Camera Electronic On The Battlefield Of the Future

Here at Camera Electronic we are proud to be able to say that we are at the cutting edge. We bleed frequently.

A new product in-store will make this all happen faster. We have taken delivery of the Phantom - a four-rotor drone system capable of lifting a small digital camera. It has space on-board for a GoPro camera and is controlled by a digital radio-control set.

The average photographer may not have experience flying a spy drone but the makers of the Phantom are confident that the skill can be picked up easily. Those readers who have built radio/controlled aircraft, helicopters, or boats may be a bit skeptical about this, but they are not selling the Phantom. In any event the Phantom is equipped with  GPS system that will sense when it flies too far out of the range of the transmitter - if this happens it takes control and returns the aircraft to the launching point.

There are 4 powerful motors lifting the Phantom and the propellor rotors are readily replaceable when you crash. If you are concerned about slicing through a sunday school picnic on the local oval with 4 razor sharp whirling knives there is a set of optional prop-guards. Spare batteries are quite inexpensive.

The light weight of the GoPro cameras is perfect for this sort of platform. You can record amazing detail with these on the ground or water so the results from the air should be great.

Please note we are not authorised to sell HVAR, Hellfire, or other air-to-ground missiles. You will have to be content with using the Phantom for surveillance over obstacles.

Underslung

" Ye canna beat the laws of physics, Cap'n. Ye canna mount a long telephoto lens on the average ball head or three-way head and move it about wi' ease. It'll fa over ever time. On yer heid. "

You can, however, mount the lens with the pivot point at or over the center-line of the lens and then lay it with ease - provided you have divided the weight fore and aft of the pivot. This is the principle of the wimberley-styled head.

One of the neatest we have seen recently in the shop is the Induro. Standard 3/8" hole on the bottom and 1/4" thread on the top but an infinity of up/down and fore/aft adjustment to balance the lens. Firm secure lock in final position if that is what you need - easy movement if you are following a target.

Perfect answer for wildlife, birds, and sports.

Go Away - Some Other Time

Some people go other places to take photographs. I go other times. Here is a chance for you to do it too.

The Balingup Medieval Festival is being held in Balingup  - in the state's southwest - on August 24th and 25th. It is a Saturday and Sunday event that attracts stallholders, players, fighters, dancers, faeries, and the local population. I was talking a few years ago to Cletus about this, and he said it was the high point of their Balingup year - I believe him.

The food is pretty good - there is a local winery that makes fruit wines from their own trees. The cherry wine is lovely, the peach wine is memorable, and the orange liquid will strip the chrome trim off an Oldsmobile bumper. There are a number of local producers of cheese, jams, and the sorts of unidentifiable sweets that are generally sold at CWA fetes. The German sausage stand is worth the price of admission - by the way they DO charge for admission....this is the high point of the year, remember...

But there is plenty more to eat - the coffee stalls, the French patisserie people, the churro and Mexican food. The stuffed potato man is the friend of mankind, particularly on cold mornings.

What about the entertainment? Apart from the stalls selling new-age trinkets and plastic swords, there are soap sellers, scent sellers, wine cellars, and Peter Sellars. No, apparently I am wrong there...

The Grey Company - those are Greyco people you see in the pictures - have real heavy metal fighting shows twice a day and the the other  costume societies are there to hit each other with plastic batons too. If you want to take pictures of the SCA or the DarkSun groups any small compact will do as it is not generally necessary to focus very quickly - they don't move much. If you want to get real medieval fighting photos try to get to the front of the crowd for the Grey Company shows

A DSLR or one of the new Fuji or Olympus mirrorless cameras is the go - they focus quickly and you can get a fast lens that let you have a shallow depth of field if you want to isolate faces. I would suggest 400-800 ISO even in daylight to boost the shutter speed - you will be amazed at the speed with which the swords and spears fly in a fight. I would also suggest a fill flash when the sun is out - the meters on the cameras see the highlights off the armour and shut down a little. Fire a flash into the shadows.

The best capture of the fight is the first clash - just before the combatants close completely in - and the finish when the final death blows are delivered. Expect dirt and sawdust to fly in all directions particularly in a melée and don't be surprised if you get pelted.

