That's Why - the New Canon G3X

It looks like...but it also looks like...and what's with the two tripod sockets?

Okay, you're going on safari or bear hunting. You want to take landscapes as as well as  wildlife. You don't want to take a big camera. You want to take video as well. You don't want to have to change lenses. You have a tablet and a mobile phone and want to back things up and send off reports to social media every night.

Easy to do? Up till now, no - few cameras combined all those requirements. Now we have the new Canon G3X and it does.

Long lens - up to 600mm equivalent.
Wide lens - back to 24mm equivalent.
Articulating screen that can go to 180º for selfies.
WiFi inside.
Instant access to social media.
Full video.
Man-sized grip without massive body weight.
External control access and two custom channels.
Macro.

The two tripod sockets are really one threaded and one smooth - to integrate with the anti-twist mechanisms that many tripod manufacturers put onto their quick-release plates.

A very good travel idea.

The Long View From Nikon -Coolpix P900

A question arose the other day as to what camera would be best to use for South African safaris or Alaskan bear expeditions. After the clamour died down - everyone has their own favourite best perfect opinion around here - I took the Nikon Coolpix P-900 out of the Nikon cabinet, dropped a card into it, and walked out front of the shop.

The skyline towers of Perth are a long way away from Stirling Street - longer even than the distance that you would choose for lion or grizzly bear shots.

The lens of the Coolpix P-900 has the equivalent of 2000mm in the old film estimation - a fabulous thing in the day and a focal length than none of us ever aspired to. Thus this camera is an extension of our capabilities far beyond what we could do.

The two shots are hand held. No tripod, no monopod. The camera was set in pure tourist mode - AUTO everything. Point, find the target, shoot.

Sharp enough? Close enough? You judge. Come stand out front of 230 and look at those towers.

Nikon are remarkable designers and they have come out with a truly remarkable camera- that is eminently affordable. Don't leave home... for Kruger or Denali... without it.

View Nikon P900 specs

Wide And Shallow - A New Leica Lens Is Announced

Leica Camera Australia Pty have just sent us news of a new Leica lens.

It is the Leica Summilux-M 28mm f:1.4 ASPH. Their press release says that it is the first Leica M lens to combine the f:1.4 aperture and 28mm focal length.

Their PDF goes on further to point out that this wide aperture will mean that the shallow depth of filed and softened background images that are generally seen in longer focal lengths will now be available for a wider view.

Indeed - the ten elements in this lens - including one group that floats behind he the diaphragm - should deliver a horizontal angle of view of 65º on the full frame Leica M and 51º on the M8 and M9. This is more than enough for architecture, interiors, or the safari landscape. 700mm close focusing distance - f:1.4-f:16.

It is to be supplied with an all-metal lens hood. We would also recommend that users invest in a Leica E49 filter to protect the front element.

The lens is, of course, made in Germany. We'll likely see them in June though the press release does not set an exact time or date.

Long Enough, Good Enough, Cheap Enough

The safari trail used to be an imperceptibly small track the bush - trodden by explorers in pith helmets and natives with big bundles on their heads. The explorers used to carry Holland and Holland Double rifles in tank-stopping calibers.

These days the trail is generally a paved road trodden by Toyotas. The natives are carrying iPads and the explorers are carrying lenses...in tank-stopping calibers.

Some of these long lenses destined for Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras also carry heart-stopping prices. Come in and ask about some of the big long fast L series or G series...but give us a little time to charge up the paddles on the defibrillator. If you can stand the price and still keep standing, you have our unbounded admiration - and you can go on safari knowing that your images will be fully up to best-of-industry quality.

Should you wish to go to Africa and still have enough money when you come home to eat regularly, you might like to consider the long zooms from Tamron and Sigma. You can now go from 150mm to 600mm in each of these brands for each of the big camera manufacturer's bodies.

They are solidly built. The Sigma is significantly heavier than the Tamron, but let's face it - these are cannons of emplacement a the best of times. Tripods, bipods, monopods, beanbags, or other stabilisers are needed. You might be able to hold one at arm's length and shoot rock steady portraits from the back of a Toyota chasing zebras if you are Chuck Norris but everyone else is going to have to settle for doing it the careful way.

The lenses do have have image-stabilising mechanisms built into them - good for several shutter speed step improvements. But you should still practise your shooting holds before you go.

Two year warranties. Lenshoods included. You should buy a big UV filter for each one of them before you go and take a 12-pack of the Hoodman Lens Cleanse cleaners as well.

Note for people doing Safari in The Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Alaska:

You need not worry about lions. The opportunities for giraffe images will be limited. You will have to take your own meerkats, and expect to pay duty on them at H.M. Canadian Customs.

