The Personal Pick - Part Two - The Trigger Point

I often wonder what it is that will trigger a purchase in the camera shop. Price, of course, is often seen as the overweening factor. Novelty is another. Prestige, colour, and social status all can play a part.

And sometimes it is a very subtle thing...something that can be felt but barely articulated. A wisp...

I like to call it industrial nostalgia. The effect of design that recalls us to our history - even if we never experienced it before. Perhaps a call to desires that we once had.

Two products in the Camera Electronic Murray Street shop started the juices flowing. One by Fujifilm and one by Leica. See if you get the same feeling.

The Fujifilm X100F got a full write-up a couple of weeks ago. The chrome version was winking away in the Murray Street cabinet, looking for all the  world like a film camera of the 1950's or 1960's. It begs for a leather half case, a leather strap, and a slotted lenshood. And then it begs for a trip to Zermatt in winter or Lake Louise in summer. For good, comfortable travelling clothes and a schedule that has scenery and architecture and historic places. Also for morning tea, afternoon tea, and a good dinner...Well, suit yourself about that but a well-fed tourist is a good thing to be.

The person who uses the Fujifilm X100F to best advantage is the thinking photographer - one who brings themself close enough to their subject to make use of that 23mm lens. One who makes use of the Fujifilm X-trans sensor and the film simulations as much as possible. Say what you like about always using RAW files, the convenience of a really good JPEG camera that can go up to a high ISO is not to be sneezed at. If you are a person who combines a WiFi camera with a tablet and cloud storage you may well be able to take an entire office in a bag. Not that you want to work in the office if you are sitting on the hotel deck at Lake Louise with a nice afternoon tea...

Okay, one button pushed on one side of the shop. The other siren call came from the other side - the Leica cabinet. Someone in the Leica factory got all nostalgic and looked out an old lens design...

The Summaron-M is only 28mm focal length. It only opens up to f: 5.6. It closes down to f:22 and focuses to a metre. It has a tiny piece of glass inside a classic chromed brass mount ( with Leica code pads on the mount for modern digital cameras ) and it looks as if it comes straight out of the 1950's. It even has the classic push-button Leica infinity stop to park the lens when you put it away.

It also costs a bomb. But it is built with the precision that Leica have always employed for their optics and it is the perfect accompaniment for the Leica M10. Also recommended for that Swiss or Canadian trip but you won't have as much spare change left to tip the waiter. Particualrly if you also indulge yourself in Leica collapsible Elmarit 50mm and 90m lenses to complete the nostalgia kit. Oh, and the tan leather half case...

I wonder if dear old Walter Benser is still making leather boxes?

Sony Week - Part Four - The Local Tourist

It is no fun being a local tourist - particularly if you have lived in the place for 53 years. The exciting mustn't-miss glamour spots of the 1960's have not worn well. Some of them peaked when the America's Cup races were held and some of them have yet to do so...So finding iconic world-beating landscape award-winners on a cloudy Tuesday at 2:30 is somewhat problematical - particularly if you want to get off Leach Highway before the rest of the world gets on it at 3:30...

In most Australian cities you can at least find a dramatic view around the war memorials - they are grassed and lit and maintained. Thus I used the naval memorials up on the hill as my base to view. If the council had not been cutting the grass and if the wind had not been blowing a gale it might have been idyllic.

As it was, it provided a good workout for the 28mm f:2 full frame lens and the 18mm f:1.8 APS-C lens. In this case, as with the studio shots from yesterday, I eschewed using RAW for either camera  -it was easier to set a fair comparison in train by putting them both to JPEG. I also used a programmed or auto setting for both and selected 650 ISO. AF was in operation for both, and as there was a good amount of light under the clouds, the speed of focusing was no problem for either camera.

Against the light shots are tough - the camera sees what we refuse to see and renders it as flat or overblown in highlights. It's no good hoping for good light if the geography of the place puts you looking into it anyway, but you can tantalise yourself by moving round the other way when the sun breaks through the clouds - as seen in the torpedo shot.

