When the world marvel over Canon’s new EOS R5, partly because of its 8K video recording capabilities, everyone expected Sony to do the same with their high-end video hero, the Sony Alpha (α) 7S III. They stuck to their ways and went with a better 4K video recording capability though. They introduced a few changes and improvements to make the production favourite even better. The third generation of the low-light champion has better dynamic range, and even better colour science. In that sense, if you are looking for a great camera that can do great looking videos without breaking your production budget, the α7S III should be right on top of your list.
Of course, while any big rumours of 8K video capabilities have been snuffed out by Sony launching the α7S III, Sony was not done yet. Not to be outdone by their countrymen, they launched their α1 last night (11.00 p.m. Malaysia time +0800 GMT). The headline figures are impressive.
50.1-Megapixel, 8K @30p, 4K @120p
Source: Sony
The headline figures read 50.1-Megapixel full-frame sensor. It is still mirrorless, so it is fitted into a body as big as the current α7 body. It is the same size as the Sony α9 II as well.
That 50.1-Megapixel full-frame stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor is backed by a brand new improved BIONZ XR image processor with eight folds of processing power over the previous image processor you find on the α9 II. That image processor allows up to 120 autofocus calculations every second at 30fps blackout free continuous shoot. That is twice as fast as the α9 II. 30fps is also as fast as a regular film that you watch in the cinema, by the way.
That powerful sensor also enables the Sony α1 to shoot videos at 8K resolution at 30fps with 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS video format for as long as 30-minutes. That 8K footage is oversampled internally at 8.6K for even more detail on your 8K footage; it is Sony after all. You might not use 8K that often, but you will appreciate its 10-bit 4:2:2 4K videos at 120fps capabilities; slow motion has never looked better. Of course, you get access to Sony’s very famous S-Log profiles up to S-Log3. At the same time Sony is adding S-Cinetone colour matrix profile to the camera for even more creative flexibility for filmmakers.
Source: Sony
It is not like it will underperform under low-light conditions too. The α1 features 15 stops on dynamic range for stills and even more for videos. You can see better too, through the lenses with the new Electronic ViewFinder that projects 9.44 million dots at 240fps.
Eye AF (Autofocus) has been improved too, now it works nicely with 4K videos and is even faster alongside its general AF capabilities. You can even track birds with the new Eye AF algorithm. The new AF system also covers about 92% of the frame at 759 phase detection points so you have more room to place your subjects.
Even Faster, More Stable, All Around Better
Source: Sony
The α1 is also now the world’s fastest camera with 1/400 seconds flash sync speed with its mechanical shutter. Because it is Sony, they over engineered the mechanical shutter, obviously. It is a carbon fibre unit with two drive units to make it super-fast. At the same time though, more shutter speed also means that you get more creative room in the studio.
The α1 also features a new sort of stabilisation mechanism for both a better image quality and even more stable videos. Keep in mind that Sony’s lenses do not have built-in stability mechanism and stabilisation is solely done within the camera body. While that may not look as impressive as Canon’s EOS R5 or R6 in their plain form, put Sony’s footage into Sony’s Catalyst Browse and Prepare applications and watch the magic unfold.
The α1 is not just better in all that areas though. In some very magical way, the α1 has minimised its rolling shutter problem with a new electronic shutter function. We see this implemented in the α7S III as well, but apparently the one on the α1 is even better. We will not know until we see its implementation right next to α7S III.
Connectivity Options
Source: Sony
Sony also launched the Sony Xperia PRO alongside the α1 camera. Get this though, the Sony Xperia PRO with 5G connectivity and 4K display can be used as α1’s 4K HDMI output monitor so that you do not have to rely on the tiny display on the Sony α. With the Sony Xperia PRO you are also adding some 5G capabilities to the Sony α1.
Of course, like the Sony α7S III the new Sony α1 is powered by their proprietary Z-series battery with support for a vertical grip. The two media slots can support up to UHS-II SDXC/SDHC cards or Sony’s new SFexpress Type A cards for even faster read/write speeds. We do recommend these if you want to shoot 8K videos or 4K videos at 120fps though. Get this too, the Sony α1 packs a SuperSpeed 10Gbps USB port and an ethernet port for professional convenience and workflows. That is on top of its built-in WiFi antenna. All of that in a body no bigger than a compact APS-C DSLR, imagine that.
Price and Availabilty
Source: Sony
While you are now salivating all over the floor with the thought of getting your hands on one, hold your horses. The Sony α1 will be available in North American region in March 2021 onward at approximately US$ 6,500 (MYR 26,286*) for the body only. There are no official figures or launch dates for Malaysia just yet. For more information on the Sony α1, head over to their website.
**UPDATE: Sony Electronics Malaysia has confirmed that the Sony Alpha 1 (α1) will be available in Malaysia April 2021 onward. No confirmed pricing just yet.
*Approximate conversion based on US$ 1 = MYR 4.044 on Xe Currency Converter as of 27th January 2021
Sony made large strides last year starting with CES 2020. They introduced their very own electric vehicle concept that can also drive itself, the Vision S. They also made the gaming community very happy by releasing the PlayStation 5 at the end of the year 2020. Sadly, we still have not been able to get our hands on one just yet.
This year is no different for Sony. They kicked off the year with CES 2021, and they look amazing at it. No new earphones to introduce, not new smartphones just yet too. But they did introduce a new concept, a new idea, a new project. They introduced the AirPeak.
If you see DJI printed all over this, you are not the only one. We see DJI all over this too. We see DJI’s Matrice line-up in this AirPeak. This is not a DJI device though, it is by Sony, for Sony.
Source: Sony
When we say, ‘for Sony’, we meant that this is designed around their Alpha camera system. It could be a mid-range mirrorless line-up or a high-end mirrorless camera, the AirPeak is designed to take on any payload from any Alpha lien-up from Sony. It is also the world’s smallest drone to boast such feat.
It is designed to take these cameras off the ground and into the air. It is a clever system too, that stabilises itself in the air with multiple sensors. All these features, and it is still smaller than the Matrice line-up from DJI. Yes, the DJI can lift even heavier payloads and can be retrofitted to be used in industrial cases. The AirPeak is not about that though. It is about expanding film making capabilities and open up new creative avenues with Sony’s very popular Alpha camera line-up.
The AirPeak, at this time, is still in its project phases and Sony is looking for professional collaborators to work on the project. Very much like the Vision S, but the technology is technically already available and easy to work with. This also means that the AirPeak is closer to reality than you might think.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
There are no mentions on specs and weight limits on the AirPeak just yet at this point, but we are guessing they might want to look into making the drone powerful enough to carry a Sony FX6 at the very maximum, and still keep it small enough that you do not need to own a lorry to carry it around. More information on the Sony AirPeak on their website.
2020 is a year full of surprises and new beginnings. For us, it is the mark of our entry into the world of Podcasts with Tech & tonic. We want to first thank all of you listeners who have stayed with us and listened to our sometimes meaningless rambles about tech.
We want to thank our supporters, new and old, that has been the kindle in our fires and the motivations we needed when we were wondering if podcasting was the right area to pursue. We have learnt plenty too from our first year and season in podcasting. Of course, we have enjoyed it alongside all our guest too. For that, we also want to thank all of our guests that has appeared on our show and has shown continuous support to our show. We are looking forward to 2021 and a bigger year ahead of us with new contents and expansion to new platforms.
Back to today’s very special and final episode of the year 2020 though. We explored some shopping ideas for Christmas to prepare us for 2021 and even beyond. We pick some things that we could easily buy online right now to gift, and even keep for yourselves this Christmas and New Year. Here are our top 5 list of things that you can buy for yourself or to gift your loved ones for the year ending celebrations of 2021!
Of course, we are not just going to leave the podcast here alone. We are going to help you decide on your Christmas 2020 shopping options. In no particular order, here are the top 10 things we think you can buy for yourself or gift your loved ones in 2020.
Nintendo Switch (~MYR 1,339 onward)
Source: Nintendo
No, it is not new. But it is fun. The Nintendo Switch revolutionised the portable gaming industry with a highly compact, yet powerful hardware that you can bring around without while keeping games like Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild running as smooth as butter. It is also the perfect size for you to carry around in your travel pack should you need to bring gaming with you on your year-end holidays. Either that, or something to keep you busy at home.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
The Nintendo Switch go from as low as MYR 1,339 on Shopee. Of course you can get your hands on one from Lazada too. We are looking at local options with proper local support too, so we do not recommend getting one that ships from out of the country. You might be able to get your hands on the Animal Crossing special edition or the Fortnite edition too for a little bit more money. Again, go for reputable dealers.
Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite (MYR 249)
Source: Xiaomi
What better way to keep yourself sane than constant exercises? To be fair, I have more than one answer for that; I do not know what I asked that question in the first place. Keeping yourself busy at home is very important at this time though, exercising is one way to keep yourself busy and healthy.
So there is no better gift than a fitness tracker in that case. No, not a Fitbit. Not even a Samsung Galaxy Watch. It is a Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite that will only set you back MYR 249.
The Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite can last up to 9 days on a single charge, more than most fitness trackers can manage. Its 1.4-inch square display gives you all kinds of fitness information and even allows you to keep track of your smartphone notifications. All of that in a package that is priced less than MYR 250.
Source: Lazada
You can get the Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite at this time for MYR 199 exclusively on Lazada. This is the current pre-order price and would be a perfect gift for not just fitness lovers. We do not know when the promotional price would end.
Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam (MYR 539)
Source: Logitech
Video conference calls are more important now than ever. The thing is, a video call is still not as natural as meeting someone face-to-face. But better video quality will always help. So you need a better webcam than the one that your notebook PC comes with.
You need a Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam for all your video calls. That, or start your own streaming channel, because even streamers love this as their main stream camera. it feeds up to 1080p footage up into the streaming platform and even your video calls, why would they not love it.
Of course, any videographer would tell you to get your lighting set up correctly to make stream and video calls look much better. But starting with a good camera does not hurt at all. The Logitech C920 HD Pro is definitely a good option to start with.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
The Logitech C920 HD Pro is available on both Shopee and Lazada from Logitech themselves, which is definitely a good news. It is originally priced at MYR 539, which may sound like a lot of money for a small webcam. It is now only going for MYR 398.99 though, at least for the time being. It is still not exactly cheap, but this is a perfect upgrade for you, and even your loved ones.
Razer Seiren Mini (MYR 249)
Source: Razer
Speaking of video calls and conferences, you need a good mic. Sure, the Logitech C920 HD Pro already has a built-in mic. But you can make your set-up even better with a separate dedicated mic. You can go for the Razer Seiren Mini for something that is relatively inexpensive.
Out-of-the-box, this nifty little mic comes with its own plastic base that you can quickly work with and get things going. It is a USB mic too, so its basically plug and play. There are nearly zero set-up required after that, so you can really get going in 10 seconds when you get your stuff.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
Besides the added benefit of better audio quality in your conference calls, you can use the mic for streaming purposes, or even for podcasts. I know I use it for podcasting. All this, in a package you can just chuck in your bag and worth MYR 249 on Shopee and Lazada. At this price, it is really hard to find a good mic for all those purposes.
DJI Pocket 2 (MYR 1,549 ~ MYR 2,169)
Source: DJI
They say the best camera is the one that is accessible to you at the time. Most of the time, that is your smartphone. But what if we tell you that there is an alternative that could really change your video creation experience?
That is the DJI Pocket 2, DJI’s latest small form factor OSMO product. It is super cute, and uber cool in our books. Like its name suggests, it is small enough to fit in your pockets when you need a compact and quick set up for videos and even photos. If you get the Creator Pack, it comes with a whole slew of stuff as well that enhances your experience with it and even help with vlogging and other content creation process.
Who says you need a large gimbal set up to take impressive videos for social media and even YouTube? Nobody said that you need to spend MYR 10,000 and above too, for all these purposes. A package that is smaller than your smartphone and a budget of MYR 2,200 is more than enough.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
We admit, MYR 1,549 is not exactly cheap. It is not something that you can easily buy and giveaway as well. We think that this is perfect for those expecting too though, so shower them with some love. It is also still cheaper than buying a regular camera, and even most mid-range smartphones. You can get the DJI Pocket 2 from DJI’s Official Store on both Shopee and Lazada.
1MORE Dual Driver ANC Pro Wireless Headphone (MYR 599)
Source: 1More
We recently had a chance to review this piece of kit and was very impressed with the audio quality, build quality, and its overall performance. We do not blame you if you have not heard of the brad before. No, it is not some china product that tries to copy JBL and Jabra products.
The 1MORE brand actually comes from the United States of America (U.S.A.). The 1MORE Dual Drive ANC Pro Wireless Headphones may be built in China, but it exudes the quality expected from an American, or even a European company. Of course those mean nothing if the audio is not great.
To that, we are happy to report that the audio produced from this piece of kit will not disappoint. What might stop you from buying it is probably its price at MYR 599. We promise though though, if you live an active livestyle and do not trust those Truly Wireless type earphones, this is the one for you. You can get yours now exclusively on Lazada.
Source: Lazada
Sony WF-1000XM3 (MYR 999)
Source: Sony
This is our personal favourite when it comes to audio gear. If you ask us to leave every other earphones and headphones at home and only carry one pair of earphones for our travels, we will pick this every single time. No joke, we were so impressed by this device that we actually went out of our way to pre-order these kits.
The Sony WF-1000XM3 is probably the best sounding Truly Wireless Earphones at its price. It is not cheap, to be fair, at MYR 999 retail. It sounds fantastic though. It does a lot of other wireless earphones no justice because the price suddenly looks reasonable when you put on the WF-1000XM3.
Sony also arguable has the best active noise cancelling technology to date. The latest WH-1000XM4 over ear headphones still use the same processing as the WF-1000XM3 as well. That is just a testimony to how good the noise cancelling technology is on the Sony earphones.
We have to say though that this kit is a little on the bulkier side compared to other solutions. Still, we love it, and it is an essential part of our travel kit and gear bag. It can go on and on for 8 hours and the case holds two charges for 24 hours of music playback. Nearly nothing comes close to this pair of earphones.
It is not a new piece of gear though. It is out in the market for over a year already. It is still a highly popular piece of kit for audiophiles even. So if you have any friends claiming to be audiophiles, this is a really good gift for them. At this time too you can get your hands on one from Shopee and Lazada for as low as MYR 749.
Source: Shopee
Source: Lazada
LG XBOOM Go PL5 (MYR 649)
Source: LG
Sticking to the theme of audio, we understand that not everyone likes to have something stuffed into their ear. Thanks to the unique equatorial climate and weather behaviour in this region of the world as well, wearing a pair of over-ear headphones might get uncomfortable thanks to sweat. In that case, you want some good speakers.
In that case, we pick the LG XBOOM Go PL5 Bluetooth speaker with Meridian Audio. “What is Meridian?”, I hear you ask. Meridian is a British firm that dedicates their lives in high-end audio and video solutions. They are more established in the audio world as one of the world’s renown High-Fidelty audio system makers. They do not just let anyone use their name on products. That also means that the LG XBOOM Go PL5 is the real deal.
We have it too, thanks to LG, and we were so impressed by it when we first fire it up, it became our speaker of choice when we go for parties and when we need a wireless speaker to work with in parties and social gatherings. This is truly one small package that packs a lot of punch.
It goes on and on for up to 18 hours as well with the light show. You can either plug audio in via the 3.5mm jack, or even connect it via Bluetooth for convenience. It charges via USB Type-C and is even water resistant. That also means you can safely bring your speaker to the pool to enjoy.
The only issue is that all that goodness does not come cheap. This little pill looking speaker will set you back MYR 649 on retail. Thankfully for the holiday seasons, LG has some promotions going on these punchy little things. You can now get them from LG’s offcial store on Shopee and Lazada for as low as MYR 449.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
Logitech G304 Lightspeed Wireless Mouse (MYR 245)
Source: Logitech
What is tech without gaming? These days also, every other person can appreciate gaming and the way that small part of the tech world affects the tech world as a whole. Yes, the gaming industry is also a billion dollar industry with growth still predicted to continue. You cannot ignore gaming then.
One of the biggest benefits from the gaming industry is that we can now enjoy products made for gaming and e-sports, but not pay an arm and a leg for it. The improvements made for the gaming industry culminates to the really simple things we take for granted every day on our desks, our mouse.
