Monday, August 11, 2008

My Camera Failed Me



It was almost the tail end of my cousin's wedding celebration that evening. Most of the important event to be photographed were already taken including the akad nikah ceremony which was done the previous night. I was taking mugshots of family members to be placed in my Genie Tree, a free to programme from Yahoo where you can place the profile of a family member showing your relationship with every individual in the tree.
When I heard the whirring sound of the lens trying to lock the focus on the object, I know it is the end of the photo shoot with the camera. I had sensed the trouble earlier when I noticed that going into manual focus mode from auto focus was a problem. To overcome the problem I had used only auto focus as the mode of taking the pictures with the hope that the lens will focus on the object that I wanted to shoot rather than any other object behind or in front of it. With bigger apertures, the camera may sense the objects in front of the object more than the object itself.
The last straw broke when the camera just refused to open the shutter to take a picture when the lens couldn't focus on anything. I can hear the loud whirring of the lens with the gears not meshing in. I sent the camera over the next day hoping that they could fix it up if it was just a minor fault. It was not to be. The camera had to be sent to the service center in Kota Bharu or should they fail to reair it here, it will be sent to Kuala Lumpur. Oh dear. I will be without a camera for at least another week at the least or even for a month! After using it for a couple of months, going back to using the point and shoot camera isn't fun anymore.
When I called up the supplier about the problem, he asked me to bring the camera over with the warranty card. Hey remember to keep the warranty card until the expiry date of the warranty period is over.
While I was at the shop, the wife of the staff there was loking at a new set of a Nikon D60 that her husband had just purchased. The set came with a standard lens of 18 - 55 mm f3.5 - 6.5 or something like that, a flash (not really a top of the range but definitely better than the built in flash) and a camera bag which could hold the camera as well as a few extra lens. Looking at my misery, he offered to sell me the whole lot at RM2200 cash. Wow! That was a fantastic offer. Immediately after, I cancelled my order of the new 18-200 mm f3.5 -6.5 lens which I have ordered earlier which they couldn't deliver. I don't want the new lens as I don't want to be caught with an equipment which I may not be able to use should I change to a new camera. With the cost of the new lens short of the new camera set by RM450, I might as well get a new camera. One of my children will get my old camera.
Of all the time when the camera should get damaged, this is the worst time as today 11th August 98 I will be playing guests to Puteri and her husband who came all the way from the US after reading my blogs about Kota Bharu. Captain Yusof Ahmad would be arriving too and Pakpayne Bakpo would be here on the 12 th of August.
The moral of the story is, when you wan't to buy something like a camera, don't go too far from what others are using. Being adventurous is not in.
Just to keep us in a happy mood, here are some of the pictures taken at the wedding itself.

The father advising the daughter before giving her away in marriage
" Bermula saat ini telah tamat lah tanggungjawab bapa yang di tuntut oleh Islam. Selepas ini tanggung jawab ini akan berpindah kepada suami Syuhada. Ayah pohon maaf diatas sebarang kesilapan ayah sebagai seorang bapa kepada kamu. Disamping itu ayah redhakan segala makan minum yang telah ayah berikan kepada kamu.
Tunaikan tanggung jawab kamu sebagai seorang isteri mengikut lunas-lunas Islam. Setialah kepada suami selagi beliau mengajar kamu mengikut syariat Islam. Selalulah taat kepada suami dan pohonlah maaf setiap hari daripadanya diatas sebarang kesilapan dan kelemahan.
Redha dengan hidup ini dan amalkan sikap tolak ansur antara suami isteridan laksanakan tanggung jawab kepada Allah"
I doubt that there was a single dry eyes among the crowd and the bride was seen wiping tears from her eyes. Luckily the make up was not spoilt.

A similar advice was given to the bridegroom before the father himself s0lemnise the wedding
" Irwan Nasir, Ayah redha diatas pernikahan ini. Bermula dari saat ini Irwan akan memikul tugas berat sebagai suami yang bakal menjadi seorang bapa. Peliharalah isteri sebaik mungkin mengikut lunas-lunas Islam. Amalkan sikap bertolak ansur dan sentiasa memaafkan.
Sekiranya menghadapi masalah rumahtangga, datanglah kepada penasihat yang pakar dan ikutilah nasihatnya.
Amalkan kehidupan mengikut lunas Islam dan jangan tinggalkan solat jemaah bersama isteri.
Ayah doakan semoga rumahtangga Irwan kekal ke anak cucu".
Speaking from two earlier broken marriages himself, Kamal was speaking from his heart.



