Best drone-flight ever – DJI Mavic Pro

November 7, 2016 2 Comments

mavic-photo3

Finally, I managed to squeeze some precious hours from my hectic, tormenting work to shoot this week’s amazing vlog! Workload has been piling since September and I even don’t have time to vlog about my son’s short vacation in Hong Kong.

This was the perfect break I desperately needed! I was one of the few lucky ones who managed to get hold of DJI’s latest big hit, the Mavic Pro. I received my Mavic Pro a week ago and I didn’t have time to test it. Finally, I couldn’t resist the temptation and took it out of the box last night. I say, let’s see what this little gem can do.

Mavic Pro is incredibly small and portable. I had climbed mountains with DJI Inspire 1 on my back. Despite the wonderful footage it captured, it was a back-breaking nightmare! The Phantom 4 is an amazing drone but nothing like the Mavic Pro.

mavic-photo1mavic-photo

Mavic Pro lives up to its name. It delivers beyond what DJI promised at its debut event! Despite its small compact body, it is packed with amazing high-technology sensors and power. It is the smoothest and most amazing drone-flight ever!

I brought the drone to Aberdeen harbour this afternoon for a test flight. I often faced problems calibrating the Inspire 1 and Phantom 4. But not with the Mavic Pro. Calibration was such effortless! It took me less than 3 minutes to get it up in the air. Due to its small body-frame, I was at first worried and skeptical about its performance and stability. The drone was incredibly stable and it cruised steadily out in the open sea.

mavic-photo5mavic-photo2

Connectivity was amazing! Throughout all my 8 flights, I never encounter any lost signal or distorted vision on my screen. With the Inspire 1 and Phantom 4, I always faced connection issues near 2km-mark. I flew the Mavic Pro beyond the 3km-mark and the signal was still strong! With such power and stability, I decided to take it out to the city, where it was congested with strong radar and signals. Guess what, Mavic Pro flew superbly smooth without any signal issues!

mavic-photo4

Mavic Pro scored a perfect landing when I tested its “Return Home” function. After 15 minutes of flight, it flew back and landed right at the very same spot it took off! It was just unbelievable! “Follow Me” tracking was pretty accurate and responsive. It had no problem following me until its avoidance feature got in the way. The drone stayed still in the air no matter which direction I waved at it. In the end, I had to use the controller to break its trance and got it down.

Battery life was great. No complain.

Video-shooting was a little tricky. There are some shots which were very blur. I had to constantly touch the screen to activate the focus point. Back at home when I reviewed the videos, I was surprised to see how sharp the video quality were! Earlier, some vloggers mentioned about its inferior video quality. Those were pretty much user-errors. It was as good as the Phantom 4. I can’t really tell the difference.

All in all, this is the best drone for everyone, especially for beginner. DJI has spent 10 good years building and innovating drones. I do believe the Mavic Pro is the best consumer-drone out there at this moment. With better camera system and smart software in the near future, drone-flying will be certainly much safer and travel-friendly for everyone.

Note: This is not a sponsored blog/vlog by DJI. If you like me to review any new product for my next vlog, please email to: wahbiang@hotmail.com

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong, Travel Tagged with , , ,

Falling in love with the new twin-lens camera. Nope, I am not talking about the new iPhone 7. (MiNT’s new Instantflex TL70 2.0)

October 5, 2016 Leave a comment

mint-tl70-ii1

Exactly one year and 2 days ago, I blogged about the world’s first twin-lens instant camera, TL70 by MiNT. I had so much fun with the camera and wrote a couple of wishes on my blog. Guess what? One year has passed and the passionate team at MiNT (and FujiFilm) granted every wish I written that day!

While browsing on the web late last night, I found out that MiNT has launched a new Instantflex TL70 version 2.0 instant camera earlier this June. I couldn’t resist the temptation and visited the official product webpage. Impressively, MiNT has made a couple of big improvements in the new TL20 with an upgraded brand new magnifier and a 5x brighter viewfinder! Not just that, the new version 2.0 comes with new enhanced and improved internal mechanism. MiNT also introduced new accessories (leather strap & camera case) and lens set for the TL70 series!

mint-tl70-ii4

I was so excited about the new upgrade that I contacted MiNT on Facebook after midnight and the hardworking administrator replied! After making a few enquires, I decided to head down to MiNT this evening to check out the new camera.

