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November 2022

30 Nov

Posted at 08:46h in Blog by [social_share]

I have occasionally been accused of superficiality with the posts on this page. I'm proud of it - being super at anything is an achievement. Likewise in my photography - it may not be much, but it is something. If it was not for me, other people would have no idea how good their work is. I don't judge them - I serve as their horrible example. Artistic excellence is a hard thing to qualify - though the people who strive for prizes certainly attempt to do so. Likewise the quantification of the art is the goal of many working photographers - a steady exchange of images for money. Few people who try to cut out the intermediate stages and just print their own money succeed - fewer still when they restrict themselves to coins. Do you find yourself taking things all too lightly - or so seriously that you've lost all joy? If it is the former, people will pull you up on it - particularly if you are doing something for them. A certain dedication is expected when you're serving others....

21 Nov

Posted at 07:54h in Blog by [social_share]

There is nothing so comforting for a studio photographer as the sound of a furious gale lashing at the windows of the camera room. They sit there with a cup of tea and think about the sports photographer on the sidelines under a dripping tarp - or the wedding shooter under a dripping tree. They may also add the landscape shooter lost in the bush, the seascape panorama photographer trying to dig their car out of the beach sand, or the architecture shooter freezing at 4:00 AM waiting for the first light on the new building. Good times, and they're not having to endure them...

18 Nov

Posted at 07:49h in Blog by [social_share]

Fridays Studio, Wednesday Night, Hasselblad X-D2 on show. Beers and cheers and a new camera to try. The evening was a while coming the Hasselblad expert was delayed in the eastern states last time and we sat on tenterhooks waiting for this evening. The distributors, C.R. Kennedy - and Camera Electronic took the Fridays studio space on a pretty balmy evening to show off the new medium format body and one of the new Hasselblad lenses. It was a show and tell and then a shoot and try session.                   The new camera body carries on the design from the X-D1 with a very similar, if slightly different shape. The main features like mount are the same but there is a host of new features that improve the performance of the camera. If I get any of these wrong it is because the studio space was only fitfully lit and I was scribbling in the dark...

16 Nov

Posted at 07:32h in Blog by [social_share]

We often her the phrase " deal-breaker " when someone reviews new equipment - it's intended to express discontent with something in the design. We should be fair - there is also the "deal-maker " feature as well. Manufacturers hope that every aspect of their new cameras, lenses, or accessories will be attractive. In some cases they are - and that can come from as early in the manufacturing timeline as the design department or the technical developers. Further input can come from the accountancy people and the marketing bureau. When everyone works together well, the customers sit up and take notice. What happens when one part don't work? Well, the traction that the new product was meant to have starts to slip. Two departments miss their targets and the goods start to fade away. You might only see a brief mention of them, and then something else sweeps the general attention away. So what do you, as a potential customer, do? How can you do yourself good when new products are announced. Herewith a brief guide: a. Read the net every day....

14 Nov

Posted at 09:30h in Blog by [social_share]

And Fujifilm fixed it. I have been using Fujifilm cameras for quite some while now in the field and studio. I've accommodated myself to the menu and set most of the controls on the cameras to fit my preferred way of working. You'll have done so with whichever camera type or make that you use. All good Note: If that last sentence doesn't ring true - if you have just gone with the defaults that were on the thing - or never ventured past what the camera shop salesperson may have cranked in just before you left the shop - pause and consider. Are the camera and lenses doing what you want to do - in a way that makes it easy for you? No need to be sheepish...

11 Nov

Posted at 09:28h in Blog by [social_share]

I asked a delicate question of the OM System representative at the start of a recent camera night; Should I mention the name Olympus in this post? He said " yes ". The new products from the factories will bear the name OM System, the lenses will still carry the name " Zuiko " and the history of the Olympus brand is a very proud one. The graphic palette for marketing will not change, the menus and buttons will not change, and the ergonomic learning that Olympus users have built up over time will not be lost. The micro 4/3 lenses will all work just as well as ever they did - and that means they work very well, indeed. And the buyers of the  OM-1 and now the new OM-5 will have more than ever in new processor power and features within the camera bodies. If you were hesitating about entering the system, or about upgrading your camera behind your lenses, now is a very good time to reconsider. The visitors on the night were Olympus users from way back - the...

09 Nov

Posted at 07:48h in Blog by [social_share]

Camera Electronic had two touch-and-try sessions for the new Fujifilm X-T5 camera on one day - one at Murray Street and one at Stirling Street. I saw the Stirling show and was interested to learn of the composition of the audience for the one in town. Our marketing manager says that a great many people were already Fujifilm owners, and predominately of the X-T2 . Now why are they coming out to see the new X-T5 especially? a. It is a new Fujifilm camera that is photo-oriented - but with very good video capability attached. This is very much like the X -T2 and the X-T3. b. It is a camera that has a similar size and weight to the classic X-T2. As with all camera makers, Fujifilm found that the camera body size and weight were creeping up with the X-T3, X-T4, X-H2s, and X-H2. More stuff in the insides, more heat, more size, more weight. Nice to see the trend reversing a little. c. It has the classic dial-oriented style of Fujifilm. Shutter, ISO, and aperture are all rotary controls. They have...