New Packs And Boxes - New Position In The Shop - Same Great Products

Here's a problem for shoppers: shop assistants...

Here's a problem for shop assistants: shoppers...

The answer to this is simple: we'll all blame the manufacturers...

We've all been to a supermarket to pick up a familiar packet of something; noodles, or cheese, or marzipan mortar bombs. And we've gotten increasingly frustrated at trying to find the goods in the myriad of products on offer. Whatever it is, it isn't where it was...the shop assistants have moved it, the rats.

And when we go and berate them, they point out that it is in exactly the same place that it always was. But the manufacturers have changed the packaging. No-one is really happy but the world goes on.

This is the case with the superb line of camera straps made by Black Rapid. We've been selling them for ages from a rack at the middle back of the Stirling Street shop in packets with pictures of happy owners on the front. If you have been circling the shop looking for these recently you will have become increasingly frustrated.

Now they are in the front between the Leica and Fujifilm and Olympus cabinets. And the boxes with the straps are ever so much more sophisticated now - a graphic designer has gotten to work on the packaging. This post is to alert you to the new appearance of several favourites; the Curve, the Hybrid, and the Street.

Still the same great flexibility, ease of draw, and security for your cameras and lenses, and particular stability for larger rigs - the bigger straps will not walk over your chest as you run about or draw the camera up and down.

Still the great favourite of photojournalists and street shooters. And pack shooters...

Walking The Olympus Way With Camera Electronic

 

A Photowalk can be a peculiar ritual - somewhere between a civic parade and a band of footpads skulking through town. It is innocent enough, though, when it starts...

Actually it generally begins with a greeting by the industry representative - in this case Burke Flynn from Olympus Imaging - and a setting out of the rules; you are welcome to try the new cameras and please do not drop them in the mud. Do not run away with them as young, fit shop assistants will chase you like greyhounds. We have counted the lenses...

Friday's Olympus Photo Walk  from our new Murray Street Store was actually delightful, coinciding as it did with pleasant summer weather and the Friday night hawkers markets in the centre of Perth. If you can stand fire, smoke, and the smell of things frying you have a chance for some great pictures. As well, the falling light in Perth at this time of year can be surprisingly gentle and artistic - particularly if it is reflecting off signs and Christmas revelers.

It was not always thus. The city at the end of Friday in the 1960's was alternately grim and garish, though you were pretty safe wandering the streets at nearly any time of the night. I should not care to linger late in the area these days...but then I get nervous when they let the Bingo mob out of the local parish hall - full of tea, biscuits, and passion. You get hit with a Zimmer frame and it is all over...

Well, back to the centre of the city. Two examples of the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 MkII were to be had, but one of them was firmly in the grasp of Camera Electronic's Sam Perejuan. And I was able to observe one very smart design feature that Olympus have changed from the OM-D E-M1 original. Look at the picture of Sam's hand holding the camera.

Sam's hand is not a small one - call it an average man's span. He has a firm grip on the camera with forefinger on the shutter button and thumb ready to turn the back dial - but his hand is not having to fight its way over the camera support lug and strap holder. Olympus have moved it from the position  they...and most other people...formerly put it on the side of the camera. It is now up in the cradle of the web formed in finger and thumb. It is ever so much easier to handle the camera than before.

The picture of Sam shooting the camera with a rather large strap attached shows that the strap naturally lays out of the way now and does not bunch under the hand. Bravo! Stand there fighting with a strap for an hour and see how your concentration suffers.

Now as to topics for a walk - apart from the doughnut stalls and fist fights - people can find some artistic treasures:

Or architectural flights of fancy:

Or just quietly evocative lanes.

I just enjoyed speculating about the late-night goings-on...I believe they call for players some time after 9:00. Tennish, anyone...?*

 * Yes, that was intentional. The weblog pun filter is not turned on.

The Rolls Royce Of Adapters

Or the Fujifilm of motor cars...

In the spirit of the elk*, I knocked a Fujifilm M-adapter and a Zeiss 50mm f:2 M-mount lens off the shop shelves with a stick and clapped them onto my Fujifilm X-E2 with the turbo-boost vitamin -enriched firmware update. I was going to see how much different it made the adapter experience compared to the Ray-Qual and Tokina combination that I am most familiar with.

The first impression was quality improvement in both the lens and the adapter - hardly surprising as both of them are quality Japanese products. Not to knock the efforts of other sections of the Asian world, but there is no denying the superb machining on the Fujifilm or Zeiss mount. They clip together with no hint of distress.

No hint of a hitch, either, in the operation of the focusing ring and the aperture ring of the Zeiss lens. I am not surprised with this - when I operated Zeiss lenses on their own cameras or on Hasselblad 6 x 6 in the past there was never an operability issue - the operator might foul it all up, but the lens came through.

