Those of you who have travelled to Margaret River or the Barossa valley may recognise the purple liquid filling the glass in our heading image - that's right; nasty old sour grape juice. You'd hate it - if anyone gives you a bottle, best send it to me and I'll dispose of it...
People of a certain age...
No matter which way it faces. You'll do better to be first or last. This didn't used to be the case, and it certainly doesn't apply to the military. With them, firsts, lasts, and volunteers are often fondly remembered once a year...
Find your house and draw a circle round it at a distance of 20 kilometres. See what places in that circle you regularly go to. Shops? Work? Cinema? Pub? Library? School? Rellies? You'd be surprised how much is in your little circle. Pretty much my whole metro circle of experience fits in there. I travel throughout it in my little car every week, paying quite a little price in petrol every month. I'll bet you're the same, and if your car is bigger than mine, your petrol bill is proportionately larger. I have started drilling for oil in my back yard but so far the hole is dry. Wouldn't it be nice if that petrol cost was turned off? If I was confident of my ability to steer a motor scooter, I think it could be. The Fonz electric scooter I saw in Wanderlust shop in Murray Street would be the tap that did it. It's not cheap in itself, but the fact hat it charges from the mains at home , and you get to use if repeatedly every day, means...
And I got cloooooose to it. It's the one that has just been brought out for my camera system this year and it is the most tempting item in Murray Street! The Fujinon 30mm f:2.8 is an XF lens - it fits Fujifilm APS-C cameras and integrates with all their functions. It's designed for macro as well as general purpose shooting - but the f:2.8 - f:22 aperture range is deliberately tilted to the close shooting. The macro workers need all the native depth of field they can get without going into diffraction loss - this is the reason for the choice. The lens is light - as many primes are - and features a useful automatic lock at the end of the aperture range - you can click this in and then select a shutter speed that will let you hold steady enough - of course the more modern users with IBIS bodies will get the most benefit from this as they can hand-hold to much lower speeds. Some macro workers - myself included - feel that this discipline should be shot...
And this time it's on the side of the good guys! B+W make camera filters and accessories -and now they have brought out a...
That old photographic nursery rhyme. But in the case of this accessory the song ends when the lenses do not all fall down...
You occasionally get fashion pronouncements that decry brown clothing. Or accessories, furniture, or shoes. Ignore these foolish complaints - sophisticated brown tones were the epitome of the Art Deco and streamline eras. They are still elegant. I have a camera bag made by Barbershop that is a in two brown tones - leather and canvas mixture. It makes everything I tote in it seem better. If I were going on a longer journey, or had more to pack, I would look seriously at the Gitzo backpack seen in the heading image. It is the Legende and it is a legend. Think a mirror-less camera body with a medium zoom. Add two more lenses, Add a 15" laptop, sling a Gitzo tripod from the side, add personal items , batteries, accessories. Heavy? Well it was 1.7 Kg to start with but you've loaded yourself down like a packhorse, so you'll know where your knees are at the end of the day. Next time pack lighter. But consider how good you look and how safe all that gear is right now. The thing is small...
Calloo, Callay. I have had a frabjous day. I got to try one of the new Sigma lenses for Fujifilm. The FX mount has been the exclusive territory for Fujifilm for a long time - since the X-Pro 1 started the system. I have dutifully bought, collected, and used the Fujinon lenses that operate with the mirror-less cameras ever since, and have never been dissatisfied with the results. I sometimes wish my 27mm f:2.8 would focus closer or my 35mm f:1.4 would focus faster, but I have to remember that some of the lenses in my cabinet are a few years old. And they ALL focus more accurately than my old eyes would do if they were just manual lenses. But what a thrill it was some time ago when FUJI RUMORS announced that Sigma and Tamron had come to an agreement with Fujifilm to produce some of their own lenses with the FX mount. Remember that Sigma and Tamron are not eBay bargain shops - they are full-fledged players in the optical industry and their products have earned a sterling reputation...
That's even better than getting in on the ground floor - as long as the basement isn't flooded or over-run with rats. How did this thought arise? I spoke to a staff member yesterday at Stirling street when I asked what was now or good - and while he could find three novelties, the interesting part for the frugal was when he mentioned that a very famous name brand camera was going at some remarkably low prices. I'm cynical about that but I've just looked at the CE on-line listings and compared it to what I saw in the shop that morning. He is right. There is always a difficult time for a manufacture when some great upheaval happens - a new technology ousts an old one, a worldwide financial stricture grips the system, a pandemic stops all the ships and trains. Some firms don't recover their confidence - some run out of money. Some are bought up by rivals and some just close down. Business...