An 18-200 lens on an APSC camera is perfect and a 24-70 on a full-framer should get you what you want. The shows last about half an hour so put a good card in there to capture the action.

Please DO listen to the announcer, Paul. He will tell you to stay away from the protective ropes because the Grey Company swords and spears and billhooks and halberds are real steel. If you are too close and one hits you,  expect to get value from your health insurance contributions and a valuable life experience that you can ponder over for many years...

There is a daily parade of all the festival royalty and a speech by the King of Balingup. Don't miss that speech. It is the high point of the Balingup year...

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...

Micro Sports Bag For Maximum Comfort - Lowepro Sport

Sold a bag the other day to an active photographer. She bought it with the need for a very light but sturdy container for hiking - something that would hold a DSLR and a couple of lenses but not weigh her down in itself. She chose one of the Lowepro Sport types and went away very happy.

Got me to thinking if there was one from their range that had a similar configuration but was aimed more at the photographer that would be carrying a micro 4/3 or other mirrorless camera system. It turns out that the Flipside Sport 10L is the one.

Flipside defines it as a bag that has the main compartment zip opening toward the body and Sport is the name that Lowepro use for their light nylon-covered packs. I suspect the 10L means that it holds 10 litres of gear. This could be scientifically measured at the pub but I am confined to the editorial desk. Suffice it to say there is a good space in there for a mirrorless and as many lenses as you like, as well as a flash.

The side flaps are a general purpose pocket on the right - including a space for a hydration bladder and delivery tube - and a tripod pouch on the left side.. The usual weatherproof cover is tucked into the bottom of the case. The internal camera tray comes out and has its own integral rain cover.

The shoulder and lumbar areas are open-cell foam covered in nylon mesh - they evidently expect you to get sweaty and they are giving some relief to the areas that bear the weight.

Note on the shoulder straps that there are two "D" rings to which you can attach camera straps.

Final fillip is the pair of multipurpose hook and cord straps on the outer back that can be used to secure loose articles of clothing.

These seem to be available in a bright orange or a blue-grey. A very good prospect for the active lightweight traveller.

Sticking To Your Post - With Manfrotto And Cullmann

Saturday night last was a  revelation for me. I attended a hafla - a dance show for Middle Eastern dance - at a local school auditorium. The evening was four hours of wonderful dancing to terrible music by talented dancers in colourful costumes. I hasten to add that the experience is not new - I do a half dozen of these a year. What was new was the equipment I took along.

Camera the same, flash the same, flash bracket the same...even the same old sandwich and bottle of beer in the camera case. The new bit was the monopod.

Four hours of holding a heavy DSLR rig is no fun, particularly if you are in a kneeling rifleman's position. Eventually your arms start to ache. This time I supported the weight of the camera and flash assembly on a Manfrotto carbon-fibre monopod and only had to concern myself with the zooming and firing. I was able to sit on a chair for some of the time as well, and my toes thanked me for it.

The one worrisome point was the fact that I had the camera in landscape position for most of the evening - fine for the wide shots when the whole troupe comes out, but it meant some cropping for portrait orientation on individual dancers. Fortunately my Nikon camera at 400ISO will support this sort of trimming and the resultant images should be all that the dancers could desire.

Oh, the blessed relief to be able to let the Earth support the weight and just move the camera around.

It struck me that the video people would also appreciate this facility with the dedicated Manfrotto monopod you see in the heading photograph. The thing stands fully a man's height and is in itself heavy enough to take even large video rigs. The fluid head means smooth pan and tilt and the monopod is equipped with a very wide-pread foot for use in boggy ground. There is a self-centering mechanism in that foot that basically allows the monopod to stand upright of its own accord, as long as there is no camera on top.

I know that sounds silly, but it allows you an extra degree of flexibility when you are mounting our dismounting the rig if no-one is there to stabilise it for you. You can't expect it to balance the full rig without you holding on.

I know monopods are not new to Perth photographers, and they are in the basic pack of many sports shooters. But there may be far more uses for the theatre and wedding people - particularly if they want to make use of lower light and a slower shutter speed. I know I was able to drop my basic speed to 1/15 second for the dancers - the flash froze them, the background burned in, and there are the occasional little speed lines where a fringe of beads moved. Magic.