Technical note: This is an ex-US Navy torpedo that was not fired at Japanese ships and did not explode. As opposed to the ones that were fired at Japanese ships and did not explode. I recommend RUN SILENT RUN DEEP as a reference for this question.

But back to the cameras. They both shot fast and accurately. They both turned in files that benefited from the "automatic haze removal " feature of the Photoshop Elements 14 program. But look at the difference between the full frame and the APS-C in the image of the HMAS ADELAIDE ( L01) tied up at Victoria Quay. Here's the force of the newer sensor, greater resolution, and larger surface area of the sensor all combined. Plus a bit of the in-body 5-axis stabilisation throwing in goodness.

As loyal as I am to the APS-C system for my studio shots - and for good reason - I must say that if I was taking landscape shots that I wanted to blow up to large images, I would have to acknowledge the superior result of the full frame. I daresay there is more that could be wrung out of an RAF RAW file but then there is more that could be extracted from a Sony RAW file as well.

There may well be similar improvements in portraiture or large group images - I must see if I can get another chance at the larger sensor in the studio with a human subject.

And as a final note - Street photography has been touted as a fine division of the art. It may well be, but there are streets and there are streets. I drove a number of the crowded ones around Fremantle and concluded that in the rich ones the locals didn't want me to stop - and in the poor ones I looked at the locals and had no desire to stop. I think I will do my touring up to Coles and leave it at that.

An Eye In The European Sky

If you have ever wanted to invade France but without having to join the German Army, now is your chance. You can do it with a camera, amongst friends, have a good time, and learn a great deal.

Eye In The Sky is a photographic company from Western Australia that is dedicated to providing photo tours of the Tarn region of southern France. Their current prospectus lists the next tour between April 28th and May 4th - when the spring should be making France into a landscape photographer's paradise.

The tours are run by Western Austalian Jon Davidson and his wife Jude, and this time you will have our favourite Rockingham photographer - Kingsley Klau - along to help your photo development.
The tour is packed with visits to ruins, monasteries, galleries, castles, chateaux, vineyards and restaurants. The thing is all-inclusive - you are not going to be shelling out Euros right, left, and center for transfers, meals and accommodation. It is the easy logistics approach to a wonderful time.

It's not just wonderful - it's useful. You'll get daily lessons as you travel from the professionals and learn the importance of Lightroom and Photoshop post production on your images.

But description without images is useless - the best way you can see the lay of the land and the sort of opportunities that you'll have is to go over to the website now and follow their planning links. It is a picture-rich site and well worth just ogling over.

 Go to:

eyeinthesky.com.au

or email:

 jon@eyeinthesky.com.au

The tours are not crowded - there will be ten people as well as the photographer guides. That means time to learn, space to move, a chance to soak up the wonders of the Cathar country.

Gimmee One'A Dem - Part Five -The Hot Wash-Up

Okay, your friend has come with you into the shop - or perhaps it is the other way round. You may have the whole fam damily in there as well, and that can make for distraction and pressure - better to just keep it to two customers and one sales person. Note: the sales person does not have to be the owner of the shop. The staff are perfectly qualified to help, teach, and bargain, and you gain nothing by waiting for the boss. In fact, you lose time...and if you are not careful you lose standing in the eyes of your mate. Word to the wise...

Assume the best. A comfortable day, room to move, and the sales assistant has had coffee. Let your friend see the three kits on the counter in front of them. If the kits are matched as to lens capability and other general specifications, you can move to the next most important measurement: what does it feel like when they pick it up? This is the point at which the buyer is as expert as the sales assistant or the mentor...because they can feel what feels right or wrong for themselves.

It may be a matter as simple as the weight. Or as complex as the shape of the body grip. Few of these small-frame cameras have a grip big enough to take a full western man's hand with all four fingers engaged. You inevitably have one curled around the bottom of the grip. The other hand can hold the body if you do not have the screen swung out, or at least rest on the zoom ring of the lens. Thankfully, all three have on/off switches that re easy to access and shutter buttons that fall easily under the forefinger. The Nikon has the best two-pressure grip, if you are an old Enfield shooter. ( and less recoil...).

