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December 2018

18 Dec

Posted at 07:48h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

I always love to see Three Legged Thing products - they are colourful in a world that is becoming just black, silver, and grey. Like little sports cars on the road in bright paint jobs - they make photography fun. These Three Legged Thing QRII LC brackets make it more steady too - they are anodized aluminium L-brackets that will fit many DSLR and mirrorless cameras. I found orange and blue and there may be green available as well. The bracket is essentially Arca-Swiss size but has been made universal for most cameras. The side piece can be unbolted from the baseplate if you only want a bottom rail - though I often use the side rail on my bracket in the studio when a portrait-mode picture is needed. There are several threaded sockets in strategic places and very sturdy strap attachment points at the top and side. I use a wide woven cotton strap on mine. Note as well, the rubber non-slip grip at the bottom of the baseplate should protect the finish on your camera. The included carabiner is possibly intended to...

17 Dec

Posted at 07:42h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

The hatch? What hatch? The hatch of chaos. That ever-threatening trapdoor of disorganisation that is waiting for every photographer - and in particular for the studio or location worker. If you have a set of strobe lights or a video rig, the hatch is very close to you right now...

14 Dec

Posted at 09:02h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

I know you're going to do it. And Nikon know you're going to do it. At least they are not hypocrites about the thing - and they'll do their best to assist you to do it. It? The use of older Nikon F-mount lenses. The wise user of a new camera like the Nikon Z7 or Z6 will get a new full-frame Nikkor S-mount lens to go with it and will only add Nikkor S mount lenses to it in the future. They will have all the benefit of the new mount and the constant improvement that Nikon bring to their lenses. That's the wise user. The rest of us have shelves full of film-era and DSLR Nikon lenses that we are dying to try out...

11 Dec

Posted at 07:56h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Aha! I have my hands on it at last - the new Nikon Z7 mirror-less camera and a suitable lens for it. The Camera Electronic Rental department has just taken one on charge and I got it for the day - with a new 24-70 lens made especially for this new lens mount. Plus a bonus in the bag. Note that I cannot do an unboxing for this one. Nikon have put a plastic guardian at the gateway to the goodies, and there is no knowing how they have stacked it inside. I'm guessing it's probably packed pretty well in there and they haven't had to resort to excelsior or old socks. Had that seal not been on the boxes, one of my problems would never have arisen...

10 Dec

Posted at 08:30h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

I have permission to tell you this tale - from the principal in the story. A noted international photographer who lives in Perth worked hard all day - indeed he works hard every day because he is good at what he does and the people who buy photography buy it from him. Anyway, he went home in his car and unloaded it. But due to the hard-working day and the need to continue that hard work with the post-processing, he had a little lapse of memory - he left a bag of Profoto portable studio strobes in his car. Don't judge him - we all forget sometimes. He was awoken the next morning by the neighbour telling him that his car had been damaged. Indeed - a back window stove in by some random thief and that bag of Profotos gone...

07 Dec

Posted at 09:39h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

There comes a point where you have to be honest with yourself - there are some pieces of equipment that you pick up just so that you can fiddle with the controls. This can be the bane of a sales situation or the flight deck of an airliner. It's also why I have been banned from the wireless aisle in JB Hifi. It was one of the reasons I picked the Leofoto LEP-02 Panorama head off the storeroom shelf. If you have studied the panorama and stitched photo business  - the virtual world that seeks to show more than the average lens can see - you'll have seen some of the complex support systems that are needed. There have been at least 6 major makers that I've seen come through the shop in the last 8 years - and some are still making what they produced all that long ago. But there are new makers coming from mainland Asia all the time, and the standard of production is steadily rising. I'll not start a fight over copying designs or adding new ideas...

06 Dec

Posted at 07:30h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Come to think of it, that catchy title would make an equally catchy product name. Thanks, Lastolite - send me one when you make it. But today's Lastolite product is the answer for both the run-and-gun people shooter who has to keep their Speedlight on their camera and the more ambitious portraitist who can get the gun off and onto a light stand. It's an adaptation of a classic idea but with a couple of new convenient twists. To start with, and this is common in all the Lastolite range of goods, it is well packaged. They build for people who are going to haul their gear thither and yon repeatedly - the working pro and enthusiastic amateur who do not baby the goods. Hence they tend to bag everything in sturdy nylon cases with big zippers. This case contains a folding softbox - one that sticks to the front of your speedlight. The construction is such that the sides fold flat and the thing collapses on itself, with no complex rigging of struts required. The interior is silvered and has arrangements for...

05 Dec

Posted at 08:23h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Flat, but not down in the dumps - in fact quite elated. Manfrotto have made a winner. Sometimes we need to have a stable platform that is exactly horizontal. We might be launching V-2's or looking at the stars or making panoramic photographs - possibly all three on a busy week. Manfrotto have come up with an accessory that makes this easy. The 438 Camera Ball Leveler does the job. It is meant to go between a Manfrotto tripod with a 3/8" stud and another device with a 3/8" socket. The size of the leveller and these two connections tell you that it is intended for professional gear - this is not something you take as a backpacker tourist unless you are a Royal Marine on workdays. It's heavy. It's also precise and locks with a positive lever action. Both top and bottom can be lock-screwed to their respective mates. Uses? a. Put a video head on it, level it, and you can be sure that when you pan with the race car or surfer, you will not be getting a tilted or rising/falling...