There are plenty of reasons why you should choose a gaming mouse, especially wireless ones, over regular mouse. For one, latency and stability. Gaming mice like the Logitech G304 Lightspeed gaming mouse you see here are built for not just speed, but accuracy. In eSports and gaming, every second counts, so you want your mouse to respond to your every input as soon as you hit the buttons. Hence, Lightspeed technology from Logitech.
The Logitech G304 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse made it to our list not just because of its Lightspeed moniker though. It is a rather portable nifty mouse you can even carry around in your work bag. You can take it anywhere and it will not stand out as a gaming mouse too, if you want to be a bit more conspicuous. But it still has the performance to slay your opponents when you need it to.
All these are packed into a package that will set you back MYR 245 on retail. No, that does not sound cheap, because it technically is not. But then again, wireless mice do go for around those prices and even more. Still, you can get it for a steal at MYR 168.99 from Logitech’s official store on Shopee and Lazada this Christmas.
Source: Lazada
Source: Shopee
External HDD/SSD (~myr 150 onward)
If you really do not know what to pick still for your loved ones, the best thing, and the most general thing you can buy for them is an external storage drive. Why? This could be the most versatile thing in our arsenal of gears, and it could be the most crucial at times.
When you work outside a lot, you tend to rely on things that are portable and easily accessible from any device. You also want something reliable, something that will not fail when your own device fails. You want a backup external storage unit.
You can choose between the traditional hard disk drive (HDD) format, or the new age solid state drive (SSD) format. Of course, there are speed differences. But there are some reliability benefits to the older, slower HDDs too. Of course, they are also cheaper.
No matter which type you get from them though, they can appreciate the extra storage and backup space you have given them. They can store more movies now, or rather, you can store more movies to enjoy on various mediums now. You can even back up your smartphone data to your external storage if you want.
The benefit of getting an external storage drive for yourself or your loved ones though is the relatively inexpensive options you can find today. You can find a 1TB sized HDD for less than MYR 150 these days. Of course, if you want to go for something like a Western Digital Passport pre-built external HDD, that is going to cost you a little bit.
The world has changed drastically in the time of this COVID-19 pandemic. The future generations will look back at this time and wondered how we ever got through this odd year unscathed. The thing is, we did not go through this unscathed. We are still living through it and everyone in the world is affected in different ways.
In Malaysia, the government decided to act fast and locked down the country to control the viral spread. They introduced the Movement Control Order (MCO) to limit the amount of movements and people exposed to the outside world and each other. Everyone had to be wearing masks, and everyone had to distance themselves from each other.
Even after the whole MCO period which lasted nearly three months for Malaysia, in a period Malaysia calls Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), plenty has not recovered, or completely adjusted to the world that came out after. What better moment then to go for a photo walk? It was at a perfect moment too; Canon just launched their new Canon EOS R5.
Source: Canon
The Canon EOS R5 is Canon’s latest mirrorless high-end photography tool. The new mirrorless camera has a 45-Megapixel sensor that can shoot at 20fps (very impressive). It packs Canon’s latest Digic X image processor as well. Best of all, at least as hyped by Canon themselves, is the fact that it now shoots videos at 8K resolution, uncropped.
It sounds like a recipe for a production powerhouse. It also sounds like Canon is taking the mirrorless market seriously, taking the fight to Sony. With the introduction of the Canon EOS R5, they are one-upping Sony in their video capabilities. But the improvements do not just end there. They have introduced some improvements in their video stabilisation capabilities. Finally, you have an in-body image stabiliser. Imagine using that with a compatible Optical Image Stabilised lens, the result should look amazing.
In all seriousness though, while it does look like an ultimate content creator tool, it is not priced as such. It will set you back MYR 17,999. That is the price of its body only. You add up the mirrorless RF lenses that Canon makes, and that will easily go up to MRY 20,000 for a set of content creation kit that is ready to go. If your first reaction is “it is so expensive,” we agree. For comparisons sakes, a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema 6K camera will set you back about MYR 10,000 without lenses.
We do not think that the Canon EOS R5 is a tool that you might want to rely on for 8K videography though. We see it as a photography first device with some impressive video shooting capabilities. We also almost never relied on anything higher than 4K resolution in our production so far because we post our videos in 1080p Full HD resolutions. That also means that 4K videos are more than enough for us. Of course, with 8K you have more resolution and pixels to play with. Which also means you can capture more detail and you can pick any fames across the 8K frame to create 1080p videos.
Source: Canon
Still, the Canon EOS R5 is a photography first camera in our opinion. That is what we are going to work with in these 24 hours with the camera. To be fair, we only have a few days with the camera from Canon and we could only spend a whole day with the camera. We chose to take the camera around Kuala Lumpur after the three months of MCO, just to see what the town looks like after the big pandemic scare. Of course, we want to see what the camera can do.
We have to apologise a little bit. We were so focused on taking photos using the Canon EOS R5, we forgot to take photos of the camera itself. Most of the photos of the camera comes from Canon’s website. There is virtually no difference between the camera and its pictures from the website. We do apologise for this oversight, but what matters is the end result, right?
The First Few Hours – Preparation in The Night
We had planned out a whole day, essentially to get the Canon EOS R5 in different kinds of shooting conditions and different times. It is also a test of its battery life because we are left with only one battery. In that case, we had to ensure that the battery packs a full charge for the next day of use.
That is the first thing we did, get the battery charged. But before that, we had to familiarise ourselves with the camera before taking it out for a spin, just so that we do not need to spend an hour to set the camera up the next day. Of course, we could just leave it on Auto mode and let the camera do its thing. Thing is, Auto mode does not do the review justice enough, as excellent as it is.
First Impressions
Source: Canon
First things first, the Canon EOS R5 breaks all the rules or the conventions of a mirrorless camera. The Canon EOS R5 is big and bulky. It is lighter than the conventional DSLR, yes, but not by that much. Compared to what we are used to from Sony, it is a hefty camera in our hands. It is a much bigger camera compared to the Sony Alpha cameras as well.
That is not necessarily a bad thing though. It feels familiar to Canon user, and that is important. It also means that the ergonomics are quite excellent for a camera, something that Canon has always been particularly good at. Thanks to the larger body size as well, your grip on the camera is more firm, more assured. Of course, the larger grip also means you can fit larger batteries that can last a whole day. True enough, I did not need to switch battery or even need to worry about battery life the whole day.
If you came from a Canon platform from before, every button is where they need to be and where you are used to. The touch sensitive button and slider thing that was on the Canon EOS R is gone to be replaced with a joystick, which is better in our opinion. Thanks to the bigger body too, the buttons do not feel cramped and compacted. Overall, the Canon EOS R feels good in the hands, albeit a little hefty for a Mirrorless camera.
Source: Canon
Then you dig into the settings to get familiarised and do a little bit more settings so that you are more comfortable with the camera. There are a few customisation options, which we did not touch, which means most of the buttons work just as the factory intended. In that case we just need to know what buttons and knobs do what and test them just to know they work. Of course, we had to see if we can get our viewfinder to see what we should see when we take photos. It does that by default too though, we just need to be sure.
The settings menu is as simple as you can remember though. Canon’s menu system makes plenty of sense and is simple to understand. Everything is where you expect them to be and you do not need to dig too deep into the menu system to find what you want.
Walking Through Kuala Lumpur
I would say that the best way to tell you about the camera is via the photos that we take through the streets of Kuala Lumpur. But of course, we cannot just do that. While we are going to still show you the photos that we took, we are going to walk you through the camera as well.
15mm f/4.5
1/5000
ISO400
The Set-Up – Versatility, Convenience, Best Compromise
First, we are going back to the weight of the camera again. In terms of an interchangeable lens camera, this is one of the lightest full-frame cameras that Canon has made. In that sense, it is less hefty than carrying a large Full-Frame DSR kit. That also means that it is less cumbersome. The lenses we have with us were more cumbersome, in fact. We had with us an RF24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM lenses loaned with the EOS R5 so that we can shoot a variety of things.
Why did we choose these two lenses? Good question. The most general lens than any photographer can get is the 24-70mm lens. In the case of the Canon EOS R5, only the RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM is available for the mirrorless camera. I could go for the 28-70mm option, but that will add MYR 3,000 to the shopping cart. Well, not like we bought this anyway. We are going with sensibility and practicality here.