The friendly staff, Jo at MiNT recognised me and gave me an excellent introduction about the new camera and its accessories. I managed to get a really good deal and without much hesitation, I came back with 2 brand new TL70 Version 2.0!

After snapping 2 cartridges of Instax, here are my first impressions: (Note: This is not a sponsored or paid blog by MiNT.)

In terms of design, the new camera looks identical to version 1.0 but the overall production quality and finishes of the new TL70 2.0 is much better than its predecessor. It could be due to the fact that I was one of the earliest users last year and I spotted some minor physical quality issues (misaligned leather, slight glue marks and fine light scratches). I remember the magnifying glass came off after just 1 day and MiNT exchanged a brand new one for me. But this time, everything is perfect.

mint-tl70-ii2

With the new enlarged magnifying and 5x brighter viewfinder, TL70 2.0 enhances user-experience by a big leap. Even under very dim lighting environment, I was able to focus, composed and snapped without any visual difficulty. Amazingly, my first indoor shot came out just perfect! I was pretty amazed by it! It is indeed a great improvement and it matters a lot!

mint-tl70-iimint-tl70-ii3

The new Lens-Kit comes with 3 ND filters, 1 close-up lens and a lens-hood. The lens are easy to attach and detach. At the store, I saw a couple of sample photos – the colours are so much richer and balanced. I personally like the “close-up” lens as it creates a shallower depth of field. However, user will find it a hassle to carry the lens in the original protection box when on the go.

I love the new TL70 EverReady Leather Case! Made from premium leather in Japan, the case comes in 2 colours – brown and black. I prefer brown but the current brown is a little too bright and light for me. In the end, I chose black. The leather case fits perfectly and the workmanship is excellent. I wish the case comes with lens pockets so I can easily slot in the lens-kit on the go.

mint-tl70-ii5

Overall, the TL70 2.o is a much reliable and better instant camera than its predecessor. It feels very good and it looks just as charming as before. With growing demand, I believe MiNT will continue to explore and enhance this series (with self-timer, +/- lights for over/under exposure including ND filter sensor, battery indicator, better glass optics and even adapters for 3rd party zoom lenses). With the newly launched Fujifilm Black-and-White Instax Mini Monochrome Film, MiNT sets itself in the right segment, empowering instant photographers with new endless instant inspirational creations.


Personally, I prefer this new twin-lens camera over the new iPhone 7. It is like falling in love again.


Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , ,

Super Fan Joe @ DJI Hong Kong Flagship Store

September 24, 2016 Leave a comment

dji-photos

It reminded me of my first trip to Toys”R”Us except this is a hi-tech toy shop for adults. It was difficult to describe the kind of fanatic-love I had for drones and gimbals. Yes, I am a Super Fan of DJI!

A week ago, a friend (knowing my passion for DJI) sent me a link to take part in DJI’s photo contest. Winners get to enjoy 30% discount and visit the new flagship store before the store’s official opening. When I received the congratulatory email from DJI 3 days ago, I was so thrilled and excited. After all, I was amongst the 20 lucky winners to visit DJI’s first flagship store in Hong Kong!  (Located 535, Jaffe Road – Beside World Trade Center, Causeway Bay)

I woke up super early this morning and headed out to the store. Carelessly, I got mixed up with the street number and ended up walking an extra mile to the venue. Luckily, I arrived just in time for the big welcome! The vibe and the energy at the store was unbelievable high! At the store I saw a long line of shoppers queuing outside the entrance.

dji-photos1dji-photos3

At 10am sharp, the door opened and I walked into the store with the other winners. The shop staffs welcomed and cheered with much fanfare! It was an amazing experience! Wow!

desktop24

We were escorted to level 3 where we attended a short (and very insightful) history about DJI’s founder and its company values. It was very interesting and impressive to know how a company of 20 grew to become the world’s number 1 drone company with 6,000 staffs in just 10 years.