The eyepieces are similar, and as most modern cameras include a dioptre adjustment, they can be quickly brought o the individual's needs. The nose clearance is different for all three, so get your mate to try that out. Funny thing to mention, but noses are individual items...

Are they all reliable? Yes. Is one more reliable than the rest? No. Does it make a scrap of difference in which Asian country the camera or lens was made? Probably not - they have all passed through the cattle race of the Australian importer and that is who you would deal with for any issues.  They are all three reliable, and what is better, that means you are off the hook as far as your mate is concerned.

Some final thoughts: Why did you and the shop hit upon selling a DSLR kit to your mate instead of a compact camera or a mirror-less camera or a waterproof camera?

Well, partly because that is what they asked for...and there is no commercial sense in refusing to sell someone a hamburger when they ask for a hamburger...

Partly because it is the sort of purchase that can grow to greater things in the future. It's happened before. The entry-level buyer goes off and has a whale of a time and comes back and starts to haunt the internet, camera clubs, and shops. The initial little camera purchase becomes a a five-camera system with more long lenses than NASA. More and more gear is sold - more and more new things are tried - and it all ends either in a AIPP fellowship or a messy divorce. Either way our accountant is comfortable.

Partly because to give a person a smaller camera - waterproof or not - is to encourage sandy beach-side disaster. As much as we may want them to carefully ensure that there are no sand grains in the rubber seal or near the extendable lens system, we know what is going to happen. Every summer brings a crop of crunchy cameras back to the shop. The DSLR commands more respect from the user and promotes a bit more caution. Of course when they come in asking for a tiny action camera you can throw caution to the winds and look out the health insurance...

Gimmee One'a Dem - Part Four - The Nikon D3400 Kit

When we ask people to go out and use mirror-less camera systems on the basis of small size and weight we are sometimes forgetting that if you choose wisely, you can get both small size and light weight in a DSLR. The trick, as with this Nikon D3400, is to choose an entry-level camera kit.

Frankly, My Dear, I do occasionally give a damn...particularly if I am hauling my metal-bodied mirror-less with a big-aperture zoom. The weight that I thought I was saving creeps back and my neck knows it at the end of the day. Custom straps help, but I still look at the littler Nikons with envy.

This is one of the new Nikons that feature the simple connection to mobile phones and tablets. Oh, I know that there are any number of mirror-less and DSLR cameras that do have WiFi, but the Nikon system is particularly easy to use. You pair up your phone or tablet with the camera once and it stays that way ever after. Older readers like myself who dread having to perform computer science every time they want to link a picture find this to be a blessing.

Okay, there is also another feature in this kit combo - the lens is a retractable one that allows you to store the front barrel back into the zoom ring when you are not taking pictures. The camera won't shoot until you extend the lens and tells you so in a notice on the back screen.. The screen isnt' a swinging one, and that may very well be a good thing.

Note that people used to using both hands to hold and control a camera may find the two-side configuration of the Nikon cameras a boon. There are still a fair number of pokey buttons on the right hand side but they could move four of the most heavily-used ones to the left  and clear the way somewhat.

One minus feature for the travellers will be the charger system that Nikon have included. The other two make similar-sized charger blocks with a standard figure-eight kettle cord connection to the mains electricity. Nikon have opted to make an adapter that clips onto the charger block easily ...to convert the two-blade Japanese plug to the Australian three-blade...but be aware that it does not unclip and pack away as easily. It's a space-user in the luggage.

No other downsides, however, and even the plastic lens mount with the rather exposed contact buttons is no problem as long as it is kept on the body. The lens is fast to deploy, focuses well, and is sharp.

Indeed , the performance of all three of the kit lenses is such as to bring into question whether an amateur user need change to other optics. In the price range and given the profile of the users, these kit lenses are superb value. The right job means that they pay for themselves within a hundred shots - and who amongst us us not prepared to shoot a hundred shots.

Gimmee One'a Dem - Part Three - The Pentax K-70

Your mate who is buying their first DSLR as a kit camera may have heard of the Pentax name some years ago in the film era. It was hard to find a camera club, school, or group of enthusiasts in which a Pentax 35mm camera was not in use. That may have eased off a little in recent years - and I am not going to fire up speculation about why - but there is no reason why you should not set your friend out to look at the Pentax K-70 kit.

