Photokina OP

Just monitoring the net in my jammies...

Looks like we are going to have the pleasure of a Fujifilm medium format camera and a line of lenses dedicated to it. Think in terms of a larger version of an X-T2 and you'll get the shape.

A new OM-D EM1 MkII is in the offing as well, Very fast and packed with processor power.

Metz have made a compact TTL flash for a number of the systems - the M 400. Metal hot shoe foot - you beauty!

Three new Sigma lenses - an 85 1.4 Art, 12-24 Art, and 50mm f:4 Sport. WooHoo for the 500...

New Olympus Pen E-PL8 as a fashion and entry-level shooter. Brown leather variant with silver lens looks nice. Their new 25 f:1.2 Pro lens looks nice too, but on an entirely different plane of existence - the biggest little lens you've ever seen, and touted to be perfect. A prime the size of a medium zoom.

A new Sony a99 with 42 megapixel sensor.

A screen and a half of new Panasonic cameras.

And a "Concept Car" camera from Hasselblad. Looks vaguely like the old 500 film series but has a lot of new thinking on it. Fun to look at, fun to contemplate.

And there'll be more as the day goes on. Oh to be in Köln now that the camera fields are blooming...

Looking forward to the management's report when they return - hopefully with a carton of pamphlets from all the trade stands. You can do a great deal of reverse speculation with an advertising pamphlet from a trade fair - they often are prepared in advance and the advertising department doesn't talk to the engineering department so you can read up what might have been as well as what may come. The staff at the trade show are there in the middle with the public in their face and the facts as the actually are...

Heading image: They're nice jammies.

Photo Live Expo 2016 - The Thing You Didn't Know...

Psssst....C'mere....Wanna see what I got...?

I'll bet you thought this weblog post was going to show you something rude. Or secret. And you kept right on reading...

You kept on reading because you are naturally curious. We all are, and unless we are cats it is a good thing. Curiosity leads us to enquiry...and enquiry leads us to knowledge. And knowledge leads us to wisdom. And wisdom sits at home a plays with the cat.

Actually, at our house, wisdom stands holding the door open while the cat decides whether to go in or out...

So what should you do when you come to Photo Live Expo 2016 at the Perth Novotel Langley on the 24th of July - what should your curiosity lead you to? Let me suggest that it leads you to three places:

1. A lecture room for a subject that you are really interested in. Pet photography? Drone photography? Go for it. And there are lots of others available for a pre booking ticket (or maybe buy one on the day...but remember they book out sometimes...). You'll get the latest gen from someone who is an expert in the field.

2. A different lecture room. Choose a subject that you have NEVER DONE BEFORE. What if you don't like it? What if you do...?  Scary stuff, eh?

Consider - if you have never pursued a topic in photography before, you have no pre-conceptions - no mis-conceptions - you may very well have the best eyes and ears in the hall to learn about the subject. If it is all new it is ALL NEW! How many times in your life have you had something all new...for the price of a pint of beer? I mean besides the pint of beer*.

You may be brilliant at it. You may have the gear already to make wonderful images in the special subject. Or you may be able to add a simple lens or accessory or lorry-load of gear to do it. You don't know yet.

Go. Go into that lecture with a cheery heart and a cup of hotel coffee and a biscuit and enjoy yourself.

3.The trade tables. The staff are there to help you entice yourself into purchasing new equipment - you might not do it on the day, but you can if you want to - there will be show specials, after all - there always are. But you can have a feel, play, shoot, think, and talk all day if you've a mind to.

Wise photographers with a specific want will be bringing their cameras down with them to try out the new lenses and accessories. Oddly enough, some very wise photographers will be doing a variation of that - they will be bringing their lenses with them to try out new bodies.

Note: If you think to do this, do the right thing and clean your lens thoroughly, front and back, before you ask to try it on a shop body. People forget that the lens mounts and back elements of their lenses may contain a great deal of dust...

And if you are really set to be analytical, you can bring some cards with you to format in the shop bodies, and then take home images that you can peer into on your home computer. Be aware that new cameras frequently have new RAW data protocols and your image-editing software may or may not be able to open the files. if you are in doubt, look it up on the net before the day and possibly update your firmware. In any case JPEGs open nearly every where and if the camera you are interested in pumps out a DNG you're fine anyway.

