23 Jun Retro Is As Retro Does
And in some instances it does very well indeed...
Blog
21 Jun Long Term Goals
As a little kid, long-term was an hour - if you could sustain interest and activity for that much time people said you were either a genius or a nuisance. The punishment for either personality was very much the same. Then came adulthood and the long commitments really started - take a look at a mortgage document and see what I mean. But a lot of this pales into insignificance when you look at what some photographers are prepared to do over a very long period. A case in point is Nick Melidonis' 2-decade dedication to photography of Greece. He's been a visitor there many times and helped other people to see the country. Of course his camera and lenses have been busy all that time - and Nick will open a free exhibition of some of the most representative results at a gallery in Fremantle. It'll be at the PSAS Gallery, 22-26 Pakenham Street, Fremantle. Opening times are to be 10:00AM to 4:00PM. The exhibition starts on 26 June and goes to the 4th of June, so you can squeeze in...
21 Jun Our Top Pick Of Drones and Drone Accessories
In just a few short years, the world of photography drones has advanced beyond anyone's expectations. A drone was once considered a specialist tech that was clunky and incredibly expensive. Today, things are very different, with enthusiast-level drones being compact and lightweight. Plus, they are now more affordable than ever. In addition, there's a growing range of consumer-level drones that offer intuitive pick-up-and-play controls. What's more, the images and video content produced by drones is elevating the photography game. Enthusiasts and professionals are adding drones to their kits to differentiate their content from the pack. They are applying drone imagery in weddings, events, real estate, and even landscape work. As you would expect, there's a vast range of first and third-party drone accessories available to optimise your experience. And we are not just talking about adding an extra battery to your kit - although you should grab at least one of those too. Let's dive in to take a look at our top pick of drones and drone accessories available at Camera Electronic. DJI's Air 2S Drone Drones are getting smarter and smaller, with...
21 Jun Pack Binoculars On Your Next Outdoor Adventure
When planning and packing for an outdoor adventure, most of us grab our trusty DSLR or mirrorless camera. Add to this some suitable lenses for landscape or wildlife along with fresh batteries and memory cards. But have you ever considered that you might be missing out on something? A handy addition to any wildlife or landscape photography kit is a pair of binoculars. Binoculars have come a long way since the models our grandparents handed down to us. Bulky, heavy and optically imperfect antiques have retired. These have given way to modern binoculars with the same level of build and optics quality as a modern camera lens. It is also astounding just how many styles and variants of binoculars there are. What’s more, brands such as Nikon, Canon, Olympus and even Leica develop precision binoculars. They all have a long history of making precision optics for more than just camera gear. There’s a lot to be gained from packing a pair of quality binoculars on your next outdoor adventure. For wildlife photographers, it provides a means to quickly scan a location and...
18 Jun Camera Electronic Reflections
Don't worry - this won't get maudlin. I remember the day the grizzly bear escaped from the circus and ran in to the Stirling Street Shop. I lasted 8 years on the staff and rarely mauled the customers...
16 Jun The Usual Suspects
Well, they knew it was coming, so we might as well get it over with. The staff at Camera Electronic could not well tun away when I turned up at the 50th Birthday Sellabration last Friday. They were gracious - or resigned - enough to pose for pictures. I am grateful. a. The number girls. These ladies crunch numbers all day. When you pay, they know it. When I get paid, they do it. Treat them with affection and respect. Now remember that someone has to put out the fires in the camera battery compartments and chisel the spots off the sensors...
14 Jun The 50th Birthday
Well, it wasn't quite as lively as a food riot, but it wasn't far off. The morning session at the Stirling Street premises of Camera Electronic had all the right ingredients for a good time - if you were prepared to take no prisoners., I checked in about 10:00 and the place was packed. Some of the packing turned out to be the staff , but a lot of it was customers...
11 Jun 50 Years In Business
Today they're having celebrations at the Stirling Street and Murray Street stores for the 50th anniversary of the company. I'm heading down to see what's going on. The advert that popped into my email feed promised store special discounts, new CE merchandise, and industry reps in-store to discuss their products with the customers. I'm a little concerned that it only hit the computer the day before the event, but I trust that people will get a chance to participate in the celebrations and deals all through the coming week. 50 years is a long time in the photographic business - it's a heck of a long time in politics or other professions as well. Think for yourselves of the regimes and public figures who have lasted less than a tenth of that time. Camera Electronic, the family who own it, and the staff who operate it, must have been doing something right to be here all that time. If that sounds like back-patting...
09 Jun Sam And Janet Evening
They may see a stranger across a crowded room - and somehow they'll know, even then, that they'll be photographing them again and again. But there's a problem - Sam has been welding pipelines for years while Janet has been the usher at the local Roxy - as a result of their jobs Sam can't see any colours duller than 90 on the saturation slider and Janet can practically see in the dark. They are continually fighting with each other over who left the seat up on the Photoshop program last. It gets worse. Sam has a big old DSLR that is practically glued to the factory program settings - he's managed to reset the colour and the rendering to ultra-vivid but other than that he just takes what it writes. It seems natural to him. Janet, on the other hand, has fine-tuned her mirrorless compact camera to see just above the threshold of vision - with a fine nuance of what might be red, blue, or green. No-one else is sure as the pictures look like barely tinted monochromes - we just...
07 Jun Taking Photos With A Balance Sheet
Today I am off to the WAMED ( Western Australian Middle Eastern Dance ) Grand Bazaar show at Victoria Hall in Fremantle. I've been asked to take pictures of the stage show for this last day of their big dance weekend. The hall is a great old Victorian theatre with a big balcony at the rear - it's hardly used for this sort of market and show so I can perch up there with a tripod and one of the Fujifilms ( also with a sandwich and a bottle of beer ) and record the acts pretty well undisturbed. This benefits the audience as well - I don't have to do my regular trick of balancing on a big Pelican case halfway down the aisle of the hall and get in everyone's line of sight. This year I did some comparison tests between the output of the Fujifilm X-Pro1 and the X-T2 and have decided that the optical viewfinder of the former makes it a better dance camera than the EVF of the latter. You can see the peak action of a...