Note that the pictures of the cameras this week show the boxes they come in. Not just to make use of the designer's art - this is to give the purchaser some idea of the size of the packaging that these kits require. You'll see that the Canon and Pentax offerings come in one box while the Nikon camera is separated from the lens. Makes no difference? Well, consider how much extra trouble it would be to haul that camera box through the airport, airplane, customs, hotel, etc if you were required to take it with you everywhere on your holiday...

Hint: If you buy the camera kit here in Perth a week before you go on the airplane you DON'T have to take the blessed boxes with you. More space for duty free.

Okay, back to the camera body. It seems heavier than the Canon, though the lens is just as light. The mounting of the lens requires more force and makes more whizz-click noises but once it is on you need do no more. Remember that we encouraged you to get your mate to leave it undisturbed for the duration of the trip to avoid dust leakage into the mirror box.

The Pentax is also a swing-screen camera and as such does not put any control buttons down the left-hand side of the back. Some find this a help - some not. No southpaws are really catered for by the camera makers anyway so maybe it is just academic. The physical size of the Pentax and the shape of the hand hold mean that you do get a solid grip on the camera.

As your mate's mentor you are going to faced with a challenge - there are a lot of control options in the menu of a Pentax that are highlighted with interesting descriptions. They are tempting and will beckon to those who are attracted to bright colours. Once onto that pathway, your friend may customise their way to the point where the camera thinks that it is Salvador Dali and starts to make art instead of images. Teach them about the "reset " button that returns it to the factory formula and show them how to get out of trouble.

 Note that with the Pentax as well as any other camera, you are going to have to remind them to charge the battery and insert a memory card - and make sure that the memory card does not have the lock slider pushed down. If it does, the camera will neither format the card nor take a picture. You might think it is broken straight out of the box but the truth is it is just waiting for a sensible command from you. ( Don't ask me how I know this... ). Battery charging is about 90 minutes for these cameras so you can also do your mate a favour if you tell them to get an extra battery..

An electrical aside...the Canon, Pentax, and Nikon batteries for this week's cameras are all about the same size and weight. The casual user who looks at their images on the back screen or uses a lot of Live View might get  250-300 shots from a charge. At least all the cameras have a positive on/off switch and are unlikely to be left discharging the battery when they are put back in the case.

The other danger that the novice runs is the wonderful feature that Pentax put on the LHS of the camera - a dedicated RAW button that means you can crank in a RAW shot in the middle of a JPEG series. This is great for you but may lead to frustration for your friend if they hit it unknowingly. At the least sign of a developing photo enthusiasm, of course, you can turn them on to RAW processing, but be ready to have them change their image editing program if it cannot keep up.

Okay, be prepared to sort a lot of things out photographically when they get back from Thailand or Bali but hope that the automatic setting will have been in operation most of the time.

You have the backup of Camera Electronic and the Pentax importers if you buy it here and remember that they really do back their warranties.

Gimmee One'a Dem - Part Two - The Canon 700D Kit

The One'a Dem series this week will showcase cameras that may be recommended to your mate with safety.

I shall leave the manufacturer's representatives and fan-boy geeks to point out long lists of differences and advantages in their own favourite equipment in an attempt to gain superiority. The commonalities will be:

a. Small - frame cameras. Your mate is a tourist with a family.

b. Moderate 18-55 mm zooms.

c. Automated operation. Your mate is not a great reader of instruction books

d. Actual availability. In-shop now. Your mate can have the camera before he gets on the Boeing.

e. Affordable pricing. We need to leave spare cash for Bintang tee shirts and Jack Daniels at the duty-free.

 

Today's kit is the Canon 700D. A bit bigger physically than the other cameras, and somewhat lighter. Of course, all three cameras have plastic-mount lenses of light construction, but if they are prepared to leave them on the mounts and not wear out the bayonet, the optics should actually do a very good job. The resolution, distortion, AF speed, and CA may not be up to the standard of the L series lens but then neither is it going to be heavy nor expensive. Horses for courses.

