February 2017

15 Feb The Little Black Box In The Corner – Canon CS100

Posted at 00:34h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

Canon users please draw nigh and give attention. We have a good thing for you.This blog post looked to be difficult for me - I do not use the Canon system cameras and I am somewhat clumsy with modern file storage and transfers. I trembled at the amount of complexity that I feared would be involved.Then I read the instructions and looked at a YouTube advertisement. It turns out that what looked like an elephant in the room was the little one from Walt Disney and I need not have feared looking like a Dumbo. This Canon hub is as easy as to use.Think of it as a 1 Terabyte storage device that you can put files into from Canon cameras or various smartphone devices. It connects to your television to let you store videos or see still files. You fill it up and away you go.Ideally, the connection to your phones and Canon cameras is wirelessly via WiFi or NFC. They realise that some people have older gear so there are ports in for USB connections and you can...

14 Feb Quite Possibly The Leica For You

Posted at 00:19h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

Leica cameras are not for everyone.This is not just because of their price - which is considerable. It is also because they may not be the exact tool for the job that you intend to do. If you are hanging out the side of a helicopter taking survey pictures of a forest you might be using a Hasselblad. If you are photographing polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba you may not want to do it with a wideangle lens from two metres...

13 Feb An Eye In The European Sky

Posted at 00:19h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

If you have ever wanted to invade France but without having to join the German Army, now is your chance. You can do it with a camera, amongst friends, have a good time, and learn a great deal.Eye In The Sky is a photographic company from Western Australia that is dedicated to providing photo tours of the Tarn region of southern France. Their current prospectus lists the next tour between April 28th and May 4th - when the spring should be making France into a landscape photographer's paradise.The tours are run by Western Austalian Jon Davidson and his wife Jude, and this time you will have our favourite Rockingham photographer - Kingsley Klau - along to help your photo development.The tour is packed with visits to ruins, monasteries, galleries, castles, chateaux, vineyards and restaurants. The thing is all-inclusive - you are not going to be shelling out Euros right, left, and center for transfers, meals and accommodation. It is the easy logistics approach to a wonderful time.It's not just wonderful - it's useful. You'll get daily lessons as you travel...

10 Feb Gimmee One’A Dem – Part Five -The Hot Wash-Up

Posted at 00:20h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

Okay, your friend has come with you into the shop - or perhaps it is the other way round. You may have the whole fam damily in there as well, and that can make for distraction and pressure - better to just keep it to two customers and one sales person. Note: the sales person does not have to be the owner of the shop. The staff are perfectly qualified to help, teach, and bargain, and you gain nothing by waiting for the boss. In fact, you lose time...

09 Feb You May Have Been Fooled – At The New Leica M10 Launch

Posted at 04:31h in News by Uncle Dick 2 Comments [social_share]

Last night at Camera Electronic's shop on Stirling Street he Leica company showed the newest of the M series cameras to an appreciative audience.As is usual for these events, there was food and drink and cameras. Also industry representatives and a professional photographer who had been given a chance to use the new camera in the field. Several of he camera were in evidence...

09 Feb Gimmee One’a Dem – Part Four – The Nikon D3400 Kit

Posted at 01:51h in News by Uncle Dick 1 Comment [social_share]

When we ask people to go out and use mirror-less camera systems on the basis of small size and weight we are sometimes forgetting that if you choose wisely, you can get both small size and light weight in a DSLR. The trick, as with this Nikon D3400, is to choose an entry-level camera kit.Frankly, My Dear, I do occasionally give a damn...

08 Feb Gimmee One’a Dem – Part Three – The Pentax K-70

Posted at 01:21h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

Your mate who is buying their first DSLR as a kit camera may have heard of the Pentax name some years ago in the film era. It was hard to find a camera club, school, or group of enthusiasts in which a Pentax 35mm camera was not in use. That may have eased off a little in recent years - and I am not going to fire up speculation about why - but there is no reason why you should not set your friend out to look at the Pentax K-70 kit.Note that the pictures of the cameras this week show the boxes they come in. Not just to make use of the designer's art - this is to give the purchaser some idea of the size of the packaging that these kits require. You'll see that the Canon and Pentax offerings come in one box while the Nikon camera is separated from the lens. Makes no difference? Well, consider how much extra trouble it would be to haul that camera box through the airport, airplane, customs, hotel, etc if you...

06 Feb Gimmee One’a Dem – Part Two – The Canon 700D Kit

Posted at 22:59h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

The One'a Dem series this week will showcase cameras that may be recommended to your mate with safety.I shall leave the manufacturer's representatives and fan-boy geeks to point out long lists of differences and advantages in their own favourite equipment in an attempt to gain superiority. The commonalities will be:a. Small - frame cameras. Your mate is a tourist with a family.b. Moderate 18-55 mm zooms.c. Automated operation. Your mate is not a great reader of instruction booksd. Actual availability. In-shop now. Your mate can have the camera before he gets on the Boeing.e. Affordable pricing. We need to leave spare cash for Bintang tee shirts and Jack Daniels at the duty-free. Today's kit is the Canon 700D. A bit bigger physically than the other cameras, and somewhat lighter. Of course, all three cameras have plastic-mount lenses of light construction, but if they are prepared to leave them on the mounts and not wear out the bayonet, the optics should actually do a very good job. The resolution, distortion, AF speed, and CA may not be up to the standard of...

06 Feb Gimmee One’a Dem – Part One – The Maaaaaate in the Business

Posted at 01:22h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

I like to think that the people who read this weblog column are astute professionals and keen amateurs. Enthusiasts in art and science - renaissance men and women who can turn their minds and hands to any task. Experts, in short.Unfortunately, the readers will also be seen as experts by some of their friends who are not as well versed in photography. They may be seen as a resource to be exploited when it comes time to choose a camera. Sort of a walking CHOICE magazine. Someone who can do the hard yards of thinking and make sure that their mate gets something fabulously good for hardly any money at all.Maaaaaate...

03 Feb Report From The Trenches – Manuel And The Canon – Part Five

Posted at 00:14h in News by Uncle Dick 0 Comments [social_share]

Well, it has been a week since the motor sport workshop up at Barbagallo raceway, and you've been able to read some of the things that Manuel Goria told us about the techniques of shooting. Now here's the final bits of advice regarding the physical business of chasing cars.a. Where do they race cars? At car race courses. Some are good places for pictures, and some are awful ( guess which category Barbagallo falls in...