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23 Aug

Posted at 09:25h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

Every so often I find a cache of goods in our storeroom that do not sit on the racks downstairs - there is only so much space inside a concrete building and you have to leave room for the staff to sidle sideways. But the fact that the items are not on general show doesn't mean that they should not be seen - someone may benefit greatly from them. The winner with today's find is the studio worker who will be using a really heavy camera and lens setup that needs to be both rock solid and reasonably compact. The Cullmann Titan TB 8.2 is all that and incorporates a unique feature to secure the camera. We've all gone to some trouble to make sure our cameras are secure on the tripods we choose - many people attaching quick-release plates or brackets to the bottom of digital cameras. These work fine, if the tripod head has a correspondingly sturdy shoe and grip to hold the thing. But many large format and oddly-shaped cameras don't sit well on quick release plates. They still...

22 Aug

Posted at 09:16h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

No, we didn't hire Mr. Metzinger to paint our heading image - his " Oiseau Bleu " is from 1913 and that's a bit before CE 's time. But we do have some cubes of our own at the Stirling Street shop: The Wandrd Camera Cube. This is listed as a bag insert container for their backpacks - but I suspect it could form a pretty good general carry case for round the town use or grab-and-go storage in the car. Peak Design also make a case they call a Camera Cube. This has thicker walls and more space inside for storage. I suspect you could pack an entire assignment's mirrorless body, lenses, and flash in there. Temptingly small for air travel...

14 Aug

Posted at 09:07h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

My weekly wander and wonder through Stirling Street was rewarded with the Wandrd backpack. It instantly attracted me with the fact that there is a variety of colours on offer. Black, dark green, and the blue you see here. Colour is a little thing for some but it can make all the difference in the attraction that a bag or garment has. But this pack actually has more to it that you'd think: You can see the outer surface with the long laptop slot - weather sealed. The two handles on the top are magnetically closed so you can heave it about easily. Watch the big hook on the top. It slides out of a loop to let the top expand to a clothing and general packing area. The straps are big, padded, and contoured - with an adjustable breast band. It has tape loops to carry pens, Pokemon figures, and percussion grenades. Be careful which one you pull free at any particular time. Note the little personal document pouch there closest to your person for security. Inside there is a...

13 Aug

Posted at 07:20h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I'm going to write a column for you, not for me. Normally I just write on the stuff I want and you get to read over my shoulder, but in this case it's for you. In the Stirling Street shop mooching about for a topic, and the new Profoto B10 Plus was suggested. Thats the unit you see next to the B 10 in the heading image - the longer of the two. I knew a little about the B10 from a launch that CE did of it a while ago - and then brushed up on the basic specs from the Profoto site. Note: if ever you wanted to know about studio and field strobe photography, the main Profoto web site and modifiers catalogue will tell you. Be prepared to spend time, if not money, on reading the advertisement part of it, but concentrate on their careful explanation of what their reflectors, softboxes, grids and fresnels do. It is one of the best and most logical illustrated guides I've ever read - and has busted a few of the misconceptions about...

12 Aug

Posted at 08:31h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

We all have worries about our size - even if we insist that we don't. The too-small want to be bigger and the too-big want to be smaller. The just-right are nervous in case they appear to be too average. And these mental games we play are carried over firmly into our shopping for cameras and lenses. We are helped out by the fact that the makers of the gear want us to buy more and can play this size thing to make the sales happen. Sorry to be crude there, but that's what it has been in many cases. This fact was recently pointed out by the editor of Pro Photo magazine when he wrote that sensor size is largely irrelevant. That'll set the cat amongst the advertising pigeons, of course, now that 24 x 36 frame sensors are becoming more common and even larger ones dubbed " medium format " are coming cheaper to the market. The sensor-size debate rages unabated. Yet the people who purchase images - the very reason that there is such a thing as professional photography...

08 Aug

Posted at 09:55h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

Camera Electronic has always been a good place to come to when you wanted to do a bit of peering. In Ron Frank's day you could do pondering as well, because sometimes the stuff on the floor or on the shelves was the sort of photographic gear that did not explain itself at first sight. I remember circling an automatic colour paper processor on a tea trolley ( we were not quite as sophisticated in product presentation in those days...

07 Aug

Posted at 08:46h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

These last two days I've been explaining and praising the secondhand sales of cameras - and the retail of ex-rental stock. You can also add the sales of ex-demo and refurbished stock from the major manufacturers. These sorts of sales and prices are all very similar. But it is time to trot out a few from the CE cabinet to prove the point. These are cameras seen recently at Stirling Street - all at good prices and all in extremely good condition. You'll recognise consumer, enthusiast and pro cameras there. Not the rejected pups that we might see in a pawnshop. Cameras that people want to own and use. And there will be flashes, lenses, and other accessories there as well - it can be a mixed bag in the pre-owned sections. There's even an underwater housing:  ...

06 Aug

Posted at 07:49h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

You know, once upon a time in Perth there was a thriving trade in secondhand photo gear - mostly cameras and lenses - and right in the centre of the town. Wizard Photos, Plaza, Alfred's Emporium, Jim Norman, Kevron, all had lots of secondhand cameras that moved in and out of their shops all year long. Of course they sold new equipment as well, but really the fun for the enthusiast was going past the windows or through the shops to see what had come in during the week - and then thinking whether it was a good idea to trade in what you had to buy it. Outside of the centre of town was Ron Frank in Camera Electronic in Angove Street, North Perth. One day he moved to Fitzgerald Street. And then one day to Stirling Street. In all of these premises he maintained an extensive secondhand dealership - and Camera Electronic still does. That's no mean feat nor is it a light responsibility. There are some pretty strict laws involved in a secondhand dealer's license and now Saul...