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August 2015

11 Aug

Posted at 02:06h in News by [social_share]

A recent short video by the Fujifilm company that we saw at the Fujifilm Photowalk Day showed the process of manufacturing their new X-T10 camera. Along with the pictures of the Japanese workers assembling the bodies wearing gloveless rubber fingers - quite a sight - we saw them applying the various coats of paint on the upper body shell of the camera - and THAT was quite a sight.Quite a process, too, and it also gave food for thought. In some respects it has caused me to question my previous opinions about camera finish.I remember the days of Leica chrome silver M2 and M3 bodies. Real matt chrome on brass stampings - work long enough with it and you wore through to the underside and saw brass. You were the proud or horrified, depending upon your job. Ditto with the black painted bodies of the period - and the brassing was even more evident.*Then came the plastic upper casing - Pentax went from chromed brass in their consumer-quality cameras to some form of painted plastic. Good paint, mind - it...

11 Aug

Posted at 01:59h in News by [social_share]

All of or readers know the difference between matte and gloss when it comes to paper - one is shiny and one is not. Of course the manufacturers of paper make lots of grades of the stuff in between these two extremes, but that is another post.The users of Epson inkjet printers also know that there are two black inks in their machines ;Photo Black and Matte Black. The 3800, 3880, 3000, SC-600, SC-800 and so on all have these choices - based upon the fact that you might be putting matte paper or gloss paper through the thing.Some of them switch themselves from one choice to the other automatically when your computer sends the printing command - it contains a specification about what you are doing. Some need to be switched with a series of on-machine commands. The procedure is about the same in both cases. The printer shuts off one ink pipe and then flushes through the head with a little of the other sort. When it is ready to go it signals you or just whooshes on...

10 Aug

Posted at 06:07h in News by [social_share]

Our friendly local Sigma man has just set this beauty in front of us - the Sigma 24-35 f:2 Art lens.The barrel construction of Sigma lenses these days is simply marvellous - the Japanese makers really extend themselves to produce a quality product. This one is heavy, as you would expect from a large maximum aperture and a lot of glass. You will appreciate a tripod for low-light work - but then you would anyway.I think this is a lens that will feature in a great deal of full-frame architecture work, particularly interiors that are to be seen in a lower light. As it is not of the exaggerated-front-element design, you will have a chance to put filters onto it - we would suggest good quality ones to complement the optics. Hoya HD come readily to mind.I'll allow the wholesale agents to suggest that you could well choose Sigma lenses of this quality for your entire lens lineup with the major DSLR bodies - they can fight the other manufacturer's wholesale agents who will suggest that you couldn't. I shall...

10 Aug

Posted at 05:02h in News by [social_share]

The humble adapter ring is seen in many camera bags - an enthusiast decides to put a filter that they already have onto a new lens. If the filter is larger than the lens size, the adapter ring is a step-up ring. If the filter is smaller, the adapter ring is a step-down ring. The idea would seem to be simple.The Tower of Babel was also a simple idea; just build upwards. And didn't that work out well...

10 Aug

Posted at 00:46h in Blog, News by [social_share]

Every morning I sit down to write something for the Camera Electronic blog page. Every evening I sit down to write something for my own personal blog pages*. Surprisingly, all three posts are different, even if they have a common origin in something that has happened or has been observed. This is the advantage of having a scattered mind.This post is linked automatically to Facebook - how I do not know. It may further echo onto other social sites and contaminate them. I like to think that it does.The best posts are the ones that attract attention, engender love, and stimulate sales - running  a close second are the ones that attract attention and cause furious anger in the readers - because this makes the readers respond just as much as the lovely ones.We do take notice of what is written back to us via Facebook - and generally respond to it. Nearly always the response is polite, because it is not me writing it. We hope that when people express themselves in this highly visible way that they will...

07 Aug

Posted at 02:14h in News by [social_share]

What do Erich Honecker, Helmut Kohl, and these boxes of Agfachrome have in common?They were all available in Germany in 1984. Erich's handed in his dinner pail, Helmut is in a wheel chair, but these slide films are just as good as they always were.Of course, that begs the question of just how good the always were, and I am here to tell you that they weren't. I have a filing cabinet full of Agfa colour slides at home carefully separated and stored in archival sleeves. They are in a climate-controlled environment and are kept safe from UV rays, fungus, and insects. Nearly all of them are horrible.The Agfa slide mounts of the period were great - blue and white plastic mounts with rounded edged and a sturdy profile. They were returned to us from the processing plant in Nunawading, Victoria in a good orange plastic box - it was a class presentation all the way. Kodak used cardboard mounts and difficult little boxes and you felt that you were getting second best...

07 Aug

Posted at 01:16h in News by [social_share]

I noted recently that there are services that let you track your iPhone when it is stolen. You are not allowed to go round to the druggies gaff with a fire axe and get it back and the police are far too busy to do it for you, but at least you have the satisfaction of being able to bleat about it on Facebook. With a bit of luck you will get an emoticon.There are more practical ways of dealing with this -amongst which is making arrangements not to have it stolen in the first place. And while you are at it, not to have the rest of your gear stolen.My house is no more secure than any other - it has fly screens, door locks, deadlocks, and window locks, which deter moths and me, but would present no barrier at all to thieves. What does present a barrier is a large metal safe bolted to the wall and floor - a relic from the days when I kept firearms in the place - legally, I might add* Now it...

06 Aug

Posted at 02:48h in News by [social_share]

Start the car! Start the car!Camera Electronic have boxes of Harman professional inkjet paper on special.The special is for 100-sheet boxes of Harman Crystaljet Luster RC and it is a lovely surface. Think sort of a smooth pearl effect with 260 gsm weight. Clean white.The special is for A4 size only - the 100-sheet box will cost you:                                                         $ 49.95This special is one time - when they go, they gone...