I have written before about the slowing down of the photo process when you use adapters and other-maker's lenses on your camera - how you are forced to give up auto-focus and are always opening and closing an aperture to view or expose an image. In some cases, like that of the Ray Qual/Tokina combination - it is really only suited to studio closeups and careful work. Even then the mind wanders, you forget to stop down or to open up and the image suffers...

Well, it ain't the same with the Zeiss on the M-adapter. Sure, there is no more AF. I accept that. I can turn the focus selector on the Fujifilm X-E2 to M and leave it there. In dong so I have opened access to the focus-peaking mechanism that Fujifilm provide. It is turned on with a push of the thumb control wheel and instantly zooms up the portion of the image that is covered by the AF box. Disregard the fact that there is no AF in this configuration - you still get to see exactly what is in focus in that box. I've set it so I get a bright red rime around the exact plane of focus.

It is a matter of a moment to thumb up this image, turn the focal ring until it pops, and then thumb back to the main view. Almost as fast as the Leica M2 camera...

Do I need to focus at full aperture and then stop down? Probably do if it is a close-up shot. I can whack it open and then count clicks down to the selected shooting aperture.

Do I need to do this in the field with a subject at is further away than about 2 metres? Nope. the Fujifilm X-E2 can boost the viewfinder image bright enough to let me focus and frame right down to about f:11 anyway so if I am going to get enough depth of field anyway I can just leave it at this stop and do nothing but focus and fire. Now that's about as close to the old Leica M2 experience I used to have as I can get.

Mind you, I do miss twisting my fingers into a knot at the end of 36 shots and then having to juggle the base plate as I load the next 36...

The results? Zeissuperb. Plus it has a silver ring at the front that makes it look cool.

* That was meant to read "week" but the autocorrect mechanism took over. I quite like the elk, eh?

See the Zeiss webstore here: http://www.cameraelectronic.com.au/zeiss 

The Deliberate Decision - When To Go Manual With A New Lens

More to the point - when to go outside the normal boundaries of the manufacturer's lens line. When to break away and decide to explore new territory. When to take command yourself.

Well the manufacturers of digital camera bodies all give you lenses from their stables that are perfectly suited...each to its own mount. They have generally worked long and hard to have a wide variety of optics in all sizes and focal lengths  - and they will generally have a range of prices for them as well. You pays more, you gets more, but since the lenses are good to start with, the extra costs can sometimes be a diminishing return.

Enter the independent lens makers - companies who may have a license to use the mount of a certain camera but are not restricted as to what the other specifications need to be. They can search for the niche market that wants a particular focal length or maximum aperture. They sometimes elect to leave out auto-focus and auto meter connections to make the lens universal - they figure that if you are advanced enough to want a specifically special lens, you are capable of focusing and stopping down yourself.

The stop-down question is not even addressed in many cases - you get a good old click-stop aperture ring and are in command of it every time you shoot. If you are a maximum-aperture freak you just cello-tape the aperture ring open and let it go at that...put the camera on aperture priority and let it sort out he exposure. In most cases it will guess better than you can anyway.

So here's what I found in the special shelf - a Zhong Yi Creator 85mm f:2 lens. Totally manual, but with the sort of feel and finish that make it as good as the big boys. I think it would be the lens for someone who wanted to do street portraiture quietly and from a distance. So, of course I used it for lots of other things...

Out on the street it does react quickly - no AF or metering to get in the way, and you can stand and stop cars as they go past at 50 kph. Choose a high enough ISO and you can stand at a race course and stop the action good. f:2 lets a lot of light in.

Likewise if you use it as a stand-off standard lens. It would be a an excellent optic for separating the background from a face - hence the street portraiture.

And lastly, it is actually quite nice in a studio set, though here it is stopped down to f:11.

The action of the lens is extremely smooth and the aperture ring has clean click stops. Oddly enough they have an f:16 stop between f:11 and f:22 but do not mark it as such.

Note that there is a good bayonet fitting for a lens hood but none is packed in the box - presumably it is an extra.

The FInger Bits

This may seem like a repeat of a previous post on the new Olympus Pen F camera but bear with me - it's the first time I've gotten the thing off the shelf and into the hand undisturbed - and the first time that I've gotten a clear studio light into some of the bits.

I've used all sorts of cameras and lenses with all sorts of controls - all the way from a Russian wooden plate camera with brass helical track for focusing and wooden plate holders through the range of roll-film and 35mm cameras to the plastic button land of digital cameras. I've poked, prodded, twisted, slid, revolved, and flapped to control focus and exposure and done far worse to change the film. Some cameras were a symphony of elegant ease and some were songs of pain. I can say that I have never flung a camera into the fire but I have put some down and never picked them up again.

