" Go Out And Go Mad "

That's a famous phrase from a former CE employee - uttered when the deal had been done and the customer was going out of the shop with the precious new camera held gingerly in both hands. It was an injunction to go have fun - to explore - to shoot a thousand shots and discover what the equipment was capable of.

Occasionally you would discover that the equipment could go mad by itself.

Case in point is the adventure at the Hyde Park Community fair on Labour Day. I attended and had a good time. I scored an old-fashioned* lemonade from the Girl Guides,  avoided the attention of the worst of the political pressure groups, and photographed the veteran and vintage cars.

Hyde Park is a full-sun and dappled shade venue and you need a fill flash and your tongue stuck in the corner of your mouth sometimes to get acceptable exposure. In some cases you get science and in some you get art. In the case of the FIAT sports car I seem to have gotten a little of both, mixed with madness.

The car is a simple red colour - well it would be, being an Italian sports car. I mean, let's be realistic about these hings. And an Italian motoring enthusiast restored it and displayed it. Red.

There it is front and back, and the rather simple interior as well. Sweet little thing. Good lines  and a tiny little motor. I always try to give my car blog readers a look at the engine bay as well as the outside.

But look at what the Fujifilm X-T10 does when there is massive overexposure of red. The camera was operating on Programmed mode at the time and there was a spritz of .5 flash from the EF42...but look at what has become of the external red paint colour. Yellow!

My theory is the sensor just spat the dummy with the over exposure. I am not sure if it would do the same with any other colour, but that will be the subject of a separate series of experiments. I'd call it funky but I'm afraid of inadvertent typographical errors...

* I was a bit disappointed that they used the phrase "Old-Fashioned" as it suggested something with whisky. It turned out to be lemonade...

To check out the Fujifilm X-T10, flash and lenses feel free to come in store and have a play. Or order several on line. They come in silver and black.

The Quick Look Through the Long Lens...Fujifilm 100-400mm

Well, as promised yesterday, I laid hands on one of the new Fujinon 100-400mm f:4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lenses. It is slightly longer than its name and has a very sturdy foot attached to the bottom. As you can tell from the appellation it has an optical stabilising circuit, weather resistant seals, and the premium nano lens coatings. It is moderately heavy, extremely well-built, and the fastest thing to focus you have ever seen through.

I took my Fujifilm X-E2 with the new 4.0 firmware loaded into it so that it was a fair comparison to the 35mm f:2 lens on the Fujifilm X-T10. I could not detect any difference in speed for the auto focus, and that was with the 100-400 set to the full range of focus movement. You can actually command it to a restricted AF to speed things further.

The images of the BHP and Rio Tinto buildings ( Is there some form of commercial rivalry going on here? Is this a sign...? ) taken in the very late afternoon have a different light from those with the 35 in the morning - and more atmospheric haze built up to try to see through. Nevertheless, even taking into account the slight reduction in contrast due to atmospherics, the resultant resolution is superb.

It is also quick, as I mentioned. That WSWW Beemer beetling down the street was not pausing for anything...but the lens focused fast enough to stop the grillwork perfectly. This is a lens that would be ideally suited to motor racing and would not have to be pre-focused on any particular part of the track to be able to capture fast action.

Apparently it is compatible with the Fujifilm company's 1.4 tele-extender as well, boosting it up to a maximum focal length of over 800 mm in the old film reckoning. That makes it a serious wildlife lens.

This is an optic that should be seen through and by all Fujifilm X-series users - it opens up a world of longer capture.

Day 10 - And The Fujifilm Fans Get Yet More Discounts

Fujifilm X-series cameras are some of the best choices for amateur and professional photographers and right now getting the goods has never been cheaper.

On Day 10 of the 12 Days For Christmas Camera Electronic will be reducing the prices of the camera bodies and of the lenses that go with them - and would also like to remind the customers that Fujifilm themselves have a large number of cash-back offers for that same gear.

This means you score a lower price here in the shop today and Fujifilm further reduce your costs when your cash-back payment hits your bank account. The lenses can be very economical indeed!
I know - I've taken advantage of the Fujifilm cash-back offers in the past and They are smartly and efficiently done.

Now the figures:

Basically, you can trim 20% off the price of the X30, X100T, X-E2, X-T10, and X-T1 bodies - then score cash-back from Fujifilm on top of this.

