I am grateful to Camera Electronic in general and Daniel Ward in particular for their ability to get me out of trouble. It is a condition I experience frequently as I operate photographic machinery. It's as well that no one trusts me with a motor torpedo boat or a herd of geese...
We are gathered here to hear Brother Williams speak to us of the wonders of Fujifilm. The border restrictions have eased and he is allowed out of the house - and just as importantly - back in again. As owners of Siamese cats will attest, this is a vital function...
Do you trust people who write camera columns? I sometimes wonder at them - they say everything is the best thing since sliced bread but they never offer you a free sandwich...
For the first time in the longest time I went into town on the free bus and free train ( Retired person gloating...
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;...
A little while back a new Sony mirrorless full-frame camera came to the shop - an evening's entertainment was laid on to introduce it to an avid crowd...
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...
Our virus year so far here in WA has been a strange one - locking down, lurking around, looking up...
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...
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...