I spent an hour walking around the 3-storey store. The shop staffs were extremely friendly and helpful. I didn’t exercise the 30% discount (which expire within 2 hours) offer as I had most of DJI’s products. At the end, I bought a photo book and some accessories for my drones. DJI gave out limited edition T-shirt for the first few shoppers.

dji-photos2

I wish DJI offers more exclusive offers to superfans like myself. For the least, they can let us try out some of their “upcoming new products” or present us with a longer-term discount offer.

Nevertheless, I am super grateful to be here this morning! Big thank you to Kevin On and crew for your great hospitality to show me around! I felt so privileged to be here, witnessing the opening DJI’s flagship store in Hong Kong! I love the culture and energy of the brand! Without the tools from DJI, my blog and vlog won’t be this colourful and dimensional.

Yes, finally, I do not need to travel to all the way to Shenzhen to replenish my stocks! My favourite toy shop is just a few stops away from my home.

desktop25

Coincidently, the timing couldn’t been more precise. Thanks to my friends Crystalbelle and Anthony who published a nice short piece of my drone story and photo on China Daily. (Read here: http://asiaweekly.com/leading-the-buzz/#scrollNav-3)

What an exciting drone week of Karma and DJI! The Game of Drones season is here! I look forward to DJI’s big announcement on 27th Sept! Can’t wait for Mavic to top Karma. 

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong

The Reunion Story continues… and ends.

September 18, 2016 1 Comment

comic03_14comic03_15comic03_16comic03_17comic03_18comic03_19comic03_20comic03_21comic03_22comic03_23comic03_24comic03_25comic03_26comic03_27

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Family, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with ,

Changing shifts – Mum’s gone and dad’s coming!

September 13, 2016 1 Comment

This is Mum’s longest stay with me since I left Singapore 10 years ago. Like my old daddy, mum wasn’t used to life here in Hong Kong. She missed her grandchildren and home in Singapore and has been pestering me to shorten her stay here. Thankfully, mum was easily distracted by shopping trips to Shenzhen where she spent long hours combing shops after shops with Tracy over the weekends.

After 30 days of non-stop nagging, traveling, Pokemon-hunting, tireless shopping and makaning finally comes to an end. Autumn arrived and Mum fell very ill after catching my flu bug. Her condition worsen even after medication, I guessed she will recover much faster back in Singapore. Very unwillingly, 5 days ago, I got Tracy to change her flight. This early morning at 6am, she joined Tracy (who was traveling to Singapore for work) flew back home.

30 days ago, I was feeling pretty nervous about her long stay. I work long hours and worried no one accompanies her during the day. She managed to settle down well. Due to our small apartment, I slept on the couch for a month. Her presence changed many things. I got much tidier and I slept earlier too!

My mother is a SuperMum, she cleaned up my entire apartment so well that I thought we had a new coat of paint! Working quietly over the past few weeks, she transformed the entire messy space into a real cozy home! Kitchen, shower room, living room, shelves, fridge, bedroom – they are sparkling clean and dust-free!

From concert to Batman 4D ride, mum tried many new things during her short 1-month stay. Unfortunately, weather hasn’t been kind to us. The heavy downpour nearly ruined our holidays in Macau and Shenzhen. She was nursing a really bad fever and slept though the long weekend. Nonetheless, I saw the spark in her eyes and she took her phone to record our vacation.

Not going to hide my feelings here. But I really miss you, mum. And you are welcome to come back in the next few months to tidy my apartment again. For now, I am going to entertain my old daddy and hopefully, he can match up to you!

Knowing you dislike all my photos of you (without the beauty of Meitu App) – I create a short comic for you while you were in the air this morning. Enjoy!

comic03_01img_1936img_1919img_1920img_1921img_1922img_1923img_1924img_1925img_1926img_1927img_1928img_1933img_1934

Filed under Family, Jo's Thoughts, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , ,

Mid Autumn Reunion with my darlings!

September 12, 2016 4 Comments

photo3

I have been away from my blog for almost 2 months. Work has been hectic and my personal life has nothing worthy or special to blog (except for Aaron Kwok’s super fancy and spectacular concert!). Time flies and it is already September! My mum, wife and son arrived separately for short mid-autumn reunion.