The 24-70mm was a must have, so that was settled quickly. We had to think of the perfect set up to got for a walk through the city. In that case we also had to think about heft. So, we decided that we needed only one more lens. Usually, you want to go for three lenses for the perfect set up.
Initially we thought of getting a prime lens, a portrait 50mm or 35mm lens. We also wanted a wide frame, so we thought the 35mm could be perfect. But what if we wanted to capture an even wider area? What if we want the extra width on the frame to capture something like the Petronas Twin Towers properly? We decided to go for a zoom lens then. The RF15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM is the perfect choice.
We wanted to see if the extra stabilisation from the body would work nicely with image stabilised lenses, that is why we went with the RF IS lenses. The total price of the kit we tested totals to MYR 28,437. That is still a lot of money, just for a photo walk. But the lenses we pick are not just lenses you can use in a city. They are some of the most versatile lens lengths you can get for any set up. You can take the set up for a video shoot, for landscape photography, portrait photos, and more.
Keep in mind that these are the choices we made based on what we feel is the best choice for our use case. You may have a completely different perfect set up from what we pack in the gear bag, and that is not wrong either.
The Canon EOS R5
We left most of the settings default on the camera and switched our camera mode to manual to have full control of whatever the camera has. We switched between the two lenses constantly in different situations as well. We also went around KL the whole day, starting from the most iconic skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, all the way to the weirdly pretty intersection of Bukit Bintang.
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
Source: Canon
In this write up we are going to be focusing on its photo taking abilities more than its video capabilities. While there is enough time for us to work on a video with the 8K video capabilities, we will not have time to work on its photography aspect in that case. We had to choose.
But we also want to know if the interchangeable camera market is dead. We want to know if the Canon EOS R5 still has its place in a photographer’s kit bag. We want to know if it is worth spending all that money on the Canon EOS R5. 24 hours is not a lot of time, but we recon we have enough information after a whole day of walking through the city with the EOS R5.
We started in the morning where lighting is not an issue. One of the rules in photography and videography alike is knowing how to work with lights and getting enough lights for your subject. If you are using a smartphone camera, you leave it to auto and it will adjust itself in Auto mode and AI to help you. On the Canon EOS R5 or any other interchangeable cameras you might want to practice working with as much manual controls as possible for practice. Mastering those also allows you to create more creative looking photos. After all, it is all about making your subject look good.
Speedy Autofocus
Canon cameras has always been known for their accurate and fast autofocus speeds. They have no problem following a subject or change depth quickly depending on your subject. The same can be said on the Canon EOS R5 too. Autofocus is fast and responsive, and very accurate as well. They say that the autofocus is a little faster than before. In our tests, we cannot tell because we do not have another Canon DSLR to test it against, and the speed difference is minute.
What we appreciate though is the wider autofocus points on the camera. The amount of autofocus points on the Canon EOS R5 also means that autofocus works on almost every part of the frame. That also means that even if your subject is way off the frame, the EOS R5 should have no problems getting it in focus. You might want to tap on your touchscreen though, if your subject is that far off to the side, just to help the camera a little bit.
35mm f/4
1/4000
ISO500
If your subject is a person or animal though, Canon EOS R5 has Eye AF (eye autofocus). The Autofocus automatically recognises an eye on your subject and adjusts the autofocus to the eyes. The result is always sharp faces kept in focus.
Overall, there is nothing too surprising from Canon’s brilliant autofocus technology. It does not mean that it is not special either. Imagine trying to keep up with a moving subject while shooting 45-Megapixel photos in 20fps, then that sounds more impressive. The Canon EOS R5 can really keep uo with that.
Bigger Touchscreen, Better Viewfinder
Of course, because this is a mirrorless camera, the only preview you get from the camera is what is being fed to the lens. You have to rely on the EOS R5’s large 45-Megapixel sensor to feed what it ‘sees’ to either your 3-inch LCD display or the electronic Viewfinder (EVF). Here comes the small problem of mirrorless cameras.
EVF, in its early days in the first of Sony’s very famous line of mirrorless cameras are not great. They are a little slow, they tend to flicker a little bit, they are also not very colour accurate in that time. These are still perceived to be problems on mirrorless cameras today. That is also because you are looking at a screen instead of a mirror.
Thankfully though, EVF has taken a major leap since its first inception and its use in the first of Sony’s many mirrorless cameras. EVFs are now in a league of their own with added flexibilities and advantages of their own. In fact, some people might find that an EVF could be better than the traditional see through viewfinder.
Source: Canon
Yes, you are mostly looking at pixels through the viewfinder window. You are also looking at very tightly packed pixels in a small space, which also means you should not see the individual pixels sticking out to you. For the Canon EOS R5 at least, the EVF is something you are going to rely on quite a lot.
The EVF on the Canon EOS R5 is reliable though. The display is bright, accurate, and fast. It easily keeps up with you and what you need it to do. What you see on the EVF is what you most likely will get once you press the shutter button.
That is another advantage of the EVF, you see what the sensor sees. While that is also true for a traditional DSLR, the traditional DSLR does not necessarily adjust itself to the changes in the sensor sensitivity. The EVF, by default, does. That also means that the EVF can present to you the most accurate photo once you press the shutter button at the current settings, which I always find very helpful in all kinds of conditions.
You can set your EVF also to adjust itself to the surroundings so that you can see through the EVF even if your normal eyes cannot. It takes a little bit of digging through the settings to get the EVF to adjust itself to ambient lighting, but it is worth it if you work in the studio and rely on the flashes for your main source of lighting. It at least helps you frame your subjects in low-light conditions. Sadly, the Canon EOS R5 does not have the same low-light shooting capabilities of the Sony α7S line-up.
Clever Protection
The Canon EOS R5’s big body has some advantages though. Of course, Canon will keep saying that because of the more compact form factor they can fit a bigger lens flange and therefore create lenses with bigger aperture. They also say they can fit higher quality glass and have more creative possibilities with new mirrorless lenses, since the glass distance from the sensor to the lens is much shorter.
Beyond that though Canon has fitted something they probably forgot to mention plenty of in their press releases and statements. They can install a curtain in front of the sensor without sacrificing weight and space to protect the sensors from debris and what not when you need to change lenses. This is quite clever for us.
Source: Canon
We were going around shooting photos on the street of Kuala Lumpur. The place is not necessarily the cleanest place in the world. There is pollution from everywhere, and quite dusty due to the never-ending construction projects, and the overwhelming traffic.
If you are a photographer, you know how important it is to keep dust and grimes away from your sensors. A spec of dust can potentially damage your sensors and ruin your camera. Its most vulnerable moment is when you change lenses. We were toying between the longer lens and the shorter lens.
At least with the cameara on, the curtain comes down whenever we detach the lens from the body to swap to the other lens. That also means that your sensor is protected behind a layer of plastic to ensure we do not ruin the expensive kit. But we find that we will not be the only ones benefiting from this set up. Wedding photographers, or even studio photographers can benefit from this, since their work requires them to switch between multiple lenses all the time.
Super Photos, Super Quiet
The Canon EOS R5 may be advertised as an 8K video recoding powerhouse with a stellar built-in stabilisation. In our eyes, the Canon EOS R5 is a photography first camera with a steal 45-Megapixel sensor that is also paired to a built-in stabilisation mechanism that can be paired to image stabilised lens platforms too. The results of this combination? Nothing short of breath taking.
Source: Canon
The first thing you have to notice on photos that you take on the Canon EOS R5 is the sharpness in details you get on the 45-Megapixel photos. If you shoot in RAW, you get huge photos to work with on the Canon EOS R5. You also get detail like no other with RAW.
Thing is, you are going to be posting most of your photos in JPEG file format. In most cases too, when you are doing things quickly, you are going to work with JPEG file formats too, they are smaller and quicker to work with, they are ready for presentation. RAW has its advantages, but you might want to take some time with the images for post edits and other creative things you want to work with on the photo.
We Took photos in both RAW format and JPEG format. We can tell you that even in JPEG format, the amount of detail is quite amazing if you get your focus right. Everything in focus of the camera is super sharp even when you zoom in. With Eye AF, you are really a step above in your portrait game. Of course, some of the details in the photos are thanks to the make of the lenses Canon borrowed us as well. They are RF lenses with f/2.8 after all. These are also lenses that costs about MYR 10,000 in total, mind you.
