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May 2016

17 May

Posted at 01:03h in News by [social_share]

The last few years have seen camera makers send their designers on divergent paths when it comes to the interface between the customer and the device.In some cases nearly all the operating controls have been hidden inside the menu button, in others they have been spread out on a touch screen, and in a third instance have been relegated to levers. But nothing beats a good old fashioned dial - particularly if it is well-marked and a decent size. If it has firm click stops and a sturdy grip you can confidently fly the machine in all weathers.Well, digital Pentax cameras have always been pretty good in this respect - their external knobs meet all the right criteria. The latest full-frame digital camera is the Pentax K-1 and here are a few of the control areas that illustrate how clearly Pentax see with the eyes of their buyers.a. The main mode dial. Standard PASM and then Pentax's specialty - the variable ISO settings; Tav and Sv. Note as well the full Auto ( though why on a professional camera like...

15 May

Posted at 22:35h in News by [social_share]

Night time. Deep in the dark woods. Dank, dripping foliage. No moon. No stars. No lights from a lonely farmhouse. No car lights. No camping torch. A black stygian abyss, devoid of comfort. And what is the Pentax K-1 photographer doing?Changing lenses. Easily.Thank you Mr. Ricoh or Mr. Pentax for finally doing what needed to be done a long time ago - putting working lights on a camera. This is a blessing for all the people who have been out in the wet bush darkness or down the back of a theatre trying to change lenses or find the controls on a camera by the light reflected off a black cat.The Pentax K-1 assist lights let you find the cable release socket, the lens release button - and the dot on the mount to align things to, and the memory card slot. You can feel the switch to turn the camera on and then the menu can light up and you are away.It sounds corny and simplistic and crude, but it really is important in dark situations to be able...

12 May

Posted at 06:50h in News by [social_share]

Or grey, or gritty. You can be good - and you can have a good price, too.Just saw a small stack of ex-demo Tamron lenses sitting on the back counter on Monday night. They're that good prices and are the now modern style Tamron - very sharp. Wide zoom, long zoom, macro...

11 May

Posted at 00:14h in News by [social_share]

There are very few occasions when you see light coming up from under a subject in real life; some discotheques in the 80's had light panel floors, you can see it in the classical footlights at the burlesque theatre, and when you open the hatch of hell there is a sort of a lurid glow that comes up. The effect can be quite unsettling.It is stock in trade for Disney artists and illustrators of fantasy and science fiction when they want to make a subject look evil.But it is also a very valid technique when you are trying to illustrate products for advertisements. In many cases the art director wants the viewer to see all parts of the subject evenly lit for either sales appeal or technical illustration. In some instances this is difficult to achieve with the classic hard/soft light or even with a light tent. No matter where you place the lights, the thing always has a shadow around the bottom bits.Enter the light table. A support for the subject that is sturdy enough to bear the weight,...

10 May

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

For some time the photographers who use Nikon cameras have been wondering when the smaller of the DSLR fomats - the DX, APS-C, or 18mm x 24mm sensor, call it what you will - would have a new flagship camera body added to the lineup. They fondly remember the line of development of the D100, D200, D300 and D300s and have been patiently waiting for the next in the series. The wait is over.Last night an expert photographer and our state representative for Nikon Australia presented a show at Camera Electronic focused around the new Nikon D500 camera. Michael Phillips was able to tell us a great deal of the technical detail of the device while Kingsley Klau let us see what it is capable of on a photo-shooting road trip down south.The camera is definitely the child of the Nikon D300-D800-D810 styling stable. The shape is unmistakeable if occasionally a detail or line changes slightly. But remember this is a DX camera. Long-time enthusiasts will note that the pop-up flash that has been seen in other models has been...

06 May

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

Funny how a buzz-phrase arrives into your vocabulary. You never invent the thing, but one day you find yourself uttering it and you really can't be certain where it came from.Some blame social media, some blame America, and some blame slang...

05 May

Posted at 01:03h in News by [social_share]

I have always admired Christopher Columbus, Vasco De Gama, and Magellan, and hoped to emulate them. In an effort to discover a new trade route to India, I drove to Canning Vale the other day and made an experiment along the way.I'd seen a number of cars with action cameras bolted to their dashboards, and a few with them looking out the rear window. One bicycle rider that used to visit the shop had an action camera mounted on a witches hat at the back of his bike*. It seems to be the coming trend, and I have always been on the cutting edge of technology**.I don't own an action camera. Not surprising - I rarely display any action worthy of photographing. But the curiosity is still there so decided to adapt a camera I do own to the role. I tried to rig up my Fujifilm X-100 on a cradle looking out the front window. I say tried, as I discovered in garage experiments that while you can mount it in the cradle and mount the cradle easily at...