Eight Bars Of Entertainment And Thirty Two Bars Of Music

Those of you who have ever attended a belly dance show know what I mean - particularly if it is traditional, nostalgic, and culturally sensitive. The saving grace for a photographer of these events is the fact that if you missed it the first time, you have three more goes to capture it...

The same might be said for many aspects of photography - I mean about the repetition. I see a number of club contests that set out categories for images. The contestants are pretty good in what they do - they follow the categories and fulfil the set subject criteria - and there is a very high level of technical skill.

There is also a warm nostalgia about some of the images. Not only is the image of the rusted 1937 Ford truck* in the wheat belt paddock evocative of 1937 and the wheatbelt, it is reminiscent of every club competition since 1938, both in and out of the wheat belt.

Some of the subjects are actually the same. Mrs. Ah Wen Chung has served as the wrinkled smoking Chinese woman for club photography since 1957. It has been steady employment for her, and apart from a racking cough, has benefitted her and her family.

We are hoping for a little change in the landscape section in 2016 as the Albany Shire Council has decided to cement up The Gap. If they sell off Wave Rock to the Chinese government we may have to fall back on sunsets and Bluff Knoll. Mind you, hauling a rusted 1937 Ford truck up the top of Bluff Knoll will be a royal pain.

Still, look on the bright side - in November of this year the Albany Shire Tourist Trappers Association will be combining with the Royal Australian Navy, The Not Imperial Any More Japanese Navy, and as many of the local RSL members as can be coaxed out of the bar to commemorate the passing of the ANZAC fleet in 1914. Albany will be Where It's At. What an opportunity for he photographer to capture the scene. Flags flying. Bands playing. Coffee stalls perking. Politicians speaking. Don't worry about missing the speeches - you'll have three more goes...

* The original 1937 Ford has been replaced with a fibreglass replica. Good from the front.

A Looming Problem - The Wide Angle Lens

Those of you who have shot 21mm Super Angulon lenses on Leica film cameras may skip this post. Also anyone who has ever owned an 18mm Hologon. You know the drill already.

I discovered the effects of superwide angle shooting at the Burswood Hot Rod Show in 2012. I took the 8-16 Sigma lens into the Burswood Dome on my Nikon D300 and shot away. The images in the viewfinder had straight edges - the 8-16 does not do fisheye distortion. They looked amazing - despite the fact that the lighting was appalling.

A recent review of those pictures horrified me. Every car shot from the front or rear quarter looms out of the picture like a cartoon monster. It is reminiscent of the worst of the old Linhof Chamber Of Horror articles. I got the cars on the sensor in the crowded conditions, but the images are neither attractive nor accurate.

I tried again with the 23mm lens on the Fujifilm X-100 at the Big Al Show this year and was pleased with the results - as the lens replicates what the 35mm lens saw on a film camera, there was much less distortion. Mind you, it was necessary to back off further on the open ground to get the entire car in the frame, and this might have been difficult in a closed venue.

The compromise between the two seems to be a focal length of 18-19 mm on an APSC sensor. It approximates 28mm on a film camera. I can achieve it on the Fujifilm X-E2 with the 18mm f:2 lens or by screwing the WCL-100 to the front of the X-100. There is more to see, but it does not loom out of the picture - a good balance.

And I can agree with Fujifilm - the WCL-100 does not degrade the image of the X-100 lens in any way.

Note: the Bugatti is a deliberate artwork in the Art gallery of NSW. Marvellous, but not driveable, except in your dreams.

Mass Murder For Photographers - Is There An Alternative?

As I took pictures yesterday at the car show I was struck by several things. Prams, fat Englishmen, and delusional farmers from Dalwallinu. Photography in crowds can be like that, and the chief thing that it will put you in mind of is being caught in a stampede in a Brazilian football stadium.

I have tried to develop a scientific theory of crowd movement in hopes of devising some way to circumvent them. When I try to take a picture of a vehicle it is always best to have an unimpeded view - my readers don't want to see a family of five out for the day.

Public shows attract the public, however, and they move in packs  - slowly - from one exhibit to the next. It probably would not matter whether they were viewing Fabergé eggs in the Winter palace or dried fruit at the Royal Show - they would still move in a stately and disorganised manner and would block the view of anyone trying to photograph the exhibits. There is a rhythm to their wanderings - one group moves out of the way and another one moves in - it is almost as if they are doing a tag-team. They do not move quickly, but they do effectively prevent taking the picture.

