ROBIN WONG

I purchased the Fuji XF10 in 2020 because I found one at a very good price, and I was curious about a "Ricoh GR III alternative". I did shoot with the camera for a year or two and gave it to a friend, because I no longer used it as often as other cameras that I have. Fast forward to 2025, I thought it would be a great time to revisit this camera, so I borrowed it (took it back for a while) from that said friend, and did some shutter therapy with it recently. I think Fujifilm should definitely bring the XF10 back! There is clearly a huge demand for compact, advanced cameras with larger sensor and designed for street photography - an updated XF10 with much improved AF, weather-sealing, built in image stabilization and tiltable-LCD screen would have been a huge hit! I talked about this in my latest video here (click). 

My friends Azul Adnan and Grace Ho have just launched a new photobook titled "Under The Shadows Of Merdeka". This was a one year long project in collaboration with PNB Merdeka Ventures and Think City, documenting the scenes, surrounding activities, people and happenings around the areas surrounding the Merdeka 118 building (currently standing at the second tallest in the world). I am so happy to see the project finally coming to fruition, and the book is now published and available for sale! I attended the book launch event last Sunday afternoon at Riwayat (book store) and of course, being myself my hands got terribly itchy and I clicked the shutter button away, covering the event. Both Azul and Grace were there sharing their experience and adventures not just about the photography process but also the journey of making the photobook happen.  I am so incredibly proud of both Azul and Grace, a hearty congratulations to both of you! 

The book "Under The Shadows Of Merdeka" is currently on sale at Riwayat book store. More places available soon, and you can check both Azul and Grace's socials for updates, or contact them directly. Below are the images shot during the book launch event by myself, unless otherwise stated. 

In all the midst of chaos and crazy packed schedule, I managed to squeeze in some time to do a quick review for the Viltrox 35mm F1.7. Viltrox sent me the lens but I made sure I have full control on what I have to say here as well as on my video published on YouTube (here). I managed to test the lens on a Nikon Z50 II which was loaned from Futuromic Malaysia (official distributor for Nikon in Malaysia) and I brought this combo out for some shutter therapy sessions. In my quick test, I was very impressed with the Viltrox 35mm F1.7 - it is so compact and light, it produces excellent sharpness and bokeh, it manages lens flaws very well (no distortion, minimal flare and chromatic aberration) and the autofocus on Z50 II worked wonderfully. There really is nothing much to complain about the lens, considering the budget price tag! If you are in the market for a 50mm-ish equivalent prime lens for a Nikon Z APS-C camera, I'd say this Viltrox 35mm F1.7 should sit at the very top of your consideration list!

I was approached by Futuromic Malaysia (official distributor for Nikon in Malaysia) to do a project on their latest camera, the Nikon Z50 II. At first I thought it would be something to do with me reviewing the camera, or shooting some sample images with the camera to be shared on their socials. When I asked further it was none of the above assumptions I have made, in fact they wanted me to do something with my YouTiube, about making a video as a content creator and share my experience using the Z50 II in such capacity to a real life audience in one of their consumer events. I immediately jumped in and said yes! The images shown in this blog entry were all taken by my amazing friend, Van Ligutom. 

I have always loved shooting with 28mm equivalent wide angle for my street photography especially when I am doing environmental portraits. I believe Micro Four Thirds has the best setup for 28mm street shooting - Panasonic GM1 + 14mm F2.5 lens. This combo is so compact, yet it performs so well and can deliver amazing results. This is truly what Micro Four Thirds is all about, truly tiny footprint that can produce impressive big results! I brought the GM1 and 14mm lens out for some street shooting and I am sharing my experience using this combo with some fresh street images in my latest video here (click). 

I may have mentioned in my recent blog entries that I was in Medan, Indonesia in the last weekend of 2024 for a wedding shoot. During that short travel, I did not have much time for myself, but I managed to squeeze in a bit of shutter therapy time. It was a day after the wedding, on a Sunday morning, and I had about several hours of street walk time before returning to hotel at 11am, and checking out at 12pm. In those short 2 hours plus, I roamed around the streets around the Medan train station area (the train to the airport), it was a quiet Sunday morning, but I did get some cool shots. Images were shot on Nikon Z50 II which was on loan from Futuromic Malaysia, and Viltrox 35mm F1.7 lens which I was in the midst of reviewing. Admittedly these are not my best work, as I had limited time in a location that was alien to me, and I was also physically and mentally drained from a full day wedding shoot I had the day before, and not having enough sleep did not help things either! Nevertheless, Medan is such a beautiful place and I do plan to visit again, hopefully soon. 

I recently added the Nikon 28mm F2.8 Z into my Nikon Z system arsenal mainly because I needed a wide-angle coverage for my street shooting. I have the venerable 40mm F2 Z, so adding the brother lens 28mm F2.8 Z makes sense - both are compact-sized, budget prime lens designed primarily for street shooters. I found the Nikon 28mm F2.8 Z on Lazada (online retail store here in Malaysia) at such a good price during a recent sales event, I just could not resist the temptation, and since I have the lens, I have been shooting on the streets with the lens mounted on my Nikon Z5. I am sharing my quick thoughts on the Nikon 28mm F2.8 Z for street photography, as well as plenty of fresh images! I have also made a video to talk about this, you can find it here (click). 

Happy New Year 2025 to all you awesome people out there! 

Thanks for still visiting this space, and I appreciate your patronage here. To kick start the new year, let's play with something not so new - the Pentax Q! It is almost impossible to find a Pentax Q in Malaysia, I am not even sure if it was ever sold here, and I was very lucky to nab one recently in the used market. I brought the Pentax Q out for a shutter therapy session, and I am sharing plenty of fresh images in this blog article. The Pentax Q is super compact, cute, beautiful in design and solidly built, but I must be 100% honest I did not enjoy using it. The experience was very similar to using any compact point and shoot digital cameras back then - poor image quality which was a consequence of using such tiny 1/2.3" image sensor. I personally think this was a missed opportunity for Pentax, if they have chosen a larger sensor for the Pentax Q, say joining the Micro Four Thirds alliance, the landscape of imaging industry would have been very different. Nevertheless, that is the past, and I share more opinion in my latest video here (click).