Dell Media Blogger Event @ Scotts Highpark

Companies are working hard to impress the social networking folks! For this Dell event, we were invited to a fully-furnished apartment at Scotts Highpark to showcase Dell's latest lifestyle products and how they integrate into our homes. From all-in-one touchscreen computers to gaming notebooks and handheld devices like the Dell Streak and even Windows Phone 7 Dell Venue Pro, Dell is expanding the consumer product offering.

Organised by XPR, the apartment is split into themes in each rooms. Mum at the kitchen, Dad in the master bedroom, the youth children at their respective bedrooms, each of them armed with Dell devices to enhance their life.

Dell Inspiron 15R

Alienware M11x

Dell Inspiron All-In-One

New products launched includes the new family of XPS laptops, Alienware products, Inspiron all-in-one computers and desktops. I also had a sneak at the Dell Streak. At 5-inch, it does indeed seem rather large to fit in pockets, but the screen size is just nice. I was particularly impressed with the Dell Venue Pro. The Windows Phone 7 interface feels sleek, and I like the feel of the phone - heavy but solid, and comes with QWERTY keyboard, a must-have criterion for my next phone upgrade.

I was about to leave the event when Gavin mentioned that the lucky draw was about to start. So I stayed on and guess what: I won an Alienware TactX gaming mouse (right)! Other prizes include the Alienware keyboard, Dell printer, Windows 7 OS.

As you can see, no event photos because I did not bring my camera. Caught up with many familiar and unexpected faces at the event. It's been fun catching up with you guys, Genghui, Clayton, Philip, Nicole, Hisham, Chester Chen (finally we met), Kenneth, Shawn (T3), Cheryl, Sadaf and Gavin (XPR).

Gwen

Gwen and I have been in discussion for months on shoot themes. Then I happened to have a free time slot last week but we have yet to decide on which concept to do. So I proposed doing beauty shots at her house and she accepted.

After shooting several dozen frames using strobes, I switched to using ambient light. And then we got our favourite shot.

We also went to a nearby location to grab some green scenery. Lots of bugs and red crawlies, so we only did standing shots and stayed away from the woods.

More photos on my Facebook page.

Jessie

Jessie stayed near the East Coast, so I arranged to do a shoot there.

Jessie is a sweet girl and already has numerous previous photoshoots that shows her youthfulness. So I guided her to deliver a more alluring, confident, determined expression.

More photos in my Facebook page.

Review: Sony Alpha NEX

Finally got down to share my views on the NEX-series camera.

The Sony NEX-3 with 18-55mm lens and optional flash.

As an imaging device, the NEX-3 and NEX-5 deliver clean images at extraordinary ISO levels, something that Sony should be very proud of. The design, as I already mentioned in my May post, is futuristic and certainly offers a unique positioning in the mirrorless market. The build quality is good and the materials look like they can take some rough handling.

I must also commend that the menu interface is driven with the general consumer in mind - consumers who have no idea about the fundamental exposure controls of photography, i.e. shutter, aperture. To these group of people, the NEX offers a very user-friendly way of allowing these users shoot images. Minimal hardware buttons ensures non-confusing controls. Shooting modes like 3D panorama and HDR enhances the fun factor.

To an advanced photographer who desires more than low-noise image, it appears the NEX fails to work effectively. Here's why:

- The viewfinder blackout after every shot is very long.
- The zoom ring on the 18-55mm is very tight and requires greater turning radius, so it'll be hard to do quick zooming.
- Too many steps to adjust camera settings. For instance, in "M" mode, adjusting shutter and aperture is somewhat confusing because the same navigation dial is used to change both, which is differentiated by "user-friendly" icons instead of a clear "A" or "S" letter.
- No standard hot-shoe to use hot-shoe accessories.
- Noisy shutter mechanism, might I say the most annoying for any digital camera I've experienced. An SLR shutter sound may be loud, but it's quick like a snap. The NEX shutter sound is draggy.
- The 18-55mm lens is the largest kit lens among all the mirrorless brands. An irony, considering the NEX body is the smallest.



Conclusion: The Sony NEX is a fantastic camera, built with the prosumer user in mind who needs DSLR quality without understanding the technical jargon. But advanced users may have to settle for the inadequacies of managing exposure controls quickly. The user interface defies convention, so much so that it is hard to use the traditional method of guiding an NEX user on photography. It is probably better to leave the camera in "Auto" mode, relegating to manual controls only at times when time is a luxury, than to risk getting frustrated by the inability to make adjustments promptly to capture the moment, resulting in the moment slipping by. Besides, from my experience, the NEX is already optimised to capture pretty images without requiring manual controls, thanks to Sony's decades of consumer imaging expertise.