Camera Electronic Endorse New Camera From Flapoflex

The biggest news this season is the industry-shaking announcement of the team-up of Camera Electronic with Flapoflex Corporation...and the introduction of the Flapoflex Mini camera.

Here are the first images of the camera after it was handed out by Howard Frank. Let us walk you through the features:

1. Pure non-digital operation. Sharp eyes will spot the film rapid rewind crank and fast-wind lever. No more worries about charging batteries and corrupting memory cards with the Flapoflex.

2. Solid-state viewfinder system. We have not seen a viewfinder window this solid in years.

3. Compact dimensions. Micro 4/3, eat your heart out...

4. Helpful permanent branding on the lens cap and body.

5. Permanent lens cap. never lose it again.

6. Flash-free pentaprism.

7. Patented DeepSqueeze padding on all grippable surfaces. No finger strain.

8. Fashionable white/black/grey colours.

When people ask you what the Flapoflex Mini can do, we respond with " What can't it do? " While they are answering this we make a run for it.

Flapoflex did...

The Personal Pick - Part One - Someone Else's Purse

I spent a cheerful half hour in the Murray Street premises of Camera Electronic spending other people's money. Don't worry - no wallets were harmed in the process - no money changed hands. And I am pleased to be able to say that I did not annoy the staff with constant questions...I just looked for myself and made mental notes to find out the prices later.

Note as well that I do not need more equipment - I need to get out and learn to use the stuff I have right now. But that is not what the weblog column for a commercial firm should say, so I'll scrub it out before I post the thing...

First cab off the rank for desirable is the new Fujifilm GFX50S. It looks every bit as good as the Fujifilm bodies I already use as far as the external construction, and the handhold is perfect. Obviously this is not intended as a pocket travel camera for Japanese schoolgirls, and they have taken into account the larger hands that are likely to be grasping it. And at the cost that it is likely to be sold at, those hands want to have a firm grip on it. In any case, when the opportunity arises, I will beg the Rental Department at Stirling Street for a chance to heft it in the Little Studio and we can see what the results look like.

Note - while I cannot muster enough imagination to convince myself that I would make sensible use of such a large medium-format camera, the new Fujifilm X100F is another matter entirely. I see we have them in stock now, and as you will have gathered from a few weeks ago, the temptation to gain the higher performance of this vs my older X100 is growing stronger. There is only so much practical frugality I am able to sustain before I have a blowout...and I suspect that this is a characteristic of a lot of people. Folks, if you are going to blow a financial gasket, you could do far worse than invest in this new Fujifilm.

I also noted in passing that the new GFX50S is supported by three lenses - two primes and a zoom. They look to be designed for event and studio work, but I should imaging Fujifilm will be adding to them every half-year or so.

Also of note was the surprise that the deeper body of the medium-format camera does not seem intrusive into the face when using the eye-level finder. From net pictures I had feared this. More details when it gets into the studio...but you can certainly jump ahead of the game by going and judging for yourself. If you want to be in front of the competition now is the time to get in there.

PS: Being in front of the competition only works in certain jobs. Flying a Mitsubishi Zero in front of a Grumman Hellcat was never all that good an idea...

Sony Week - Part Five - The Repair Department Secret

Be prepared to be frustrated - I am going to tease you unmercifully in this column.

Normally I don't do this - the idea, after all, is to entertain you and win your loyalty to Camera Electronic. To entice you to come on down and leave your money on the counter. So I don't berate you and I don't make false promises - and I don't dance around telling you that I know something that you don't. Until now.

Oh, it's not just me. It's the staff in the Camera Electronic Repair Department too. They know something that you don't.

Okay - the Sony connection first. Great cameras that they are, Sony mirror-less digital camera bodies have the same basic problem that all other cameras with removable lenses - dust and particles will eventually get into them and onto the sensor. Be you ever so careful or ever so obsessed, the dust will eventually beat you. And as all digital camera owners will discover, you need a sensor clean.

Up till now, there have been any number of sensor cleaning tips, kits, bits of equipment, and rituals devised for cleaning sensors - some of them have worked, most of them have not. Some have ruined sensors. This is particularly noticeable for people who have tried to do it as a home-job.

