Letting Him Loose

C.R. Kennedy recently equipped Bob Lichfield with a new Pentax K-1 camera and several lenses so that he could make a professional's assessment of it. He was itching to buy one so the choice of tester could not have been better.

He took the camera out to Whiteman Park to capture the low morning light and the kangaroos. The results, as shown at the Camera Electronic launch night on last Thursday week, were nothing short of spectacular. Extremely sharp and well-coloured with minimal noise. Heck, I couldn't see any noise at all. not surprising with a full-frame sensor like that and a new processing engine.*

But he pointed out that there is a great deal more inside that camera than he was able to elicit in the weekend he had it. He did nature shots, landscapes, architecture, stitched panoramas, and one astro shot with it but had to confess that the only way to succeed with that was to read the manual and pester the State manager of C.R. Kennedy.

Did pretty good for a weekend - but then he has the advantage of a long career in professional photography and the Pentax system. Also did pretty good to admit to needing the instructions - so many times we think that we know all about our gear and blunder on for years missing out on the best performance. I will candidly confess that I used my Fujifilm cameras for a couple of years before buying a Rico Pfirstinger book with clear advice on how to boost performance...but if I had read the included manual with all my Fujifilm cameras I could have been there in the first day! Dumb me.

I would love to be a tester for cameras. I mean an official one with a badge and a whistle and a dinner pail. I have hinted as much to lots of firms but you'd be surprised how fast manufacturer's representatives and wholesale agents can move when they are nervous - haven't caught one yet. I still have my application in to Rheinmetall Borsig to test FLAK guns so there is still hope.

* I'm still waiting for some camera maker to bring out a new digital with a 1950 Ford flathead V8 in it. Buy it in  minute...