Because this is a 45-Megapixel photo too, you can manipulate your frame a little bit more just because you have more pixels and detail to play around with. You can zoom in a little bit and your photos will still look stellar. We managed to select a few photos and edit them through a smartphone as well, to be posted on Social Media. With a little bit of colour tweak, they can look stunning.
Since this is a Canon camera, skin tones are as expected. Skin tones are very natural to work with and some photos look like they are perfect for posting right out of the camera. Of course, we prefer to edit them a little bit first before posting. If you work with RAW photos, you can compensate under or overexposure very quickly, you can even change the colour profile a little bit just to make correct some lighting effects on skin tones and objects. Then again, you can make your photos look like anything in RAW format. Malaysia is also blessed with multiple cultures and various skin tones though. In that department too, we are happy to report that the Canon EOS R5 can make any skin tone work.
The first thing that we noticed with the camera also is just how quiet it is. Because there are no mechanical moving parts, the camera shutter action is a virtual one instead of an actual actuation of a shutter mechanism. That also means you can operate is silently and quickly at that. This can shoot at 20fps stills after all. We took advantage of that, but we have to remember to release our shutter button as soon as we snap a photo. Plus, the quiet shutter does not alarm others during out street photography session.
At this point we would say that it is easier and better for you to judge the photos on your own. The selected photos are in JPEG format and they are not altered in anyway before uploaded.
The Canon EOS R5 is nothing short of breath taking in its touted abilities and capabilities. It is the most feature packed Canon high-end camera to hit the market too. On paper, the Canon EOS R5 seems to bridge the difference or deficit they had against the other mirrorless giant, Sony. In some sense, the Canon EOS R5 seems to be the company’s answer to the mirrorless camera market.
35mm f/2.8
1/2500
ISO10000
At the same time though, the Canon EOS R5 does cost quite a little bit more than the traditional DSLR. It is sold as an all-rounder too, which seems a little counter-intuitive to what the market is used to with mirrorless cameras. We also think that the communication efforts also deviate from what the camera does best; take breath taking photos without breaking your backs. We also think that Canon could also use some variations to different focuses in their mirrorless camera line-up.
We love their lenses though because they really know what they are doing with their lenses. Of course, that should be quite expected since they have been working with lenses forever. They are the world’s largest camera lens manufacturer for a reason.
We also love the fact that Canon is fitting even more technology in their camera than we could possibly ask for. The in-body stabilisation combined with the lenses that we had at our disposal made taking photos seem easy. You could take photos while walking and the photos will come out stable and clean. Of course, you might want to consider holding steady when you are taking photos in low-light conditions. But running and gunning is possible with the Canon EOS R5.
We would like to have a little bit more time with the camera, obviously to test out its 8K video recording capabilities. We did a quick timelapse video manually, but that was not in video mode. There are a few more functions we would like to familiarise ourselves with too with the camera. We did not get to test out plenty of the modes that the camera offers, because we had a crammed schedule with the camera.
Would we recommend the camera? With just about a day or so with the camera under our belts, it is hard to say. We would say that it really depends on what you want from your camera. If you have access to about MYR 25,000 and is a Canon enthusiast, I will say you could.
But the decision must come into its own considerations as well. You have to think of you lens ecosystem. Remember that the Canon EOS R5 works on RF lenses. You need to buy an adapter to make your EF lenses work with the camera. That is extra expenses if you already shoot exclusively on EF lenses. It is still better than porting from a Nikon or a Sony ecosystem though. If you are already on RF lenses since the Canon EOS R, I will ask you to reconsider your decision properly. The Canon EOS R is not a bad camera on its own. Sure, the Canon EOS R5 can shoot at 8K resolution, but would you use that in your workflow?
27mm f/4.5
1/1000
ISO500
If not, you can also see this as a chance to jump ship. If you are running on Canon’s EF lenses ecosystem and you want to transition to a mirrorless camera, you could either look at what Nikon has to offer or even Sony. Sony’s lenses are already made to work with their mirrorless camera, and they have been in the game for a long time. That also means that their lens selections are currently more vast too. At the same time, you might spend a little less if you switch platforms, depending on what you want from your camera. If you are a photographer first, the Sony α7R III is about MYR 5,500 less than the Canon EOS R5. The α7R IV with a 61-Megapixel sensor in tow is MYR 2,700 less than the Canon EOS R5.
The choice, ultimately, is still yours. We like all they have done to the Canon EOS R5 to make it a huge and real contender in the mirrorless camera market. The only issue is that it is still more expensive than what most of its competitors can offer. We also think that Sony’s vast experience in the mirrorless market still means something. We are not taking anything away from the canon EOS R5, it is a formidable piece of kit to work with. But we would still rather fall back on Sony for mirrorless cameras, sad to say.
When it comes to DSLRs and cameras one of the first names that you’d think of is Nikon. The company has become a staple name in the industry and there is nothing more iconic than their “I AM” campaign when it comes to photography and cameras. However, it seems like all good things must come to an end.
In a statement posted to their Facebook page, Nikon Malaysia revealed the sad announcement that the company has decided to cease its operations. Effective 1 January 2021, Nikon will no longer have an official presence in Malaysia with 31 December, 2020 being the last day of operations. Moving forward, their sales, marketing and after sales services will be handled by appointed third parties.
Official Statement on Nikon Malaysia’s Facebook
Their appointed third parties are: Futuromic Photo AV Sdn Bhd and QES (Asia-Pacific) Sdn Bhd. These companies will now take over the distribution and sales of Nikon branded cameras in the country. Operations for the company will continue as usual in the transition phase with the final day set on 31 December, 2020.
The DJI Ronin series has always been very highly acclaimed in the film-making community. The camera stabilising platform that is the DJI Ronin is actually more affordable that plenty of stabiliser platforms and somehow more advanced at the same time, allowing film makers flexibility and possibilities like never before. They introduced the DJi Ronin S and Ronin SC later to accomodate smaller budgets and lighter production gear. That proved to be popular too.
Source: DJI
The global leader in civilian drones and creative camera technology has expanded their legacy of the popular DJI Ronin series, the newly introduced DJI RS2 and DJI RSC 2 to replace their popular Ronin S and Ronin SC camera stabilization systems. Like the hardware these stabilisers replace, the RS 2 and RSC 2 platforms oofer film makers and content creators an unimaginable versatility and robustness in a package that is easy to handle and transport. They are the Ronin S and Ronin SC re-imagined, improved.
DJI RS2
Source: DJI
The DJI RS 2 brings added power and agility to creators and using professional camera systems such as DSLR and compact cinema cameras. The successor to the Ronin S can work with payloads of up to 4.5kg. It can even carry all that weight for 12 hours and can be quickly charged via the battery handle, if need be. A 15-minute charge on the handle affords two hours of extra run-time.
The DJI RS 2 has something called a Titan Stabilization Algorithm. It is DJI’s magic software that allows the gimbal to smooth out kinks, optimise angles, and even tilt around to compensate its users movement. No other gimbal has that ability before. It is cleverer and better than before with SuperSmooth mode that can compensate and improve stability at up to 100mm of focal length (that is quite long, by the way).
It is more versatile than ever with a dual-layer mounting plate that is compatible with the world’s renown Arca-Swiss and Manfrotto platforms. There is even a fine-tune knob to better optimise the camera payload’s balance on the gimbal. The built-in 1.4-inch colour touchscreen can display all sorts of data from camera’s shoot data, gimbal modes, and even serve as a secondary display for the camera. Of course, the RS2 is compatible with multiple accessories from DJI to make it an even more robust and capable tool in your film making arsenal.
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
DJI RSC 2
Source: DJI
Then there is the DJI RSC 2. The DJI RSC 2 is made to be even more portable than the DJI RS2. That means that it is smaller, and lighter than the RS 2. It weighs only 1.2kg and is able to take on a payload of 3kg in total. While that is a little less than the DJI RS 2, it also lasts about 12 hours. There is also quick charge built-into the handle itself. This gimbal is perfect for mirrorless cameras.
