Peek A Boo*

Some of our customers want to do it all. They want to go on holiday with a small camera that is feather-weight, but has a massive zoom lens and an on-board flash and a touch screen and video and art programs and real-time light adjustments and an LCD electronic viewfinder and they are adamant that they will pay no more than $ 699.

We accede to their demands. With the Olympus Stylus 1 camera. All of the above and a control ring around the circumference of the lens that can be programmed to do different things. Plus a sweet little folding lens cover that automatically closes on itself like a flower when you turn the camera off.

The real seller feature for me is the finger and thumb dial you see on the upper right hand plate of the camera. It really is in the perfect position for the right hand as you operate the camera - unlike some of the compensation dials found on competitor's cameras. As you wizzle it around between finger and thumb you can see the light change in the viewfinder or in the LCD screen at the back. Woo hoo. Actual help just when you need it. No more taking a shot and chimping it several times before you get what you want. Just dial and shoot.

Note that there are several function buttons that you can use to change the camer'as mind without diving into the menu.

Note* Peek A Boo is fun with toddlers but it is a lot more fun if you do it to business men riding on the train from Mandurah...

Grandma's Camera

It is no sin to get older and to have grandchildren. Nor is it wrong to want to have thousands of pictures of them plastered over the house and the internet. It is, however, a dreadful and terrible thing to make those pictures look bad. Nowadays there is no excuse for the out-of-focus image with heads lopped off and the colour gone to mud. Modern cameras can do better than that...

But we older folk sometimes are not entirely up to the minute with the latest technology in cameras. We remember film and the simple camera that coped with outdoor pictures - the family gathered on the front lawn or at the dinner table. We pointed, shot, and let the chemist deal with the rest of the problems. The resultant prints went into albums and on the refrigerator and we were happy.

Well, take the chemist out of the equation - Heaven knows that we'll be seeing enough of them with our swollen, itchy, or leaky bits...we don't need them to be the arbiters of our images as well.

The camera that does it automatically, easily, and with clarity is the thing we need. If there are only one or two buttons to press, all the better - but we must have clean files on our computers or to give to the mall printer so that the grandies look like we think they look. Olympus has one of these that is perfect for us.

The Stylus SH 50 is small enough to be convenient but big enough to be easily grasped. It is precise and fast - press the button and it does the business right then. There is a long zoom lens in case the grandies are at the beach and a wide-angle lens in case we are on holiday  and get to the big scenic lookout. There is a flash that lets us take indoor images perfectly.

It does do video - just point and shoot. The video has good clear sound - in stereo. And it has a priceless asset - there is a shake-reduction device  it that operates no mater how we hold it - if we have a bit of a tremor it does not matter - the camera will smooth it out.

Best of all - it is on special now until Christmas at Camera Electronic for $ 314 complete. Just add a memory card and start shooting.

Smaller And Smaller

I am always amazed at the degree to which the Japanese designers of cameras succeed in miniaturising things. You see, I remember the Mamiya camera company's efforts in the medium format field and how they seemed to get bigger with each passing year. I do remember camping in the lee of an RZ67 for a week in inclement weather and was grateful for the shelter.

No such shelter from the Panasonic Lumix GM camera and lens. It is a micro 4/3 camera that has been reduced to he smallest compass yet. I will not say the smallest size possible as they will take it for a challenge and then the next one will fit in your nostril. No sense poking the extremely small bear.

As it is, this one is a beauty. Metal body, micro 4/3 mount, 12-32 lens. touch screen, 680 mAh battery, 2 custom channels, and Wifi built in. Stereo mic for video.built-in flash. makes BLT sandwiches. No, surely that can't be right...

Well, anyway, have a look at it. A real pocket beauty.

Tiny Cinema - Giant Results

By now a lot of people are familiar with tiny cinema.

No, I don't mean those boutique multi-cimemas that they cram into basements - where you get 6 seats and a slushy machine and pay $24 for a ticket to a movie for French people sitting around a table eating*...I mean machinery to let you make your own motion pictures via video. Without having to have a Technicolour camera and a crew of fifteen to operate. Little cameras.

Some people use handicams. Some people use compact cameras. Some people use DSLRs. All good, but not many of them can produce images and operating streams that are good enough to go on a really big screen - professional work.

Black magic make a big camera that can do just this. It's big, sleek, takes Canon lenses and lots of audio feed. They also make a very small camera that can do this - the Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera.

Get a largish pocket if you want to keep the micro 4/3 lens on it, but if you don't mind demounting the optics you can indeed slip it into a shirt pocket. The illustration has a beautiful Panasonic Lumix 12-35 lens but remember that you could put an Olympus or Sigma lens on as well. And it needn't be a zoom - a pancake 18 or 20mm is available.

