Camera Electronic

Technical Writer Wanted For The Glue Company

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 03 May 2017 00:08:00 +0000

No special skills needed - it's a cut and paste job...

If you have a Facebook feed or other social media connection you'll have had any number of people passing on information from others by simple means - they have pressed a hashtag key or a forward button and flooded the computers of their friends with another political meme or picture of a cat riding a motor mower.

It is the civilian version of what used to be the rip-and-read radio news service that interposed itself between you and a teletype machine. It kept you up-to date, but generally the date was July 8, 1959. Still, it was better than waiting for the newspaper to be thrown into the rhododendrons at 5:00AM next morning, particularly if the news was not what the editor or the owners of the paper wanted you to read...'cause then you didn't read it and never even found out that you didn't read it until much later.

Nowadays we instantly read, hear, see, and possibly taste darn near everything over the computer and a juicy news story will be available over dozens of feeds...but if you look carefully, the dozens of feeds are all saying the same thing. Because most of the writers of the various posts are sitting down by the teletype machine with a pair of scissors and a pot of glue.

It's the same for the technical photographic writing. You may see a dozen reviews of a new camera or lens but eleven of those will say the same thing because they have been derived from a press release or product sheet. It is only No.12 that has anything new because in many cases only No.12 has actually had the camera in hand and pressed the shutter button. Don't be too cynical about the other 11 - there may not have been enough of the new cameras in the country when the call for a tech report came out and the writers have just had to wing it.

You can have confidence to a certain extent in the eleven other reports. If they have not been typo'ed too badly you will get the basic information you need. But if you want to really find out the valuable bits, look for that twelfth piece. It is only the people who have handled the equipment* that will be able to let you have a human view of it.

And then come down to the shop and pick it up and form your own assessment. Judge as carefully as you might, and remember that you are as free to have a good opinion about new equipment as to have a bad one.

*Sometimes with sticky fingers.

Images: farming on a small scale at Cannington Showgrounds.

The Slowest Light In The World

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 May 2017 23:36:00 +0000

We are told that light goes at 299,792,458 metres per second. That may be so when there is company present but I can assure you that when you are using a pinhole camera the stuff travels considerably slower. While you might get your ordinary photography with a digital camera in half a second the pinhole camera will require most of the day.

The reason for this is simple: the digital camera opens up to a maximum aperture of f:1.8 and uses an ISO of 6400 - the pinhole camera opens up to f: 248 and uses an ISO of 100. If you opt for the paper negative you have an ISO of 0.6 and if you put a yellow filter in front of the thing you have an ISO of peanut butter. As far as making pictures, choose smooth or crunchy...

Okay, this is not as bad as it seems. The Ilford Obscura camera will not take racing-car pictures at Wanneroo while the cars are circling the track, but it will take pictures of them while they are in the pits. And with a bit of management the pit pictures will be free of human interference. The camera system will also be suited for landscape shots on cloudless days, dreamy sea pictures, and interior views...as long as you can stay inside for an hour.

The calcu-later* kit that comes in the pack enables you to see what the equivalent shoot time will be for the Obscura compared to the results from a standard light meter. Those people who do not have an old hand-held meter can always use the screen readout from their digital camera to tell them what the standard exposure for a scene is - and then you can dial it onto the converter. But be aware that the converter dials are not corrected for reciprocity failure.

This is a phenomenon that occurs when you are using really long exposures - the recording medium gets less sensitive the longer the time is extended. A rough rule of thumb for the really long ones will be to double what the calcu-later says. Most pinhole shots benefit from longer exposure.

Of course the whole business happens on a tripod. In the case of the Obscura, though, as it has a flat bottom, it can be placed on any solid surface for the duration of that exposure. You set it, open the shutter, and read a book until the time comes to close it. In case of a dull day, I recommend you start on " War and Peace " and go on to reading a comic if you finish before the camera is ready.

You might laugh at this ( and you might laugh now, thank you...) but even with f:16 lenses and 400 ISO films in medium format cameras I remember leaving shutters open for 20 minutes to record projected images on a screen in a darkened studio. Literally set and forget.

A question from the readers; " What exposure times do you use if you are using studio flash? ". I don't know, but as I have a studio flash outfit and tabletop models that will not move, I intend to find out. The trick will be to use multiple pops of the strobe system to lay more and more light onto the emulsion. I intend to use a digital setup to tell me what would be successful with a standard lens and then convert it with the calcu-later. I'll bet that will also need double the number of pops...

* Pun, John, pun...

20 Square Inches Of Trouble - Sheet Film

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 May 2017 00:38:00 +0000

No apologies for the inches, children. It is what the adults use to measure photographic surfaces.

Even if we do give in to buying inkjet paper in A4, A3 and A2 sizes, we still get boxes of 6 x 4 and 5 x 7 from Ilford. And we measure print sizes in 8 x 10, 11 x 14, 10, 12, and 20 x 24 as well - it must put the wind up to the bureaucrats in the EU standards Department something chronic.

We also measure one of the standard sizes in the industry for sheet film as 4 x 5 inches. Europeans tried for years to make this into 10 x 12 centimetres but it never really took off - people still think of 5 x 4 or 4 x 5. 20 square inches of sensitive emulsion to put into the new Ilford Obscure pinhole camera - for good or ill. There is a 10-sheet box of it included with the kit - Ilford Delta 100 - a tabular grain film of excellent tonality.

Note: you can also get Ilford HP 5 and Ilford Delta 400 film in 4 x 5 packs from the regular fridges at the Camera Electronic shops. They are the larger 25-sheet boxes.