The picture of the bus is a case in point. I am delighted with it, but I realise that it cost me over ten minutes of waiting and clearing my throat to achieve the empty space. I am glad that the camera was operating at 1/500 of a second as this was about the interval before the next kid with the ice cream piled into frame.

I think part of the problem is the fact that the Fujifilm X-100 outfit is so small and unobtrusive. Also I dress not to be noticed. So no one notices that I am trying to do a job there. In the old days of a medium format camera and a tripod and a bulb flash on a coiled cord you made more of a statement and people kept out of the way.

Perhaps it is time to put the X-100 on a tripod and the flash on a coiled cord. Plus wear a high-vis vest with Official Photographer on it. Or to be more accurate...Officious Photographer. Most of the crowd wouldn't know the difference.

Solving A Printing Problem - Banding

Recently a client mentioned that they were getting a bit of banding on their prints and wanted to know what could have caused it - and indeed what they could do to fix the problem.

My experience is that there can sometimes be micro-clogs in the heads of the inkjet printers that stop the full spray from going through. Sometimes it is a distinct banding, sometimes just a vague lack of definition and/or depth of colour. it is most often seen in dark areas of the print.

The Epson printers have a wonderful set of tools to deal with this. If you suspect the effect in a print, you go into the printer menu and ask for a nozzle check. It will fire the entire set through in a small test pattern and if you see segments of colour missing your suspicions are confirmed.

What to do? Ask the printer for a head clean - it will shake and flush the heads with a bit of ink and then you can re-test. Most times the problem will be gone in one go. You can ask for 3 power cleans in a row, but you have to wait a little between each one so that you do not damage the head.

Most times, if you print one little print each week that exercises all the colours, you never see settling or clogging of ink. Please note that inks do have use-by dates and it is wise to heed them. they do not go mouldy, like the cheese in the fridge, but they can settle out particles.

Please note that is you are getting banding on panoramic photos taken with some of the newer mirror-less cameras you need to set your shutter speed a little slower and move the camera around more smoothly.

If you are getting banding on street photos you are to be congratulated. See attached photos.

Uncle Dick

Black Or White - There Or Here - You Choose

We're just about to launch into the Christmas and holiday season and people are thinking about their vacation travel and their holiday snaps. The wise ones are, at any rate - and I am including the readers of this blog in that august group. Indeed - the smartest ones would have been starting to plan about August...

Let us not think about those who will pull a dead compact camera out of laundry cupboard, come down here to ask the technicians to fix if for free and claim that they never, ever had it at the beach - despite the dribble of sand and out of the lens and a starfish stuck on the LCD screen...Their vacation pictures will be fine, as long as they buy postcards.

If you're gearing up to do it right and to make the most of your chances on a domestic or overseas holiday, consider one of the Big Two from Fuji. Big Two? The X-Pro 1 and the X-100s. The black and white cameras in the picture. Please note that white is really silver but it reads better as white - I had my poetic licence renewed.

Okay, what do you get with the X-100s? An APS-C sensor, a lens exactly matched to it - 35mm focal length in the old filmspeak, and you get enough processor power and options in the computer functions to make it perform perfectly. The business of matching that lens to that sensor is really the key to it all. As well, you get a number of options in the way that you see the image - optical or electronic, and a precise framing for close-ups. It has a fill-flash and computer control that leads to confidence in any interior situation - you get a balanced result no matter what the backdrop is doing.

You can switch it to auto and give it it's head or do aperture and shutter speed via good big traditional dials. You can command a MF on the lens ring. Do it old or do it new, but do it.

Want to do it with interchangeable lenses? The X-Pro 1 really is pro. A superb set of Fujinin lenses made for the system all the way from 14mm to 200mm, zooms and macro in there as well. Superbly sharp with MF direct drive for a number of them. More automation and manual than its direct competitors. Excellent Q display to assist with settings. The basis of a thoroughly professional system of optics - a money-earner.

Both of these are in good supply right now and you can get up to speed with what they can do before you fly. Tip: If you're going to be doing closeup urban holidays pick the X-100s. If you're going to Churchill, Manitoba to see the bears, pick the X-pro 1. And the 55-200 lens. And a Mauser. Black bears are one thing but white bears are a whole different deal...

