ASUS Zooms in on the Philippines’ Most Iconic Corners From the Lens of the Country’s Top Photographer

Celebrated lenswoman Shaira Luna partners up with ASUS Philippines to #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose with the ZenFone Zoom

After ushering in a whole new era in smartphone photography with the much-awaited launch of the groundbreaking ASUS ZenFone Zoom early this year, ASUS Philippines now sets its sights on taking mobile photography experience up a notch, as it joins forces with renowned professional photographer and visual extraordinaire Shaira Luna for its latest campaign for the ZenFone Zoom.

Dubbed as #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose, this highly-visual and thematic campaign encourages end-users to unleash their creativity and showcase the country and its unique elements from an entirely new perspective – something that can only be achieved with the ZenFone Zoom’s 3x optical zoom feature.

The ZenFone Zoom, which in fact is the world’s thinnest 3x optical zoom smartphone, is equipped with an innovative 10P HOYA lens, meticulously arranged to achieve exceptional clarity and close-ups, allowing up to a total 12x digital magnification.

“For this campaign, we really wanted to further showcase the photography features and groundbreaking technology of the ZenFone Zoom that cannot be found in any other smartphone available in the market today. The ZenFone Zoom allows users to capture in great detail from far distances the best sights the country has to offer, ultimately making this the perfect smartphone to #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose,” shared ASUS Philippines Marketing Manager Jamie Zaldivar.

An Iconic Smartphone in the Hands of a Renowned Photographer

During the exclusive media junket held at the picturesque Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar in Bagac, Bataan, Luna was officially welcomed and introduced as the Brand Ambassador of the ASUS ZenFone Zoom, and after which, fired away on what she proudly proclaims to what has been a “mind-blowing and incredible smartphone photography experience with the ZenFone Zoom”.

Shortly after giving personal tips on how to maximize the ZenFone Zoom’s various features and technical modes, Luna then challenged the media in attendance to put their newfound knowledge and skills to the test in a photography challenge with the architecture, texture and natural landscapes of Las Casas Filipinas de Azucar as the subject and backdrop of their photos.

On what makes Shaira the perfect partner for the campaign, Zaldivar declares: “Without a doubt, Shaira is one the most celebrated lensmen in the country and is actually part of an ultra-exclusive group of professional photographers who were personally handpicked to be represented and managed by renowned international agent Jed Root. Her talent, passion, professionalism, and unique eye for photography ultimately make her the perfect fit for the ASUS ZenFone Zoom,” shared Zaldivar.

In her decade-long tenure in the industry, Luna’s cinematic, nostalgic and story-telling type of photography has caught the attention of numerous international publications across North America, the UK and even Europe. To name a few, Luna’s impressive body of work has notably graced The Interview Magazine, The Fashionisto, C-Heads, Cake Mag, and Valentina.

Luna’s extensive portfolio has also led her to become one of the country’s most sought after professional photographers. In the local scene, she has shot numerous editorial spreads with some of the most popular celebrities and personalities, and has worked with industry pillars and movers and shakers alike. Luna has also been tapped several times to lead the regional and local campaigns for various brands.

In this day and age of social media, Luna has also built an empire for herself. Present in almost all platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumbr, Luna’s following reaches far and wide, and across all markets, undeniably making her this generation’s most influential photographer.

“I am more than thrilled to be chosen as the instrument of ASUS Philippines in order for Filipinos from all walks of life to really see and appreciate this beautiful country from different and more exhilarating perspectives. With the ZenFone Zoom, wonders will never cease when you want to #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose,” Luna adds.

Your Chance to #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose

To give the public the chance to experience for themselves this marvel of a smartphone, ASUS Philippines will soon launch a series of #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose online contests that puts the spotlight on images taken exclusively using the ZenFone Zoom.

From May 15 – 22, 2016, participants are invited to partake in the campaign by simply liking their favorite photo from the #SeeThePhilippinesUpClose album in ASUS Philippines’ official Facebook page. Compiled photos in this particular album will feature the works of chosen media who have taken photos using their very own ASUS ZenFone Zoom.

Out of all the entries from the media, only three (3) will be adjudged to be the overall winners (based on the combined scoring criteria of Shaira, and on the total number of likes). From there, ASUS Philippines will then draw one (1) lucky participant who liked any of the 3 of the winning media entries, who will then get to take home a ZenFone Zoom.

On top of this, a separate online contest will also be run starting May 30, wherein each week, Shaira Luna will posting a close-up photo of different Philippine-inspired elements, taken by the ZenFone Zoom. Interested participants must correctly guess in any of Shaira’s or ASUS Philippines’ social media accounts what is the actual subject before ASUS Philippines reveals what the bigger picture really is, a couple of days after.