The convention of sheet film is familiar to all the old hands - but newbies to large format need to remember that the sensitive emulsion side of the film is TOWARD you when you can feel the film notches on the right hand top corner of the film. You will feel, rather than see them as you will be in total darkness for this loading and unloading procedure.

In the case of the Obscura, as soon as you are sure it really is entirely dark, open the box, locate that upper right notched corner, and lay the sheet into the large of he two boxes. Then drop the smaller box into it and press until the magnets catch. You are loaded for ( extremely slow ) bears. Unloading is the reverse of the procedure, and you can make use of the three-tray spare film box that came in the kit to hold your exposed film for processing later.

Now 4 " x 5 " is a little bit larger than the sensor on the average digital camera or mobile phone....and records a geat deal of information. The pinhole of the Obscura may be laying in a slightly soft image, but it will be laying a lot of it in there. If you were to make a contact print of the resultant negative - provided it was a good exposure - you would be amazed at the amount of detail that has been captured. If it is a bad exposure, you will be struggling to see anything.

The best hint I can give with the end result is for people who have good scanners like the Epson V700 or 800 series. You'll have a sheet film holder in your standard Epson kit and can easily translate a negative to a digital file. I do it all the time using the " Home " setting in the software. There is plenty of detail captured from the sheet negative.

Users of sheet film who develop their films with traditional developers like Rodinal have sometimes bemoaned the grain structure that it produces. Scanned work in small sizes exhibits none of this problem and the contrast of the grain is excellent. Remember that you can also use Kodak Portra sheet film for colour work and have it developed at a professional lab.

Every Man His Own Fox Talbot - Paper Negatives

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 00:00:00 +0000

Do you have an abbey window handy? Do you have a top hat? Do you have a new Ilford Obscura pinhole camera kit? Well you too can be Henry Fox Talbot and be the envy of your friends at the camera club.

Okay, it is not quite the same as using glass lenses in one of HFT's famous 'mousetrap ' cameras and your finished product is not going to be made on salted paper but the procedure is similar and if you choose historical subjects you can give yourself a feeling for the past that digital work just does not provide. Sure, computer manipulation and plug-ins will deliver the calotype look, but actually going out there and doing a very long exposure provides the experience as well.

Just be prepared for foolish abuse if you opt to do it in Victorian clothing. Perth is not as sophisticated as it likes to think. Trust me on this...

Okay - why even think of this? Because paper negatives have a charm and an aesthetic all their own. And they are devilishly hard to achieve with conventional camera gear - even if you have 4 x 5 or larger film holders, a wooden field camera, and that top hat. Perth's bright sun can overpower most camera lenses looking in on standard photographic paper, even if the aperture is down to f:22. You need to be able to get extremely small apertures - f:248 for instance - to allow you sufficient time to open and close a shutter by manual means.

The shutter on the Ilford Obscura is a simple dropping flap. It has a closed position magnet as well as a open position one, so you need no fear inadvertently exposing the film or paper. When the camera is firmly screwed to a tripod, there should be no movement of the thing as you operate the flap. Of course, this may be very insignificant for an exposure lasting minutes, and when you opt to use the sheets of Ilford Multigrade IV paper as your recording emulsion, you will be spending minutes with the shutter open.

The exposure ISO of the paper is about .6. The calcu-later will let you translate this into a time, but realyy, give it a bit more time. If you have access to a sunny photospot nearb your darkroom you can profitably experiment to see just how long you need shoot to give a good negative.

Loading and developing paper negatives is a lot easier than doing film as you can do it under the light of a safelamp. Once you have the paper negative you can scan it in as a direct print and then press command/I on your image editing program and bring it up as a positive. From there you can calotype it to your heart's content.

The heading image is a paper neg of Perth from Heathcote taken some years ago with a conventinal lensed camera. I will try the same view with the Obscura and see what the results are like.

Camera Electronic Endorse New Camera From Flapoflex

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 26 Apr 2017 23:32:00 +0000

The biggest news this season is the industry-shaking announcement of the team-up of Camera Electronic with Flapoflex Corporation...and the introduction of the Flapoflex Mini camera.

Here are the first images of the camera after it was handed out by Howard Frank. Let us walk you through the features:

1. Pure non-digital operation. Sharp eyes will spot the film rapid rewind crank and fast-wind lever. No more worries about charging batteries and corrupting memory cards with the Flapoflex.

2. Solid-state viewfinder system. We have not seen a viewfinder window this solid in years.

3. Compact dimensions. Micro 4/3, eat your heart out...

4. Helpful permanent branding on the lens cap and body.

5. Permanent lens cap. never lose it again.

6. Flash-free pentaprism.

7. Patented DeepSqueeze padding on all grippable surfaces. No finger strain.

8. Fashionable white/black/grey colours.

When people ask you what the Flapoflex Mini can do, we respond with " What can't it do? " While they are answering this we make a run for it.

Flapoflex did...

Shouldering the Burden Of Sony With Peak Design

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 23:37:00 +0000

I am going to risk it. I know the ice is thin, and the nerves even thinner, but here goes: another review of a Sony product. Or rather, a product that can be used with a Sony camera…

I have reported on Peak Design equipment before, and from the original mention some years back until now, my opinion of the brand has improved. I think it is because their design department have had better ideas and their manufacturing division has been able to translate these into good products.