Panasonic Get the Shape Right -You Get The Right Images

 You hear me bang on all the time around here about the ergonomics of the cameras and lenses that we sell - sometimes I am less than complementary about the design shape that the manufacturers settle upon. It is a subjective thing - I judge the camera form by what my own hands can hold - by what my own fingers can reach. I have just been reaching for he Panasonic GX7 and I advise some of you to do so too.

It's a micro 4/3 camera like the Olympus. The two manufacturers may be rivals but their lenses can fit each other's cameras to a "tee". The Panasonic is slightly soberer-looking - most of it is black with only a small steel ring trim.

Leaving the external appearance aside, it was the grip and the control position that won me. The battery compartment has been angles and the resultant grip shape that just suited my hand. The knot of control wheels that cluster at the NE corner of the camera are exactly in the right position with enough of a detent to them to keep in the settings you choose.

The viewfinder at the NW corner is adjustable for diopter and angle and features the eye   sensor that shuts off the main screen when you put your eye to it.

If you need a waist level finder for discrete street photography or wildflower and nature photography you just slide the screen out flat. Need a fill flash? Poke the flash button and up pops the small flash.

This is a system camera with access to a wide range of lenses with superb optical characteristics. They are none of them arm-breakers. Micro 4/3 equipment is economical in size, weight, and price. 

Thoroughly recommended.

Fast Relief From Fuji - New Lens Just Arrived

Fuji X-series owners please crowd around.

The new 23mm f:1.4 lens has just come into stock. This is every bit up to the superb Fujinon standard plus it has direct mechanical manual focusing for pre0selecting your distance.

Street shooters in particular will appreciate this - they can estimate a distance, set it and then get a blazingly fast first shot. If they are discrete they can get a blazingly fast second one, too, and then run for it.

The historical focal length equivalence of this is 34.5 mm - classic wide angle and people viewpoint. It could well become the one go-to lens for travelling photographers. The fact that it also focuses as close as 28cm means that it can cope with table-tops.

Come in with your X Pro-1 or X-E1 and give it a go.

Snapping On The Road

In Texas, you can get a permit to carry a revolver in your car. Likewise in Nevada and Montana.  Unfortunately in Perth there are a series of picayunish laws that make this difficult. The best you can do in your car is have a compact camera in the glove box and a Chuck Berry CD in the player.

I suggest you do, because you never can tell when a picture will roll by. It might be a woman wrapped up in snarling dogs or a cyclist riding wrong-way through 4 lanes of the Freeway or, as you can see, replacement wheels for shopping trolleys being conveyed along Leach Highway early in the morning.

Do not endanger your life by trying to set up a tripod and a view camera in he front seat of the car as you go along. It is useless to spot-meter the scene and calculate the Zone-System exposure between lights - even slow moving trucks go faster than Ansel Adams ever did.

Get yourself a Fuji X-10 or X-20, a Canon G15 or G15, or one of the fine Nikon or Olympus compact cameras. You can eschew the viewfinder because you should keep looking forward as you are driving but set the thing to about 400 ISO, AF-C and programmed exposure and then just blaze away. Today's cameras will do far more than ever before and you could be rewarded with some REAL street photography.

BTW: If you are a passenger keep your arms and legs inside the car as you snap. No good winning a photography award if you don't have the hand to receive it...

Back In Black - And Better For It

A month or so ago I reported on a chrome version of the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm f:1.5 lens that was passing through the shop stock. I am ashamed to say that I made fun of it for looking like a refugee from a the set of  "Metropolis". The lens is a good performer but I considered the aesthetics over the top.

Two more examples of this lens have come in - these are in black. The appearance is greatly improved, and should you elect to take it out with your Leica or Voigtlander or Fuji  or Ricoh ( with adapter ), you will have a wonderful street shooting lens. Discrete where the other was garish.

Build quality? Superb metal finish and  smooth operation. Aspherical formula.

Coil and Recoil

The modern speedlight flash is a marvel. Gone are the days of a complex guide-number chart on the back or a dial that has four different circles in four different colours. The new flash may have nothing more than an on-off switch. It is nevertheless capable of full TTL operation with the computer in your camera and the resulting exposure can be balanced far better than ever we did when we were pacing off the distance between ourselves and the subjects.

The trick is the dedicated contacts in the hot shoe - 3 for Nikon and 4 for Canon. They pass the coded signals back and forth at the speed of light. It is perfectly feasible to take flash pictures all day and not touch any of the controls. Yay.