Whaddaya get in the camera? 1080P. Lossless CinemaDNG RAW files, and SDXC recorder,Apple ProRes 422 (HQ). High resolution monitor.Super 16 sensor with 13 stops of dynamic range.

And a particularly simple menu interface in the screen for the cinema adjustments.

There are 1/4" threaded sockets top and bottom on the metal chassis - tripod and mic mounting is easy.

Quite frankly, it looks like it blows your average handy cam corder out of the theater.

We've got 'un for rent and we're gettin' 'em for sale. Come see what then next generation of  tiny cinema will look like.

* And smoking. Eating, smoking, and sneering at the bourgoisie. I'm glad they did not make " Mary Poppins " in France, as it would have been ghastly.

Authentic Photography

A few years ago I decided to be an Authentic Photographer. So I went out and bought things to make myself look like I was living in the 1950's. It was an easy choice - I still had a number of inherited articles of clothing from the time in my wardrobe and they were not worn-out yet so all I needed to add was the camera and film and darkroom equipment and film and chemistry of the period.

I chose a Crown Graphic camera and a Graphic View with lenses and shutters from the same company - I think the glass was by Wollensack. I chose Ilford HP5 and Kodak Portra 160 sheet film. I used Rodinal developer and Fuji's version of C-41 chemicals. the paper was Ilford Multigrade IV. I ate pastrami sandwiches and drank cups of tea.

I include the last reference because I haven't have a big breakfast and I'm hungry. It is equally authentic and equally false. The photography of the 1950's had nothing to do with me - any more than it had to do with C-41 chemistry from Fuji or Multigrade IV. I never encountered pastrami in the 1950's - we called it corned beef - and I didn't drink tea. The whole attempt at being authentic was actually playing at being someone else.

So I sat and thought what would be " authentic ". I could go out and capture the universe on a Kodak Starflash camera if I care to - you can find them at junk sales and on eBay. I could wind the clock forward to 1966 and get myself an Asahi Pentax SV and some Plus X and  Kodachrome II. Or not, as the Kodak case may be...

Would my pictures look better? Would I be able to go to the hot rod show and bring back certain results? Would I spend 5 x the amount of money and time getting 1/5 of the results? I think I know the answer to that question...

This train of thought was occasioned by seeing a van on the road this morning with the sign " Authentic Bathroom Renovations ". It caused me to ask myself what an inauthentic bathroom renovation would look like...probably a lot like me with a Crown Graphic camera.

Don't Look, Don't Look....Ahh...Too Late...

Did goe to the " Celebration of The Motorcar " at Cottesloe Civic Centre yesterday and was greatley amused.

The first point of note was the method of entry - the cash desk was unprepared for the hordes who assaulted them. $ 20 to get in - money to charity - but so many bank machines issue $ 50 notes that you need a big float to cope with ticket sales. It is a point that catches many small traders at markets, too. You only need one $ 100 note man at the start to screw up sales for the rest of the morning.

Once in, I assembled my professional-quality internationally-famous state-of-the-art image capture system ( Also known as my Fuji X-10 and a Nikon SB 700 on an old Metz bracket.) out of it's high-tech carrying system ( An old Tamrac bag and a spare woollen sock.) and started to take pictures of the cars. Then it started.

It always starts. Whenever I am out with other photographers I start to notice what they are carrying - and what they are doing with it. I try not to look - but the instinct of the sales trade is too strong. I MUST look...

I can look with some degree of pity - I have been where many of them are now, and I can recognise the symptoms. I know what impels some of them - like the man with the Black Rapid double harness and the two battery gripped DSLR cameras depending from the straps. I saw that in the shop and I saw myself as the sportswar correspondent running through the shell craters with two rigs...Fortunately I snapped out of it here in the shop before I did myself an injury. I hope the gentleman is similarly lucky - I admire his fortitude in the sunshine. And I was amazed when he pulled yet a third grip-equipped DSLR from some other portion of his person for the fisheye lens. I stopped myself from following him in case he had an 800mm telephoto and all my concepts of space and time would have been voided.

The other end of the equipment spectrum was much in evidence - the mobile phone camera. Held at arm's length and waved in the sunshine. I have been assured by mobile phone salesman that this produces a file fully as detailed as that from a full-frame DSLR with full studio lighting plus you can order pizza on it. This is patent nonsense - I tried calling Domino's on a Canon 5D Mk III and got nowhere. The man with the iPad was wrong - just wrong.

Somewhere in between were the small DSLR users  - I saw plenty of APSC Canon and Nikon cameras and the users were doing pretty well in their framing and angles. But not a one of them popped up their integral flash for a bit of fill. In some cases it would have made all the difference to a shot into dark wheel wells and the shaded side of a car. But they will get better and good on them.