X-T1 body/black: You pay $ 1039 and Fujifilm has a cashback of $ 100 on top of this.
X-T1 body/black + 18-135mm lens: You pay $ 1758 and get a cashback of $ 300
X-T1 body/graphite silver: You pay $ 1199 with a $ 100 cashback
X-T1 body/graphite silver + 18-135mm lens: You pay $ 1998 and get a $ 300 cashback
X-T10 body black/silver: You pay $ 719 for a $ 100 cashback
X-T10 body black/silver + 18-135mm + 27mm: You pay $ 1439 for a $ 500 cashback
X-100T black: you pay $ 1159
X-E2 body/silver + 18-55mm lens: You pay $ 854 for a $ 200 cashback
X-30 silver/black: You pay $ 495

If you'd like to add some X-series Fujifilm lenses to your bag - and we ALL would - you get 10% discount in the shop and a heck of a lot of cash-back from Fujifilm. All of the following have a $ 200 cashback available from Fujifilm:

XF 14mm f:2.8                       You pay $ 791
XF 16mm f:1.4                       You pay $ 1149
XF 18mm f:2                          You pay $ 530
XF 23mm f:1.4                       You pay $ 925
XF 27mm f: 2.8 pancake        You pay $ 359
XF 35mm f:1.4                       You pay $ 537
XF 56mm f:1.2R                    You pay $ 989
XF 56mm f:1.2R APD           You pay $ 1580
XF 60mm f:2.4                       You pay $ 572
XF90mm f:2 R LM WR         You pay $ 1114
XF 10-24mm f:4 R OIS          You pay $ 989
XF 16-55mm f:2.8 RLM WR You pay $ 1304
XF 18-55mm f:2.8-4                You pay $ 629
XF 18-135mm f:4-5.6              You pay $ 899
XF 50-140mm f:2.8 R LM OIS WR  You pay $ 1682
XF 55-200mm f:3.5-4.8            You pay 665


Heading picture: Taken with Fujifilm X-E2 and 35mm f:1.4 XF lens. '62 Pontiac Catalina in British Columbia.

Click here for the immediate purchase! 

Back In Black - The New Fujifilm X-T10 Body Arrives

The first supplies of the black-bodied Fujifilm X-T10 cameras have arrived here in the shop this morning.

Precisely the same as the silver-bodied ones, but in black. the top and bottom panels pass the lip test - you can tell they are metal by the temperature when held against the lip. Magnesium castings, as it happens.

Magnificent little instrument. Perfectly complemented by the current series of X lenses...but what until you see what is coming in November...

Actually - don't wait. Grab one of these now while the grabbing is good.

The Falls Creek Lunch Box - Or How To Go In The Snow

The daughter has just been to visit Falls Creek in Victoria and was lucky enough to hit the best snowfall day of the year - 30cm of powder. The pictures she brought back of the holiday taken with my old Fujifilm X-10 set to automatic are wonderful - she put the SD card into the slot on the television last night to give us a slide show and I am torn between pride and jealousy - they are that good.

Note: The dear old X-10 was superseded by the X-20 and latterly has been replaced by the X-30. This Fujifilm compact zoom line just gets better and better. Travellers take note...

But back to the snow. She missed out on a few of the activities they did because she was afraid to take the camera out into the falling snow - I have since told her she was silly as the devices do pretty well, but she was careful with it. In retrospect I think I should have grabbed one of the small Pelican cases and let her dump the thing into that - then she could have ventured out into the cold dauntless.

This is the one I'd have picked - the Pelican 1050. It's only $ 35 and has the famous water-tight edge seal that Pelican is famous for. Plus a pressure relief valve that means it does not get stuck closed if you go up and down the mountains.

The interior is a padded solid rubber well - not a foam block. This means that you don't have foam crumbles flailing around and getting into the camera. There is plenty of room in there for the Fujifilm X-30  - as a matter of fact it is big enough to take the Fujifilm X-100T  or either the Fujiflm X-E2 with a 27mm lens or the new Fujifilm X-T10 with a similar optic. Now THAT'S going to be good tourist photos!

Note the carabinier strap and side slots for other strapping.

90 Over 2 = 1/4 @ 600 - The New Fujifilm Mathematics Explained

Pay attention class.

You will see the illustration at the top of the post of the new Fujifilm Super EBC XF 90mm f:2 R LM WR lens. The one we have here in the shop - right now. For sale to Fujifilm users who have X-Pro1, X-E1 and 2 , X-T1 and X-T10 cameras.

The construction is superb, as we have come to expect from Fujifilm. The focusing with the X-E series and the X-T series is blisteringly fast and snaps in. The lens is not excessively weighty.

Close focus is 600mm and at that point you get a quarter of the human face - in precise detail.

I should regard this as currently the definitive Fujifilm lens for head and shoulders portraits as well as work in low light. Better it does not get.

Please note that the classic Fujifilm styling of the lens means that there is little external show - it is all buiness. Good business.