

Tokina - AT-X 340 AF-II 100-300 F4

Tokina was known as a 3rd party lens manufacturer for many camera brand. nowadays, you can find Tokina are designing their lens to fit mostly for Nikon and Canon mount. recently, they released an Ultra Wide Angle (UWA) lens for Sony/ Minolta mount, but it was long after the last Tokina lens for A-mount was released.

for me, Tokina lens was always give a satisfaction (in term of value for money factor-lah!) as i used to own some Tokina lenses before. they're quickly become a collector item then, so this Tokina ATX 340 AFII 100-300 f4 is surely a collector item.i was lucky to get it via a friend who are no longer using Minolta camera. i'm not pretty sure when was this lens manufactured, but one thing for sure, the build quality was really superb. try to hold it and you will say: "Wow, this is really metal man!". i have no complain whatsoever about the build quality as most of Tokina lenses will guarantee you a very solid build. weight was around 1.5kg. and it have a rotating tripod collar in which you cant unattached it; but you can rotate it freely to suit your needs. it uses 77mm filter thread in which are common for many telephoto lens out there. the coating was nice to as you can see from the picture, its still 'colorful'.

the rotating but unremovable tripod collar


the coating was still good

one of the plus point of this lens is, it offer you a constant aperture at f4 at all focal length. it was really useful when shooting at low light condition (ok..f2.8 is a performer at low light, but you have to splash your money more). i once brought it to football match and it doesn't disappoint me. step down to f5 and beyond, the lens sharpness really shown and the bokeh was surprisingly very smooth and milky.

my final say: if you come across this lens, please have a look. it was hard to find it now as only few are left in market. i do know one guy at Ipoh have this, but the lens was fogging and almost impossible to use. i wonder why Tokina (or even sony itself) decide not to produce this lens again. definitely one of my best buy. thumbs up!

**update: i recently have to sold this beauty to new owner to make way for other lens to come. hard, but its true..