A weekly winner will be drawn for each photo, and will bring home a premium item from ASUS. At the end of 9 weeks, the participant with the most number of correct guesses all throughout the competition, wins a ZenFone Zoom.

About the ZenFone Zoom

See the world up close: 3X optical zoom and OIS, 10-element lens, Real Tone flash and laser focus

ZenFone Zoom is the world’s thinnest 3x optical zoom smartphone, with a 13MP PixelMaster rear camera, in a body that measures just 5mm at the edges. It features an innovative 10-element digital eye created by the optics experts at HOYA, with glass, synthetic and prismatic lenses meticulously configured in a dual-prism periscope arrangement to maximize incoming light and capture the best possible photo quality. Built-in optical image stabilization (OIS) ensures sharper, steadier shots every time — even at maximum 3X optical magnification.

The rear camera benefits from dual-LED Real Tone flash to create the most natural illumination for indoor portraits to capture lifelike colors and skin tons. ZenFone Zoom’s rear lens also has laser auto-focus to point and shoot with total clarity in just 0.2 seconds.

Pocket-sized DSLR experience: Periscopic design, pro results and premium finish

ASUS engineers have rotated ZenFone Zoom’s lens mechanism to create a compact, intricately-calibrated periscope-style layout. Coupled with a Panasonic SmartFSI® image sensor, ZenFone Zoom captures more light and more color — revealing detail and beauty in both natural and low-light compositions that other smartphone cameras will never see.

ZenFone Zoom’s design takes its cue from the look and feel of professional DSLR cameras, with dedicated buttons for shooting, recording and telephoto operations. Its strong unibody frame is precision-crafted to a metallic finish that’s cool and smooth to the touch, with a choice of premium Pure Black or sleek Ceramic White on the rear — and diamond-cut to create four stunning patterns across the back and sides. ZenFone Zoom even has an integrated a safety loop and many stylish strap options, for confident shooting from any angle.

The intuitive ZenUI Camera app makes it a cinch to capture professional-quality photographs. ASUS-exclusive Super Resolution mode applies multi-frame-fusion technology to create incredibly-detailed photos. Four high-resolution 13MP shots are fused to create a single image of with clarity that’s four times (4X) greater than a single shot. Night or day, ZenFone Zone captures more detail and less noise — and Super Resolution shots of up to 52MP.

ZenFone Zoom excels at macro photography, enabling extreme close-ups as near as 5cm (2in) to reveal new and unseen worlds of detail, and is ready to turn pro with one tap — with Manual mode allowing instant adjustment of shutter speed, exposure value, white balance, ISO and a host of other professional-grade settings.

Monster performance: 64-bit quad-core power, 4GB RAM, 250Mbit/s LTE and Full HD IPS display

ZenFone Zoom’s 64-bit quad-core Intel® Atom processor carefully balances brilliant performance and superb power efficiency, empowered by Intel®’s sophisticated 22nm Silvermont architecture. Intel®’s new Tri-Gate transistors have three times (3X) more surface area than planar transistors, enabling the flow of more electrons to increase computing performance and reduce power leakage. ZenFone Zoom also has a huge 4GB of fast dual-channel DDR3 RAM, and up to 128GB of storage as an option.

Featuring LTE Category 4+ for download speeds up to 250Mbit/s, and a 60ms touch-response time, ZenFone Zoom delivers fast, fluid experience anywhere; and with a high-capacity 3000mAh battery, users are able to work and play from dawn to dusk — and beyond. ZenFone Zoom also benefits from exclusive ASUS BoostMaster1 technology for turbo-speed charging that takes the battery from zero to 60% in just 39 minutes.

ZenFone Zoom’s expansive 5.5-inch 1920x1080 Full HD IPS display offers wide 178-degree viewing angles, and a fantastic 403ppi pixel density to render every image in eye-popping detail. The display includes exclusive ASUS TruVivid technology, which seamlessly transforms the conventional four-layer design into an innovative two-layer construction with full lamination. Fusing the cover-glass and touch-panel layers eliminates the air gap, bringing everything closer to the user’s touch.
The Corning® Gorilla® Glass 4 display offers twice (2X) the drop-damage resistance of its predecessor, a 2.5X increase in retained strength and is 85% less likely to break in daily use — making it safer and stronger than ever before."

1 The 18W BoostMaster adapter is included only with the 2.3GHz/4GB ZenFone Zoom model.

See Also:

• ASUS Zenfone Zoom ZX551 Specifications, Features, Price and Availability
• Top 5 Things that a Traveler will Love about the ASUS ZenFone Zoom ZX551, "The World's Thinnest Smartphone with 3x Digital Zoom"