The gloomy look on those present.


Tuan Haji Ismadi (Kamal's Cousin reciting the doa)

Now it is time for some merriment
Food was prepared for the feast the next day.

The ladies chip in too.

The father hanging the banner to welcome the guests.

Here comes the bridegroom.

The silat was performed for the couple.

"Ouch, don't touch it there"

He ain't heavy, he is my brother.

The newly wed enjoying the silat performance.

The couple was on the dais waiting for the merenjis ceremony.

39 comments:

Gurindam Jiwa said...

The camera just needed a break. You have been shooting with it in these few months, probably more than you have with any other camera your entire life. It may come back better than ever.

"Ayah pohon maaf di atas sebarang kesilapan ayah sebagai seorang bapa kepada kamu. Disamping itu ayah redhakan segala makan minum yang telah ayah berikan kepada kamu."

This is not fair. We don't read blogs so we can cry.

That is what all those Hindustan films are for.

Aii, teringin gak nak anak perempuan nih...

Gurindam Jiwa said...

BTW, did you know that the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of a high end DSLR's shutter is about 100,000 clicks? After that, you'd need to recalibrate the shutter, at the cost of about almost the same of a new body. And it is not covered under the warranty.

But I'm sure you know that nothing last forever.

That's one of the reasons why photographers need to recover their investment.

Anonymous said...

salam

banner yg besar tu , yg ada gambar couple tu , banner kenduri ker tu ??


BESAU NYERRRR !!!!!!!!!

Gurindam Jiwa said...

Banner muroh lo nih. rm1 so kaki persegi pun kiro mahal doh.

Mat Salo said...

Allo Bang, ini camera mana nih? NOT the Alpha 350 I hope.

Actually, Bang. I was going to warn you about Sony products. I too own quite a few: Sony HD Videocam (7K new!), Vaio Laptop, 32" LCD TV and each one of them had to go the service center. Lucky still under warranty except the Vaio which was only 3 months old but Sony Malaysia refused to cover since the small print says it doesn't cover the defective battery. Pastu nak order baru dia mintak 50% cash deposit. Imagine paying 5K fpr a laptop and then three months later you have to buy a new battery. So I'll try other alternatives if I can help it. The other lucky thing was at least the service center isn't too far away. So I think I shall swear off Sony forever. 3 times bitten...

Bang go for Nikon laa very robust. In fact, may I suggest the better value for money camera is the D40. Dah lah murah, and the extra cash you can plonk on the RM 300+ SB-400 flash. Why I say better? The D40 (unlike 40x, D60 or even D80) can flash sync at 1/500! Lain to semua 1/200 max. What this does is to allow the use of a less powerful (and cheaper) flash and in combination the the D40 native high sync speed to capture night people shots (or even fill-in flash for broad daylight) with ease. Less power used = battery tahan lama, etc.

Don't worry 'bout mega pixels too much. My camera maxed out at 6.1 MP (kalah ngan many point and shoots) and it's ok. Reason is sensor size for DSLR is the same for DX cameras. Mine might be 6.1 but sheih's 40x is 10.1. So to accommodate more pixels on the same surface area, the pixels have to be smaller (meaning, less 'light-gathering' ability) so noise increasesin the compression stage...

Better to spend extra money on lens ke accessories, bang.

But if you really want to go canggih, and camera bodies have fallen in price like hell. Skip all these and look at the D200. Me personally tengah in tug-of-war between D200, D300 vs the new FX (full frame) D700!

Bang, say hello to kb guy and kirim salam to sheih and Capt. Ancient when you see them.

ZABS said...

Salam Zawi,
Sorry to know about your camera tu. dah baca cadangan Mat Salo di atas. Bersetuju denganya tentang kebaikan D40 itu.
Mungkin anda boleh fikirkan tentang D200 pula.

