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October 2017

20 Oct

Posted at 10:30h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Thank you for coming along to the Little Studio and being such a good photographic model. And thank you to all the people at Fujifilm Australia for letting me have time to try out the new GFX50s camera and lenses in the studio environment. It is my preferred milieu because it has controlled lighting and a coffee pot. And once I let the new medium format camera have its head - doing the thing that it does best - it proved to me how good it can be. The tabletop trial was not the thing - this camera needs more space between itself and the subject. It needs to be photographing fabulous detail in faces. And you need to be careful when you let it go - the detail it captures can be marvellous and terrifying at the same time. Dare I say too detailed for some occasions? If your purpose is to flatter your portrait sitters, and you are addicted to f:16 and smaller apertures, be prepared to be surprised. Also be prepared to have the sitters mad at you. You see,...

17 Oct

Posted at 08:38h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Not quite so fast, Biggles. There are still a few things to grasp - the first being the right-hand grip. All kudos to the Fujifilm design team for a perfect hold. There is enough bulk on the front and a very large thumb plate on the back...

16 Oct

Posted at 09:16h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Today starts a week of investigation into a camera system that has flashed upon the world for what is a relatively short period of time - the Fujifilm GFX 50S. Those of you who read this column regularly and know that I am a Fujifilm user may have been wondering why it has taken this long to appear. The answer's simple; there have been numerous other reports of the camera and lenses already in the technical, fan-boy, and forum-fighter press. People can get accurate information, biased information, and outright bad manners from other sources - frequently better written than here - and there was no point in just re-transmitting it. I needed to wait until I could investigate the devices myself in my own facilities. The opportunity for this was provided by the Fujifilm people this last week...

12 Oct

Posted at 08:26h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

This may come as a shock to some readers, but technology has advanced in the last little while, and it is no longer necessary to go home and use the telephone on the hall stand to ring through to Central. You need not have two pennies or a sixpence to go to the telephone box at the end of the street. And it is possible to infuriate most of population of the country from the comfort of your desk or the convenience of your motor car. Tweets and memes are available 24/7 to do this*. Voila - the mobile phone. You can dial up anyone without using a dial and send them pictures of yourself in the local sports hall toilets for a mere thousand dollars a year. You can yell at people across the country while you are inching forward on the Mitchell Freeway in peak hour. You can send mis-spelled messages to people at any hour of the day and night. No-one need be at peace ever again...

10 Oct

Posted at 07:29h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

In Melbourne you can get a cocktail at a moderately fancy bar. If you look moderately fancy as well, you might not even have to pay for it. If you look like the writer of this column you have to pay for it. If you go into Camera Electronic in Perth you can pick up a Joby Micro Hybrid Tripod. It's the same amount of money but it contains far better value - there is no water in it...

09 Oct

Posted at 06:41h in Dick's Rant by [social_share]

No, not you - I meant the Sirui K-30X ball head that just came into the stores. The one that convinces me that the mantle of studio equipment manufacture may be passing from Europe to a point further east. This is no small thing to say. Just as the high-quality camera manufacturing business went from Europe and America to the far east, so now the accessory business may also be taking its turn. I can only depend upon the evidence of what I see...