On a technical note: These vacations are not called safaris in the northern hemisphere. they are called getting hopelessly lost.

On Safari With Leica

Look on our Facebook page for the latest note about a Safari Leica. it seems to be one of the M cameras with a silver 35mm lens and a tan leather strap. There are a number of accessories for it as well that suggest rugged travel in African wilds.

The camera body is dark green - about the general colour of a Soviet tank. There are silver control knobs and buttons, but no familiar red emblem on the front - presumably to prevent startling the rhinoceri when the photographer pops up a metre in front of them with that 35mm lens.

It would appear that it will be in vicinity of $ 13,000 to purchase.

Good Design From Panasonic - In Store Now

The Panasonic FZ 1000 has been a camera on the lips of many callers over the last few weeks - now at last we can satisfy the curiosity and ambition of the people who rang - we have the camera in stock.

It is a bridge camera, whatever that has come to mean these days and if previous cameras were stone arches, this one is a cantilever suspension with multiple spans. The big daddy of bridge cameras.

It starts with a 1" sensor - large enough to deal well with detail and electronic noise. It has an f:2.8 lens ( that goes to f:4 at the longest focal length...) and it has a massive zoom range - the equivalent range of 24mm to 400mm.

The electronic viewfinder has been upgraded to 2,359 K OLED. and there is a hybrid form of image stabilising incorporated.

The big move for the video side of it is the 4K High Speed Video with an FHD of 120fps /100fps.

This currently may well be the ultimate convenient Africa/Alaska camera for the wildlife tourist. It has been made with an attention to the ergonomics of the hand that is characteristic of Panasonic - the good grip design that they showed with the GX-7 is echoed here. A man's hand can comfortably operate the camera. The eyepiece is also made with enough extension that the nose can comfortably fit behind it. Not an inconsiderate matter for some.

Come in and try it - we're charging the battery right now.

Going On Safari? Come Up And See Me Sometime...

The Safari Season is upon us. People are gearing up to look at the wild animals in Africa, Alaska, and Europe*. As we speak tourists are packing backpacks the size of refrigerators with DSLRs, lenses, flashes, laptops, and waterproof apple corers. Because you never can tell when you will need to can apples in Constantinople in a rain storm.

Wise tourists who have done this before and have the chiropractor's bills to show for it may elect to take a smaller rig this time. Consider if your ambitions and plans might well be suited with a camera that has a 30X zoom lens, 4 second to 1/2000 second shutter, manual aperture and shutter wheel, and GPS built-in. And a Leica lens. And a proper viewfinder on the LHS of the body. And full HD video with stereo sound.

And fits in your top pocket as you go through the door of the airplane. And for which you have not paid excess baggage.

Panasonic TZ-60.

You may not know which wine to drink with your biltong or cheese fries, and you may not know a bear from a banjo, but you can capture the fun and the scenery without making a guy or a mule of yourself. You will be less likely to attract the attention of the local pickpockets, or at least they will concentrate on your passport and wallet, if you are not carrying a camera shop on your neck. The grizzlies and hyenas will be less likely to demand a fee for posing if you do not shoot with a DSLR.

You'll still have to deal with the Europeans, but at least you will have your hands free while you do it.

Last Chance And We're Not Lion About It - Tomorrow's The Day

If you want to experience the best of African images and find out how they are made - and plan how YOU might go and do the same - tomorrow at the State Library of WA  is your chance.

Iconic Images International - with Denis Glennon in charge - has arranged for Shem Compion to give a seminar about his books, his company( C4 Images and Safaris ), and
his experiences in the photo business in Africa.

That's tomorrow at 9:00 to 4:30, but you'll have to Google Denis on his website: Iconic Images International. Or you can ring him on:

08 9284 7373 or  0418 923 103

If you want to go to Africa with photo equipment, see Shem and then see us. He knows the stuff you need and we sell the stuff you need.

A Wonderful Chance To Pursue A Dream - With Iconic Images

Iconic Images International and Denis Glennon have had a chance to see a great deal of the world and have recognised that you want to as well, To this end, they have arranged for a world-renouned author and photographer to present a seminar here in Perth later this month.

Their speaker, Shem Compion has many awards and books to his name - he is a photographer, hide designer, and author. Now he speaks and conducts workshops that help others to learn the mechanics and rhythms of his art. He has one of the most successful firms in Africa that deal with the subject; C4 Images and Safaris - he has also provided work for the BBC series "Planet Earth".

His workshop will be held at the State Library of WA on Saturday, 17th of May. It goes from 9:00 to 4:30.