Sony mirror-less sensors have been a particular problem. I was alerted to this by one of the scientists in the CE Repair Department who was able to show me any number of anguished posts on the internet forums about it - and equally anguished emails passing back and forth amongst professional repair firms in other parts of the world. Many professional people seem to have spent a lot of time trying to clean Sony sensors and ended up with them just as dirty as before.

Well the two scientists in the CE Repair Department conducted a series of practical experiments to solve this and have devised a procedure that DOES clean the Sony mirror-less sensor completely - and can do it easily in the future. I was not initiated fully in the arcane ritual of it...being frightened of the bubbling vats and whirring flywheels - but that does not stop me from reporting their success. They are not going to release the secret - they are going to keep it as a working procedure for the Repair Department at the normal commercial price. It will be known as The Secret. It is a multi-stage process.

Note: The Secret does not involve those little rubber pads on the end of sticks that some people think are marvellous. They look like an invitation to disaster. About like poking your sensor with a wet Gummy Bear...

I can also confidently rule out steel wool pads or a wood chisel.

SO....take a look at the images that your Sony mirror-less camera has been pumping out recently. If there are little grey balloons in the sky, you need The Secret. Bring the camera in to Camera Electronic Repair Department next week and they will make those balloons go away. If the grey balloons have replaced the faces of your brides, grooms, newborns, or family members, bring it in NOW!

A Bunch Of The Boys Was Whoopin' It Up...*

And they were ably assisted by a bunch of the girls - last night was a special launch party for the Murray Street shop of Camera Electronic - and it featured a surprising number of the movers and shakers of Perth photographic retailing. Not that there was all much room to move or shake - people pretty well filled the floor. Still space for selfies.

This sort of party report could easily dissolve into nothing but a series of shots of old employees and leave the average retail reader absolutely cold...except for a couple of interesting facts:

1. The people there included the cream of the Western Australian wholesale agents and reps...which means that the new premises will be well supplied with the best of new equipment. I didn't hear much business being talked amongst them but they all made their number to the Admirals so you can be certain that the new shop will not languish.

2. The old employees were there wishing the new premises well. Because they recognised the immense effort that had been put into the venture and the high level of finish that it exhibits.

There were speeches - industry figures that have dealt with the company since the earliest days in Angove Street as well as the principle commander on the floor right now - Domenic Papalia. There were speeches by Saul and Howard, and to their credit they were good ones.

And  I took away a few realisations too...

You couldn't get that many people to meet, greet, schmooze, booze, and lose their inhibitions in any other retail photographic store in this town. Camera Electronic has a unique style and position as an icon in the industry. It's a real place full of real people. Noisy real people.

CE's also got some powerful friends - the AIPP for one - and the other professional bodies, as well as their trade contacts. They got those friends by being able to do what people needed - sales, repairs, advice, etc.

The humourous phrase that came out in one speech -  " Ron had everything " - might sound funny when you remember the past but it was a foundation for a mindset on the part of the photographic public that drew them back and back to the shop. The fact that the staff also knew a bit of everything was also valuable - someone could always be found in the place with a cogent answer to a problem.

In some cases the answer was " Here, use this. " and in others " We can get it/repair it/make it, etc. ".
When Ron served a customer it was likely to be " You need one of these and one of these and..." And in my case I usually did.

Last night was a night of good humour amongst the guests. People who visit Murray Street today ( after they put the showcases back in place and scrub the suspicious stains off the new vinyl floor...) can be equally happy - the place is up and running well.

 

* At the Malamute Saloon. From the Land Of the Mounties. See - there's one now...

You May Have Been Fooled - At The New Leica M10 Launch

Last night at Camera Electronic's shop on Stirling Street he Leica company showed the newest of the M series cameras to an appreciative audience.

As is usual for these events, there was food and drink and cameras. Also industry representatives and a professional photographer who had been given a chance to use the new camera in the field. Several of he camera were in evidence...indeed one of the new M 10's has been in the shop for several weeks - you saw pictures of Saul unboxing it in this column a while ago.

There was a video presentation and I must commend the man from Leica for his use of the joys of mobile phone control - he commanded the whole procedure from his phone and it went flawlessly. It's a long long way from doing 35mm slides hows on the old hand-changg Pradovit that I own, and a lot better show.

But.

