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November 2015

25 Nov

Posted at 05:18h in News by [social_share]

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...

25 Nov

Posted at 00:41h in News by [social_share]

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...

24 Nov

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

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...

24 Nov

Posted at 01:32h in News by [social_share]

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...

23 Nov

Posted at 03:13h in News by [social_share]

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...

23 Nov

Posted at 01:42h in News by [social_share]

Sounds like a Disney movie title, doesn't it - possibly starring the corpses of Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews bolted together.No, as we are featuring columns dedicated to expounding the Manfrotto Way Of The Studio we must not neglect the smaller bits - because they are what ties the whole thing together. In fact, these are the items that you most frequently tip out the storage drawer to find when you are working. Let's go by the numbers:118 - the Short 5/8 Spigot with male threads on the ends. You get a 1/4" on one end and a 3/8" on the other. If you are only used to working in metric measurements try not to hyperventilate - photography still has a lot of imperial measurements as common currency.Light stand spigots are 5/8" and proud of it, even if they come from Italy. The wonderful thing is that even if the designs get ripped off by oriental manufacturers - and they do, they do - the size is still kept to 5/8". Nearly everything fits with nearly everything else.These spigots...

20 Nov

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

 You're not going to get Leica SL all week - here's a column about something else entirely.Today's cameras use a lot of batteries - particularly if the user:1. Shoots lots of video.2. Reviews every single image for five seconds.3. Takes 5000 images when 5 would do.Take the gentle scolding as you like, but if you are using a lot of Sony or Olympus battery power these days you are doing a lot of charging - and the little battery chargers that you get with the cameras can only deal with one circumstance at a time. Unless you are prepared to get up repeatedly and change batteries, all night, you need help. Here's Hahnel help.The Pro Cube is a power block that can be configured to charge tow lithium ion batteries at one time. It is 12V DC in or connection to a USB portout. The blocks themselves are interchangeable to allow for the following batteries:2 Sony NP FW 502 Olympus BNL-12 Olympus BLS-52 Sony NP BX-14 rechargeable AAmany mobile phones and smart tablet batteries inside their own casings - that's...

19 Nov

Posted at 13:21h in News by [social_share]

Two other of our divisions of electronic babble - pardon me, I meant social media - have probably apprised you of the contents of this post but here goes anyway: Canon Australia are giving out double cashbacks now. Theres a few rules you follow but they are simple:The cashbacks range from $ 50 to $ 200 on selected Canon Cameras. That's a given and worth while in itself. They go until the 24th of December, 2015.IF you then buy $ 200 or more of Canon products in the same transaction ( and this does NOT work with buying the lens os a standard kit...

19 Nov

Posted at 00:29h in News by [social_share]

Thursday last was the nearest thing to a circus I can remember. It had the ringmaster, the clowns, the pretty girl in spangly tights, and the tightrope walker. There may have been elephants but I left before they passed out the brooms and buckets...