The Original peak Design product we saw in Camera Electronic was a belt holder for cameras - a quick release clamp that enabled you to put a camera on your shoulder strap or belt and then secure it with a click of a button. The CE staff at the time all got samples to go away and try - I demurred - the idea seemed uncomfortable. Whenever I tried it I envisaged disaster if I was not careful how I mounted the camera. Remember I’m the man who dropped a Leica M3 with a Summicron lens on it into a Melbourne drain. They have stopped letting me defuse torpedoes…

This is different - it is a lens holder designed to accept Sony - mount lenses on both sides of itself and then to lock onto a shoulder strap. Whether that shoulder strap is dedicated to a messenger bag or a backpack is immaterial - the clamp has a positive two-screw lock that cannot depart from it with out deliberate disassembly. You can also put the clamp onto a waist belt and depend a Sony lens from that.

It would be a blessing to a wedding or event shooter who needed constant access to a spare pair of lenses while a third lens was on the camera and who did not want to have to fossick around inside a bag while working the crowd.

Peak Design have been reviewed here before - their new bags are both elegant and practical. This accessory seems to be exactly in the same good line.

Mount is also available for Canon and Nikon applications.

The Mikra 1/3 - And Why You Need One Now

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 00:16:00 +0000

The history of science is dotted with people who have said - “ What If? “ - and in many cases have levelled entire city blocks finding out. Photographers too, have uttered those words, but generally have only managed to blow the doors off the darkroom.

I have passed by the Leica 1F in the secondhand Leica cabinet for years - the one with the MIKRA 1/3 attachment on the front of it - with never more than a passing recognition that it is a camera that has been in service for years and has never actually been used all that much.

This is a camera that has been adapted for use on the eyepiece of a standard clinical microscope. I am willing to bet it lurked in the back cupboard of some university departmental lab since the late 1950’s and was rarely taken out. To turn around an old slogan - it’s had fewer shots than you’ve had hot dinners…

Well, the basic camera is a screw-mount body with no slow speeds, no finder, and a variable synchronising control. It could readily be adapted to modern life with a fast black and white film, a push in finder, and a screw-mount Leica lens - a collapsible Elmar would be perfect. Add a skinny bald Frenchman and you would have the perfect street combination…

But what does the MIKRA1/3 do? I coupled it up to an M39 / Fujifilm X adapter this seek to see. After all, if it is optical, mirrorless cameras let you see it straight away.

Well, as it was built to peer down the throat of a microscope and record the beasties that the researcher has on the glass slide, it is fixed to approximately an infinity focus. I confirmed this on an X-Pro1 out in the yard. The resolution is reasonable but the focus is out to about 50 feet. field of view looks to be about the same as a 50mm lens.

This suggested another experiment. Inside to the Model car table and a Greenlight Volkswagen T2 van. These are tiny things in 1:64 scale - observe the 10¢ piece. The establishing shot is taken with the standard 35mm Tokina macro lens.

The VW logo was taken using an old Russian 50mm Industar lens reversed onto the front of the MIKRA. No mounting - I just held it on there. Older photographers will know the trick of reverse-mounting of one lens to the nose of another to give macro results. In this case the Industar is wide open and the DOF is like nothing at all.

Stopped down to f:16, the Industar actually does have DOF. The picture of the headlight’s a seriously small slice of VW, and if you were a film shooter, you could get this on the Leica 1F. You just wouldn’t know you had got it until the results came back from Fitzgerald’s Photo Labs.

Sooooo - who’s ready for some retro fun out there? Neither the body nor the MIKRA are bank-breakers and whoever uses that Leica 1F will become the undisputed Kewl King or Queen of Perth photographers. And score the envy of every old camera club shooter that sees it.

PS: The downside is that you need to know what you are doing with it.

Hands Up Muybridge - I've Got A Fujifilm Repeater...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 24 Apr 2017 00:02:00 +0000

Idling away on the South Perth foreshore one evening, I was trying to think of a use for the Perth skyline. I mean, they've taken a lot of trouble putting lights on the buildings and all and it seems only courteous to take some sort of notice.

Then I read further into the instruction booklet that came with the new Fujifilm EF X-500 electronic flash. The Fujifilm people make a reasonably good set of instructions and the flash itself is easy to master. The bit that intrigued me was the arrangement that could be made for multiple flashes.

You have three decisions to make via the page buttons and the scroll wheel:

a. Level of manual flash power.

b. Number of flashes that you want to fire.

c. Length of time over which you want to fire them.

Each one of the flashes will record as a separate illumination in the final frame while the background will keep burning into the image. If you want to capture the movements of the subject cleanly, you need a black backdrop...but anything else is pure art.

To work in South Perth at twilight you also need an open space that people do not intrude into. Short of laying perimeter mines, there is little you can do to achieve this. The world, his wife, and their relatives visiting from another planet will all walk back and forth behind the model. Some will walk in front. It is an exercise in restraint - on your part - because they ain't gonna be on theirs...

The results? More like Marcel Duchamp descending a staircase with his clothes on than I really wanted, but intriguing nevertheless. The rigid precision of the flash firing is probably going to be very useful for motion studies, but against an inky backdrop. The flash fires at lower powers if you command it to fire often or at small intervals - there must be some time required inside it for power to be built up in the capacitor, after all. But given the good high ISO performance of the Fujifilm cameras there is a surprising amount of light coming off the flash head.

The model is the beauteous and patient Jane Hebiton.

Weegee Woulda Been Proud Of Joby

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 00:37:00 +0000

Arthur Felig was not a man to use compact cameras for delicate pieces of ethereal art. His batting record with still life bowls of fruit was woeful. I do not think he ever used a graduated neutral density filter at the seaside in his life.