The body opens up at the back to swing the LCD screen to the left. A good thing if they are going to shoot with the thing over their head, but a danger if it is going to be taken off on a door jamb. As a mate, you would be wise to get them to reverse the screen and tuck it into the camera back to start with. Disregard the action-photo advertisement where everyone has an screen swung out.

 

Intelligent auto answers most of the novice's needs and you can tell them not to put it off that until they are well into their photography. The machine opens with JPEG, sRGB, and a number of other standard and inoffensive factory settings, so get them to leave well enough alone for now. Do help them to set the clock and calendar so that they can search for photos later on the computer.

 

The factory settings for the video will also be safe enough for when they bring the results back but be warned that you will be expected to sit through an hour of the mates at the BBQ. If you want to distract them, explain the pictorial symbols on the mode dial and let them do macro and portraits.

All cynicism aside, you will be sending someone out with a very sophisticated machine that can grow with them if they take a continued interest. The 18 megapixel sensor is plenty for the camera and the ISO sensitivity goes way higher than most people can use. If this venture proves a success, there is an entire mountain of Canon glass available for this body. If you use Canon, your mate can borrow yours...

Do explain the optical stabilisation routine to your mate, but be conservative. Better that they should steady themselves just in case and with the added help of the OS the images will look good. You might be able to hand-hold 1/2 second on the topmast of a sailing ship in a storm, but that's why you are an icon.

The Bridge Is Now A Snap

Remember the old days when the connection between you taking pictures and you seeing them was a chemist shop and a week's wait? Well, you can restrict your visit to the chemist's to buying overpriced vitamins and something for the weekend - you need not wait for your pictures with the Nikon Coolpix B700.

The new feature of a number of Nikon cameras now is SnapBridge. It is a low-powered Bluetooth connection that your camera can make to your mobile phone or tablet. If this sounds old-hat, the difference now is that the business of connecting he two wirelessly does not need a complex procedure every time you swith one or other of the devices on - there is a continuous connectivity once you have made the initial connection, and you are spared trying to remember yet another blasted password.

This may be the closest yet to a combination of a true camera with the ubiquitous phone or tablet - and it opens the way for competent yet lightweight travel reportage. if you are addicted to selfieing your way around th world you can pester your Facebook friends with high-quality Nikon shots instead of a low-resolution phone image.

This Nikon camera has one of the tourist-bridge lenses that goes to an extreme of 60X zoom range optically and then steps off to another 4X electronically. This is the lion/bear/NK border guard sort of shooting that you just cannot get with a phone. The fact that the camera also has a VR mechanism makes the whole thing plausible. The range of focus - from 1cm in macro out to infinity in the zoom range means you can pursue most tourist shots.

It is a 1/2.3" CMOS sensor in there and can run up to 3200 ISO so you will stand some chance of working in low light. f3.3-6.5 on the lens. a 3" LCD screen and about 400 shots per battery charge - BTW, it charges in-camera so that is one less charger to pack.

Now for that lens performace...Jandakot on a bright morning. The shutter will go to 1/4000 second, but I doubt you'd need that for most of the light aircraft. Some of them just sat there with their rotors turning...And the magpies are the most blasé birds I have ever seen.

Actually, the chief problem using a lens this powerful on a small camera is actually tracking the targets. You need a duck-shooter's eye to lead them enough...

See the Nikon range on the Camera Electronic website here

The Blue Bag Of Happiness

 

I am curious about the blue bag syndrome. Many manufacturers seem to make them - in varying shades and textures. I have two of them myself by different makers. I cannot say why they should be blue rather than brown, purple, red, or green. I could understand if they were bright yellow or orange for use in snow conditions or at night, but the other colours puzzle me.