I took 2-week leave to accompany my family. Unfortunately, my mum and me fell ill during the first 2 days of our vacation. The change of season and the awful wet weather worsen our sickness. I decided to postpone the original trip (to Guilin) and settled for something cozy nearby. I booked 2 very spacious and special accommodations for the family at Macau and Shenzhen.

photo


The weather was gloomy and it poured heavily everyday. We stayed mostly indoor throughout the trip. We didn’t do a lot of shopping in Macau and Shenzhen. Couldn’t resist the temptation, Tracy and I bought the latest mobile-gimbal gadgets at DJI’s first Flagship Store located just right beside our villa. Mum wasn’t feeling well and slept throughout the vacation. (Guess she misses the company of Auntie Amy.) Thankfully, Tracy and Elkan lightened up the villas with their endless jokes and laughers.

photo1photo5photo7

The rain finally stopped for a few hours and we resumed our “violent play” out by the private pool. Poor “Clumsy Tracy” slipped and took a nasty, painful fall into the cold water when she tried to kick water at us. It was such a comical and scary sight that got my sick mum up from her bed! Despite the gloomy and wet weather, we had so much fun playing by the pool (playing a new game Elkan taught us ~ Bottle Flip). Nothing fancy, this was a simply lazy, relaxing bonding trip.

photo2photo4photo11photo6photo8


It was a very short 4N3D reunion for Felicia, Elkan and I. Felicia and Elkan flew back to Singapore this evening. Harshad came by to finish the 3 chapters of the Uncharted 4 game with Elkan. No teary goodbye at the airport station this afternoon – now that’s a first! My boy is finally a grown-up! Tracy and mum will be flying back to Singapore tomorrow too. My Dad will fly in to Hong Kong this Wednesday to fill up the void. For the least, I won’t be lonely this mid Autumn Festival. I pray for mum’s speedy recovery and hope for sunny weather when dad arrives.

Enjoy my vlog and photos. Till we meet again in the next 6 weeks!

photo10photo9

Filed under Family, Life in Hong Kong, Travel Tagged with , , ,

Protected: Be the Author of Your Life

July 29, 2016 Enter your password to view comments.

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.

Filed under Jo's Thoughts

Lazy Sunday (comic blog created by App Prisma & Halftone 2)

July 17, 2016 5 Comments

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , , ,

Wahbiang birthday bash @ Hotel 25 (Blog by Felicia)

July 17, 2016 Leave a comment

Our monthly gatherings for Wahbiang birthday buddies has always been a great get-together and catching up with everyone in the clan. It gets tougher each month as we are constantly looking for suitable venues. From a small group of secondary school friends, we have multiplied to a big clan!! At the moment, we have about 17 kids and one more on the way, coming in Sep!

In the good days, hangouts were often at the coffee shops along East Coast Rd, Dunman food center or prata along Changi Rd. As we all settled down and started our families, our Eunos flat eventually become and weekly gathering venue. Simple activities of potluck dinners, gaming, mahjong session and most of our guest also stayed overnight on our sofa! That’s how eventually we called our flat, Hotel 25 (our block number). The good old times!

After we moved out of our flat, we catch up more often outside our homes. This month, since our flat was empty, being our usual haunt way back almost 20 years ago, I tot would be a great place for the Wahbiang clan and the kids too! Thanks Joanne for kick-starting and helping to organize July’s birthday gathering! The date was set, venue picked and food delivery ordered and the party starts!!

Elkan and me were excited about the party and that we were staying over for a night! It’s like a staycation for Elkan. He gathered some toys, clothes and his sleeping bag while I prepared the cutleries, snacks and toiletries. All packed in a luggage and off we head to Hotel 25!

With the convenience of online food delivery, everything happens in a click! We had DIY popiah and kueh pie tee, laksa, the famous Golden Pillow and side dishes. The clan came and the whole house was blasted with activities! Our kids were running around, lots of laughter, petty quarrels among them and our strict Auntie Karen at the top of her voice to keep the kids well behaved! Guess Hotel 25 is too small for the kids to play.