Yet...he was the greatest blood and guts press freelancer...in the toughest areas of New York in the 1940's...and he used press cameras to do it. One shot, two shots, and then run for it. Run for the car to develop the film pack in the boot and then run for the picture desk of the newspaper.

Arthur...also known as Weegee...had no time for weak equipment, and if you are in the same frame of mind, Joby have just what you want - the Joby Pro Series Hand Grip With Ultra Plate 208.

Heckuva thing to sell - a complex metal casting to bolt onto the bottom of your camera and a rubberised grip to hold it with. I mean, cameras have grips already, don't they? Yeah, but not if you're Weegee class - big handed with tough assignments.

If you need to sling a flash from the left hand side of a camera instead of right in the middle, this is the deal. You screw on a Manfrotto double-thread adapter, a cold shoe, Joby's own locking arm, or any other connector to the top of that grip and the thing is going to stay there without coming off in ANYTHING.

You can pop the baseplate onto an Arca-Swiss mount all along the length. You can run a wrist strap or one of your camera stop ends onto the right lower edge of the camera as well as the upper right edge and sling the camera vertically like the old Leica M5. Metz provided this option for years with the metal bracket of the 45-series and it was a blessing. It would be even more so now when we want to keep that damned strap out of our eyes as we raise the camera for a shot.

If you've a mind to, you can attach the grip below the camera for a handle. Raise the thing above the crowd surrounding the murder victim, fire the flash, and run for it*. Weegee would have.

And if worst comes to worst, that handle and the metal casting make a good mace. A lot easier to hang onto than the grip of your average DSLR.

* Popping a red-hot Press 25 at your pursuers while you leg it...

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

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 23:50:00 +0000

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...

The Financial Year Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 23:50:00 +0000

With the new financial year rapidly approaching we are all staring down the barrel of the Law...the law that states that if the departmental budget is not spent by the end of June you get less money next year

As the calender ticks over we come up with implausible schemes to stock up on copier paper or send fact-finding missions to Bavaria. It all gets desperate and we are wheeling trolley's out of Officeworks stacked with anything we can grab. Well, this year we can short-circuit this...we can win outright at the start.

We'll just grab this titanium Leica M-P kit and gleefully clap on one of the lenses. We can choose the 50mm or 28mm focal length, depending on whether we want to just take a picture of of the accountant or his whole family.

We'll be sure to point out the fact that the titanium construction of the body makes it 3 ounces lighter and that the lenses are especially anodised to have the same shade as the body. And let him see the fitted titanium-finish back lens cap.

Mentioning that there are only 333 of these in the world...and if we are really ambitious, buying up all the rest in Australia...we'll then tell his wife that we're surprised that she doesn't have one by now. Is there a money problem? Oh dear...

I think we will do it right. Looking into the Leica Boutique we'll equip ourselves with a fashion bag as well. And a spare battery.

After all, 'tis the season to be frugal. And the price can only go up later...

New Leica Cabinet Installed In Murray Street - Revolutionary Unique Design

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 23:09:00 +0000

Which is a blatant lie. It's a Leica Boutique cabinet - it looks the same as the Leica Boutique cabinet in the Stirling Street store. Which looks the same as the Leica Boutique cabinets in Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, and probably every other major city in the world. Black MDF cabinet, red interior, red dot on top.

Leica are smart people - and I am not talking just about the cameras and lenses and binoculars...they are smart with their branding. They realised early on that they had a name that was worth putting on a banner and were careful to cut the banner the same size for everywhere and put it on the same pole. As a business strategy it is akin to a national government deciding on a flag and making sure that it is seen everywhere. It re-enforces loyalty, and in this case it re-enforces the sort of loyalty that the customers actually want to pay for.

Brilliant.

Of course, each manufacturer has a characteristic colour combination, and you'll see that used in advertising and signage. The more adventurous ones have a bright colour that attracts the eye so that people snap to their displays in the shops. These days, they can repeat the hue on their packaging so that every discarded box becomes a free billboard. If they are bold they can make a logo physically bigger on the packaging or...gasp...on the product itself.

It can backfire...think back to the Minolta logo when it got all arty in the 1990's and people were hard pressed to figure out what it actually was...and that also meant that they were confused as to who Minolta were*. You can surrender to the blandishments of the design department a little too early.

It can be too conservative - harking back to the design styles of the film eras can be dangerous too. There is a major maker that has several logos in operation right now dealing with different divisions of their overall company that could look at this aspect - some of the brand presentation looks decidedly 1970's. It might be argued that the division of business that they are dealing with also harks back to the 1970's so the buyers of the goods would not be influenced by a modern logo. Perhaps this is the case, but I am glad to see that they have adopted a far more stylish nameplate for their newer cameras and lenses.

But they did not choose a bright colour combination. It will remain to be seen if their presentation can grab the casual shopper's eye.

Well, back to the Leica Boutique. The Murray Street shop walls are now complete and the stock that you see in there will be designed to appeal to the high-end buyer. I noted that the titanium M kit was there this week. Pick one up on the way home from the office...And there are no end of lenses that will be making an appearance.

One particularly attractive bit was on the island display - and you need not spend the annual budget of Brazil to buy it. If you are a Leica shooter treat yourself to an oversize shutter release button in one of a number of styles. They screw into the shutter button as it currently exists and make for smooth and comfortable shooting. I use one on a camera when I am doing waist-level shots at car show. I press it with my thumb and the shots are rock-steady.

* To be fair, a lot of people couldn't stop themselves from calling it " Minololta ".

