When I started shooting events in the field in the 70's I fell upon the electronic flash with glee - it was so much better than the bulb flashes that I'd used prior to that. Of course it gave a different look to the images - harder shadows for one, and a cooler and more consistent colour temperature. In those days, the WB was set by the film manufacturer and you changed it via filters...
The upcoming Birdlife Photography conference in Fremantle - 21 and 22 September - set a bell ringing in my budgie cage. I remembered a lens I had seen on the Panasonic shelf at our Murray Street Store and it seems as if it was made in Heaven - or Yamagata - for the dedicated bird photographer. Before we get onto that, go to the BirdLife site and look at the fun to come: https://www.birdlifephotoconference.org Remember that you get cheaper prices on your tickets if you book early. So, the lens. The Panasonic 200mm f:2.8 Lumix G lens...
It's always thrilling to be given a big chunk - whether it's chocolate, motor car, or money. I would be out of my depth with all three, but I figure I could cope better with a camera - thus I was delighted to handed the new Panasonic S1R camera with a 50mm lens when I visited the Murray Street Store. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Panasonic cameras always intrigue me - I had one briefly a few years ago - and any new evocation of their top range is worth looking into. But in the case of the S1R I'm afraid the looking into becomes looking at. It is somewhat beyond my league in price and bulk. Not that it is the biggest or most expensive of cameras - there are still larger and dearer ones on the market - but it is getting up past what Panasonic used to aim at. I suppose that is the way of the trade - though it is interesting to see some makers downsize their designs while other boost theirs. And...
And this time it's not the maple syrup - it's the vexed question of what lens to get whan you have no idea - no idea what you you will be taking pictures of, what your camera can do, where you'll be going, or why you want the pictures. If this sounds a bit vague...
Not where I come from, it isn't. Mind you, we tended to put maple syrup on everything. I'm surprised I still have teeth, eh? More to the point, is it a pancake lens if it actually amounts to a standard focal length? Should it be a wide angle if it is going to be short-coupled? Is there another name we can apply to it? Yes. I call the Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f:1.7 ASPH II the fighting lens. It is just a little bit shy of a standard lens for the micro 4/3 sensor...
More to the point, do I agee with a lady who writes for DP Review about a product that someone else makes. Do you agree with either of us? After Christmas dinner, Boxing Day barbeque, and New Years Eve buffet, will anything ever agree with me ever again. Or is it a lifetime of Mylanta? Well the chief topic of this controversy is a Panasonic product. It's a micro 4/3 camera and associated lenses that comes into the portable/enthusaist category as a new product. It's the direct successor of several previous models - building upon their form and with many of their unique features. And for me, it is recollection of the past - I was allowed to use one of the previous cameras on a trip to Japan. While I could not retain it until now, testing the new evocation has answered a lot of quetions formed at the time. The camera is the Panasonic GX9K - mirrorless interchangeable lens with a micro 4/3 sensor. It is formed with an EVF at the upper left corner and small enough to be considered...
Like the nose you need not pick, the fight you need not pick is a dark place, best avoided. This can be difficult for photographers when the manufacturers of cameras would like you to become passionate about something. In most cases, the passion they would like to foster in you is the desire to spend money. Of course you understand that this refers to the recent introduction of 24 x 36mm sensors into mirrorless cameras...
Eye Eye, Captain. Sorry about the tortured jokes, but the weather is cold and we've run out of rum. The reason the word " eye " has been mentioned is that the camera today - the Panasonic Lumix TZ90 - has a real live viewfinder for your eye - as well as a fully tilting 180º LCD screen. This is still a pocket camera - though like the Nikon Coolpix A900 it has bumps and protuberances. You'll not get it in your jeans pockets but the good old sports coat inside pocket is fine. You'll note the metallic grey finish - sort of halfway between the silver of the Canon and the black of the Nikon. You'll also note the 30X Leica zoom lens, onboard flash, manual focusing for macro shots, 4K video, and the first of the really useful thumb rests. PASM and art filters to while away time with. What you won't see is the post-shooting focus ability - this camera can take multiple frames to let you select the peak of focus. It can also take stop motion animation. And...
We're lucky at Camera Electronic - we still have ties to the chemical side of photography. Unlike so many stores that have embraced digiatalisation, we find that it pays to remember the older analog processes. There are a steady stream of clients who also remember this and pursue their art in that way. Thank goodness they are also supported here in Perth by good professional laboratories like Fitzgerald Photo Imaging. The delights of a good film camera are not debarred from us. And sometimes we discover some interesting things on the shelves: A. The Ilford company...
Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we plant roses in garden beds and enthuse over them? The plants are 98% stabbing pains for every 2% bright colour or sweet odour. And their demonic spikes do nothing to deter their natural enemies - the aphids. Aphids climb over the spikes with impunity. The rest of us lose jumpers and forearms to them. Here's the only thing in the front yard that was not clawing at me. Ah, well, at least the things provided a little colour for the Panasonic GX-9K camera and Lumix G 30mm f 1:2.8 ASPH Mega O.I.S lens. This is serious micro 4/3 stuff with a dedicated close-up lens - expect perfection. And perfection that is easy to use in a walk-around package. Of course, if you are a dedicated photo enthusiast, easy to use, convenient, and simple are terms that mean nothing to you. The real zealot will carry lead-acid batteries, GPS unit, softboxes, and studio strobe kits up the side of a mountain to capture a toadstool. You may complain bitterly if your designer coffee...