The new folding design makes DJI RSC 2 easier and more portable. It allows film-makers to bring the gimbal along everywhere without adding additional weight to the gear list. The main gimbal arm can be loosened to provide an unique shooting angle as well, so the DJI RSC 2 is also just as versatile as the DJI RS 2. It comes with all the same goodies the DJI RS 2 comes with too. There is the RavenEye technology, Titan Stabilisation algorithm, and even the dual-layer camera mounting plate.
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Source: DJI
Advanced Capabilities
Of course, DJI being DJI, the two gimbals come with support for multiple attachments. The accessories list includes a Focus Wheel, 3D Focus System, Cheese Plate and Twist Grip Handle, Thethered Control Handle, counterweight systems, and more. The vital features and functions on both the gimbal can be controlled and adjusted over distance of about 100m with the virtual joystick and Force Mobile, where the gimbal mimics the movement of your smartphone. The TOF sensors mounted in the camera enables the shooter to create a super smooth and cinematic footage using a manual lens.
Price and Availability
The DJI RS 2 and DJI RSC 2 will be available starting today at US$ 849 (MYR 3,299*) and US$ 499 (MYR 1,699*) as standalone units. For the Pro Combo that includes a phone holder, Focus Motor, RavenEye Image Transmitter, a dedicated carrying case, and more will set you back an extra US$ 150, totaling up to US$ 999 (MYR 3,899*) for the DJI RS 2. For the DJI RSC 2, the Pro Combo will set you back US$ 739 (MYR 2,549*), another US$ 240 on top of the device itself. The DJI RS2 and the DJI RSC 2 will be available for purchase at DJI Malaysia Flagship stores, authorised dealers and their official store on Lazada and Shopee. More information on the DJI RS 2 and DJI RSC 2 can be found on their website.
Apple’s HomePod was introduced back in 2017. This was the dawn of a new era for smart homes and smart home peripherals. It was Apple’s first smart speaker, and it was the only one that featured Siri as a built-in assistant. Malaysia did not get the smart speaker love though.
It is 2020 now, and nothing has technically changed. You still cannot get the Apple smart speakers in Malaysia. You can import one though with prices starting from MYR 1,140 per piece. While that sounds like a bargain over the official US$ 299 (MYR 1,241*), you have to consider that it is a product that is about 3 years old, and the prices has not included taxes and shipping just yet.
Source: Apple
There is a more affordable option now though from Apple. They call it the HomePod mini and priced it at US$ 99 (MYR 411*). It is tiny too, which is fitting, since it is the HomePod mini.
Of course, being the more affordable option will not be as feature packed as the more expensive Apple HomePod. But it still has most of the capabilities that makes the HomePod an attractive smart speaker for the home in the first place.
For one, because it is more affordable, you can buy more of it, and place the speakers all around the house, including your kids, or parent’s room. That way, you do not have to shout at your kids from the kitchen to tell them dinner is ready, stop playing Call of Duty or Dota2 and come to eat.
Source: Apple
Like the original HomePod, the HomePod mini is designed for households. Siri now recognises different voices and connects those voices to individual devices. So now, if mummy needs to set a reminder or create a shopping list for herself, she can simply tell Siri and her smartphone or iPad will be updated. You need to send a quick text message to your other half to buy milk? Voila, the speaker will get your personal iPhone to do it. Mind you, you need to have an iPhone for it to work.
Apple said they designed the device to ensure that it will fill the room with the best sort of audio experience. For that, they employed a full-range dynamic drive that points down to a wave guide. The wave guide is supposed to distribute audio in all directions, creating an omnidirectional audio experience. Thanks to the Apple S5 chip, the speaker can tune itself to adjust for the environments. It is not a noise cancelling tool though.
Source: Apple
It is also clever enough when you put two speakers nearby each other. When that happens and Apple’s HomePod mini detects a buddy, the two speakers turn themselves into stereo speakers. If you bring your Apple iPhone nearer to it, the LED top flashes and give you some interesting colour play.
Like the Apple HomePod, it can be integrated into smart home systems as a controller. It is basically a smart home voice controller. You can even set scenarios with Siri too, just to get a pre-set mood, lighting, air-conditioning, curtain opening, and much more. Of course, you need to make sure that all these products are smart home products and is connected to the WiFi umbrella in your house.
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
Source: Apple
The Apple HomePod mini will be available in white or space grey. It will be priced, as mentioned, at US$ 99 (MYR 411*). Pre-orders in selected market starts on the 6th November 2020. It will be available from retailers from the 16th November 2020 onward. Unfortunately, Malaysia is not on that list just yet. You might just be able to import a unit though.
*Conversion based on approximate rate US$ 1= MYR 4.15 as of 15/10/2020
The full-frame mirrorless camera platform is all the rage these days. Traditional DSLR manufacturers like Canon and Nikon has very recently put a lot of resources and effort in developing their own mirrorless platforms and designs. Of course, because they are so new in the game, options from them are still limited. This is true especially in terms of lenses that are available to their current lines of mirrorless cameras. You can get an adapter still.
Full-frame cameras are not cheap though. They are considered the widest accepted platforms in the professional photography world, that is why. Mirrorless cameras, because they are so new and advanced, are even more expensive today. That also makes a full-frame camera today even more expensive than before. Take the Canon EOS R5 for example. The new Sony α7SIII is a good example too, for exorbitantly priced cameras.
Speaking of Sony though, they have been the mirrorless kings for a long time now. With their brand-new Sony α7SIII especially, they have proven to the market that they really know what they are doing with mirrorless technology, photography, and videography. All that advancements mean one thing though, the new α7S is more expensive than before. What happens to the enthusiast market that wants an affordable mirrorless camera then? Second-hand cameras? Not according to Sony.
Source: Sony
Welcome to the α7C full-frame mirrorless camera (ILCE-7C, Sony’s and the world’s smallest and lightest full frame camera platform. Yes, that is also one of the benefits of mirrorless cameras, you can pack one full-frame sensor in a traditional APS-C DSLR body, and it will still be lighter. With the α7C, Sony has taken it to a whole new level.
Uncompromisingly Light… and Small
This super light and super compact package is, according to Sony, quite uncompromised. It still packs a very effective 24.2-Megapixel full-frame Exmor R CMOS sensor with back-illumination (for better low-light) and Sony’s proven BIONZ X image processor. This combination can also be found in a not exactly outdated Sony α7III camera. The α7C is nearly 50g lighter than the bulky α7III though. The α7C is also about the same size and weight as the APS-C α6600 compact camera.
Source: Sony
Of course, you still get the 5-axis in body stabilisation built into the tight body that is the α7C. Along with the stabilisation is also 4K recording capability that is so well known from all Sony’s current premium camera line-up. The sensor also has an ISO sensitivity of up to 204,800 (expanded, native ISO up to 51,200) for the best, in-class low-light performance. You even get Real-time Eye AutoFocus on the α7C, the same AutoFocus mechanism and algorithm you can find on the α7III, if you are wondering.
It does not even compromise on power delivery. The Sony α7C comes packing a battery the size of even a modern α7III. The NP-FZ100 battery offers up to 740 images, and industry-leading figure, as far as numbers are concerned. That also means that you can take it out for a whole day with one battery. Of course, USB Type-C charging will still be a thing with the Sony α7C.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Only Drawback… We Think
The only few things we might be concerned about with the new Sony α7C are, in effect, very minor things. We are curious how Sony would manage to cramp all their function buttons together and still allow users to manage all its functions.
Source: Sony
With cramped layouts, we are also wondering if there are any ergonomic compromises that might come with it. The Viewfinder is now placed quite far to the other end of the camera, a la α6000 series Viewfinders. A vari-angle LCD is a huge welcome, but the cramped grip handle area at the back might create some issues for larger hands.
The last issue we might look out for is heat management. Sony’s mirrorless full-frame cameras in the past are known to overheat especially in 4K resolution video shoots. In a smaller body frame, heat dissipation and management could be an issue.
Full-Frame Body with Full-Frame Lenses – The New FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 (SEL2860)
Still, the platform is made for full-frame lenses too, so we should not complain as much. The launch of the new α7C also comes with a new lens of course. It is, according to Sony, the world’s smallest and lightest zoom lens made for a full-frame camera. It is Sony’s FE 28-60mm zoom lens with minimum F4-5.6 aperture. It weighs only 167g and is not that much larger than the camera itself.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Light and Small Camera and Lens Needs a Light and Small Flash – The New HVL-F28RM Compact Flash
This is not just a compact flash though. It is probably Sony’s most reliable and rugged field photography flash they have created. It is 12% smaller, and 7% lighter compared to its closest sibling, the HVL-F32M flash. Of course, it is a smaller flash, which also means that its output is a little less at GN28 (Guide Number 28).