Details of this as well as tickets to book a place can be obtained by going to the Iconic Images International website - it pops up first-off on Google.

Or you can ring Denis on 08 9284 7373 or 0418 923 103.

The website has some magnificent images to whet your appetite - Mr Compion has the information you need to know to make your own.

We Sell On Sale And You Win - Panasonic FZ60

Yay. We have a big 'ol new stack of Panasonic FZ 60 cameras downstairs and Saul sez we are cheaper than our competitors! We this is your chance to come in a score a travel bargain.

The Panasonic FZ60 is a long zoom camera -a bridge camera if you will, that takes your photo possibilities far beyond the little compacts. If you are setting out on an African safari or wish to participate in the Canadian government's program to feed tourist to the polar bears at Churchill, you can take this camera with you and be confident that you will bring back great images.

You see, 24 x zoom is nothing to be sneezed at, and even if you do sneeze, the power OIS optical stabilizer will help to dampen it down. The lens is from the Leicaq company - a Vario-Elmarit f: 2.8-5.2. that zooms from 4.5 to 108 mm. The 4.5 means a very wide shot indeed and you'll also be pleased with the macro capability.

There is a high-speed burst shooting capability that will allow 10 frames per second - useful for when the bears get one of the other tourists - and you can also shoot the camera as a full HD 1920x 1080 video.

This package is complete with a fitted case - have a look at the image - small enough and sturdy enough to go on any tour.

Best bottom line - We sell the entire kit for $ 349. And there are a stack of them ready to go. Yay.

We Are Delighted To Announce - The New Nikon Lens

If you have enthusiasm for any of the following:

Air Shows
Surfing
Football
Tennis
Hoss racing
Wildlife
Birds
Safaris
Motor Racing
Surveillance Work

...you may be very interested in a carton of lenses that have just arrived in our shop. They are the new Nikon 80-400 VR lenses - the AF-S G lenses - that I reported in a previous blog. Here. Now. For sale.

I had the privilege of using one of the demo models of this a month or so back and was vastly impressed by the handling and speed of the lens - it is everything that we expect from the modern electronic Nikon lens. It should find its way to hundreds of camera bags and as fast as possible - this is the Nikon lens that answers the question Canon raised with their 100-400 lens in the past. It will remain to be seen whether this poses a new question.

I daresay a number of prospective buyers will now start the long process of reading every internet rumour and review for this lens - I expect them to arrive with Officeworks looseleaf binders full of printout from their investigations...( Complete with impossible prices from faraway places with strange-sounding names. Calling, calling, to meeeee...)

Sorry about that. Little burp of cynicism. Better now.

Never mind the reviews. Bring your body down here - together with your camera body - and clap our demo lens on it and take some pictures outside in Stirling Street. We have arranged for the BHP company to erect a test target on St. Georges Terrace for your convenience. You will be impressed by the new Nikon lens.

Uncle Dick

A Whim Away - With The Fuji X-S1

Those of you out in the readership who are contemplating trips to Africa or Alaska to see the animals may wish to consider Kruger National Park and the Inside Passage. Those who merely want to see the natives can motor over to Mirrabooka...


But wherever you go, you will want to be able to capture the action without coming too close to it. thus many of you will come in looking for long lenses for your DSLR cameras - and we can sell you some very nice ones from Nikon, Canon, and Sigma - or you may come looking for screw-on telephoto adapters for simpler cameras.

I can tell you now that these latter devices, if they are still being made, are going to disappoint. They might increase your focal length a little but they will do so at the expense of the resolution - big time. May I propose to you an altogether different solution.

Move round to the Fuji cabinet and look for the Fujifilm X-s1 digital camera. It is the one that looks like a medium-sized DSLR with a rather impressive lens on the front, and a very good rubberized body covering. The ring grip on the lens is a distinctive striped pattern for a deep grip.

The lens stays put - it is not interchangeable - but at the fabulous focal range it does not need to. 26 X optical zoom. The equivalent of 24mm to 624mm in the old 35mm speak. That is more than enough to capture the antics of the bears and the lions. And the joy of this Fuji is that it has a very good image quality allied to all the fun fruit - the special programs that do motion panoramas and movies and special low-light shooting. It will macro into 7cm from the subject too. It is really a do-it-all camera in the traditional form but without having to change every second part.

You can get a real ever-ready case to protect it and spare batteries to drive it and score memorable photos when the next chap on the cruise liner is diving into his camera bag or backpack to try to get the perfect lens mounted. You'll capture the Grizzly bear eating the Mountie. By the time he gets it all together and pointed in the right direction the bear will be spitting out the hat and you'll have the picture.