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20 Nov

Posted at 09:26h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I presume we all know what a Zoom meeting is by now. Those of you who have not experienced one yet during the virus lockdown period please put your hands out on the table. My assistant will move through the room hitting them with a claw hammer. Most zoom meetings feel like this, but not as nice. You can see why I was a little hesitant to sign myself up for the Leica zoom meeting last night. It was advertised as a launch for the Leica Q2 Monochrom camera - promised for several weeks with proper registration and code numbers an everything. I signed up as a matter of reporter's interest and got in a cask of cheap wine in preparation for the ordeal. Leica Australia were good enough to send email reminders that it was coming up, so I had no excuse. The day dawned, the hour rolled up, and the code went in. Lo and behold, the screen opened up on a chap from Leica speaking about the camera while showing the new device next to its colour - capable sister;...

18 Sep

Posted at 10:15h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

I like to go to the camera events at CE when there is something new in the offing and the local representatives have a worked up a slide show and sample to introduce it. There is nearly always something to eat and drink and equally, there is nearly always something new to learn. Wednesday night was no exception. Sheryl Maugher is now working for the Sony people and she brought along the full-frame Sony Alpha 7s III camera*. As well as the factory slide show she was able to list all the new features of the camera. The surprising thing was that, though it is certainly suitable for still photography, the Sony concept is much broader and envisages this camera being used for some high-end video work. The first clue to this was when she said it has 12.1 megapixels on the sensor. 12.1? In a day when other cameras are being pressed upon us with 45+ megapixels? And this on a full-frame 24 x 36 sensor? By the people who make sensors for everyone else?  With a new Bionz XR processor? What...

05 Mar

Posted at 08:51h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

What have we here? Exactly the camera I have been waiting to test! And no-one told me it was lurking in the Fujifilm cabinet.  Luckily I peer everywhere in the Camera Electronic shops and always have done. I would recommend it to all the readers. You can discover more in Stirling and Murray Street than you can wading through a steamy jungle. The new Fujifilm X-100V is here in silver with the black version set to arrive in a few months. You can decide yourself which looks best to you, but I must say the silver is elegant. If you are an Adobe user you'll be restricted at present to the jpeg settings - ACR on lightroom doesn't open its RAW files yet. I daresay this is coming soon. No matter- the Fujifilm jpegs are excellent and the camera seems to cope very will with exposures under varying lighting conditions.   The two front views of the camera show it to be very similar to the basic outline of the previous X-100 series cameras. You'll be hard pressed to see the subtle casing differences...

27 Feb

Posted at 09:24h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

If you go to the right places and keep your eyes open you learn something. Tuesday night last at Camera Electronic was one of those places when Michael Philips and Daniel Carson presented the new Nikon D780 body to the audience. I was sorry for Michael because I think the thunderstorm that hit Perth just before dusk kept a lot of potential viewers away. I was sorry for me when I tried to drive in Vic Park just after the thing went through...

14 Feb

Posted at 09:44h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

This week I got to satisfy my curiosity about the light-titanium coloured Fujifilm X-Pro3 - there was one ready in the sales cabinet in Stirling Street. I popped it out and attached an XF 50mm f:2 R WR lens - one of the silver-finish models. I wanted to see how close the two light colours are. Well, not that close. The phenomenon of a silver-finish body having a different appearance from the lenses that are made to go on it is not just a Fujifilm thing. You can see it with Olympus and other cameras. My dear old Leica M2's chrome finish didn't exactly match the barrel on the 50mm collapsible Elmar back in the day either. The closest I ever saw were actually Kodak Retina Reflex cameras and some Contarex models. If you are afflicted with OCD - Obsessional Chromatic Disorder - you can always opt for plain black for both body and lens. Like Coco Chanel, you'll never be out of fashion. You decide whether the appearance is for you. Be aware that the toughened Duratect finishes are very tough indeed...

29 Jan

Posted at 07:57h in Blog, Dick's Rant by

Let's face it. With Olympus there is always going to be something new coming out. As with many other manufacturers, the have rolling program of new and updated equipment that takes advantage of new sensors, new circuitry, and new operational features. They spread these over several levels of sophistication in their products and try to have something for everyone to buy. And that's the operative term: buy. They make, you buy, they have enough money to make more. In this case you are buying a new version of Olympus's OM-D E-M5 camera...