The controls on the Pen F are as cleverly worked-out as those on a modern jetliner. The reason is the same - a human has to operate them with some ease to make the thing work. And in the case of the Pen F camera that human also has to buy the thing in the first place - that means the Olympus company have to entice them rather than compel them.

Well, it is enticing to see black leather and chrome plating. Brushed aluminium and paint also play some apart in the visual aesthetic but the designers have to be a bit careful with them - there have been some awful cameras in the past that depended upon these two finishes too extensively and suffered some shabby results when they aged.

I doubt that this will affect the Olympus Pen F. The construction is excellent and the places where your pokey finger goes or your twirling thumb runs over the thing are pure metal and unlikely to wear out. They have been wise in providing a way to turn the LCD screen into itself to stop scratching - if you are the sort of shooter who checks it only infrequently this is a good way of preserving the finish. As the LCD also acts as a control surface with the touch-screen, it is also nice to be able to keep this away from inadvertent use.

The brilliance of the on-off switch and the positioning of the colour control wheel have already been mentioned.

Note as well the attention to detail in the viewfinder area - of course there is a small sensor screen that sees when your face is pressed to the eyepiece and cuts off the LCD image. But note the addition of the rubber guard for the eyepiece - a welcome thing in these days of plastic spectacle lenses - and the calibration dial for the diopter adjustment. other makers just put an small plastic dot for this - Olympus make it look good.

I will admit to a certain reserve about the manner in which Olympus have positioned the four control wheels, two release buttons, and a toggle switch so close together there on the right. I has somewhat the air of a French Ironclad - a mass of superstructure. But at least the different functions are well-defined and are at different levels - the digits get used to the positions.

Time will tell whether this becomes as great a classic as the original Pen F...but it certainly has the potential to do so.
The Olympus Pen F is available now to order through our website.

Here's Very Big News From Fujifilm

But the very big news is not in a very big package - in fact it is more compact than you'd think.

The Fujifilm company has just released their Fujifilm X-Pro2 camera - the newest component of their award-winning mirror-less camera system. It joins the other fine cameras and derives from the original Fujifilm X-Pro1.

People familiar with the Fujifilm X-Pro1 know that it has a unique X-Trans sensor that delivers extreme sharpness and very rich colours. The New Fujifilm X-Pro2 continues this performance and improves upon it with 24 Megapixels resolution. The new sensor is referred to in the literature as the Trans CMOS III. It is paired with the X-Processor Pro digital engine to put out even better images.

Looks as though the designers at Fujifilm have looked into the past of camera design to see what features people really need and appreciate, and they have placed some of the controls of the new camera right where we always wanted them to be.

For example: The ISO setting for many film cameras was found as a small window dial in the shutter speed control. Fujifilm (and I...) think this was a great idea to eliminate one more menu control. Here it is back in the right spot with great precision. Yay!

Fujifilm (and I...) thought that photographers needed more of a grip on the right hand side of the camera. They put on a bigger grip. Yay!

Then they thought whether the Fujifilm users would like a small front control wheel just under the right forefinger - and we would. Yay, again!

The shape of the X-Pro1 is there - perhaps a tad sleeker - but the functionality hasn't been compromised a bit. Full TTL hot shoe operation? PC socket on the side for studio flash? Thumb button to steer the AF points about? Don't mind if I do! And I'm guessing the battery will be the W 126 so we don't have to swap things over. Yay, indeed!

Now we'll be having a lecture/demonstration/hands-on by a very famous press and journal photographer to let us see what this new camera can do. Adam Ferguson has had numerous covers and editorial pictures accepted for Time,The National Geographic, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and many others. He's exhibited his work in Houston, Los Angeles, Sydney and numerous other places. He's been shooting the shooting where the shooting is going on and knows how to do the photo business. When he comes to talk to us it will be well worth looking and listening.

Our Facebook and email contacts will be able to tell you when thus will be - the small press release doesn't nail it down yet. Suffice it to say this will be red-letter day for street shooters, portrait shooters, press shooters, and one old hot rod shooter.

And the wonderful thing about the Fujifilm X-System...? We don't have to get rid of any of our old gear! It all fits together seamlessly! But come in and buy a new Fujifilm X-Pro2 anyway - because Camera Electronic can do that! Yay!

* Heading Image: Delightful profile of new body and new lens.
* Tailing Image: Does the X- Trans sensor deliver the colour? Have a look. Pontiac LeMans.

Lighter Leica - M Lite?

I asked my colleagues this week to tell me things that I could turn into columns for this weblog. I don't think that I can necessarily use " Go Away " and " Stop Pestering Me " as inspirational material but I did come away with the thought that we should talk about the racing Leica. The stripped-down version. The PRU model that zips over the target, takes a picture, and is gone in a flash. Not seen, not heard.

