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February 2019

22 Feb

Posted at 09:24h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

It takes no more time to physically walk around a medium format camera than it does a smaller 24 x 36 or APS-DC one, but the mechanical designers of many different brands would have you pause, puzzle, and backtrack to try to figure out exactly what they want you to do so that you can make their camera do what you want to do. The wise ones - and I'll whisper the names Canon, Nikon, and Fujifilm - make their new instructions very much like their old ones. And if they resist the temptation to go down the hall to the graphic design office and demand a new set of icons for the screen, they have the blessings of all working shooters. As an aside - on the subject of shooting - anyone who has ever shot a repeating rifle and worked the mechanism to get a cartridge into the receiver will know that generally, they have to pull something up or back somehow. It varies with different arms but you can puzzle it out pretty smartly. Try that with a...

21 Feb

Posted at 08:56h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

I formed a very good opinion of the Fujifilm GFX 50S camera when I tried it out in my studio a year or so ago. The test shots done with a pin-up model in the style of a magazine cover pointed out the extreme detail available with the medium format sensor. The richness of the colour that the CMOS sensor produced told me that this would be s perfect studio camera - if the subject matter required a degree of enlargement and the price of the job would justify the extra outlay that medium format requires. I regretted that I didn't have that sort of business to justify owning the camera. I have now had a very brief chance to play with the alternate version of this camera - the Fujifilm GFX 50R - in an almost-studio situation. And as it was the sort of studio I dabble in, there was some point in me comparing that last experience to this one. The new Fujifilm has much the same sensor as its stablemate, but takes a different form - this one is...

20 Feb

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

That's me. Might as well be candid about it. I will spend money when I need to but I put a great deal of effort into finding it unnecessary. Sometimes that means a great deal of expense but I'm happy to say that's not the case today. Today cheap succeeds. The task in hand was getting a closer focus on the model aircraft - and upon shop stock - while using the Fujifilm 18 -55mm f:2.8-4 R OIS lens. Here's an example of the closest focus achievable - 55mm and f:22. Good - sharp and well-exposed - but just a little far away for many studio purposes. The lens itself is an unrecognised hero for regular photography. So much so, that I am using it in the experiment of mounting it and not changing it for a year - an effort to avoid the dust menace on the sensor. But back to the day's shooting. I located one of the simplest and cheapest solutions to this - the plain old supplemental lens. The accessory we all clapped onto our film cameras in the old days....

19 Feb

Posted at 07:47h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

I am a fan of the softboxes that I own, but I only own two - and they are strip lights with grids. They do rim lighting a treat but I do not ask more of them. I've owned other softboxes before - a big octagon and an absolutely enormous rectangular one. They functioned well, but ultimately were supplanted for my studio purposes by umbrellas and beauty dishes. Personal preference and prejudice, if you will. The use of a softbox with a portable flash is a little more unusual - people who opt for this have a need to take the soft lighting out into the field. They'll have to deal with how to fire the flash and how to support the rig, but these are simple basics - a folding stand and a radio trigger. The benefit will be a far softer and more workable light than available with a bare speedlight. Worth having for portraiture and fashion shooting - nearly essential for wedding work. Is it going to make a difference whether you get a 40 cm or a 50 cm...

18 Feb

Posted at 06:36h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Or neat and sweet. This is a post praising the makers of Leica cameras and the Leica system. I sometimes don't do that - of course it is generally just jealousy on my part over equipment that I can't afford to own. Sometimes over a design decision that owes more to the stylistas than the engineers. But today I have to say that I recognise a real winner of a product - this flash bracket that's on special in the Leica cabinet. I asked Sam which Leica it was for - it turned out to be the Type 240 - an M-series body. I was instantly smitten and saw the whole purpose of it in a second. You see, I cobbled up a similar rig for my own purposes using components that I found in here in CE and overseas in Bic Camera in Tokyo. It couples a Fujifilm flash to my Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera with more or less TTL . I use it whenever I want to get the flash off the top bracket for more directional light. Also, there are times when I want...

15 Feb

Posted at 05:54h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

You gotta give it to 'em for showmanship. Cheryl and Maureen from Canon Australia set up their mystery display at Camera Electronic's Stirling Street premises a half hour before noon yesterday - but they insisted that no-one got a look at it until the 12:00 o'clock embargo was lifted. Apparently there were two other Canon Australia representatives down at the Murray Street Store. They were all mysterious but good at their word - dead on 12:00 we got to see the new Canon mirror-less camera - the Canon EOS RP. They got a crowd. They also got media coverage - Jennifer Villa-Lobos was doing a two-handed live Facebook feed for the shop. Saul was there to let people know about a special offer in respect of the new camera - there are special accessory grips available for the camera. People got to handle the cameras and operate them. The camera seems to be a lighter and smaller model of their current new EOS R mirror-less line - perhaps aimed at the travelling photographer. As you can see it loses none of the functionality of...

14 Feb

Posted at 20:36h in Newsletter by [social_share]

The development of new firmware for the Nikon full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Nikon Z 7 and Nikon Z 6 has been announced today by Nikon Australia. The firmware in development includes new functions for the Z 7 and Z 6, such as Eye-Detection AF, RAW video output, and support for CFexpress memory cards. In addition, the cameras’ AF/AE functions will be further improved. The Z series will continue to flexibly respond to changing user needs and offer next-generation imaging experiences that stimulate users' creative intentions. Functions and capabilities to be added and improved with the new firmware: 1.     Support for Eye-Detection AF for still image shooting (scheduled for release in May 2019) Eye-Detection AF is convenient for portrait photography. The Eye-Detection AF in development will work not only with the AF-S (Single AF) focus mode that is convenient when photographing still human subjects but also with the AF-C (Continuous AF) focus mode, which is effective when photographing human subjects that frequently adjust or change their pose. What's more, the function is capable of detecting multiple eyes, from which the user can select the eye...

13 Feb

Posted at 09:17h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

What do you do on hot noon when the easterly wind is blowing a gale and the only smart place to be is under the air conditioner with a cold drink and a book? Why you drive to Jandakot airport and look at the student pilots having their lunch, of course. And note that the amateurs are smart enough not be trying to fly but the professionals are not so wise. Or so lucky. Jandakot is a bet - sometimes good and sometimes bad. It is accessed through one road that has a number of roundabouts and feeders that can clog up dramatically. Getting to work or to home after work must be a nightmare for the aviators. The lucky ones with helicopters and parachutes can hover over their house and jump, but the rest would be stuck in traffic for hours. The trial run today was either a brilliant flop or a miserable success - in either case I am indebted to the RFDS ( Another dollar in their tin at collection time. ) because they were not going to let...

12 Feb

Posted at 07:33h in Blog, Dick's Rant by [social_share]

Have I got this right? Can I fit any lens to the Fujifilm X-H1 and whirl it around on the end of the strap and still get pin-sharp pictures of the moon? Is that how the system works? Well, I shall find out, though I cannot wait until the next full moon - I'm going to experiment with the thing in broad daylight. The idea of a stabilisation system in a lens is no new thing - that's been on DSLR lenses as well as the mirror-less lenses for some years now. And it works - lots of times marginal shots have been saved by the lens being steadier than the photographer. And some makers have gone step further - putting stabilisation systems unto the bodies of their cameras so that any lens attached gets the benefit of the increased steadiness. Some have systems that combine the efforts of both lens and body to increase the effect. All these are to be applauded - particularly if you need to take steady pictures while you are clapping. The Fujifilm system up until the X-H1...