Cocktail Hour Vs Happy Hour In The Camera Store

We are not going to suggest that the clients of Camera Electronic should come in to buy stuff in a sozzled condition - far from it. It has been done, mind, but it was not a pretty sight to see. And it is hard enough getting the sales staff down off the top of the cabinets with a hockey stick at the best of times.

But there is something to be said for the concept of the cocktail hour consultation. Pull up a shaker and I'll explain.

Cocktails are made from a mixture of things - liquors, essences, fruits, mixers, etc. They can be very complex or very simple - provided the ingredients are good, they nearly always succeed. Okay, the pickled herring martini was a general failure but we still sold some in Holland...The point is to get good stuff to start with and mix it judiciously.

And in the camera trade? Well, give some serious thought to mating camera bodies to lenses and flashes. Your tastes and needs may be entirely different than those of your neighbour, and just as you might like a martini and someone else might do better with a Manhattan, so your optic mix muight be different. Here's your ingredients:

Canon bodies
Nikon bodies.
Sony bodies.
Olympus bodies.
Panasonic bodies.
Sigma lenses.
Tokina lenses.
Samyang lenses.
Zeiss lenses.
Nissin flashes.
Metz flashes.

And note - I didn't even mention the fact that the body makers have a full line each of their own lenses that fit their bodies...

Also note that I didn't raise the question of Leica cameras and lenses, or ditto for Fujifilm.

Or the adapter drawer full of possibilities.

Ask your bartender...err...sales assistant for a taste recommendation and try out  a number of combinations. You need not be frightened to mix and match - there are any number of combinations that work well.

Oh, Happy Hour? When the drinks are half-price? Well think of the cash-back offer periods that the manufacturers institute as the closest thing to this. Wait if you wish, and you can score some good savings. Or sip your way with a new lens or two while you are waiting. We are prepared to put coasters down under the telephotos for you...

Personal Magnetism For the Speedlight Shooter - Mag Mod

Dang. Someone invented the better lighting mousetrap - and now presumably are having to resurface the pathway up to their door in anticipation of increased traffic.

Mag Mod have finally made a set of speed light modifiers that are worth using. The secret of their appeal is no secret - they have unique shapes and they attach to the speed light flash guns easily.

Note: easily. Also firmly. Firmly, as in use them in the rough and tumble of professional shooting and not have them fall off. And no more velcro bands or sticky tape panels.

The basic unit is a rubber adapter housing that stretches over the head of your speedlight. I used a Fujifilm EF-42 but I daresay the ban would go on any Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Olympus, Leica, or Nissan flashes just as easily. It's a darned sight tighter than any velcro band ever was.

On the outer edges of this band are imbedded small but powerful magnets. All the accessories that stick to the front of the adapter do so by means of their own magnets - so the things stick together fiercely. I tried to wobble the assembly apart by thrashing the speed light around in my hand and did not succeed in dislodging it one bit.

Okay, what can you stick on the front?

a. Basic 40º grid. Add another on and it becomes 20º. Add a third and it goes to 20º. Add a third...

b. A gel holder. They make sets of polycarbonate gels that last far better than the thin things on velcro. Colour correction or wild creatives in different sets.

c. A dome - looking like a soft goldfish bowl, and lighter than competing said bowls, it makes an instant bare-bulb look for diffusion. It's got a holder slot for those gels we mentioned so you don't necessarily need to stack the gel holder on too.

d. A big white rubber scoop. You swivel the flash head up and clap on the scoop. Some of the light goes out the back and fills the shot - most of the light goes out the front and illuminates the subject.

Coolest feature is the fact that Mag Mod have included two sets of magnets on the scoop - you can rotate the flash head of your speed light 90º to the right, attach the scoop looking forward, and then just swivel that head up and down as you move from landscape to portrait orientation. This looks like wedding and event shot heaven.

Here it is in operation out on the road:

e. The attachment that looks like the shift lever boot from a 1965 Pontiac or an Art Deco plumber's plunger is really an adjustable snoot. Fold the sections in and the area of illumination grows larger - pop them out and it becomes smaller. Be prepared for silly comments from the crowd.

Now there is more coming, and we'll detail it as soon as it arrives. Think Tele-Vorsatz and wide-angle panel and gobos to start with.

The strobists amongst you really owe it to yourselves to come in and see the Mag Mod.

See the Mag Mod range online on the Camera Electronic website here

Leica Flash Looks Familiar...

Users of older Leica cameras will remember the complicated procedures required for flash usage in the film era. There were quite a few of the screw-mount Leica bodies that started life with no synchronisation and had it added later with marvellous attachments that clamped onto shutter speed dials and then closed contacts with spring levers and rotating arms. Users could dial in all sorts of delay times and I'll bet nearly every one was wrong...

In the M -series times the M3's and M2's were initially fitted with quick-connect sockets that did not match anybody else's cords...and we all went out and bought extra connectors to convert either the flash or the camera to shoot. We all then promptly lost them and had to buy more, but that is another story.

At last, in the digital era, the M series and other Leica cameras that have hot shoes on the top have been the recipients of new electronic flashes that have TTL contacts and simplified control mechanisms. If you flash, you can get that synching feeling easily...*

Here is one of the latest. The SF 40.