If you go away with new information on an old interest, or new information on a new interest, or definite information on a new purchase - you will have had a fine Sunday.

Note to Seniors: If you have a Seniors card you get free bus and train travel into the city on Sunday the 24th of July and you can spend the savings on a lecture ticket!

* Few people want pints of beer when they are used...

Photo Live Expo 2016 - The Trade Tables

The good thing about trade tables at the Photo Live 2016 Expo is that we get to trade - you trade your time and money for our time and expertise. It is a mutual benefit.

The staff of Camera Electronic man and woman the tables with their own knowledge of the equipment on show, and can help you to find the special parts of the cameras, lenses, and accessories that you want to see. We know the equipment. But what is more important - you know you.

Each visitor to a trade exhibition carries with them their own needs. Admit it or not, every photographer has some sort of primary interest and a wide-ranging event like Photo Live 2016 is an ideal place to indulge that interest. There will be equipment form a vast range of manufacturers on display, and visitors can be sure of finding something in their own division to play with.

I use the term play deliberately. You can look at the internet all you want, (and you can read this weblog column every working day, bless you...) but you can't really tell whether a piece of equipment is going to work for you until you actually feel it in your hands - until you look through the screen or viewfinder and make it work. You all have eyes and brains, but you need to exercise your hands and fingers as well.

This is where the shop staff come in. We can set you right as you explore the gear. We can prevent any misconceptions from sending you off on the wrong pathway. Sometimes we can even help you untangle your thoughts if you have been screwing your brain into a tizzy on internet forums. Now, we've got our own tizzies and misconceptions to deal with, but fortunately we don't all have the same ones at the same time so amongst the Camera Electronic workers there will be someone who sees clearly.

Don't be afraid to ask-we won't be afraid to tell. We won't be afraid to say we don't know, either, because sometimes we just don't - particularly if the question involves the arrival time of something you have just seen pop up on the internet. But we'll try to find an answer.

Note: Every staff member has a photo interest speciality. Ask Carlos about food. Ask Sam about bands. Ask Ricky about Sony cameras.

Ask me about Fujifilm and tabletop photography. Prepare to be dragged into the vortex...

Uncle Dick

Photo Live Expo on Sunday 24th July
10am - 5pm
Perth Novotel Langley
www.photoliveexpo.com.au

Photo Live Expo 2016 - Less Than A Month To Go

You will probably have seen one of the Photo Live 2016 Announcements on your Facebook feed - or perhaps you are one of the subscribers to In The Loupe or our shop emails. You may even be someone who reads this weblog column...

Well, you'll have noticed that there is slightly under a month to go until the Photo Live 2016 is staged - it'll be Sunday, the 24th of July at the Perth Novotel Langley form 10:00 to 5:00. The advertisements encourage you to wander down and wander in and wander around.

 The cost for wandering is very reasonable - a gold coin donation to Telethon - but you might want to consider a little more focused activity. There are to be a number of speakers on a wide variety of photographic subject and the cost for attending their talks is VERY reasonable. Like a pinta beer in a pub price reasonable...so you can get the latest ideas about specialised subjects from world-class speakers who are recognised experts in their field. Interested in....?

Sports
Drones & Aerial
Pet Photography
Portraits
Surf, Beach and Lifestyle
Astrophotography
Wedding and Couples
Landscape
Travel

Well, never mind finding an App for that - we've got real live experts for that and for the price of a talk ticket, you get to hear what you really need to know. I'm not going to use the phrase "horse's mouth" here because some of these are attractive people, but if you want to find out what is right - RIGHT NOW - then go to their lectures.

If you're going to be in the workshop mood on the day, there are three longer session. They deal with

Adobe software
Studio Lighting
Food Photography

Now the catch to all these pleasures is that you'll need to book a place for them. And It would be a good idea to do so now, because last year saw some of the sessions booked out. Sure, you might be lucky and nip into a session if it is not packed, but you'll pay more on the day than with a pre-booking.

So go over to the Photo Live Expo website and start clicking. It'll be the most fun on a Sunday that you can have in town.