Unknown said...

My sony automatic pun fragile. Baru setahum lebih, plastic kat battery tu dah tercabut. So, now I have to slowly closed the cover lepas caj the battery.
But takpe lah, Zawi dapat cam baru pulak. Skaran dah hampir pro, boleh carry 2 camera for shooting.
Tak beli software photoshop ke ?

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
You are really a wise man. How true with what you said. I was shooting like crazy. This is a filmless camera and I always think I can shoot as much as I like and delete whatever that I dont want. Anyway the number of clicks taken have yet to breach the 5,000 marks but still too many a shot had been taken with the period of time.
I doubt that you will feel it here but when it was spoken by Kamal over the PA system, all those in attendance at the mosque was deathly quiet. The effect was stupendous.
InsyaAllahyou will get a daughter soon. We will all pray for you.You on your part must do your part by working harder at it. Both you and your partner.

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
I am still too far from the mean. Anyway mine is not an isolated case as another buyer came in earlier with the same problem of switching to Manual Focus from Auto Focus mode.
I was on my way to make some money. Just yesterday somebody gave me RM2.40 for producing 26 pieces of photographs of his child's bercukur ceremony. At that rate how long do you think I will be able to recoup my investment?

Pak Zawi said...

PB,
Banner la tu. Sekarang semua dah guna banner kat kampung pun. Dah banyak sangat kedai buat banner sekarang.

Pak Zawi said...

Mazle,
Murah betul banner sekarang. Pak zawi pun nak buat banner juga la bila panggil orang untuk buat kenduri kecil pun.

Pak Zawi said...

Mat Salo,
Alpha 350 la tu. Nyesal, nyesal,nyesal. Menyesal kemudian tak ada guna.
OK Nikon D40 will be my next camera should this Alpha go bust again. Or D300 like you?, or buy your D40 when you are disposing it hehehehe.
No further additional accessories for this camera.

Pak Zawi said...

zabs,
I should have listened to Mat Salo in the first place. Yes I will consider the D40 or the D300 for the next purchase.

Pak Zawi said...

KBGuy,
Gaya macam pro ambil gambar macam amateur. Mana boleh bawa 2 camera Lim, satu pun dah sakit tengkok. Photoshop pirate je la.

Unknown said...

Assalamualaikum,
Waah, adegan nangis nangis yang tak paham ni. Did you snap any pictures of people in their 'terharu' mode? I hope you did.
That 100000 MTBF is quite common for DSLR, I think. But yours, I think you barely snapped 10000 pictures kan? Hrm...
Anyway, yes, I have to agree to MatSalo and Pak Zabs. D40 is actually better in performance compared to even D80. Megapixels don't play a really big role, but compression from big to small should be better if you have bigger sensor. It is a trend of race nowadays of which camera got bigger MP, but it doesn't intrigue me much, really. (But of course that 50MP Hasselblad gave me the kic!). At the end of the day, I'll end up not resizing my picture, and it will cram up my harddisk till there's no space for other things. That's my own bad, but still...
By the way, D700 is in this month's DCM. Cool stuff :)

Unknown said...

Sorry typo. Bukan tak 'paham', tapi tak 'tahan'

Pak Zawi said...

Akmal,
Waalaikummussalam.
I will change a few pictures and let us see what the effect will be.
I have yet to reach 5,000 clicks so the 100,000 click is still too faraway. Hate myself so much for making this mistake of buying this brand and model. Hope others will learn from me.
Wondering how on earth am I going to get my finance minister to approve the purchase of another camera? I must dispose the Alpha first. Any takers out there?
D300 looks sexy enough.

Unknown said...

Pak Zawi,
Apa dah jadi ni..baru nak oder lens baru ..Dlsr pulak bikin hal..Tak apa..get new one go for Olympus E-system (E-420/520) murah je..tak sampai pun Rm2500.Nak canggih lagi grab E-3 Rm5000.
100,000 clicks bikin hal pulak..tak apa simpan dalam alamari cermin untuk hiasan betul tak.....

Fauziah Ismail said...

