A Moment Forever

People have long sought to capture moments in time, first through drawings and paintings, and in more recent times, photography. The first photograph known to the world was taken in 1825 by French inventor, Joseph Niepce. It was shot from a window in his family home in Le Gras and had little merit other than being the first successful attempt at preserving an image.

It took half a decade more for photography to really gain traction, thanks in no small part to the Kodak camera. Unveiled in 1888 with the tagline “You press the button, we do the rest”, it was the first time the technically complex process of photography was made accessible to consumers.

Today, photography has become part and parcel of life. It has evolved from a technological marvel to an art form and a cultural phenomenon. With so many cameras available in the market, Inside offers its top picks for different photography personalities.

For the serious shutterbug

The company credited for starting the digital camera revolution continues to be a major player in the market today. In 1981, Sony Corporation introduced the first prototype digital camera, the Mavica, to the world. It may have been more of a video camera that froze video frames than a true digital camera, but the introduction of the Mavica was certainly a step in the right direction.

Today, Sony continues to make waves in the industry, most notably with its α7R II (S$4,099). At the 2016 TIPA Awards, it was named the ‘Best Mirrorless Compact System Camera – Professional’, bagging Sony one of the most coveted photo and imaging awards worldwide.

The Sony α7R II is a technological masterpiece with the world’s first 35mm full-frame image sensor with back-illuminated structure and a 42.4-megapixel CMOS sensor that would excite the serious shutterbug.

For the social butterfly

For the social butterfly who flutters about taking photographs of every moment, memories are best shared with friends and family. The Fujifilm X70 is a great choice for this photography personality — it’s lightweight (the lightest in the brand’s X-series, in fact), compact, and packs a punch.

The tiny powerhouse comes with a 16-megapixel APS-C sized sensor for stunning image quality and an 18.5mm wide-angle lens so no one gets cut out of a group shot. As a wireless-equipped digital camera, it works with the Fujifilm Camera Remote, a mobile app that lets you focus and trigger the camera release from your smartphone or tablet. You can also control other settings like shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity with the app.

After taking the shot, the app lets you transfer the high-quality images from the camera to your smartphone or tablet, so you’re all set to upload it to your blog or social media account.

For the selfie devotee

A picture-worthy moment could pop up anytime and anywhere, especially for selfie and wefie devotees. For these spontaneous folks, we recommend smartphone camera accessories. Smartphones already boast pretty great built-in cameras these days, but a little help could go a long way — especially when lighting can make or break a close-up shot.

TYPO, the lifestyle store, offers an Illuminator Lens Kit ($34.99) with an LED ring light. Simply clip it onto your smartphone’s front or back camera and choose from three different light settings. The affordable kit also includes a removable wide-angle lens that’s great for wefies, as well as a charging cord so you can keep the LED ring light on selfie standby all the time.

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