One enthusiast was using a Leica M digital camera - with what looked like a 28 mm lens. He had on the correct lens hood and was focussing, squaring, and settling himself for his shots. I think he will have some good results from that Leica lens.

Later in the day I believe that Thorsten Overgaard and Saul took a number of their Leica enthusiasts to the show with a lot of the new equipment. With Mr. T's instructions they should have gotten some very good shots - particularly as the light would have been settling in from the west. Of course I still say "fill" but that is just me.

One final note for car show photographers. Car shows are crowded affairs and you sometimes want to get an undisturbed view of a car but are continually being baulked of your desire by people wandering into the frame. There are two methods of dealing with this - a pea shooter and a pocket full of small pebbles to blast them away from your front - or the Jedi Mind Trick.

For the latter, you just position yourself where you need to be for the car and stare at it. As the oicks wander in you direct vibrational mind messages to them that this is not the car they are looking for. Eventually they move away - be pre-focussed and ready for a snap shot when it is clear. May the Force be with you.

Rental Mystery Man

Jason, our rental guru, is being all mysterious today.

He has just skootched by waving a small camera box with what appears to be the picture of a compact camera on the front. But he said it is a compact video camera made by Black Magic. How can this be?

Is he fooling with me or is this a new coup for the rental department? He said he is going to do a rental blog on Facebook so keep an eye on this and see what he is up to. I'll spy on him from here and report what I see...

A Camera For Plain Pictures And Plain Dealing

Welcome, Friend. How may I help thee?

You wish to take photographs of thy family, or thy farm animals? Of the Meeting House on Sunday? And you wish to do it decently, soberly, and in plain clothes? Of course.

Here is the camera for thee. The Ricoh GR. It has one lens only and that lens sees the world at the equivalent of a 28mm focal length. Thee can take pictures inside thy house by lantern as well - it has an aperture of 2.8.

So that there is no chance of dishonesty, the camera is fitted with an electronic level - your pictures will be level. They can also be made square if that is thy wish.

You may elect to shoot them in a number of jpeg sizes. Modesty being a virtue, many of the elect will elect to switch it to small and turn off the colour setting. If you wish to make a large picture, remember that the RAW setting and the 16 Megapixel APS-C sensor will permit good results up to A3+.

If you wish to make motion pictures to show the action of your favourite buggy horse, there is a full HD 1920 x 1080 video. You will need a fast SD XC I card to do this.

The appearance of the camera is modest and sober - no flashy chrome or colours to dominate others.

If you wish to examine the world in detail, it will focus as close as 10 centimetres.

We have a number of them for sale and we will deal plainly and fairly with thee - as will the Ricoh Corporation, who warrant the camera for a year.

Another Stellar Landing By Hasselblad

The You-Tube phenomenon of people un-boxing equipment as entertainment has a certain charm. I should dearly love to see them unpack some of the stuff that lands in this shop - in particular products from the O corporation. I think they spring-load the cameras and accessories so that they spring out of the cardboard and can never be put in again...

Not so the latest offering from Hasselblad - the Hasselblad Stellar with mahogany wood grip. Here it is peeled layer by layer through the packaging. The box is undoubtedly the most luxurious container I have ever seen. It deserves a place in a museum.

The camera also looks wonderful but I have stopped at the sealed stickers over the screen and lens. The new owner, whoever they may be - will want to dig them off with a pen-knife themselves. Camera people are like that and who are we in the trade to deny them their pleasures.

It is not the camera for the masses - unless the masses are packing money bags the size of Volkswagens. It is the camera for the connoisseur. Bring your wallet and knife and come see us.

A Dangerous Camera For Sale - Beware...

Please do not look at the camera. It will not be good for you. You will be unhappy.

What? What kind of a sales pitch is this?

It is the old reverse double hook with the half gainer. In reality the camera is good. Very very good. And people who use it regularly will regularly be rewarded with images that are of the highest quality - I mean nearly medium-format quality...and this in a compact camera.

It is the combination of a Zeiss Sonnar 35mm f:2 lens and the FULL FRAME Sony sensor that does it. The whole combined in a metal camera body of the most precise construction. This is a potent camera - works in low light, has no visible distortion, shoots fast. It is the sort of camera that sees the world as it is, and shows it.

The hot shoe has space for a Zeiss finder - an additional dangerous purchase. You look in the finder, you push the button, that is it.

The real danger is when you compare the files from this camera with the ones that your own camera takes. I did that and now have a residual dissatisfaction with my current setup. The detail and fidelity of the Sony RX1R is just that good. If you don't need a zoom lens for your subject, this is the photographic answer.

Price? Commensurate with the danger...

We're So Proud - A Hasselblad Baby!