Salam Pak Zawi
In Johor, the akah nikah is like a crying affair especially if the family agreed to do according to the "Keluarga Sakinah" principles.
Parents, the bride and the bridgegroom will recite pledges and this is where tissue boxes come in handy among relatives and guests.
A happy occasion can turn into a soppy one.

Pak Zawi said...

Awang,
I am beginning to feel suspicious of any other brands other than a Nikon or Canon. I was just kidding about getting the new camera but I have decided not purchase the 18-200 mm lens lest I may change my mind of buying a new camera later.
Mana ada sampai 100,000 clicks la.
The Olympus E520 looks yummy.
E-3? I am not up to that level yet.

Pak Zawi said...

Fauziah,
I am not aware of how The Keluarga Sakinah did it and I am blissfully happy that I was never involved in any of that.
Marriage should be a solemn affair but never a soap opera.

cakapaje said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

Wah! So easy one to change ar? Hehe, cam tukar sarung bantal je ;)

LITTLE DEWA said...

uncle
saya org johor :) & yes... btul ckp ms fauziah. bile my hubby had 2 recite the pledge, he suddenly got tongue-tied. terus couldnt go on. i stil rber almost every word. i hope he does too...

J.T. said...

"Selalulah taat kepada suami dan pohonlah maaf setiap hari daripadanya diatas sebarang kesilapan dan kelemahan." - to the wife

"Amalkan sikap bertolak ansur dan sentiasa memaafkan." - to the husband

Hi Zawi

I don't mean to be picky on these great advices (they are, I don't deny it) but I cannot help but notice that the wife needs to ask for forgiveness but the husband gets away with it. Shouldn't it be a two-way thing? :)
I think the advice above should apply to both. The husband should ask for forgiveness too for his wrongdoing and weaknesses just as how a wife should be forgiving and give and take in the marriage.

In a way, even if that advice is not imparted to the man, I think some guys are apologising anyway all their lives for something they think they did not do. haha

Other than that, sorry to hear that you had camera trouble especially in a time when you are going to have that blogger get-together. Thanks for the advice - never go too far from what everyone is using.

Pak Zawi said...

Shah,
It is just a dream. Afterall talk is easy and cheap, doing it? Not unless I am the brother of Tan Ari Azman Hashim. Hahahahahaha.

Pak Zawi said...

little dewa,
It is not easy answering the akad infront of so many people, especially when the witnesses are people with hearing problem. They will ask the akad to be performed again because they said they didn't hear the reply clearly enough.

Pak Zawi said...

j.t.
Those were Kamal's advise to his daughter and maybe he wanted his son inlaw to infer that the advise goes both ways.
Under normal circumstances the husband will reciprocate by asking for the wife's forgiveness as well. It doesn't apply to good for nothing husband though who may take advantage of such a filial wife.
I am feeling really handicapped without the DSLR. Learn from my mistake.

LITTLE DEWA said...

uncle
the akad went smooth. it was the heavy meaningful words o the taqliq that made him suddenly unable to utter them. & 2/3 days later he confided 2 me that he was ever so grateful that the akad was carried out b4 the taqliq - if it was the other way around... silap2 ade pengantin lelaki yg kene mandi bwh tangga! :p

Kerp (Ph.D) said...

i feel so out of place la. dont know much about cameras.

but pak z, banner tu gambar pengantin ke? thats new to me. normally family pengantin would put a temporary road signs leading to the house but this one, from my point of view at least, was done quite unconventionally.

albert said...

Electronics failure is common on all brands, be it a 3-day old Canon 18-55mm IS lens or a Nikon 18-135mm lens merely a few months old. No brand will be safe from failure. Even expensive Canon L lenses have defects and I have friends sending theirs back. This is why professional photographers will carry 2 or more cameras - despite how expensive the camera is, or what brand, it can fail.

Send the Alpha in, they usually take a week or so for these kind of mechanical faults. It seems that their policy is not to fix but to replace faulty parts so be assured that the repair will be faster than you think. I have not heard of this manual focus problem before, though.

Pak Zawi said...

Little Dewa,
It is quite an experience. Hopefully it will lead a meaningful life with you together. See you at the gathering tonite.

