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DSLR Tag

13 Mar

Posted at 01:18h in News by

How many of us get a tool kit with our new digital cameras these days? In the old film days it was common for the box containing the SLR or rangefinder camera to have a complete tool pouch including a stilson wrench, set of spanners, lens brace, film jack, and a bottle of optical antiseptic. In the case of some Kodak cameras you got a 8-round clip of .30-06 ball ammunition and a toothbrush.I think we are being done - nowadays you're lucky to get a battery charger and a squidgy little lens cloth with some. Even the instruction manuals are on a CD...

10 Feb

Posted at 00:20h in News by

Okay, your friend has come with you into the shop - or perhaps it is the other way round. You may have the whole fam damily in there as well, and that can make for distraction and pressure - better to just keep it to two customers and one sales person. Note: the sales person does not have to be the owner of the shop. The staff are perfectly qualified to help, teach, and bargain, and you gain nothing by waiting for the boss. In fact, you lose time...

09 Feb

Posted at 01:51h in News by

When we ask people to go out and use mirror-less camera systems on the basis of small size and weight we are sometimes forgetting that if you choose wisely, you can get both small size and light weight in a DSLR. The trick, as with this Nikon D3400, is to choose an entry-level camera kit.Frankly, My Dear, I do occasionally give a damn...

08 Feb

Posted at 01:21h in News by

Your mate who is buying their first DSLR as a kit camera may have heard of the Pentax name some years ago in the film era. It was hard to find a camera club, school, or group of enthusiasts in which a Pentax 35mm camera was not in use. That may have eased off a little in recent years - and I am not going to fire up speculation about why - but there is no reason why you should not set your friend out to look at the Pentax K-70 kit.Note that the pictures of the cameras this week show the boxes they come in. Not just to make use of the designer's art - this is to give the purchaser some idea of the size of the packaging that these kits require. You'll see that the Canon and Pentax offerings come in one box while the Nikon camera is separated from the lens. Makes no difference? Well, consider how much extra trouble it would be to haul that camera box through the airport, airplane, customs, hotel, etc if you...

06 Feb

Posted at 22:59h in News by

The One'a Dem series this week will showcase cameras that may be recommended to your mate with safety.I shall leave the manufacturer's representatives and fan-boy geeks to point out long lists of differences and advantages in their own favourite equipment in an attempt to gain superiority. The commonalities will be:a. Small - frame cameras. Your mate is a tourist with a family.b. Moderate 18-55 mm zooms.c. Automated operation. Your mate is not a great reader of instruction booksd. Actual availability. In-shop now. Your mate can have the camera before he gets on the Boeing.e. Affordable pricing. We need to leave spare cash for Bintang tee shirts and Jack Daniels at the duty-free. Today's kit is the Canon 700D. A bit bigger physically than the other cameras, and somewhat lighter. Of course, all three cameras have plastic-mount lenses of light construction, but if they are prepared to leave them on the mounts and not wear out the bayonet, the optics should actually do a very good job. The resolution, distortion, AF speed, and CA may not be up to the standard of...

06 Feb

Posted at 01:22h in News by

I like to think that the people who read this weblog column are astute professionals and keen amateurs. Enthusiasts in art and science - renaissance men and women who can turn their minds and hands to any task. Experts, in short.Unfortunately, the readers will also be seen as experts by some of their friends who are not as well versed in photography. They may be seen as a resource to be exploited when it comes time to choose a camera. Sort of a walking CHOICE magazine. Someone who can do the hard yards of thinking and make sure that their mate gets something fabulously good for hardly any money at all.Maaaaaate...

03 Feb

Posted at 00:14h in News by

Well, it has been a week since the motor sport workshop up at Barbagallo raceway, and you've been able to read some of the things that Manuel Goria told us about the techniques of shooting. Now here's the final bits of advice regarding the physical business of chasing cars.a. Where do they race cars? At car race courses. Some are good places for pictures, and some are awful ( guess which category Barbagallo falls in...

22 Jan

Posted at 22:27h in News by

We are not going to suggest that the clients of Camera Electronic should come in to buy stuff in a sozzled condition - far from it. It has been done, mind, but it was not a pretty sight to see. And it is hard enough getting the sales staff down off the top of the cabinets with a hockey stick at the best of times.But there is something to be said for the concept of the cocktail hour consultation. Pull up a shaker and I'll explain.Cocktails are made from a mixture of things - liquors, essences, fruits, mixers, etc. They can be very complex or very simple - provided the ingredients are good, they nearly always succeed. Okay, the pickled herring martini was a general failure but we still sold some in Holland...

10 Jan

Posted at 22:53h in News by

Those of you who followed the news from Photokina in 2016 - sent back in part by the management team of Camera Electronic and in part by the press departments of major manufacturers - will have been attracted to the new cameras and lenses shown. Lots of you will have zeroed in on new offerings and are starting to make vague plans to get something fresh...

10 Jan

Posted at 00:50h in News by

Back on the YouTube channel again today and two more of the Canon videos that explore the idea of laboratory experiments with photographers. By all means go to the youtube.com site and dial up:THE LAB: EVOLUTIONTHE LAB: DECOYWatch the first one first.When I did I was highly amused to see the rules - three simple objects to be photographed with Canon cameras and lenses by a series of photographers, but no-one was allowed to take the same photo twice. Essentially, as the props were used, they were used up. The items provided were:A banana.Some flowers.An egg.Bananas get peeled, flowers get trashed, and an egg - eventually - gets broken. And each person confronted with the history of what ever was in front of them had to make something visually interesting out of it. Most succeeded.Those of us who have worked with materials in a studio know pretty much how this works - certainly the still life and food shooters know all about time limitations on their subjects. Portraitists do too, even if they do not recognise the fact that people...