But when you need the direction of the flash to be different than stuck on the top of the camera you need to get that same control at a distance. Here is where Promaster comes in. They make double-ended TTL cords for both the Canon and Nikon systems - you can get them as short as 150 cm and as long as 10 metres in either coiled or straight form. Attach one end to the hot shoe, put the flash in the other end and shoot macros, street shots, product shots, and Hollywood portraits.

In-store right now.

Shinier Than A 1958 Cadillac...And Heavier Too

I am always amazed by what the manufacturers will do to catch a niche market. We have seen orange Leica MP cameras, green Voigtländer Bessa T's, and Pentax DSLRs in very colour of the rainbow. Now it is the turn for a lens design that harks back to Russian Chrome Days.

Or maybe they are channelling the Swiss - or a minor German manufacturer in 1954. Whatever started it, the end result is an M-mount lens for Leica and Voigtländer bodies that has more shiny bling than anything that has been seen since Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor.

It is a Nokton f:1.5 and focusses as close as .7 of a metre and can shoot in very dim circumstances. If course as soon as the first ray of light hits it, there will be no dim circumstances. This is a rare and exotic bird and wold suit the retro-camera scene to a tee. It is metal, heavy, and bright.

Morning Has Broken

Those of you skilled in photo-interpretation may be interested in the image above. It was taken by a PRU Spitfire of 103 Sqdn this morning at 0850 hours at a height of 40 cm above the counter at 230 Stirlng Street, Perth.

The girls in the unit have identified the shrouded object  and feel that it might be one of the new Fuji X100s cameras. These are rare - they are generally only sighted in the hands of lucky enthusiasts and professionals who clutch them tightly and run away laughing.

We note that B&H in New York do not have them in stock...and if they did would extract something like 1500+ Australia dollars to get it to the customer here in Perth in a week. Makes the $ 1328 price here at Camera Electronic for something that you can take home this morning look pretty attractive...

The camera has won a number of awards and plaudits - as well it might with the dedicated new sensor and superb operation. The D P Review site has just published the complete report on it and given it an extremely high rating. This is not surprising considering the 70-some tweaks and improvements that have been incorporated into it. This is possibly the reason that the New York dealer is out of stock.

Still, here's one for sale fresh in its wrapping and ready to go right now. How long will it be here? We're open to 5:30 today....

Calling All German Flyers - Billingham Has Your Bag

If you are going to choose the best of German camera equipment - Leica - you really should give some thought to choosing the best way of carrying it - particularly if you intend to go out on he street or travel in aircraft.

Street photography is, by its very nature, fast and discreet. If it is slow and obvious, it comes into the category of argument photography, followed by fist fight photography, followed by arrest photography. Those of you who do not wish to use your new Leica M camera with the 0.95 Noctilux lens as a fighting flail should elect to house it in a good bag and haul it out only when you need it to take pictures.

Leica themselves do make very good bags for this - there are satchels and neoprene cases and fitted  cases for a number of their cameras, and some of them are masterpieces of fine design and leather work. If you want a Leica bag, buy one with full confidence.

Walther Benser used to make fitted cases as well that were module systems for the film Leicas - you bought little leather boxes for each lens you had then tried to fit them together like a Chinese puzzle into a stiff leather box. Very much the enthusiast's device, but impossible to access quickly.

Billingham, on the other hand, have just delivered a case designed and marked for the Leica M series of cameras. The bag is supplied inside a characteristic silver Leica box and is further wrapped in a soft fitted Leica-marked black cloth bag. Undoubtedly there is a You-tube video of someone somewhere unwrapping one....an undoubted boon for those Leica users who are unsure of how to open a cardboard box.

The more confident user will note that the bag has ample space and three interior compartments in the main section for the camera body plus a lens as long as 135mm in the down position and for two smaller lenses on either side. The diagram suggests that you will be carrying a 21 and a 50 Noctilux, which we would also be delighted to sell to you. Don't stint yourself - there is also a digram of an MP camera body there so remember to pick one up before you leave.

The Billingham cloth and leather-trim quality are all there, with a Khaki twill and medium tan trim. The shoulder strap has their deluxe pad included. The zipper pulls are the tradition solid brass.

Please note the dedication tag on the bag itself....Leica.

This bag will attract admiration from other Leica users while remaining discrete enough to pass the attention of the average camera thief on the street. Dedicated Billingham bag thieves will zero in on it and attack you instantly, but if you are incautious enough to flaunt this sort of thing at Leica camera club meetings you have only yourself to blame...