Good to have Erny to join us. We have occasional guests who often due to work or taking care of the younger kids, couldn’t make it to our gatherings. She mentioned that the last time she came, I was just pregnant with Elkan! How time flies! We were boys and girls, turned man and woman and now daddies and mummies.

Goodbyes at the end of the party was reluctant for Elkan. As we walked out with Lionnel & Joey, Duuk & Juliana, and the kids, he was looking a little upset. At the carpark, he kept sneaking into Duuk’s car so that he could hold up a few more minutes and play with the boys.

It was a great evening and a big thank you to all that came and made our home so cozy and filled with life and energy again!

Happy Birthday to the July babes, Juliana, Joey and Edelynn (MC’s younger girl)! Joanne, we missed you!!

Filed under Life in Singapore, Wahbiang Tagged with

How to export Samsung Gear 360 Video from Mac to Youtube and Facebook

July 16, 2016 4 Comments

Most of my past experiences with 360-video-cameras were rather disappointing. I was one of the first users of Kodak SP360 and Ricoh Theta, the low video resolution was unforgivable.

When Samsung launched the new Gear 360 camera 2 weeks ago, I was skeptical about the visual quality. After battling many days of considerations, I gave in to temptation to try it. Thankfully, I have a spare Samsung Note 5. If not, this would be a very heavy investment for anyone who wants to own it.

The Samsung Gear 360 is very easy to use. Just turn on the spheric camera and the operation comes intuitively. I was so excited to test the camera that I forgot to bring my Samsung phone out. The phone acts as a remote viewfinder and controller for the 360-camera. Fortunately, the Gear 360 worked just fine without the phone.

Battery life was pretty decent. The camera was switched on continuously for about 90 minutes. I shot over 20 photographs, 4 time-lapse videos and 10-minute footages. By the time I reached home, there was still 60% battery power remaining in the camera.

Shooting 360 was a breeze but it took additional steps to share the video on social media. Before I can share any video or photo, I have to stitch & save both images and footages via the Samsung Gear 360 app.

The original uncompressed picture, video and audio quality was surprisingly promising  (viewing on the smart phone and computer). It exceeded my expectation. However, the final viewing quality on Facebook & Youtube underwent heavy compression and the final result was less than satisfactory. Also, there is a minor flaw in the stitching. Often I can spot the stitch line on the video and photo. Hopefully Samsung releases a new firmware or app to solve this.

The biggest difficulty I encountered was transferring the files and editing the videos via a Mac. Samsung Gear 360 App allows individual file-sharing to Youtube or Facebook. However, I wanted to edit all the 360 media files into one single vlog. I realised I cannot edit and publish these 360 files via iMovie. Also, Samsung 360 Director software file is only for Windows user. It is a frustrating experience to download, edit and publish Samsung Gear 360 files using a Mac.

Like many Mac users, I checked many websites and Youtube videos to learn how to export the Samsung 360 files. After 2 days of exploration and many failed testings, I finally found the simpliest way.

This is exactly what I did:

1) First, I have to install “Samsung SmartSwitch” (file transfer app) to download the stitched 360-files from the Samsung device to my Mac.

2) Once I have downloaded the stitched files (photos and videos) onto my Mac, I downloaded Adobe Premiere Pro. At this moment, Adobe Premiere Elements doesn’t support any VR video editing or exporting.

3) Import all the stitched videos (in monoscopic format) into Adobe Premiere Pro

4) Edit as per normal like any video editor

5) During exporting, enable VR Video (monoscopic) and select H.264 video format. It is important so the video will be exported in the same ratio

6) The video will be saved in your designated folder. Upload the video file (in MP4) to Youtube or Facebook

7) Youtube and Facebook will detect the video and automatically stream 360. Do exercise patience. It takes about 15-30 minutes for the 360 video to be live. Hang on there!

That’s it! I finally got my first 360 Vlog up and running! If only this 360 cam can be integrated on the Osmo and Phantom 4, it will be perfect! Who knows, maybe DJI has something in their sleeves now!

Filed under Cool Stuffs, Life in Hong Kong Tagged with , , , ,

← Older posts

Newer posts →