The CCD Sensor, FinePix BigJob HD-3W, At The Stop

Image making with a 2007 vintage 6MP CCD Fujifilm FinePix BigJob HD-3W, scenes at the stop.

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Took the 6MP CCD Fujifilm FinePix BigJob HD-3W out on a short outing recently, and the images shot with the camera, showing the ambiance of my regular start to and drop-off from LRT station, as usual, did not disappoint. The all-weather dustproof, waterproof, and shockproof workhorse has been the constant companion on my recent outings and has proven itself, at least for CCD image enthusiasts, as a compact digital that is completely capable of delivering sharp and sure images.

The camera, designed for the engineering and construction industry and was made available initially only to the Japanese domestic market in 2007, also comes with a couple of deft features (image manipulation check, and micro 1MP image shots) which makes it equally useful for forensic and insurance investigations. Fast forward to 2024, the easy-to-use point-and-shoot camera with buttons designed for the gloved hand and toughened glass lens cover is all set for the rough-and-tough outdoors, and occasionally, the extreme environment.

Fujifilm FinePix BigJob HD-3W

While the Fujifilm FinePix BigJob HD-3W may not be seen as a common feature on online auction sites and brick-and-mortar stores, it is, at least for the CCD enthusiast, an all-weather compact digital capable of capturing images with excellent IQ. Prices are still for the asking, and all you need is a small-capacity SD card, and a pair of AA batteries to get the camera going. Highly recommended!

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The CCD Sensor, Olympus VR-370, Kampar Drive-Through

A Sunday detour along the main street of Kampar, Perak, a township between Ipoh and the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

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The short trip we planned for a drive up North to Perlis and back to Kuala Lumpur on a recent weekend went smoothly on the way up but turned out to be rather sour for the return leg. Traffic on the North-South Highway was already filling up as we left Penang and by the time we passed Ipoh, it was already a bottleneck. Waze advised us to go a detour, which we did, but traffic along the alternative route was just as heavy, if not just as bad.

The detour took us right through the main street of Kampar, the main one within the Kinta Valley tin mining region, which was at its height during the industry boom of the late 1880s. Aside from the unending stretch of pass-through traffic, the town (on a Sunday) is otherwise a forlorn sight, with hardly anybody around along the whole stretch of the main road. Shophouses look derelict, some abandoned, while the five-foot ways are dirty and unkempt.

Olympus VR-370

I used the 2013 vintage 16MP CCD Olympus VR-370, a low-cost buy on the auction market, for the shoot and some other shots during the trip. The camera has Dual Image Stabilization to compensate for the image blurring and camera shake, a 12.5X optical zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent of 24-300mm lens, and a 3.0-inch LCD with 460k-dot resolution, enough to keep me occupied and elated with not being the driver for the whole trip, and with images from the CCD sensor that speaks for itself.

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Salam Aidilfitri 2024, Maaf Zahir Batin

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Panoramas, Olympus VR-370, The Second Link

Panoramic images of the Jambatan Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah, the 24-kilometer-long second bridge link to Penang Island.

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Driving down the North-South highway from Perlis back to Kuala Lumpur, after our short holiday recently, gives us the opportunity for a quick drive-through tour of Penang Island, ingressing the island via the first cross-channel Penang Bridge from Prai to the USM Interchange, a quick run-around and a 'Nasi Kandar' lunch in the city center, and doubling back past the USM interchange to egress the island via the Sultan Abdul Alim Muazzam Shah Bridge, which crosses over from Batu Maung to Bandar Cassia (Batu Kawan) in Seberang Perai on the mainland.

Locally referred to as the Second Link, the bridge was opened in 2014 and has a distance span of  24 kilometers, making it the longest in Malaysia and the second longest in Southeast Asia, next only to the 30 kilometers Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge, or the Temburung Bridge, in Brunei, which was opened in 2020. The bridge crosses Brunie Bay to connect mainland Brunei to the semi-exclave of Temburong. It was a bright and sunny day, with plenty of cloud cover, and the panoramas across the bridge were fantastic.

Olympus VR-370

These images were shot on the 12.5x Optical Zoom 16MP CCD Olympus VR-370 travel zoom, which are palm-sized digital camera cameras, compact enough to slip into your shirt pocket or a small purse, looking none too obvious. Post-processing and cropped-frame were done on Olympus Workspace.

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Camera Shorts, FujiFilm FinePix S2 Pro, A New High

The 2002 Nikon F-mount FujiFilm FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR camera is a new high for enthusiasts of CCD digital cameras.

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I had a new high recently with the purchase of a 2002 Nikon F-mount Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR camera to add to my CCD camera collection. The S2 Pro, an update of the S1 Pro, comes with a unique (just like the S1 Pro that had a 3.1MP sensor) APS-sized 6.2MP SuperCCD sensor designed with its photodiodes oriented diagonally rather than horizontally and vertically as found on other sensor types. The sensor enables the camera to generate huge 12.1MP images after processing.

The camera is a 'Frankenstein' effort between FujiFilm and Nikon, built around the top and front of a Nikon N80 (F80) body (except for the nameplate), with a fixed back that houses FujiFilm's proprietary image sensor and electronics. The earlier S1 Pro was based on the Nikon N60 (F60) body, and the S2 Pro itself was replaced by the S3 Pro, which came with a 12.2 MP SuperCCD SR sensor, in 2006. I mounted an AF-Nikkor 35-70mm 1:3.3~4.5 on the camera for its initial test run.

