18 Oct Lenses As Lenses Should Be – The GFX G Series
That sounds like a pretty broad statement...
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17 Oct Grab The Stick And Tally Ho
Not quite so fast, Biggles. There are still a few things to grasp - the first being the right-hand grip. All kudos to the Fujifilm design team for a perfect hold. There is enough bulk on the front and a very large thumb plate on the back...
16 Oct The Big Box Of Camera
Today starts a week of investigation into a camera system that has flashed upon the world for what is a relatively short period of time - the Fujifilm GFX 50S. Those of you who read this column regularly and know that I am a Fujifilm user may have been wondering why it has taken this long to appear. The answer's simple; there have been numerous other reports of the camera and lenses already in the technical, fan-boy, and forum-fighter press. People can get accurate information, biased information, and outright bad manners from other sources - frequently better written than here - and there was no point in just re-transmitting it. I needed to wait until I could investigate the devices myself in my own facilities. The opportunity for this was provided by the Fujifilm people this last week...
26 Sep The Mark III Olympus E- M10 – Easier Running Than Ever
You can do produce any size camera if you try. Whatever the designer draws, if a maker can enlist a crew of eight people and a recovery vehicle just over the horizon, they can send it out of the factory door. If they are wise they will wedge the door tight so that nobody can bring it back in again. It's different if a manufacturer wants to make something that is going to be successful - because part of that success will involve real people operating it in real time. And the simpler the interface, the better chance that it will work. That is the principle around some of the changes on the new Olympus E-M10 MkIII. Look at the front - the new hand grip is much more comfortable and much more secure - it is paired with a larger and more effective thumb grip at the back. Also note the clever engineering of the three adjustment wheels on the right hand side. They are somewhat similar in shape but have been differentiated in height to allow your thumb and fingers,...
07 Aug Fifteen Legs Week – Part One – The Happy Medium
This week you sell yourself a tripod. I'll help out here in the column, but you have to do the ( three ) leg work yourself. First thing you'll need to do is find your camera and see how big it is. if it's a moderately-sized DLR or mirror-less camera, read on today. This is your day. Your camera is not all that heavy, though it can gain some grammes when you put a long lens or zoom on it. You'll likely be thinking of astral photography, as well as landscape shoots. You want a tripod that is easy enough to carry out into the boondocks but still has enough stiffness to stay steady in a wind. If the operating field is muddy or wet, you'll want something that can c0pe with this. Waterproof tripods are not new to the market, and now that newer materails are avaiable for their construction, they can be within the reach of most people. There are still oddities like the ones that are built with their legs upside down, but these are rare. Sirui. Strange name, but...
27 Jul New Fujifilm 50 On Stage
I thought I would let the boys from The Goldfisch Studio* lighting department try out their new portable on-set lights to showcase the Fujinon XF 50mm f:2 R WR lens,, They're demons for gel lighting over at Goldfisch and I must say I can't blame them. Even old actors and actresses look good if you can get enough magenta and blue on them. And the visual appeal of a silver lens like the new Fujinon comes out all the more with the play of colours. The black version of this lens would look perfect with the black Versions of the Fujifilm X- Pro2, X-T , or X-T20, but you just can't beat the combination of the chrome versions on the X-E2s or the X-T10 or X-T20. Fujifilm are one of the makers who realise that aesthetic appeal of equipment is as rewarding to some as the performance. Oh,they can try to suggest modernity and brutal professional power in their designs - and that can be a bit amusing if the design includes a lot of plastic bits - but the wisest of...
28 Jun Welcome To The Fast And Silent
It is cold these evenings, and it takes a deal of energy to bestir yourself to go out and do something after dark. I kept this in mind as I watched the Northbridge Hotel function room fill up last night with Perth pro and enthusiast photographers. They were there to see the Sony A9 show and to find out what the new camera could do. It turned out that it could do a great deal for a specialist clientele - the people who need to shoot fast - moving subjects in poor light...
12 Jun The New Nikon In The Old Hands
As this is the 100th anniversary year for Nikon, I was delighted when Ricky Packham pointed out that the new Nikon D7500 had reached the warehouse shelves. Wasting no time, I grabbed one and a couple of likely lenses and departed for the studio. Note: it has been 7 years since the 7000 camera series started - and I have sold them to friends who have long surpassed me in their ability to take good pictures. Bit of a tactical blunder, that...
29 May The Big Digital – Fujifilm’s Mirror-Less GFX 50S
It's no secret that there is a rivalry developing in the medium format digital world these days. The older players have been joined by Fujifilm with their GFX 50S camera and its range of lenses. It stopped the show at last year's Photokina and is doing the same here in the shop. The good news for Perth photographers is that it is available readily - no need to wait until production builds up - and you can make a careful assessment of it by trying out the rental kit we have. It's got a big sensor - 43.8mm x 32.9 mm and it will throw 51.4 megapixels into your SD cards. You will need more memory to operate something like this, and more computer power, time, and storage to deal with the files. The shutters in the camera allow a range of anywhere from 4 seconds to 1/16,000 of a second - you can synch at 1/125th. It would make an awesome studio camera. Not a fast shooter, though - max of 3 fps. You can choose between 100-12,800 ISO in the standard...
22 May Just Glorious Graphite
“ Just Glorious ” is not the sort of thing that you generally want to read in a photographic analysis column. Figures on sensor size and density, autofocus speeds and EVF refresh rates, MTF charts…all these are the meat and drink of the avid internet reader. “ Just Glorious “ is the sort of language that you expect from a travel writer or music reviewer. But you’re getting it here based upon several factors; the appearance and the function of this Fujifilm camera have called it forth. It’s not a fresh chassis - the Fujifilm X-Pro2 has been with us for several months now - long enough to garner the first of its Fujifilm ‘ kaizen ‘ firmware updates. I have no idea whether the camera that I got to use in the Little Studio is running on those updates or not, but I can report that it is running magnificently by all means. I’m not entirely unfamiliar with the brand, nor of the lineage - I own and use a Fujifilm X-Pro1 for lots of things. I can find my way around...