I am not suggesting treason for Leicaphiles if I point out that the shape of the flash and the controls are remarkably similar to those of the Nissin i40 series of flashes. They are made to fit Nikon, Canon, Micro 4/3, Sony, and Fujifilm cameras and now it would appear that Leica have decided that they will also be of benefit.

These are terrifically capable flashes and allow easy control of output power in TTL and manual modes. They command or slave and also provide that little bit of constant front light for video work.

The really nice thing about them when you use them on smaller cameras is the fact that they are a small size in themselves and have concentrated the weight of the batteries low down in the body. You are not waving a big bulky mass on the hot shoe.

Note that they have the internal zoom facilities that take advantage of maximum light for a particular focal length.

And they have the red dot...

* The older readers will now think of a Bovril ad for the rest of the week...

The Cleverer Speed Light Kit - Nissin's Air + Di700A - Tempted?

Progress for the Strobist - power for the Pro.

Nissin has just supplied a very good idea that will please Sony, Nikon, and Canon shooters:

Their new Di700A flash is packaged with a dedicated Air 1 wireless transmitter that does TTL as well as full manual control.

For dedicated speed-light users the two turning points are the TTL and the radio transmission mode. These make it possible to have a truly portable studio flash system that is not in a studio...for times when you are not in a studio.

The Nissin Di700A may seem to be fairly similar to medium-power flashes from other manufacturers - GN of 48-54 at ISO 100 for various focal lengths. The flash zooms for 24mm to 200mm coverage. It has full auto, TTL and manual setting.

The Air 1 command panel on the transmitter shows three groups that can be controlled and the ability to fire off -2 to +2 stops in any of them. If you employ three flashes as a main, fill, and hair light you can change them from the camera position very easily. And the fact that the signal is being borne by radio waves instead of IR pulses means you are going to be able to control more surely in bright conditions or in areas around corners.

The body of the flash has two other important little features hidden under rubber flaps at either side - on one side a PC socket for wired control in difficult transmission areas, and on the other an input socket for external power. This is a flash that can fasten upon a light stand and take power from an external adapter just like a studio monoblock. Tempting?

The really tempting thing about this is the price - the box in front of me says $399 for the Nikon version with the flash and the transmitter in the packet. Click here to purchase one from our online shop.
I daresay you can also get the flash on its own, letting you build further on that strobist studio set.

Tempting? Nissin make some great flashes for DSLR and for the mirror-less systems as well. If this air idea goes ahead we might see the transmitters for those as well.

Well....I'm tempted

Fongarein, Fongarehere, Fongaregood

All Hail The Mighty Fong!

This universal diffuser claps onto the font of any speed light flash to diffuse the light and fill it into the shadows of your picture.

No more Panda Eyes on your bridal portraits and no more couples caught like rabbits in the headlights at parties. Soft fill in that goes out to the edges of an interior - but doesn't burn out the main subject.

The new universal velcro strap secures it to any flash - I know because I just got up from the laptop right now to try it on a new Nissin i40 - and you have a far better fill than could be obtained with the little box diffusers.

We've got a stack of them in store right now.

Pursuant To Our Previous Communication...With Nissin

This is the only time in your life when you will read good news that starts with " pursuant to our previous communication...".

Yesterday I tested out the Nissin i40 flash with my Fujifilm X-10 here at the shop. Today I gave it a further wring-out in Stirling Street in bright sunlight. Make no mistake about that - Western Australian sun is bright and hot, as you'll have found out yesterday.

The sun plays hell with exposures when you need to get detail into deep shadow areas - hence the use of fill-flash for this time of day. The Nissin i40 has a setting called Slave Digital that takes its command from a digital camera's on-board flash. You set it up for whatever power you want and then hold the flash out to wherever you think you need fill from.

But does it work if the camera's flash is just a dinky little thing and there is an overwhelming external light? Wouldn't that be the worst possible scenario? Well, have a look.

Even in the toughest test the i40 responded. In the past I have had to cobble up shades and put slave flashes in improbable positions to get communication, but this one just goes off when wanted without fuss. And I know that if it will work in Stirling Street at 10:30 AM in summer, it will work every blessed where.

Kerboom!....With Nissin And Fujifilm

Well, it works.

I have just given the new Nissin i40 flash a run with the little Fujifilm X-10 that takes the editorial photos for our shop - and i am impressed. Impressed enough to fork out some of my own money for one.

It slotted onto the hot shoe and went into TTL mode flawlessly - no big surprises there. Tilt, auto zoom, all the bells and whistles we expect from modern flashes.

Then I turned it to Manual and shot the sequence of flashes you see in the photos. 1/128, 1/16. and 1/1. But you see how it worked? - no cord connection - the flash operates as a slave from the X-10's little weeny on-board flash.

So, you can hold it in your hand, shoot your main from the end of your arm, and have the little on-board peeper as a fill. Or put it on the shoe, dial it up to 1/1 and do fill flash out in full sunlight. With the X-10, 20, 30 or X-100 series cameras you can synch up to at least 1?100 - I tried it. Woo Hoo.

It's got a video light there, and an auto setting for non-TTL cameras...and a metal shoe for reliability.

And if you are a micro 4/3 person, there is a version of this for your camera. Also if you are a Canon or Nikon person.

$ 295 looks like a real bargain for this much Kerboom.