FujiFilm FinePix S2 Pro, AF-Nikkor 35-70mm 1:3.3~4.5

For what it is worth, the S2 Pro is a great camera, professional-looking, solid, and robustly built with a body size and shape, and contoured grip that feels just right in your hands. The camera is a joy to hold and lug around, none too heavy with a body weight of 760 grams without batteries or other add-ons. The S2 Pro also features a control layout that does ring a bell with the Nikon D100 (as both were based around the F80/N80): Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro, 6.2MP SuperCCD DSLR Camera

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Sunny 16 Rule, Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 90mm 1:2.5, Up Close

Image making with a Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 90mm 1:2.5 on a 10MP CCD Nikon D80 with fully manual exposures.

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Still learning the 'Sunny 16 Rule' here, with a set of close-up images from the garden shot on the 10MP CCD Nikon D80 mounted with a manual focus Tamron SP 90mm 1:2.5 Adaptall-2 Macro. The 10MP CCD Nikon D80 which does not have the 'Non-CPU Lens Data' menu item or enter information about non-CPU lenses, and the aperture-indexing finger for full-aperture metering with older 'AI' lenses, can only be used in manual mode when mounted with an old-school manual focus lens.

The whole idea here is not to let an excellent vintage enthusiast-grade digital SLR camera, such as the Nikon D80, go to waste by waiting for it to be mounted only with CPU AF lenses, nor letting the cult classic Tamron SP 90mm 1:2.5 Adaptall-2 Macro be equally wasted by wanting it to be mounted only on auto-exposure cameras. Band these two items together, learn to set the exposure manually, and you will probably enjoy photography more than you expected. Exposures were made at 1/200 second, ISO 200, with apertures between 1:2.5~5.6.

Nikon D80, Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 90mm 1:2.5

The 'Sunny 16 Rule', which says that 'On a sunny day set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed [or ISO setting] for a subject in direct sunlight,' is an easy way to set your camera’s exposure if you are shooting fully manual or with a fully manual camera. Start with the basic setting of the ISO speed to 100, the lens aperture opening to f/16, and the shutter speed to 1/100 or the nearest available on the camera. When ISO (ASA) 200 film is used, set the aperture at f/16 and the shutter speed to 1/200 or 1/250 second.

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Creative Art, Magic Art Filter, Home Clutter

Image making with the Magic Art Filter in Drawing mode on the 14MP CCD Olympus VR-320.

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Another set of Drawing mode images rendered by the Magic Art Filter suite on the 14MP CCD Olympus VR-320, a vintage compact travel zoom introduced by Olympus in 2010. The camera is fitted with an Olympus-made 24-300mm F3.0~5.9 equivalent zoom lens, 720p HD recording, image stabilization, Olympus's Magic filters, an HD output, and a 3.0-inch fixed-type LCD display aside from Program Auto and IAuto (Intelligent Auto) exposure modes which will automatically select the correct scene mode from a subset of either Portrait, Landscape, Night + Portrait, Macro, or Sports.

Olympus produced the multicolored video-capable VR digital compact digital camera series, which includes the VR-310, VR-320, VR-330, VR-340, VR-350, and VR-370 between 2011 to 2013. These cameras are fitted with CCD sensors and wide optical zoom lenses ranging from 14MP/10x optical zoom for the 310 to 16MP/12.5x optical zoom for the 370.

Olympus VR-320

Exposure modes include Intelligent Auto, which sets the camera settings automatically based on commonly used scenes that include Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Text, Beach & Snow, and Pet. For added creativity, these cameras were also supplied with a range of Magic Filters - Pop Art, Pin Hole, Fish Eye, Drawing, Soft Focus, Punk, and Sparkle. The Home Clutter images in this post are created by setting the image exposure to the Drawing option of the Magic Filter set.

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SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm 1:4, The Street Scene

People and Places, the street scene at the Balai Baru Nat, Kangar, Perlis with a Pentax K-m and a fixed aperture SMC Pentax-a 35-70mm 1:4.

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Had the chance to take out the 10MP CCD Pentax K-m, mounted with the SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm 1:4, for an early morning street shoot at the Balai Baru Farmer's Market, or Nat, at a suburban center on the outskirts of Kangar, the capital of Perlis. The word Nat, or a farmers' street market, offering fresh produce and household necessities is synonymous with the two northern states of Peninsular Malaysia, Kedah and Perlis, held alternatively at differing locations each day.  Normally starting after the dawn prayer, the Nat peters out as the sun rises and ends around midday.

This one here, in Balai Baru, is held thrice a week, with the main market day being on Saturdays while the other two supportive days, with a smaller crowd of buyers and sellers, are on Mondays and Wednesdays. The market activities, aside from being housed under a covered area built by the municipality, sprawl along both sides of the road frontage making it a slow crawl for motorized traffic and a leisure shopping experience for the pedestrian shoppers.

Pentax K-m, SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm 1:4

As for the compact and handy circa 2012 10MP CCD Pentax K-m (K2000 in the US), the camera is as good as it comes and still works flawlessly despite its age. The SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm 1:4, the only 35-70mm Pentax lens with a fixed aperture, is equally competent at capturing the essence of the morning event, shooting against the sun and all. For CCD digital camera enthusiasts, the Pentax K-m is worth a look at, not too many around on the auction market though, with prices that tend to be slightly higher than average.

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