Of Course You Can't...But Here Is Your Chance Anyway.

Never let it be said. At least not by you. And if someone else says it, go deaf.

There are any number of things that you can't do, but if you can maintain a healthy level of ignorance you can generally accomplish whatever it is that you start. Once you admit doubt and accept advice you are sunk.

It is the Wiley Coyote principle - you can run as far over the cliff as you like but once you look down that is where you go.

A case in point is one of the staff members who wanted a bowl of home-made chicken soup. Not having ever made it before he gathered the haziest description of the process, and a chicken and ran full-tilt at the problem. He appears to have succeeded, if the big bowl of chicken noodle soup and kneidlach that he put in the fridge is any indication. We shall be testing his skill at lunch time. If the shop is closed tomorrow, you may draw your own conclusions. I am willing to try it, but I ain't lookin' down...

Similarly, the owners of digital cameras can exercise the same courage and resolution by skim-reading their camera manuals, closing one eye and reading Ken Rockwell, and pressing all the buttons in the menu. I am doing that right now with one of  the Fujifilm cameras that I have - unfortunately the computer system I have is too old to support the RAW file for this camera, though it does support the files for the other two Fujifilm cameras in the stable. I am in jpeg only, though you must remember that Fujifilm jpegs are wonderful files.

My computer system is also of a type that does not show all the gazillions of colour variations that the professional EIZO monitors do, so I am going to restrict the colour space of the camera to the gamut that the screen can use - and that my screen readers can see - and see if it makes a difference to the actual end result. Some will decry it, and advise against it...but then they said that about shelling Verdun and that worked out pretty well in the end.

Here Come De Judge - With Epson And Eizo

Did goe to the Fremantle Camera Club last night and was greately entertained.

It is always gratifying to be asked to a club to judge competition photographs as it is a sterling opportunity to crush the spirits of the hopeful while selling them more equipment. Plus you get coffee and a biscuit at half-time.

I have expressed reservations about judging in " Here All Week" but we have to remember that even the barest reservations sometimes cover vast oil fields and for the better sort of coffee and biscuit I can be as oily as required. And in truth, I learned three things of value last night.

The competition pictures for projection were sent to me on a CD and I looked at them on my home monitor, making notes as I went. In many cases I was pleased with the overall image but thought them too dark, and made recommendations based on this. Then when the images were shot up n a good screen with a good Epson projector I saw how wrong I was. I had my monitor at home set too dark. Lesson one. Perhaps it is time to go and get an Eizo monitor.

Lesson two was watching the display of the printed images in a separate room. The venue had inadequate down lighting but the clever club people went and got Bunnings halogen work lights, directed them onto the white ceiling, and got an even and flattering overall illumination. As prints are made or ruined by their illumination, this was a very good idea.

Lesson three was the home-made illumination box used to present the prints one at a time for the audience to see during the commentary. I was the commentator so the speech was nonsense, of course, but the images looked wonderful. If you cannot make a dedicated illumination frame, get a Grafilight and do your best.

In the end, the standard of the piccies was very high, and I hope I was able to assess them correctly. The winners shook my hand heartily and the losers chased me down the lane with torches and pitchforks so I think the evening was a huge success.

Hurray For the Free Bee!

Here are a couple of announcements to gladden the heart and fatten the wallet of Camera Electronic customers. The Free Bees have flown back to the shop courtesy of the EIZO and Epson people.

EIZO make monitors - some of the very best in the business - and from time to time change and improve their model line-up. But they are not all serious colour-accurate technological experts - they like to go play sometimes and they want t you to do so too. Sooooo,

The EIZO people will be offering a FREE GoPro Hero white camera outfit valued at $ 269 with all ColorEdge with CN orders. This will apply to models CG246, CG276, CG223W, CX240-CAL, CX270-CAL, and CS230-CAL.

This offer is on right now and will go to the end of financial year - the 31st of July 2013.

Now the Epson people make printers and scanners. I know - I own one of each - and I feel myself particularly qualified to announce the next Free Bee Actually it is a Cash Back Free Bee and that is all the sweeter.

The Epson Photo Stylus R 3000 printer is a wonderful A3+ inkjet printer. It will do rolls, disks, sheets, and slabs. It has useful-sized ink cartridges that are not world-shatteringly expensive and the quality of the printing straight out of it is superb. Getting a correct print out of it is the least fight of any printer I have used and to some extent makes a lot of the complexity that is peddled about printing irrelevant. that is a the wrong thing to say when we are supposed to be experts....but the pleasure of just dropping the paper in and getting the print out is wonderful.

Anyway, Epson want to sell more, and to do so have offered $ 200 cash back if you get one of these printers between now and the 15th of July 2013 - you send them proof of purchase before the 30th of July 2013 and they send you real government money that you won't get arrested for spending. If you elect to purchase  a set of additional inks for the printer at the time of initial purchase - these are the 157-series - you get back and additional $ 200 - making $ 400 all up.

Now if you have bigger ambitions and want a heavier printer that will go up to A2 while still doing rolls, think of the Epson R 4900. This will get you a cashback of $ 500 in between now and July 31 2013.

SO - buzz in and gather up the honey....errr... I mean money.

Uncle Dick