Well, that aside, this Photo Hatch II Aw from Lowepro is a pretty good choice for the sorts of people who wear backpacks - and I don't mean to sound funny saying that. Let me explain:

Backpacks can come in all sizes and shapes but some of the most common ones are Too Big, Too Small, Too Floppy, and Too Stiff. The people who choose them are either confronted with inappropriate carrying capacity, awkward fit, or downright pain as hard edges dig into them. The idea for which the pack has been bought frequently goes out the window as wrestling with it overtakes all other considerations. In some cases the bag acts as a buffet for the thieves of the area and in others even the owner of the thing cannot get inside to get the camera out.

 

Like Baby Bear's porridge, this Lowepro bag has nothing too extreme - it would suit most hikers in most day situations. While you'd not select it to haul all your camping gear for an arctic yomp, you can make day trips into rain forests and deserts quite well with it. It would not be an unreasonable size to carry for an urban expedition, either. In this latter role, perhaps the blue colour has been chosen to let it look a bit less imposing.

 

It's the basic top general storage and bottom camera storage that we have seen so many times from Lowepro. In this case the designers have chosen to allow access to the top from a general zip over the crown of the bag but have adopted the strategy that they used in their Flipside series - a zipped flap to access the cameras that can only be opened when the pack is off the body. This is also known as the South American security design.

 

It is also rip-stop fabric with a full weather cover stored under the base of the bag. There is a tablet, papers pouch at the most vulnerable part of the rear face, so you might need to monitor your surroundings. Losing your sandwiches and jumper is one thing but your devices and passport is another.

One feature I did like is extremely simple - there is a reflective panel set into an accessory strap on the rear face. Whether you loop something through there or not you can at least be seen hiking on a highway for a considerable distance if vehicle lights pick up that patch.

Also note one more thing on that patch photo; the stitching. Even, spaced, a good margin, and hemmed edges. This is the good stuff, folks.

Your Camera Bag For The Next 20 Years...Lowepro

We all have possessions that seem to be immortal - they never die, no matter what we do to them. I have kitchen implements that my grandparents used in the 1920's - they still cut meat and potatoes today at our house. They are not antiques, relics, or heirlooms. They are tools to help us eat.

The same might be said about the Lowepro Nova 1 bag that I used for an overseas trip in 1995. It's still there in the camera closet, storing a Nikon film camera system. It is as tough and functional now as it was then, and I dragged it over two continents.

Well, here's the new digital equivalent - the Scout SH 140. It's designed for a mirror-less camera and a couple of extra lenses - or one lens and the big travel adapter you need to access overseas electricity. You are going to be able to drag it across those same continents - they don't change - but it'll be lighter on your shoulder.

The shape is smaller than the old Nova 1. Not only are the camera bodies and lenses smaller than the SLR of the film era, the volume needed to carry their recording medium is drastically reduced. I used 10-packs of Kodachrome 200 film and the space needed for 360 shots amounted to 960 cu. cm.
These days you can pack 2452 images of the same quality into 1.54 cu. cm.

In practical terms you can make 1,528,519 pictures with the same amount of space. This means you have a chance to get three images of Trafalgar Square that look good...

Okay, joking aside, the interior of the Scout is configurable for whatever you want to carry. The quilting is cosmetic but the plush material is kind to cameras. There are nooks and crannys to dispose of cords, cards, and batteries. You can haul it out of the hotel for a full day of shooting without feeling as if you have been asked to invade the Falklands.

Note as well that you need not carry sad-looking surpus gear - the buckles and fasteners are top-notch and have been plated to look good. For those of you who are concerned that it looks like a camera bag, that is because it is a bag that is designed to carry cameras. When you are tourist carrying a camera you look like a tourist carrying a camera and no amount of camouflage will convince the petty thieves that you are a penniless local. Make other arrangements for your security*.

The bag will last far longer than your enthusiasm for travel. When you bring it home you can gut it and use it for local shopping. You can put seedlings in it and plant them out. You can carry 12 guage shells in it. You can use it as a tool carrier - it's that tough.

Whatever you do, it's going to be around the house for 20 years. Might as well figure out a good use for it. Lowepro are good value.

*An experienced courier, a sturdy monopod, and a derringer will do the job. I depend upon halitosis and a maniacal grin...

See the Camera Electronic Lowepro online store here

Uncle Dick