But if you were handling the new M10 during the evening - taking pictures and reviewing them on the rear LCD screen - you might have been fooled into thinking you were holding an old M2 or M3...Not that the M2 and M3 were all that good at taking digital photos. Oh, you could jump out of airplanes with them and go to Africa, Antartica, and 8000 weddings with them and they would never miss a beat - but they weren't good at digital photos...

So why would you think you were holding the older bodies? Because Leica has finally trimmed the front-to-back body dimension of the M10 to the same as the film cameras. And as a kindly little design exercise, they have put a neat lift-and-lock switch in the exact position that the old M2's and M3's had a rewind knob. It is almost like coming home to a familiar house.

It might be familar real estate, but prices have risen. As our professional photographer - and on-set stills shooter for major cinema productions - said, you are looking at about $ 10,000 for this model camera and lens. If you want the fancy Noctilux you can advance that price considerably. Of course, you will, as the gentleman pointed out, be advancing your low-light photography considerably too.  While you may not wish to rush into the 50,000 section of the ISO settings on a regular basis, his photos on the screen ceertainly proved that you can go to 6400 like strolling to the corner shop - free, easy, and with perfect confidence.

Apparently you can do it about 800 times on one battery charge, too, which is nice. Mind you, the old M2's and M3's never gave battery trouble either...

Note: the M10 has a camouflage cover available. You can just see it in this photo. The fact that it is only invisible in a Leica Boutique cabinet is neither here nor there. You might be photographing in the interior of a red-plush lined Victorian boudoir and it would disappear quite nicely. You have to be prepared for these things...

Report From The Trenches - Manuel And The Canon - Part Five

Well, it has been a week since the motor sport workshop up at Barbagallo raceway, and you've been able to read some of the things that Manuel Goria told us about the techniques of shooting. Now here's the final bits of advice regarding the physical business of chasing cars.

a. Where do they race cars? At car race courses. Some are good places for pictures, and some are awful ( guess which category Barbagallo falls in...). When you are in the good looking place, show the good looking place a lot in the pictures. When you are in the dump, concentrate on the car and blur or fuzz out the backdrop. You may need to use a longer focal length for it. Get up high and get down low.

b. The race course organisers and the industry rely on photographers and videographers to advertise their events and draw money to the sport. But they can be strangely partisan when it comes to who gets access to the place. Video crews get more favour than still shooters in the pit areas.

c. Work is required - it is not just a case of plopping down at one point and watching automotive art pass in front of you. Manuel walks about 20 Km per race finding new positions and scenes of activity.

d. Get close to the fence. If you are lucky there will be a hole in it that you can see through, or at least enough image coming through wire mesh spaces to allow you to optically bypass it. Vertical fence elements are easier to avoid than horizontal ones. If someone would cut a hole in the barrier...

e. Lousy weather is always a possibility. Racing cars and wet weather are spectacular, even when they are racing safely. But the business of keeping the camera equipment operating is part of the problem for both manufacturers and users of professional equipment.

The expedients that others adopt - rain sleeves, ponchos, raincoats, housings, etc. are a nuisance to Manuel. He does without them. He is largely waterproof and has come to depend upon the higher-end Canon professional bodies and lenses to have a similar degree of water-resistance.

Other photographers in other divisions of the sport would do well to take note. Water penetration is one thing, dust and dirt strike is another. Anyone who has ever shot pictures at the speedway knows what I am talking about - a shower of gravel is bracing but no good for expensive gear. Likewise for  the shooters who do the drag races, burnout comps, and drift events. Our sensors are delicate things and there is a lot of particulate matter in the air in these situations. No wonder Manuel says that they have Canon and other makers' service representatives at the big car races to do sensor cleaning each time.

f. You think the cars are fast? Consider how fast the photographers have to be in reviewing, selecting, editing, and enhancing their images at the events to get them to the publisher's desk in time for consideration. The amateur has a week to produce a masterpiece - the artist a lifetime. Manuel and the rest of the workers get about a half hour after standing around all day in the sun or rain.

Better him than me...

Now for a final note on this event - a note from the point of view of a neutral observer*. I think the paying customers got fantastic value for their money this time.

Leave out the lunch and the give-aways and the chance to shoot with a zillion lenses and the free prints that Sheryl was offering for the best images of the day. ( Up to A2 if they wanted...). Leave out the special prices on Canon gear that Saul promised - and people could take him up on that for a week. Leave out the fact that the Porsche owners were pushing hundreds of thousands of dollars of toy cars around the track all day. The real value was Manuel.