The Digital Shotgun - Or The Art Of The Bracket

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 00:15:00 +0000

A recent weekend spent playing with the new Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mk II showed me how useful it would be for macro work and studio product illustration. This column showed some of the ways that the focus bracketing and focus stacking features helped to tame the problem of depth of field. Kudos to Olympus.

Also, my foray to Jandakot airport showed their long telephoto lens and their superb image stablising systems making short work of long-distance coverage in bumpy conditions. Instant desire to own one...and a very successful DIY job done.

But like every successful DIY job, once the thing has been accomplished, you should put away the tools, clean the workbench, and throw away the rest of the pot of red paint that you bought to do the project. But we never do - we look around for something to use up the paint on...

Olympus have lots of buttons on their new mirrorless camera that attract the idle finger. One of them is the one that sets up bracketing - in this case art effects bracketing. One press on the shutter button and the device takes off into a series of interpretations of the scene, stacking them into JPEGS.
Hi-Key, Low Key, Dramatic Contrast, Sketching, Soft Focus, Hard Focus, Monochrome, etc. etc. I think there was Diane Sauce and/or Ennui there in the settings somewhere...

Here are some of the results. I offer them with no comment, other than to say they are well done. If I understood Art I would probably appreciate them more. If they remind you of the results that a bored teenager gets with a mobile app and Instagram, reflect that a bored retiree would be even worse.

There is a good side: If one of these artistic decisions accords with your own vision of the world, you are onto a winner. In that case the camera will do what you want to do consistently and will show you what the results are going to look like out there in the field while you are still shooting. You might be the sort of person who revels in vast long sessions of Photoshopping your images to produce the same effects - in which case we suggest that you shoot RAW and then beat the thing to death yourself. But if you just want it now, this Olympus feature is a good one.

Note: I am also guilty of two-hour Photoshop sessions with forays off into Alien Skin and Nik plug-ins to alter the images. I've got some corkers - but some of the best ones have far exceeded the history feature of the program and I cannot reproduce them again. At least if the Olympus camera gets you into the artistic ballpark, you'll have less smearing to do in the end.

Part Five - A Messenger From Mr. Gladstone, Your Majesty.

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 01:00:00 +0000

As a new chum in Australia in the 1960's, I might have been forgiven for a little confusion as I watched the railway workers clocking on and off at the East Perth sheds as their shifts changed...all those big burly engine drivers and firemen and wipers - all carrying little leather doctor's bags? Could they all be part time physicians?

Well, the Gladstone bags I was looking at were carrying their lunches to the job and spare coal back home...and similar containers were going to work all over Australia at the time. It was the most elegant set of lunch pails I have ever seen.

The Gladstone - a bag that opens at the top and then is suspended by two sling handles or a central articulated handle - is also a standard for overnight bags and now for camera systems. It is the bag of choice for the discrete and discerning photographer who also wants to take sandwiches. In the case of the Barber Shop Medium Borsa bag, those are likely to be expensive sangers, as this is a pricey little Gladstone.

Okay, that thought out of the way, this is a beauty. It is blue canvas with dark brown leather trim, stitched in Italy ( Ah, there's the price...) and lined perfectly. There's a protective top flap but a full-length leather-edged zip for access as well.

Look inside for an iPad pocket, a removable and reconfigurable camera holder, and a captive leather leash. I am again lost as to the exact purpose of the leash.

There's an extremely well-finished shoulder strap with leather shoulder pad.

I'd use it as a camera case here in Perth to impress the ladies and the clients and a one-night overnighter on the airplane to the eastern states to impress the airline staff. Don't try to impress the Camera Electronic salespeople because they are cynics down to about five inches under the skin.

One final thought - if you are the train driver for Le Train Bleu or The Orient Express this might make a nice lunchbox...

The Personal Pick - Part Four - The Missing Link

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 23:54:00 +0000

If " Missing Link " sounds a little dramatic, consider the way that your work colleagues show you the pictures of the weddings, sports carnivals, and car shows that they attend.

They pull out a $ 1000 device with a sctratched or broken glass screen on the front and a little symbol of half a battery flashing on and off. They frantically tap away at it and then swipe their fingers left, right, up, and down trying to make a 3 1/2 inch by 5 inch picture appear. Like as not, if it actually is found, it will have enough Instagram filters on it to look like an 1880 cabinet card, but you may not be able to see this before the little battery symbol winks out and the screen goes black. Then you can watch your colleague sitting in their car for half an hour until the phone charges up again.

In the meantime, you can look at an album of prints...

I am suggesting that either you need to come on down to the Murray Street shop of Camera Electronic and get a set of prints made on the Fujifilm printing system...or steer down to the third island stand in the shop and look seriously at the Epson SureColor SC - P600 and P800 inkjet printers. They are two of the very best ways for a serious enthusiast to escape from the dungeon of the mobile screen.

Don't get me wrong - I thoroughly respect putting pictures on a computer screen. As this column is getting typed on an iPad, the main computer is burning off belly-dance discs from a recent show. I daresay few of them will end up as prints. That is the ephemeral nature of the dance shot. But if ever I take a doozey, that one deserves to be at least an A4 print. I rely upon the Epson A3+ printer in my studio to do it, and frequently it does a great deal more. Enough images and some good paper and you have an exhibition.

The P600 most closely corresponds to the Epson printer I use - the A3+ size. If I needed to go up to A2 it would be the P800. Both use the K3 Epson inks for the same result on the paper. The,smaller printer uses smaller ink cartridges, which means a higher price per ml for the ink, but also means that if I do not print as extensively, I am not risking larger quantities that may go stale or flat. This is a real thing and whichever printer one chooses, it is wise to cycle it through with at least one print per week.