Here is the family picture of a new Zeiss Vario Sonnar 10,4mm-37,1mm f:1,8-4,9 lens ...with the proud parents standing beside it. Note that the markings have commas instead of periods as this is a European lens design and they do that in Europe.

It is the featured optic on the fabulous new Hasselblad Stellar camera. The cradle you see it in is possibly the most elegant packaging yet for any compact camera - it makes cardboard boxes look like cardboard boxes.

Notice the grip - this is the ready-for-action carbon fibre grip, but with a camera this exclusive you are not restricted to just one style. There are 9 choices, including exotic woods like mahogany, walnut, and
zebra. The grip is very comfortable and would hold the camera perfectly for photographing things.

I have not exposed the back screen -preferring to let the purchaser do this - as you can see the advertising mentions the 20.2 megapixels, full 1080 HD video,the f:1,8 lens, and the 3.6X optical zoom. Please note the H-marked rubber thumb rest at the upper right corner that allows the  front grip to function better. That is an H-marked pad, you understand.

The camera will be on display here in the shop - it is the perfect complement to the Hasselblad H4 medium format cameras and makes a bold brand statement for any photographer.

Good to see that Hasselblad and Zeiss are working togetner again.

Pure Advertisement Today

Nothing but the sell today, Folks.

We have just received a shipment of the Fuji X-10 cameras in black, together with the matching Fuji fitted leather cases. This is a wild opportunity to purchase a compact travel camera that is built like a...and looks a bit like one too.

It is perfect for travel - replacing big DSLR units when you are hiking or mooching about the city. Great macro capability, metal body, and jpegs that are so good that you don't even need to wind it up to RAW - but you can if you want to.

The leather case harks back to the great days of the 60's and 70's - travel in style.

The whole package is only $ 449 - while stocks last.

We sell - you buy. You have fun.

Selfies - Showing You Who You Really Aren't

We have all seen the dreadful selfies that our friends send us on Facebook. Horrid things taken with mobile phone cameras - men take them in the bar and women take them in the toilet - and the worst of them squeezed through Instagram or some other filter until they turn brown and fuzzy. The saddest of them are seized by other viewers and batted endlessly around the net. ALL of them are stored somewhere in Langley, Virginia or Beijing or Moscow to bolster some data base or other. Perhaps they make trading cards of them...

Selfies do not need to be bad - they can be rather good evocations of what we look like or who we are. They can also be projections of who we want other people to think we are. Self-promotion is the lifeblood of a lot of industries these days - from dentistry to photography to design bureaux. It is all legal, if a little narcissistic, and if you can stand the shame of it you can put yourself on the back of a bus or the face of the moon quite happily.

Every camera we sell takes selfies - from the compacts through the bridge to the big DSLR's. Any time you see the little symbol for a self timer you can turn the lens on yourself and blaze away. Even if there is no self-timer, there is generally a remote release available that you can trigger off. The better class of compact has a pop-up flash and internal computer power to balance what happens with the main subject and the background - you get a very even sort of exposure. All the big TTL flashes on the DSLR's will do this too.

Beware of the low camera angle that will reveal all your chins - if the flash fires as well you may look like a Hollywood monster. Set the camera to look at you from your eye level and you can't go wrong....actually you can, but if you keep snapping away and deleting the ones that make you look like Gomer Pyle, you will eventually get a good one.

Do not be surprised if the camera sees you in a different way than your bathroom mirror does - your bathroom mirror, and you, see you in reverse. Unless you are taking selfies with a dageurreotype camera you will have to accept the physical evidence as is. Yes, that is your hair. No, it will not look better if you dye it. Yes, that is your body. Yes, it will look better if you diet...

All joking aside - self portraiture has been accepted and welcomed by all art media. For an artist who has made other good things it is a real contribution to future generations - your friends may not care a damn what you look like but someone in 2500 AD may marvel at it!

Plain Jane

The Ricoh GRD series of digital compact cameras have always been a little understated in appearance. They are magnificently capable machines - as evinced by their selection for some of the roughest walk-around work out in the bush. They take a beautiful pictures. They are one of the best handfuls for larger fingers. But they are plain.

The surface coating is rough, and has been designed to be so. It wears well and grips like anythng. he lens is micro-sharp. It focusses to crazy close. There is an effects button on the LHS that calls in all sorts of sepia, miniature, toned effects.

It is the sort of camera that you can just pack and use all the time.

In store now.

The model? Plain Jane.

Something To Your Advantage

Those of you who will be travelling shortly, and wish to record images of exotic scenery and native customs would do well to repair to the shop of Camera Electronic in Stirling Street in this city, where you will learn something to your advantage.

You would be well advised to bring your purse with at least $ 500 in it and be prepared to spend it. You will not regret the decision.

Ask to speak to Gavin or Dick in particular or any of the other staff should they be free.