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January 2015

14 Jan

Posted at 00:57h in News by [social_share]

We're very lucky down here at 230 Stirling Street - someone built us a test target across the street years ago and we have been using it to compare and contrast cameras, lenses, and filters ever since.It has a broad face of different coloured panels and thin lines placed both in the center and at the margins - you can determine resolution, distortion, and chromatic aberration easily. It is front-lit in the morning and back-lit in the afternoon.Sometimes there are human figures displayed to enable you to check portrait bokeh - and occasionally a drunk starts kicking in the phone box in front of it so you can practise your street photography skills as well...

13 Jan

Posted at 05:07h in News by [social_share]

If 12 people have got $99 and need pocket digital cameras they would be well advised to come in and see us this week.We've got a small batch of Canon IXUS 145 cameras that were destined for a school order but it never eventuated. In black, as befits dignified scholastic instruments, they feature 16 megapixels and an 8X zoom lens.There is a little on-board flash  and a 28mm -equivalent wide angle lens. Complete with battery, charger, little strap, and complete Canon warranty.You'll have to buy a memory card for it, but these are also inexpensive - photography never got cheaper!...

13 Jan

Posted at 05:03h in News by [social_share]

At the risk of opening the valve on the geek tank and being inundated with internet expertise, I'll raise a question that presented itself recently. It was in a darkened theatre with some pretty exciting lighting on the stage. The occasion was a dance show and the organisers requested no flash photography.  Being restricted to the maximum aperture on my mirrorless-camera lenses wasn't too bad as I had a close view of the stage. The f:1.8 and f:2.8 lenses let in enough light with a high ISO.The real problem came with framing the image - the camera body was a Fujifilm X-E2 . It has a very bright and detailed electronic view finder that seems to see deeper into the gloom than I can. Fine to use but one's eye becomes used to the bright image and then when you take it off to change setting on the camera or lens in the dark...

12 Jan

Posted at 02:34h in News by [social_share]

We all love doing group portraits. Not.Whether it is an undisciplined family group at a party, an overly-disciplined regimental portrait, or just wedding guests gathered around the wreckage, the shoot can be difficult to do, and the results patchy.The family party is composed of people who will not obey - the relatives and children. They will be difficult to marshal into one area, will insist on changing places continuously to gain precedence, and will never ALL be looking in the same direction.The regiment or ship's company CAN be compelled to sit or stand in order - correctly - and can be ordered to all look toward the camera with no-one making Indian feather fingers. But you won't be the one doing the ordering. For that you need the senior warrant officer. Contact him early on, do as he says, and he will deliver the goods.The wedding group includes the bride and groom and their parents - who are paying you to be there. Put them in the center, expose so that they look good, and let their relatives fall as...

12 Jan

Posted at 02:34h in News by [social_share]

With the increased interest in mirrorless camera systems we have come across a problem here in the shop - some of the traditional camera bags are just wrong for them. Either made for DSLRs and too big or made for compact purse cameras and too small. and the shapes could be all wrong as well.Well, we've got a new line in Sirix bags that may go some way to addressing this. They are labeled as a mirrorless snoot bag and a compact zoom case - but they really come down to day bags for a tourist to take a mirrorless camera, a spare card, and a battery.As usual, there are straps and belt loops and a small rain cover buried in the design. They are padded, and well-made. And they are cheap - $ 22.95 and 24.95.No excuse now for hauling your Olympus in an old handkerchief or relegating the new Panasonic to the toe of a footy sock. Show a little class - buy a bag....

12 Jan

Posted at 01:40h in News by [social_share]

We are just about to launch into the vintage car season with the Australian Day Vintage and Veteran display in Melbourne. This is held in the main park just over the Princes Bridge and is preceded by an all-cultures street parade from the Town hall. For those who attend, I can recommend the corner opposite Young and Jacksons for a good photo vantage point. Watch out for the band and colour party*, the Japanese dancing ladies, and the Indian Seniors.The park will be full of cars, and the car owners will be full of information. If you ask a question, they will tell you far more than you need to know...

09 Jan

Posted at 07:39h in News by [social_share]

If you are a person who uses your tablet, mobile phone, or other modern communication device a lot, you will eventually run out of electricity and place to recharge it. Then you will either have to revert to smoke and drum signals or find some more juice.Here's the answer - a solar-powered storage battery that can feed the volts out through normal and mini-USB ports. In from the sun, out to your phone - how cool is that!Still won't pay for the credits on the phone and still won't protect you from the rexting pests, but at least you won't be out of touch.The basic battery in there is a Li Polymer type that contains 5000mAh. It will let out 5VDC from the two USB ports at 1A. the solar charging is done at 5V and 200MA.You get three cords and a carabiner with it. All in a rubber-coated brick. With an LED torch built-in.Now you're even more independent on holiday....

09 Jan

Posted at 01:49h in News by [social_share]

Before you write in to complain that I have singled you out for abuse, let me say that having a pint of beer is perfectly alright with me. 3 or 4 are fine. I find that after the 8th one people get argumentative...

09 Jan

Posted at 01:18h in News by [social_share]

All Hail The Mighty Fong!This universal diffuser claps onto the font of any speed light flash to diffuse the light and fill it into the shadows of your picture.No more Panda Eyes on your bridal portraits and no more couples caught like rabbits in the headlights at parties. Soft fill in that goes out to the edges of an interior - but doesn't burn out the main subject.The new universal velcro strap secures it to any flash - I know because I just got up from the laptop right now to try it on a new Nissin i40 - and you have a far better fill than could be obtained with the little box diffusers.We've got a stack of them in store right now....