Nikon D4s In Stock Now

Folks,

Saul and the Rental Boys* - Thomas and Jason - asked me to mention that the new Nikon D4s is in stock now and an example is also available for rental.

High-speed, high-rate photography. Fashion shoots. Low-light shoots. Heavy duty photography. All possible with he D4s - it is the flagship of the Nikon fleet.

Call in now and try the best.

* Not a pop group, but it could be. Depends on the singing.

March To The Sound Of The Canon

You might wonder how much noise a Canon can make - in the world of motor sport, a very big noise indeed. We found out yesterday when we attended the Camera Electronic Canon workshop at Barbagallo raceway in Wanneroo.

The track is well-provided for the actual racers - we were there on a Motorcycle Club practice and tuning day. There is a function room at the start of the main straight with trackside seating - McCracken House - and we use it for a lecture theater and lunch venue.

Mark Horsburgh lectured us last year on basic race car photography but this year he added new discoveries in lighting with the Canon 600 speedlights. His work has a really new and sparkling look with these portable lights and it takes on very much of the studio illustration aspect even when taken out in the field. The ability to control three groups of flashes with radio transmissions rather than infrared is the thing...you can send the signal even in bright sunlight or around corners. My camera system uses the IR system and I am so jealous of Canon users...

Of course each year from Canon brings new lenses and bodies. The Canon reps bring some along and the troops get to fire them off out on the track. Mark mentioned trying something new each year himself - even to using tilt/shift and fisheye lenses in his work. Most of the motorcycle shots were taken using different types of telephotos but I did get some good views using a wide angle.

On the subject of the business of motorsport photography, Mark was quite candid about the time pressures and stress that are put on the shooters by the event organisers and the editors of various publications. It would appear to be a fertile field for experimentation but don't expect to eat regular...

Anyway, I took some views of the activities, including a very lovely model and an almost equally lovely set of photographers wearing fluoro vests. It was a great day and the results that the photographers got from the Canon lenses means that a number of them will be coming to talk to us over the shop counter.

Trackside With Canon

Last year's Canon workshop day seems to have been a success. We all trooped out to Barbagallo Raceway in Wanneroo and Mark Horsburgh gave a show and lecture on the art and business of motor sport photography. The Canon company reps brought a metric tonne of fancy lenses and the latest Canon bodies for the participants to try and Saul organised a couple of fancy motorcycles and a very attractive model to provide a studio experience as well.

Of course it was all about the course - it was a motorcycle practise event and there were subjects circling the track all day at high speed. There were cautious riders and show-offs. Fortunateley no-one came sideways through the spectators, but had they done so the photographers would have known what to do* - thanks to Mark's talk.

In any event, the participants took as many lenses as they could carry off the glass buffet and stationed themselves around the track and got deafened and covered in rubber dust and had a glorious time of it.
They took home great images as well as a great deal of knowledge.

Same again this year - the 8th of September. Cost you $ 199, we feed you lunch in between the lecture and the races. Ring up the shop to book - go on the website to book - bring your own camera or borrow one of the bodies on-site. Remember to bring a coupla memory cards - I'd guess an SDHC and a CF - and test out EVERY BLESSED THING.

Saul will be doing specials. We promise not to let him talk too long...

* Scream and run. Followed by duck and cover.

We Are Delighted To Announce - The New Nikon Lens

If you have enthusiasm for any of the following:

Air Shows
Surfing
Football
Tennis
Hoss racing
Wildlife
Birds
Safaris
Motor Racing
Surveillance Work

...you may be very interested in a carton of lenses that have just arrived in our shop. They are the new Nikon 80-400 VR lenses - the AF-S G lenses - that I reported in a previous blog. Here. Now. For sale.

I had the privilege of using one of the demo models of this a month or so back and was vastly impressed by the handling and speed of the lens - it is everything that we expect from the modern electronic Nikon lens. It should find its way to hundreds of camera bags and as fast as possible - this is the Nikon lens that answers the question Canon raised with their 100-400 lens in the past. It will remain to be seen whether this poses a new question.

I daresay a number of prospective buyers will now start the long process of reading every internet rumour and review for this lens - I expect them to arrive with Officeworks looseleaf binders full of printout from their investigations...( Complete with impossible prices from faraway places with strange-sounding names. Calling, calling, to meeeee...)

Sorry about that. Little burp of cynicism. Better now.

Never mind the reviews. Bring your body down here - together with your camera body - and clap our demo lens on it and take some pictures outside in Stirling Street. We have arranged for the BHP company to erect a test target on St. Georges Terrace for your convenience. You will be impressed by the new Nikon lens.

Uncle Dick

A New Canon Lens With A New Feature - In-Built

The Canon rumours have finally ground through the Canon mincer and we are to see the actual new product. Quite when remains problematical, but we will be told. Betting is end of May but remember what happens to people who depend on betting...

The lens is the new Canon EF 200- 400mm f:4L IS USM Extender 1.4x. It will replace the current 100-400 zoom lens. There are cosmetic differences to be seen in the illustration of the new lens - a deeper tripod foot for one and a circular zoom motion. There is a bulge on the left hand side of the lens just in front of the mount. Therein lies the real secret of the lens.

The bulge conceals an in-built 1.4x tele-extender element. If needed, it can be rotated into the light path, extending the focal length range to 280 to 560mm. It does cost one stop of light but remember that the subsequent downshift of the shutter speed can be adequately compensated for with the new IS mechanism in the lesn. You won't notice any inconvenience and you'll have a lot longer reach for animal shots.

They have reduced the weight of the lens through use of magnesium castings.

The convenience of this innovation will be at once evident to those people who have been faced in the past with demounting the old 100-400 and trying to prevent ingress of dust and moisture - not the thing does not have to be broken in the field and most of this dust will never get a chance to get in there.

This will be the lens for Africa and Alaska. And if they can get enough lions and rhinoceroses to emigrate to Anchorage, you can do it all in one trip...