November 2015

Users of the Olympus OM-D E-M1 and OM-D E-M5 Mk II will be pleased to see that Olympus will release new firmware updates for their cameras. For the OM-D E-M1 the new version is v4.0 and will give the following:24 and 25 fps frame rates for video recordingFOcus Stacking and BracketingSilent Electronic shutter mode4K Video Time LapseSimulated Optical ViewfinderThe users of the OM-D E-M5 MkII will get v2.0 and will seeFlat Picture Mode for videoVideo noise filterFocus BracketingSynchronised sound recording with the Olympus LS-100If you are a user of Olympus Capture you will get v1.1andFaster tethered data transfer speedsKeystone compensationSuper Control Panel Interface.There are going to be updates for all Zuiko POR and Premium lenses.As you will know by now the process of updating firmware is a standard part of digital photography with good cameras and lenses. It's not hard to do and delivers the latest tech improvements to the gear you already own - and for free. That is a price that nearly everybody can afford...

Okay - what has seven legs and three heads and is 15% to 35% cheaper this week than last week?Simple -  two Manfrotto tripods and a monopod. I mean, what did you expect - this is a camera shop, not a zoo.The first of the tripod kits is aimed at the studio worker who needs to support a medium-size DSLR with a large size zoom lens - and needs to do strange things with it. Manfrotto have come up with the MK190XPro4-3W kit - and if you can pronounce that in one go you are legally sober.It has four-section legs with clip locks, a centre column that not only rises but also extends out to the side, and a three-way tripod head. All suitable for careful studio work and such technical jobs as art and document copying work. The normal cost for this Manfrotto kit would be $ 649 - Camera Electronic have secured a supply that can be sold for $ 399.If you are heading out to the outdoors where they keep the landscapes and want to carry a...

Experimental art is something that breaks the boundaries. So does a Swiss post-bus going out of control down a mountain. Your appreciation of it is related to whether you are above watching it leave or below watching it arrive...

Oyez Oyez Oyez. All ye who have Elinchrom studio strobe kits draw night and give heed.Sometimes you need to draw attention to a studio subject in no uncertain terms. Painting them with fluoro orange and suspending them from the ceiling can do it but required more of a supporting structure than you may be able to manage - at least in the average living room. Bedroom, maybe, but...

Users of Elinchrom studio flash units please draw up a chair and sit down - this one is for you. Visitors who use other systems may sit in and pick as much out of it as they can.I used to use as much light in a studio to take picture as I possibly could. Pushing the sliders up to the top on the Elinchrm EL 500  and 250 units was common and when they went off it looked like Alamagordo. I got up to 5 Elinchrom heads and had to start wearing a Royal Navy flash hood and gloves before pressing the trigger. Floor tiles were buckling from the heat...

I am writing this under duress. Normally I do not approach the subject of fishing as it is the source of many painful memories*. But the Code Of The Hack Writers is firm on the point; you must tell the story no matter what it costs.Camera Electronics is sponsoring a grand prize for a picture of the Catch of the Day as adjudged by Red FM. They are a commercial from that apparently has more wireless stations in the Northwest than the USN. And they are running a Catch of the Day competition at the following web address:http://www.redfm.com.au/index.php/competitionsThere is an easy-enter form there and a method of sending them a picture of your piscine success.The prizes are fishing-related as well -  a number of Shimano lures and the grand prize of a GoPro from us. Do give it a try.* All right, if you insist. It was during the Canadian salmon run. We were constructing a dam in Alberta that had a diversion channel on a river and a number of salmon ladders built into it. The local Mounties gave...

Well it is strange, isn't it. For a hundred and fifty-odd years  photographers have been trying to get more sensitivity out of their recording surface - sensitising plates, using speed-increasing developers. pre-flashing plates, etc. Developing flash power, flash bulbs, and eventually electronic flash to a very sophisticated level. Making lenses with wider and wider apertures...

The video shooters amongst us - and there are more every year - are a versatile lot. We see them come into the shop for a variety of equipment and accessories that were frankly unheard-of a decade ago. Apart from odd tapes, monitors, and aluminium Jungle Gyms...

No-one needs a monopod - provided they are not using a camera with a long lens on it to take pictures in dim light or over a long period of time. Or if they are not standing in the rain at a soccer game with a long zoom, or perched on the edge of a cliff following surfers, or standing on a Pelican case taking pictures of belly dancers for four hours...

The TRS is not a failed English fighter plane project - you are thinking of the TSR.The TRS is the Tourist Refund Scheme - the government initiative to boost sales here in Australia by allowing genuine travellers a rebate of their GST when they depart from the country. It has definite rules about how much you need to buy, how and when you need to buy it, and what the limits are on what you get back.There are dedicated desks and staff to deal with this at most Australian airports that have an overseas flow-through. In Perth it is after you pass all the security business and have your shoes and belt back on, so at least you have recovered a modicum of dignity. It apparently all goes pretty smoothly when the stream of hopefuls is thin.When times are busy, however, long lines may form and the staff may not be able to cope with the rush - this is worry for the travellers because they too are on a timed schedule...