Pak Zawi said...

kerp,
Don't bother to know too much about cameras. Once you are hooked to the hobby you will eat and sleep with nothing but cameras.
Its the trend now to do banners and buntings. They are becoming so cheap and affordable that for most wedding functions, somebody will hang one up.

Pak Zawi said...

albert,
I am most honoured to have you visit my site. What you said about electronics is true. Anyway mine doesn't seem to be an isolated case as another buyer from the same outlet seemed to have experienced an almostsimilar problem with the MF/AF switch. Hopefully they will only take a week but this is Kota Bharu and not KL s I have to accept the fact the distance may add some delays.
Visited your site but have yet to leave any mark there. Lots of things to learn from your site.
Thabk you for the visit.

NaNa said...

Pak Zawi,

Sorry to hear about your camera. I am still in the kindergarten stage when it comes to cameras, so can't comment much. Happy with just an auto-focus idiot-proof ones :) But, I do appreciate good pictures.

Hope you get fast approval from your finance minister.

Pak Zawi said...

nana,
If you don't enjoy spending money on camera equipments, just keep to your point and shoot thingy. Some of the good point and shoot cameras can produce just as good pictures.
I have put any further investment on camera equipment on hold for the moment until my Sony Alpha is repaired. Minister of finance will have to approve to prevent me from picking a new hobby or join the NGO group the likes of Friends of Kelana Jaya of which Captain Yusof Ahmad is a member.

Rusdi Abu Bakar said...

Salam PW,
Ambo pun serupo Mat Salo, sebenarnya maso PW ghoyak beli Sony ambo telitas doh dlm hati..bakponyo g beli sony, tapi mugo beli doh tu gak nak buat lagu mano.

Bagi ambo, i will never touch sony product!!!

Ambo cadangkan PW beli DSLR Olmypus E510 atau E3XX Series dengan Four Third System (same system im using right now) lepas tu PW bulis cari lens Olympus OM, lens ni bagi ambo the best dari segi gambar harga & performance, lens 50MM F1.8 PW bulih beli dengan harga USD50 jah. So lagi lens ni buleh bagi effect depth of field yang paling baik selain Lens Leica (Depth of Field akan jadi molek dengan fast lens (F2.0 kebawah)tapi lens ni semua manual focus.

Untuk Pakai Lens ni kena ada adoptor (OM to 4/3 system) ambo ado extra so adaptor bulih bui hadioh ko PW kalu PW berminat.

Anonymous said...

Assalamu'alaikum Ayoh Awi

Sekarang ni cuti sekolah selama 1 minggu mungkin Ayoh Awi terima banyak jemputan untuk menghadiri majlis perkahwinan moga kamera tak membuat ragam kembali kerana acara acara penting begini yang hanya berlaku mungkin sekali dalam kehidupan harus dirakamkan.

Amat menarik bagi saya lafaz oleh oleh bapa kepada anaknya itu. Ini kali pertama saya mengetahui ada bapa yang melafazkan demikian biasa hanya pesanan ringkas yang agak tidak formal.

Moga Ayoh Awi terus melaporkan aktiviti masyarakat untuk dikongsi bersama. Terima kasih

Pak Zawi said...

Rusdi,
Nyesal kemudian la ni. Tak dengar nasihat orang.
Kita bicang bila Rusdi balik nanti. Kalu ambo ada rezeki ambo nak beli spare camera so. Takut jadi lagu ni sekali lagi.
Bila balik? Tak sabar nak jupo. Banyak mugo boleh belajar ngan Rusdi.

Pak Zawi said...

mamadou,
Cuma keluarga terdekat Sebabnya ambo suka ambik dari sudut dekat kalu tak nanti orang kata menyibuk pulak.
Pak Awi juga pertama kali mendengar nasihat begini dilafaz dalam majlis. Ia amat berkesan dalam memberi keinsafan kepada semua hadirin. Sepupu saya itu di nasihatkan oleh sepunya seorang alim di kampung tu.
InsyaAllah saya akan blog mengenai perkara begini yang mempunyai banyak pengajaran kepada kita semua. Saya sengaja tidak membuatnya bawah tajuk Persandingan sebab takut boring.