It is more reliable and rugged thanks to some protection that is made to the most fragile and sensitive part of the whole construction. The hot shoe connection on the flash accessory is surrounded by metal frames to ensure that it can take on any weather or abuse to the flash and the camera. In that case, you can expect the flash to work better in harsher in environments.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Price and Availability
The Sony α7C will be available in Malaysia from November 2020 onward, two months away from today. The Sony FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 lens will be available early next year in January 2021. The HVL-F28RM lens will be available a month after the Sony α7C in December 2020. Prices are yet to be confirmed by Sony Malaysia and will be revealed by tonight (15/9/2020 @9.00 p.m.). The new mirrorless camera is, according to sources on the internet, is set to be Sony’s most affordable full-frame mirrorless camera though. For more information on the camera and the newly launched accessories, you can head over to Sony’s website.
*Update: The Sony α7C will be priced at MYR 8,399 (body only). The kit with an FE 28-60mm F4-5.6 lens will be available for MYR 9,899. Pre-order starts now to 15th October 2020. Pre-order will be entitled to a free 64GB Tough SD card and an NP-FZ100 battery pack. There are other lens bundles for the α7C such as the camera with the G 20mm F1.8 lens for MYR 12,288 and the camera body with n FE 35mm F1.8 lens for MYR 10,888. The FE 50mm F1.8 bundle is MYR 9,288.
It has been five years since the Sony Alpha 7S II launched, which also means the king of low-light photography and videography have stood the test of time. In that time, nothing came close to taking its throne as the best videography and photography tool when it comes to low-light scenes. The camera is the weapon of choice for plenty of aspiring videographers for obvious reasons. The new one has a lot to live up to.
There are a few similarities from the A 7S III and the A 7S II. For one, it records at 4K resolution 10-bit still. But instead of shooting at a measly 30 frames a second, the new A 7S III now records at 120 frames a second. That is a large improvement over the older A 7S II. It also outputs up to 4K 60p 16-bit output via a full-sized HDMI port.
Source: Sony
You might not want to put this beside the Canon EOS R5 though, it is more of a Canon EOS R6 contender, if you ask me. The A 7S III still shoots from a 12.1-Megapixel Full-Frame CMOS sensor with a small, but significant improvement. The new Exmor R technology means that the Rolling-Shutter problem that the A 7S II and A 7S had is now reduced to a barely noticeable level at the worst.
Better Pair of Eyes
Source: Sony
The A 7S II was known for its ability to “see” even better than our regular eyes. The A 7S III improved on that with an even bigger native ISO range at 40-409,600. There is no need to be afraid of noise too with about 1 more stop on noise reduction at highly sensitive ISO settings and 15 dynamic range stops. This will ensure that details do not get murky in low-light shoots. Even S-Log3 allows you to record from ISO as low as 160 if you really need to. Say goodbye to the ND filters you have bought for the A 7S II.
There was a small issue with Auto Focus when it comes to Sony cameras of old though. They have corrected that with the Sony A 7S III with their new Fast Hybrid Auto Focus system with 759 points of Auto Focus points covering 92% of the sensor. We have seen the technology implemented on Sony’s A 7R III and A 7 III.
Longer Shoots, Better Feel
Recording 4K videos for a long time creates plenty of heat. Sony devised a new heat dissipating mechanism to ensure that you an continue recording at 4K continuously for at least an hour. We suspect that contributes a little bit to the bigger overall package size. Of course, you still get the highly acclaimed 5-axis stabiliser within the compact body.
Source: Sony
A larger package also means that you can fit more things into it though. The A 7S III allows you to work with two memory cards now. You can either choose to work with two regular SD cards or two new standard CFexpress Type A cards for even higher speeds to work with. You need that for 100mb/s card write speeds when shooting at 4K resolution.
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
Source: Sony
In terms of ergonomics, besides the thicker body, there are a few changes to how the button layout and arrangement. For example, there is a new joystick at the back with a slightly different dial button. The record button has been moved yet again. It is in a much improved location though – near the shutter button. Even the mode select button is raised a little higher for better accessibility.
Instead of the limited flip out LCD display with limited play, Sony has finally adopted the vari-angle LCD that plenty of users prefer. This allows you to place the Sony A 7S III anywhere at any angle and you do not need a secondary monitor to see what the camera sees.
Availability
Source: Sony
If you are looking for a replacement of the aging Sony A 7S II, you may not have a fitting replacement until now. No, not the Canon EOS R5, the new Sony A 7S III. No, it does not shoot at 8K, but 4K is still plenty more than enough these days. With better colour science, higher ISO sensitivity, and better noise removal, this is the only way to beat the reigning king of low-light.
The Sony A 7S III will be available in Malaysia from October 2020 onward. There are no mentions on price just yet though. We are guessing that it would be priced slightly above the price of a brand-new A 7S II body (roughly between MYR 8,500 to MYR 9,000 for body only). Of course, there are still plenty of lenses for you to choose from with the new A 7S III.
Somebody once told me that a car is technically a weapon. When you think about it, that person makes plenty of sense. It is a giant metal box that weighs more than a tonne. It also travels at speed. Tell me that does not sound like a description of a sort of ballistic weaponry? The moral of the lesson is that we have to be alert and very careful on the road. Other cars can be super hazardous too.
While we try to be as careful as possible when we drive, accidents do tend to happen from time to time. It is quite inevitable really in Malaysia where 93% of the 31 million residents of Malaysia owns a car. That puts the car ownership number in Malaysia somewhere in the 29 million region.
What happens when you get into an accident though? You start playing the blame game. You think it is their fault, and they think it is your fault. There is only one way to settle this. Bring the case to the police station with evidence. What is the evidence? Footage from your ever so popular dash cam.
Every modern car comes with it now. Some even comes pre-installed when you buy the car brand new. What about older cars then. For example; what of an old Toyota Camry from the 2002 era then? You have to buy a separate one.
The question becomes, what do you buy? There is so many options now in the segment. There are even brands like HP in the dash cam segment.
We have a Mio MiVue 792 here. It is an MYR 799 option in the market. Considering that the cheapest dash cam in the market can go for as little as MYR 27.80 on Lazada, the Mio MiVue looks like an overpriced piece of toy.
Thing is, the Mio MiVue is 792 is plenty more than just a toy though. It is a piece of gear with features you might not find in any dash cam. It is also a tool to modernise your car a little bit.
The question remains though, is the Mio Mivue 792 worth the MYR 799 asking price? Or should you just skip it and look at the other options in the market? We find out.
Design
To be fair, this is one of the more bulky dash cameras I have seen in the market. It does mean that you get a significantly large display to monitor your dash cam though. You get a 2.7-inch display to pair to your CMOS sensor that records at 1080p Full HD at a maximum of 60fps.
While it is bulky, it is not to say that it is ugly though. Well, it may look a little out of place if you place it in a car as old as me. Still, it is not technically something you might look at on a daily basis.
When you first open the box up and take out the camera though. It feels premium. The plastic materials on it feels solid and durable. It looked like it could stand a car crash or two. There are plenty of vents everywhere presumably for heat dissipation and what not. Of yes, there is a mic installed on this thing too, so it technically records your conversations.
Its bulk, while gives you a sort of feeling that it is a solid piece of hardware, does have its own drawbacks though. One of its biggest drawbacks is its placement in your vehicle. By design, the dash camera is meant to be hung down from your windshield. Personally I mounted it as high as possible to avoid it coming into my field of view.
The bulk makes it a challenge to put it in places you would normally see a dash camera though. You can hide it behind your rear-view mirror to keep it as obscure as possible but then you would not be able to monitor its recording or its settings menu screen. You cannot navigate it with the buttons on the side because you effectively cannot see it.
While it is designed to be a one-time plug-and-play solution to a certain extent. there are more you can do with the Mio MiVue 792 dash camera. There is plenty within the menu that you can customize. There are more reasons to the bulk of the dash camera too, this thing is packed with features.