Note on the sign that there is a cashback and roll paper adapter on offer as special inducements. I have used an adapter and can report it as a successful when you want long banners or odd sizes of print. Otherwise there are good supplies of Hähnemuele and Ilford papers to suit every taste.

These days there are very easy connections possible between the printers and the computers. I use a simple plugged cord for mine but could have chosen a wireless connection instead. Networking is also available, if you don't mind someone else using up all your ink and paper.

I lock mine away.

The Personal Pick - Part Three - Which To Choose...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 00:35:00 +0000

Which to choose...Oh to be in such an enviable position...

This pleasant reverie is brought to you by the Olympus shelves down at Murray Street - for a good reason - right now the shop can offer you the choice of a cutting edge new camera in the Micro 4/3 format or a range of refurbished Olympus mirror-less equipment at remarkably low prices.

This is not an apples vs oranges question - a keen enthusiast will find that this brand and this format is one of the very best choices for close-range and macro photography. Also for touring and for family shots. Sound like you could use something like that...?

First alternative. The Olympus Pen F. In the view you'll see it has a silver-coloured 12mm lens attached. I should say the photographer intends this to be used for architecture or a landscape. Perhaps a big wedding party in a large building. If the lighting is a little lower the result will still be superb - that is an f:2 lens.

It will also be a sharp shot - Olympus have designed their new cameras with more image stabilisation modes than most of the other makers. As a result you get a chance to work under dimmer light and at longer shutter speeds than ever before. In the course of some experiments with the newest of the OM-D cameras I saw for myself results down at 1/2 and 1 full second that defied belief - but I had taken them myself.

The experimenter is also well catered-for with this camera. It has a full suite of custom programs and art effects that can be called into play with adjustment dials. Some of the art this produces may be a little inadvertent, but that doesn't lessen the charm - it just presents it at surprising intervals. I should proceed cautiously at first with a finger ready on the reset button lest you get so far out in the swamp that you cannot get back...

So...what is the second alternative. Well, it is actually alternatives. There's are more than one temptation in the cabinet next door to the Olympus Pen F. Camera Electronic have secured a solid supply of refurbished Olympus mirror-less camera and lenses for sale at much-reduced prices.

Refurb is not a term to be sneezed at, nor is it a risk. These cameras and lenses carry warranties and you are protected against failure.

You'll see only a small portion of the choices in the picture, though you'll see that three main bodies are featured; the Olympus OM-D E-M1, E-M5 Mark II, E-M10 and E-M10 Mark II. I note that there are some 12-50mm and 12-40mm f:2.8 PRO lenses on offer. Different horses for different courses, but look at the sign work behind the cameras for the price reductions!

My own choice in these would likely be the OM-D E-M1 with the 12-50mm lens...because I have seen how phenomenally well it copes with macro and close-up subjects. I used the combo for shots of my model petrol station and I don't think they could be bettered with anything at twice this price.

The Personal Pick - Part Two - The Trigger Point

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 00:40:00 +0000

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?

The Personal Pick - Part One - Someone Else's Purse

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 09 Apr 2017 23:31:00 +0000

I spent a cheerful half hour in the Murray Street premises of Camera Electronic spending other people's money. Don't worry - no wallets were harmed in the process - no money changed hands. And I am pleased to be able to say that I did not annoy the staff with constant questions...I just looked for myself and made mental notes to find out the prices later.

Note as well that I do not need more equipment - I need to get out and learn to use the stuff I have right now. But that is not what the weblog column for a commercial firm should say, so I'll scrub it out before I post the thing...

First cab off the rank for desirable is the new Fujifilm GFX50S. It looks every bit as good as the Fujifilm bodies I already use as far as the external construction, and the handhold is perfect. Obviously this is not intended as a pocket travel camera for Japanese schoolgirls, and they have taken into account the larger hands that are likely to be grasping it. And at the cost that it is likely to be sold at, those hands want to have a firm grip on it. In any case, when the opportunity arises, I will beg the Rental Department at Stirling Street for a chance to heft it in the Little Studio and we can see what the results look like.

Note - while I cannot muster enough imagination to convince myself that I would make sensible use of such a large medium-format camera, the new Fujifilm X100F is another matter entirely. I see we have them in stock now, and as you will have gathered from a few weeks ago, the temptation to gain the higher performance of this vs my older X100 is growing stronger. There is only so much practical frugality I am able to sustain before I have a blowout...and I suspect that this is a characteristic of a lot of people. Folks, if you are going to blow a financial gasket, you could do far worse than invest in this new Fujifilm.

I also noted in passing that the new GFX50S is supported by three lenses - two primes and a zoom. They look to be designed for event and studio work, but I should imaging Fujifilm will be adding to them every half-year or so.

Also of note was the surprise that the deeper body of the medium-format camera does not seem intrusive into the face when using the eye-level finder. From net pictures I had feared this. More details when it gets into the studio...but you can certainly jump ahead of the game by going and judging for yourself. If you want to be in front of the competition now is the time to get in there.

PS: Being in front of the competition only works in certain jobs. Flying a Mitsubishi Zero in front of a Grumman Hellcat was never all that good an idea...

Jazz Hands At the Camera Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 22:55:00 +0000

It is going to be winter here in Australia in a few months and all of the citizens who have forgotten what it is like to be cold and miserable are going to be reminded. The most poignant ones will be the photographers who will go out on landscape shooting expeditions, get up pre-dawn to freezing conditions on top of the local mountain range, and then try to actually poke away at the controls of their digital cameras.