He is a true professional in several ways. He is in a tough business. He can do that business to a high standard, repeatedly, and to order. He can profess - that means speaking and teaching his knowledge. And bless him, he does. No hiding back trade secrets for fear of people finding out how to take his job away. No mystery talk to make himself look exotic. Just plain speaking, well organised, and to the point. It was a pleasure to listen to him.

Note: I have no idea whether he is an award-winner, international icon, or superstar ambassador. We weren't told that. He was not covered in gold medals like a wine bottle or a North Korean general. He did not puff himself or his business nor ask us to subscribe to his politics, religion, or emotional state. He just showed us how to take good racing car photos.

That makes him the best photo lecturer I have seen in about thirty years.

*Not that neutral. I got lunch out of it...

Heading image: every one of those lens or body caps represents a photographer out there in the boiling sun taking pictures of race cars. Canon and Camera Electronic know how to have a good time.

Panning For Gold With Manuel Goria - Part Four

In the previous weblog columns this week we have mentioned that our motor sport professional - Manuel Goria - insists that the image must be focused. You must fight overexposure, shaky hands, and heat haze to get the focus point dead on where you need it and everything around it pin-sharp.

And now you get to ignore that advice with his next lesson - when and how to pan the camera.

We all know about panning a camera to follow the movement of a passing bird, plane, car, or person. It gives us a chance to have the main subject in focus while everything around it is blurring out. The blur is a stream of motion behind or in front of the thing that we wish the viewer to concentrate on. It's simple to do. Not.

Oh, it is simple to twist oneself around, but trying to coordinate the rate of twist and the change in rate ( plus the change in change of rate...like the firing solution for a battleship...) is the tough part. Close to us needs more and faster movement - further away slows this down. The angle that the subject makes as it moves to us also affects the amount of movement we make - a car approaching or moving away is less angular movement but more focusing. Fortunately, it is a firing solution that the Canon processors can cope with.

The use of a parallel position beside the track may let the shooter get a very clean blur behind the car, and sometimes a degree of blur in the wheel spokes. Up and down movement spoils the effect, however. It seems to be much a matter of chance s the shooter develops skill - Manuel says that it is about a 1:50 chance of a keeper when shooting in a pan.

Oddly enough, panning while use of a slow shutter speed can have the effect of getting a main subject in full even if it is intermittently blocked by spectators or fencing.

Manuel likes to see a bit of a tilt in the images - as long as the attitude of the car in question will support the angle and as long as there is no tell-tale vertical element in the rear of the main subject to give away the illusion. Often images can be given freshness and a dynamic look by tilting. Just don't go mad.

The blurring need not be exactly even - as long as the main image is coherently sharp in the areas that you need to illustrate - helmet, logo, wheel, etc...you can have quite a wild backdrop. Look for helpful colours there.

Final notes tomorrow - Manuel tells about the professional shooter's task actually on the F1 circuit.

Razzle Dazzle 'Em With Canon Cameras - Part Three

Apologies to the lyricists for " Chicago "...I couldn't let that one go. Because that is what you can do with the Canon cameras and lenses at the motor racing track. Here are more thoughts from Manuel Goria for the shooter - and seller - of car images:

a. If you are taking a picture of a car, the car should fill the screen. It should be in the place on the screen that you decide upon. This decision can be based upon art aesthetics or sure knowledge of where the editor is going to put other elements of the design. If you are going to need to have a vertical image, shoot a vertical image. But shoot the car close enough and big enough.

b. If you shoot multiple car images with different backgrounds, you have a chance to sell multiple copies to the owners or editors. Variety pleases.

c. If you are shooting for a sponsor's needs and that sponsor has a logo on the car - or on the track - the logo is the thing you must show. In most instances you will want to show it very clearly.

d. Sharpness is the ultimate test of the salability of any image. It can be lost through wrong movement or technique, through overexposure, or through the heat haze and mirage that affect motor sport tracks.