Note for the newbies. PRU means Photo Reconnaissance Unit - the RAF used Spitfires and Mosquitos that had been specially prepared and painted - they went higher, faster, and farther than other fighter planes because they took out the guns and other heavy bits and polished and smoothed the external surfaces - they were painted a peculiar light blue to blend in with the sky. I shouldn't wonder if they didn't fly over Wetzlar at some stage of the game...

Well, Leica AG haven't painted their M-series camera light blue - or waxed the outside, for that matter -  but they have slimmed down the specification, reduced the weight, and quieted the camera body. All to make it one of the most discrete of Leicas. If you are in the business of discretion you may be interested. Discretely...

The next model up in the Leica range - the Typ 240 - has a certain level of shutter noise in single - shot mode. The Typ 262 has less noise.

The Type 240 features video and Live View mode - the Typ 262 eschews these. You just get to take pictures quietly.

The Typ 240 has a marvellous top cover milled from brass and chrome plated in silver or painted in black. The Typ 262 has a marvellous top cover milled from aluminium...less weight.

The Typ 262 concentrates the Leica experience into the essentials without adding complication - the menu is just two screen pages. Compare that to some of the electronic sagas dished out on the back screen of other maker's top cameras. Leica shooters will be pressing the button on the top of the camera a lot more than the buttons on the back - and this is really how it should be.

The end result will be more well-timed images with the Leica trademark of resolution and clarity. Some of them will be possible because it is a Leica and some of them will be possible because it is a quiet, discrete Leica...

A Tale Of Two Cities - And You're In One Of Them

This will be a far, far better thing than you have ever done before. And when you are done you can go to a far, far sweeter rest than you have ever known...

Actually, you are going to have a Dickens of a good time with one of the best Leica Photographers there is  - Thorsten Overgaard. Thorsten has selected Perth as one of only two Australian cities* for his next tour and seminar involving Leica photography.

Thorsten does this a lot and does it very well - he will be taking this tour of instruction to many countries in the world and to many large cities. Perth - and Camera Electronic - is darned lucky to have him here.

The day to set in your mind for Perth is Thursday the 10th of December 2015... but bear in mind this is not just a few hours - this is a four-day event. It'll be involving you totally until Sunday the 13th of December. And the involvement will make you a better and more visually aware photographer.

The first evening concentrates on Leica gear - and you'll be asked to bring your own cameras and lenses so that you and Thorsten can figure out which combination of equipment will give you the best chance of success.

 The second day is action - a photo walkabout with interactive help and advice about the coverage you are getting. We note that Thorsten's webpage with the details advises a good pair of comfortable shoes, so the walking may indeed be about...

Day three brings the images shot into the computer and details workflow and editing. You'll need to make sure your computer will work with Aperture or Lightroom to get full benefit.

And day four fills in the holes - gaps in your knowledge and vision that have become evident - and chance to know better and to make it better - and then have a final analysis of your results.

This level of commitment to you and dedication to your learning - remember the seminar is limited to 8-10 people so you very definitely are getting personal instruction - doesn't come cheap. No true learning does. The whole affair costs $ 2500 but if you go to Thorsten's website and make an Earlybird booking it comes down to $ 2000. In Leica terms that is not a surprise...

Here's the link

We're not suggesting that you should lose your head over this, but really these sort of things are quite revolutionary...

* Sydney is the other place - you'll like Perth better...

A ( Leica ) Walk In The Sun

Saturday afternoon in Perth used to be dead - the only life was in the cinema matinees and the pubs. How times have changed.

Disregarding the stores being open and trying to get more buyers - and the coffee shops and restaurants being open and trying to get more eaters - this last Saturday saw a dedicated band of photo enthusiasts following Dom and Dick on a Leica Photo Walk around Supreme Court Gardens.

The walk started at the Perth Town Hall with a volunteer guide - in case we got lost  - and  wended down to the gardens along  Barrack Street. For some reason it is fenced off but then it never was all that spectacular. Thank goodness they haven't moved old Forrest from the Terrace and even Ritter's Pole is still up - something for the visitors to picture.

A great deal of photography in this area is pointed up at various angles. Looking down is risky - you get to see the Elisabeth Quay development site in all its industrial glory. Perhaps it will be the subject of a Photo Walk when completed.

The gardens themselves are fascinating - who would have thought of fencing off a bamboo grove for the benefit of a raven. At least the enthusiasts who had smaller cameras had the benefit of macro shots and shady trees to give some punch to their pictures. And we cannot fault the work of the civic gardeners either - they had flowers at every corner of the area and no-one missed out on colour.

Note the picture of Dom using the M-series Leica. If you are going to stroll and bring home good images we cannot think of a more appropriate street  - or garden - camera.