The cruel amongst us will laugh as their frozen little fingers try to hit the tiny buttons and fail, and their looks of anguish will be treasured. Or they could buy a pair of warm gloves just to spite us...

The trouble with the average warm pair of gloves is that they make the hands inside them feel good, but are only a little less clumsy as they hold the camera. They can be bulky, slippery, and awkward. Enter the Aquatech company with their pair of Sensory Gloves.

They are as warm and toasty as you could want - and I assure you I tried them on in the studio and they were delightful - but they are also safe for camera use. The inside of the palms and fingers are lined with non-slip dots.

In addition, the ends of the forefinger and thumb are fitted with flaps and small holes to allow you to poke your finger through them and activate touch screens or delicate controls. Once done, you can slip the end of the fingers back into the warm.

Luxury? Try half way up Bluff Knoll in a blizzard or out on an Antarctic expedition and see how little luxury costs...

The Pukka Pack For Particular Persons

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:30:00 +0000

Choosing a back pack for exploring the less developed corners of the empire is a delicate task. One must accurately assess the opportunities that will be presented as well as the risks that will be run. This is why our featured article - the Think Tank Trifecta 8 - will be on the short-list of many adventurers.

The basic idea of the Trifecta 8 is to take enough equipment onto the wild to enable you to capture images of the savages whilst not weighing you down in case you need to make a run for it. Modern thinking has provided us with mirror-less cameras and lenses of reduced size and weight and this is all to the good. Now we have a way to carry them about the person.

Just as Kipling’s cavalryman spent the winter preparing his spring campaign - paring an ounce of weight where he could to extend the range of his mount - so we can reduce the amount of gear we carry. But it still needs to be accessible at short notice when we come across a herd of wildebeest or porcupines.

The Trifecta 8 accomplishes this by maximising the main openings in the case - two lateral flaps and one ventral opening. The two former features allow the user to access either side of a central divider whilst the pack is worn on the back. If it is taken off, the ventral opening gapes wide to allow access to the entire equipment compartment.

Security amongst troublesome natives can be increased by cable-tying the zips of the side panels tighter and only using the ventral access panel.

Note that there is also a dorsal panel at the top of the pack that opens to allow storage of watercress sandwiches and bottles of cold tea.

So the next time you are headed out past the perimeter of the camp - or the range of the Gardner guns - remember to pack your mirror-less camera and lenses in this splendid case. It is professionally - made and will give years of sterling service.

Pip Pip!

Think Tank Sling Slang

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 23:43:00 +0000

Whenever I write an article that says the day of the giant camera outfit - and equally giant camera bag - is dead, someone writes in to complain and tell me that they have 5 DSLR bodies, 16 lenses, 8 flashes, and a lucky key ring…and they want them all to go into a bag that will fit into the overhead locker on the next Virgin flight.

I welcome feedback like this from my readers, and advise them to change airlines. The RAAF runs C-130 Hercules flights to lots of places and they should be able to get that camera bag in the back door of the aircraft on a pallet. They may elect to unload it with a low-altitude pass and a parachute, but that is the chance you have to take. They have better snacks than a lot of commercial flights*.

Having prepared you, let me introduce a better idea - the Think Tank Turnstyle 5 sling bag. Never mind the pun in the name - I’ve done worse here and you’ve read it. The interesting thing about this sling bag is that it really does turn into two other things.

To start off: the basic bag has a narrow teardrop she designed to sling over the back from the left shoulder - it is narrow enough to sit between the shoulder blades and not get in the way. It is smooth and slick so you can move in a crowd without buffeting them.

There are three basic openings - a document flap on the front, an equipment bay in the middle, and a padded iPad slot in the back - this one takes the mini iPads.

The zips are professional-quality, as is the rest of the construction. There is an overall rainproof cover that you can pluck out of an end pocket to completely protect the contents.

The equipment bay is ideally suited to a mirror-less camera and lenses or perhaps a small mirror-less flash.

Now, as for the two other ways of utilising this…imagine that you are going to be somewhere that requires you to protect the contents of the bag - perhaps moving up a rock face or through a dangerous railway station. You just reverse the sling so that it depends from your right shoulder with the case in front. You can still reach inside to extract cameras or lenses but no-one else can dip into it.

If you want to free your shoulders from any burden, there is an ancillary waist belt attachment in the same pouch that contains the rainproof cover. Instant bum or belly bag.

This one you can realistically sling into the overhead locker of the local Boeing without a second thought. The seasoned traveller will bless the combination for convenience and protection, and the raw tourist will eventually find out that the old hand was right. They'll just need a few trips struggling through airports hauling a wheelie case to discover the truth…

* Plus the in-flight entertainment sometimes includes getting operate the door gun…coming into Adelaide.

The Messenger Bag - Part Two - Parisian Style

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 00:40:00 +0000

Well I promised you the up-market Peak Design messenger bag and here it is: the Everyday Messenger 13. There is enough style in this one to satisfy any boutique bag buyer.

The choice of fabric from which it is constructed might be thought modest enough - a medium-brown denim - but then you need to look into some of the more up-market clothing shops to see what they do with ( and charge for ) denim. This is not a pair of jeans.

The basic messenger form with top flap is simple enough to think of but there are a number of design quirks in it. With the top flap down and locked, you still get a weatherproof zipper on top to allow access to the gear compartment. These used to be referred to as "stealth" opening by some makers, but anything that has a big zipper is not all that stealthy.

The sides of the case are open to small compartments - one of which has a Peak Design strap peeking from it. I've no idea what they expect you to suspend from it, but perhaps it is keys.