Features
We mentioned earlier that this thing packs more than just a camera. They somehow made this a very clever dash camera instead of a plain ol’ one you would be used to. It even has GPS for crying out loud. Sounds like an overkill? Maybe an overkill. We do appreciate some of its features though.
GPS Guardian Angel
Yes, this thing is loaded with a Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter in its small body. Well, since GPS antennas can be fitted into a smartphone these days, that should not come as a surprise. Thing is, this is not some kind of navigation device though. You do not have a built in map that you can see within the device. The question now is; what is the GPS functionality for then?
Firstly, GPS can do plenty of things in your smartphone. At the most basic, it does not just track your whereabouts. Rather, it tracks your movement. That is one thing that the Mio MiVue 792 does in your car. It detects and tells you your car’s GPS speed; technically more accurate than your speedometer in front of you too.
In some sense, that can be quite a vital information when you present the evidence of an accident in court. It tells you whether or not you have broken any speed limit while a traffic accident is taking place. It also helps in determining whether or not you are traveling at a reasonable speed within the area and context of the location if there are no applied speed limit on that particular road. More information is always better technically.
Beyond that, the built-in GPS also feeds to a built-in map that tells you if there are speed cameras, or traffic light cameras, or anything other traffic cameras on the road. We were quite blown away by that initially. After a while it got very annoying; more on that later though.
Lane Departure and Collision Warning
We would say that if you are driving a car without a lane departure warning system or brake warning system but you want those features, this is some thing you might consider getting. The device itself has those functions pretty much built into the camera. All you have to do is dig into its menu and turn them on.
The whole idea of a lane departure warning is that your vehicle systems, or in this case; the dash camera detects your vehicle veering off your current lane. The device then will alert you when such things happen. This is kind of a warning system to keep you alerted on the road.
While you get that with plenty of modern cars today, you will not get the function with cars older than five years. The car we tested it in was more than 10 years old; perfect. We set it up and went for it.
Setting up the camera is a simple affair really. Just get the sticker off the foot, and stick that to the window at your desired placement, stick your dash camera in, and you are good to go. Of course, at installation the camera would guide you a little bit on how to properly set your camera up; where to point it to and what not.
The lane departure warning system is a great addition to the vehicle for a while. A little while later it got really annoying. Because it is basically just makes noise when you are veering off your lane, even if it is just a little bit. The system makes a noise too every time you cross into another lane, which is every single time you want to make a lane switch. You cannot even control how aggressive or passive you want the system to be. It is just ‘on’ or ‘off’. We turned the function off after 2 days of it making a noise every single time we wanted to change lanes.
Then there is the collision warning system. The collision warning system is also a great new addition to an old vehicle. Unlike the lane departure warning, you can set its aggressiveness. We set it to be really aggressive at first, meaning at any sign that we are a little below two car lengths, the device makes the same warning noise. At its least aggressive level, it tells us that we are too close within one car length distance. You can set it to activate only beyond a certain speed too.
We got a little annoyed after that too because it activates when we are in traffic. Every single time a car pulls in front of us, the Mio MiVue 792 makes noise. Quite understandable though because the MiVue 792 does not feed directly into the vehicle’s systems.
Wireless Monitoring and Video Extraction
The Mio App could not be easier to use. It is also the most convenient way for you to extract your videos out of the MiVue 792. All you need to do is to ensure that the MiVue 792’s WiFi function is turned on to connect to your smartphone. Of course, you need the app that is available for free on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Once in the app, the app will prompt you to connect to the camera via WiFi. Once connected, you can access the camera’s view live on your smartphone or transfer files. To transfer files though, you need to stop the recording on the camera. In that case, we also suggest that you stop the car before downloading any footage from the MiVue 792.
To make things quicker for users, the Mio MiCue 792 actually records videos in 3-minute sections. You can easily scroll through and pick out the incidents quicker that way instead of downloading a whole 30-minute drive sessions. That is not even considering the scrubbing of the video.
We found the app to be really useful when it comes to transferring videos without any other tools. Thing is, we are a little disappointed to find that you cannot change any of the settings of the MiVue 792 from the app itself. While that is not too big of an issue, it can be quite annoying for us when we want to change certain settings. We have to reach out, and go into the settings of the camera from the camera itself. You risk changing the camera angles that you have perfected in the initial set up.
Still, you do not need to use a notebook PC or a card reader to operate this device. That is a big plus in our books. It is so much more convenient and faster too with a smartphone that you already carry with you anyway.
Emergency Video Recording
There is an extra default function of this dashboard camera as well. We were not fast enough to capture its operations, but it exists. While it does record videos normally, there is a special section of folder than the camera uses in its memory card. That is the emergency recording folder. It records a video up to three minutes when it is subjected to a certain amount of vibrations or experiences a major change in G-Force (when you jam your brakes).
In that special folder, you can find whatever video that is recorded during an emergency. That would serve as an evidence to whatever that has made your day worse. While it may not sound like much, it makes these footages much easier to access when you are trying to find footages that could help you.
If your camera could stay powered on when your vehicle turns off too, it could detect movements outside the car and also start emergency recording. This is now turning your car into a scared, paranoid animal that takes an interest in everything that happens around it. It is not a bad thing though, you might need the footage to either save yourselves, or help a stranger in identifying suspect in a theft case. That, or just watch dogs and cats passing by.
Full HD 1080p Evidence
The most important part of a dashboard camera is allowing you to have an evidence of any occurrence around and in front of your car. You want it to be your evidence when a traffic collision happens. It could determine whether or not you are at fault.
Thing is, traffic collisions are not as simple as that. It is nearly never a black and white situation. It could be the driver in front not paying attention, braking too hard which gives you no time to respond. It could also be you not paying too much attention to the car in front of you. It could be a brake check from the driver in front. It could also be you tailgating. Okay, fine these can be quite clear cut sometimes.
There are times though where there is really no telling who is at fault without seeing the full footage. It could be a head on collision on an intersection with no clear lines indicating which way the traffic goes. It could be as simple as looking at what the road conditions are like. In that case, you do need a clear video that can pick out details. You need the resolution. You need Full HD videos.
In that regards, this MiVue does that 1080p video rather well. No, it is not made for action movies, not even for home made videos. We discourage you from sharing your Genting road exploits via the MiVue. Although, they can look rather good.
While there are plenty of dash camera that does Full HD 1080p videos, extracting the videos from this MiVue is simple. You do not even need to pull out the MicroSD card to get the videos out of the device like most dashboard cameras. You just need your smartphone and you are quite set.
The Full HD 1080p video on this is quite standard though. There is not much to shout about. There is not enhancements for its colours, so footage does tend to look a little dull. But that is not the point. The point is in its details. In that regards, the MiVue’s 1080p videos are full of it. The only sensible step up for dash cameras now is 4K videos; maybe when it becomes cheaper.
Worth Every Penny? Or Can You Do with Something Cheaper?
This dash camera costs MYR 790. That is not cheap in today’s standard for dash camera. Especially in the age where you can get everything online from China. You can even get one for less than MYR 150 and it works.
The thing is though, while they are usable. The cheaper options does just that. It just works, and nothing else.
The MiVue does not just work. It adds some new functions to older cars. It adds some smart features to your older car like lane departure warning and collision warning. You still cannot expect your car to brake itself and tell you whether or not there is an object in your blind spot though. But you are not adding extra sensors and computer to your car, you have to remember that.
What you are adding with the MiVue is not just an insurance, really. You are adding a safety feature, which is what every dashboard camera should strive to be. Instead of recording collisions and unwanted events, it should try to give you every bit of help to avoid it. It should warn you when you get too close to the limit, it should tell you when there is danger ahead.
There are still limitations what the camera can do though. You cannot expect it to recognise an animal on the road. You cannot expect it to even detect people on the road, that is still your responsibility. The algorithm embedded inside this little thing could have been cleverer, but that would mean they would need to bulk things up a little and complicates things.
So, is this worth the high asking price? In our humble opinions, it could be. If all the features packed into the MiVue are what you are looking for, then there is no other way to go with it.
If not though, more modern cars are mostly offered with dashboard camera these days. Most modern cars can also be equipped with lane departure warning, collision warning, and even more sensors than you can imagine. In that case, why do you need another dash cam that would annoy you whenever you pull a stop behind a car at the traffic lights, or when you want to change lanes?