Note: Barbagallo proved this to all the shooters. Even with magnificent lenses that could come to very sharp focus, too much exposure let the images waver.

e. To get sharper images, a shorter exposure time is needed. To get enough depth of field for sharpness on the contours of the car you may need to use a smaller aperture. Both of these factors may dictate a high ISO - up to 5000 ISO in some cases. The Canon 1DX can do this easily with good low noise, but it is still open to reduce the ISO as far down as you can to preserve quality. As with everything, it is a balancing act.

f. Salable images can be unusual or iconic - if there are structures like Dunlop bridges or famous locations, shoot some of these as they are expected. But also shoot location shots that show where the race is taking place. Accept the fact that some of the best shots happen in front of some of the worst backdrops and plan these shots with a shallow depth of field or a blur.

g. Compositions that do not show all the car can sometimes work, but you have to choose the right car. People who know the shape of iconic cars want to see ALL of it. It is possible to use trackside elements and colours in an artistic motif to make an interesting shot out of an ordinary one - it is all about quick design as much as capture.

Note that Manuel always likes to see the front wheel of the car in sharp focus...unless it is an occasion where he doesn't...and that is tomorrow.

Manuel Exposure For Motor Sport - Part Two

Pardon the pun - the professional photographer who delivered the Canon Australia Motor sport workshop is named Manuel Goria. He is a world traveller and a world worker in the business of illustration of motor sport - Formula One all over the place as well as other types of racing. That's him in the heading image before the heat started, pointing the way to the track.*

It is hard to report the entire lecture that Manuel gave in one web post - there were so many good practical points that he covered. Rather than cop out, I will take several days. Let's start with the equipment recommendations:

Not surprisingly, he recommended Canon. He uses the brand's large professional 1Dx cameras - several of them - and keeps long lenses on them. The Canon professional optics are second to none for this sort of precision and the agencies and editors who are concerned with his work are not going to be satisfied with sub-standard images. This is also tied in with the rapid autofocus response and shoot time available with the Canon professional bodies - Manuel frankly admits that there are some situations that are made for burst-shooting.

It might be funny to observe rivalries between major manufacturers that start arguments between user groups and enthusiasts - but it is no fun if your income and reputation depend upon the reliability of the goods. Canon gear works for Manuel, and he is prepared to say that it will work for the rest of us. Another philosophy - that of doing what you can with what you have, where you are - is also valid, but it may not get your images over the desk of a top-quality publication. Each of us must decide for ourselves.

But to today's points - Manuel sez:

a. For him, the most important focus point in a photo is the helmet of the driver. People look for people in pictures. ( That's not one of Manuel's shots - it's Jane Fangio in the Shuco Ferrari...)

b. For most occasions, a high shutter speed is best.

c. He must decide where the car is to be placed in the picture - it is generally the star attraction of the image. He uses a single AF focus point and moves it around frequently to allow it to place the exact focus.

d. Preconception of the picture is by far the best way to success - the backdrop will influence what people see in the car, so Manuel chooses the focal length of the lens to assist in the background rendering. It's not hit or miss.

e. Sharpness in a photo is essential to interest an editor and deliver the impact that a publication needs. There are many factors that influence it - positively and negatively.

On the plus side is the performance of a good Canon lens . But he must make sure that the exposure of the image does not blow out areas of highlights. When they are gone, the sharpness of the picture and the interest of the editor is gone as well. So he will deliberately underexpose each image and recollect the overall light levels in post-processing.

f. To get a consistent result through to the Lightroom program, Manuel will shoot most of his images with manual exposure of both aperture and shutter speed...and will also not allow the camera to take over with automatic ISO control. He aims to have the same levels in everything so that an overall master correction in Lightroom can be batched through the lot. It is a matter of time for him as he does not have the week's grace that an amateur may possess before results have to put forward. Professionals are under pressure - remember that when you envy them.

And having said that, please remember the professionalism of the other people that you see here in today's column:

a. Sheryl from Canon Australia who organises all the events for Canon in WA and Saul who organises events for Camera Electronics. By and large, when they are on the job, things work out pretty well as planned. They provided lunch, which is a good way of ensuring my affection.

b. Ernest, Beth, and the rest of the Camera Electronic staff who scurry about and do the work. Ernest is further distinguished by knowing how to fix things. This picture is of him doing his famous line from  ' Crocodile Cesar '..." That's not a lens - now THIS is a lens...".

So...tomorrow you learn how to see motor pictures that sell pictures to clients.

* to be fair, when the noise started, we knew where to look...