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May 2017

29 May

Posted at 17:22h in Newsletter by [social_share]

The advent of the first of the Sony new cameras a few years ago - the Alpha series - was quite a revelation for the shop. Sony Australia put on a comprehensive demonstration of the performance of their biggest DSLR here at a Perth studio and the CE staff trooped along to try it out. It was more glamour than I could ever imagine. And I have always hoped that they would do it again when they were ready to release their new full frame Alpha 9 mirror-less camera. The new camera is in the shop right now, and it represents the best of a developing technology for Sony. Mirror-less with full 24 x 36 frame is about as good a compromise of size and performance as anyone makes - pair it with Sony and Zeiss optics and you really can desire very little more. Here is a list of the attributes of the new camera: 24 x 36 full frame 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor. Electronic/mechanical shutter - no vibration or noise. Up to 1/32000 second speed. 20 fps possible. 693 AF points...

29 May

Posted at 17:17h in Newsletter by [social_share]

Forgive the expression, but the specifications of the new Canon EOS 77D DSLR are a little staggering  - when you read what it can do and the fact that Canon refer to it as an entry-level product, it really does put into perspective the heights to which this company has risen in the digital decades. Here's a rough list of a lot of smooth features: 24.1 megapixel CMOS sensor - D¡G!C 7 processor. 45-point screen with dual-pixel AF. 100-51,200 ISO. WiFi, NFC, and Bluetooth connectivity. 6 fps multushot capability. Touch screen LCD - top control LCD. 5-axis image stabilisation. Learn-as-you-use visual guide displays. Not to put too fine a point on it, this new Canon - as an entry -level offering - beats the 1950 Kodak Tourist II folding camera all hollow. I am all for nostalgia but I would way prefer to be nostalgic about the EOS 77D. Even if I don't go on tour, it will make me happy. You too, if you would like to get into the world of Canon optics. People forget that the small-frame Canon lenses made specifically...

29 May

Posted at 16:13h in Newsletter by [social_share]

It's no secret that there is a rivalry developing in the medium format digital world these days. The older players have been joined by Fujifilm with their GFX 50S camera and its range of lenses. It stopped the show at last year's Photokina and is doing the same here in the shop. The good news for Perth photographers is that it is available readily - no need to wait until production builds up - and you can make a careful assessment of it by trying out the rental kit we have. It's got a big sensor - 43.8mm x 32.9 mm and it will throw 51.4 megapixels into your SD cards. You will need more memory to operate something like this, and more computer power, time, and storage to deal with the files. The shutters in the camera allow a range of anywhere from 4 seconds to 1/16,000 of a second - you can synch at 1/125th. It would make an awesome studio camera. Not a fast shooter, though - max of 3 fps. You can choose between 100-12,800 ISO in the standard...

29 May

Posted at 16:11h in Newsletter by [social_share]

Suppose you make one of the best professional cameras in the world - and have done so for the last 69 years. Suppose you decide to head out on a new quest for a professional camera system that breaks your own mould - that gives people increased art capability at a lower price than your other products. Suppose you make it easy to use and extremely stylish. Then suppose that you show it to people and invite them to order the cameras and the new lenses - to pre-order them, as it were. And they do. Here's where the atmosphere grows humid. Suppose they order them in such numbers and your production is held up by business concerns...

29 May

Posted at 15:50h in Newsletter by [social_share]

The business of video making is a mystery to many of us but clear gospel to others. For the latter, a camera like the new Panasonic Lumix GH5 must come as something of a mirror-less miracle. We have  watched the inclusion of video capability into what were originally thought of as digital still cameras for some time with the view that the thing was just an extra - a program treat rather like the myriad of "art" filters and programs that bemuse the Japanese market. Yet all the time the technical refinement of the video portion was being increased - first with the addition of more resolution and then with new formats. It seemed to reach a plateau with the addition of 1900 x 1080 HD recording and then sprinted forward with the introduction of the 4K systems. Then some manufacturers realised that these advances would put the cameras into new fields of endeavour and added different video formats and applications to match the output of the littler cameras to the needs of other media - the cinema and television industries in particular. The menu...

26 May

Posted at 16:41h in Blog, Editorial, Reviews by [social_share]

If you were to visit one capital city in Australia to immerse yourself in photographically then Melbourne would be my first choice hands down. Much of the character of the city centre can be attributed to Robert Hoddle who in 1837 planned the layout of the streets in the original Melbourne City Centre and has become known as the Hoddle Grid. Today the City Centre is home to Melbourne’s famed alleyways and maze of arcades along with its distinct blend of contemporary and Victorian architecture all this is encompassed by beautifully maintained parks and gardens. The inner city has one of the best public transport systems in Australia incorporating the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop, trams run down all the main streets and out to St Kilda, ferries dock along the northbank of the Yarra at Federation Wharf and there is a water taxi service to Melbourne and Olympic Parks. All this makes for easy and cheap access to all the best locations for your photography. Staying in Melbourne is easy there is heaps of accommodation ranging from backpackers to quirky...

26 May

Posted at 16:28h in Blog, Editorial, Reviews by [social_share]

CANADIAN WILDERNESS If you want an Indiana Jones experience, then a trip to the north of the Hudson Bay in search of the elusive Musk Oxen will have you transported in time. Following the long flight to Montreal via Vancouver, the real adventure begins. From Montreal a 3 hour flight on First Air - an Inuit owned and operated airline - will have you alighting in the remote settlement of Kuujjuaq. Here your legendary guide Tundra Tom meets you and briefs you on the upcoming adventure. From here we head out to a tent campsite approximately 80 km north of Kuujjuaq that will be accessed by floatplane. Tommy May the bush pilot knows this region like the back of his hand and after an exciting take off from the lake we are soon over the tundra landscape spotted with hundreds of freshwater lakes. Several Musk Oxen herds are spotted on route to our campsite. The landing is sensational as Tommy descends onto the lake and taxis to our landing. The supplies and camera gear are unloaded and we move into our...

26 May

Posted at 06:38h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

We've sold Hahnemühle paper for years at Camera Electronic but oddly enough have rarely used it in our shop printers. The reasons are simple - economics and operational expedience - Hahnemühle paper is expensive in comparison with standard Ilford inkjet material and the small-scale signage that the Stirling Street shop has needed could be done with A4 Galerie Smooth Pearl. Plus the Epson printers that we have used in the shop to crank out the signs have suitable profiles inside them for the Ilford product. The fact that we use the Epson paper profiles for the Ilford Galerie is neither here nor there - a similar description in the printing menu of Photoshop Elements  gets a very similar result, and you don't need to be Picasso to make a " Buy More Stuff " sign in black and white with Gill Sans lettering...