The top flap has an inside pocket that contains a Peak Design rubber ring that turns out to be a leg band for small tripods when you carry them horizontally.

The flap itself has a very ingenious attachment - the ladder segments on the side of the bag are made of metal and there is a powerful magnet and hook arrangement that locks them positively in a number of positions. You can gain quick access to the bag by lifting the metal handle with no fumbling for buckles or pop studs.

The interior space is massive, and they have made it decorative as well. The two movable partitions create what is essentially two quick-access buckets as soon as the top comes up - like holders for dragoon pistols on a European cavalry saddle.

The strap is very smooth woven nylon and the attachment points again feature a swivel but no resorting to plastic parts. There is a waist cinch hidden in a back compartment plus a re-enforced base to allow you to set it down without damaging the denim.

The whole thing costs $ 100 more than the Everyday Sling - not a great deal more to go up Collins Street to the fancy shops...just don't ask the price of the shoes in the window...

Don't Shoot The Messenger - Part One - Dockyard End

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 00:02:00 +0000

I do love a daily advertising column - where else would I ever get to use a heading like that in legitimate literature? It goes with the " Hack Writer " sign that I keep on my desk.

Well, on to the hack - this week we are going to look at the messenger bag. It is either the humblest of camera containers...or the most prestigious - depending upon whether you are making it for the Dockyard end or the Paris end of Collins Street. I use Victorian imagery there because if I named Perth suburbs my readers would be up themselves and down on me. You can do your own geography - but be aware that there are different markets.

The - ahem - less exotic user can be accommodated with the Peak Design Everyday Sling. It is a little grey workhorse of a bag with good protection for the smaller camera outfit.

Oh, you could slot a DSLR and a couple of lenses in there too. A mirror-less system camera could run three lenses easily and you might be able to leave a battery grip attached. The top pocket is lined and has card and battery holders built into the walls. There's a full-sized tablet compartment with a lock tab as well - this could easily be the foundation of a travelling blogoffice.

The external pocket is configured so that it is expandable - and the expansion is controlled by nylon webbing a metal buckles. You can stack heavy gear into it without fear. That is if you're silly enough to put heavy gear on your shoulder and trudge around with it all day...

The suspension of the strap - nylon webbing - is attached with a metal swivel - indeed all the fittings are anodised metal so you can bang through the tourist places with this one for literally years without having it disintegrate. Laugh not, I have had a bag made by one of the other major makers decide to plotz in the middle of an English railway station and it was not a fun experience.

Peak Design are a coming firm. Their straps and suspension systems are quirky but well thought-out and these new bag designs show that they wish to be considered a premium maker.

Tomorrow we see their Paris end...

Western Power Meets Eastern Power - The Fujifilm EF-X-500 Stun Gun

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 01:06:00 +0000

Those of you who know me as an old cynic may wonder where that character trait began...I can tell you frankly. I was a trusting and kindly soul until the day I took up flash photography - once I read my first advertisements for electronic flashes the world turned dark.

It was not always thus. I had been shooting flash bulbs up until the late 1960's and they seemed to have a pretty predictable light output. The backs of the cardboard cartons containing M3, Press 25 or AG1 bulbs had charts that listed distances and apertures and the only thing you had to note was the size of the reflector in the flash gun. You fired them off and got what you expected - and occasionally you got a surprise as one went off in your parka pocket.

The first Honeywell, Braun, and Vivitar electronic flash lights all had exposure charts or calculating dials on their outer cases with guide numbers for the various films...and they were all inflated. You did well to open up anywhere from half to one-and-a-half stops from the chart. If the film you were using was rated in a similarly optimistic fashion ( Looking at you, Fujifilm...) you were better off setting a brush fire and photographing by the light of the dancing flames.

Sooooo...

Have things improved? Is the new EF X-500 flash more powerful than the EF 42? Is it powerful enough? How does it stack up against a studio strobe unit measured in watt/seconds? Or joules?
And why do they all have different measurements when they talk about their flashes? Is it the old pea and shell game like the hifi industry advertisements during the Wattage Wars?

These questions should yield to science...and I am a graduate of the Suckitansee Technical School. I own studio flashes, several EF 42's, and a bran-new EF X-500. I can also rustle up a Minolta Flash meter and a studio assistant at short notice.

The basic test rig was a dark section of the studio back yard - open ground so that the pattern of light from the various flash tubes was minimally affected by surface reflections. Of course there were different reflectors around the tubes - these are noted in the results. The flashes were fired directly downrange and the results noted on the Minolta - it was not affected by ambient light.
The neighbours were probably ropable at all the flashing, but after the lightning storms of a few weeks ago they should be used to it. I have done worse things in that back yard.

Here's the digested results. The range was 10 metres, the ISO set on the Minolta at 200 ( basic sensitivity for an X-Trans sensor ) and we fired enough times in each division to get a consistent result.

The units of measurement are in metric gerbils ( MG ). As none of the other tech sources could agree a standard I made my own - they give as good a comparison as anything.

a. Elinchrom EL250 run flat chat

bare tube 40 MG

18cm reflector 57 MG

21cm reflector 80 MG

b. Elinchrom EL500 run flat chat

bare tube 57 MG

18cm reflector 80 MG

21cm reflector 113 MG

c. Fujifilm EF42 1/1 manual

bare tube 40 MG

W/A panel 28 MG

Mag Mod Scoop 20 MG

Mag Mod Dome 30 MG

d. Fujifilm EF X-500

bare tube 40 MG

W/A panel 28 MG

box diffuser 28 MG

As you can see, there is not a great deal more power being ultimately pumped out of the EF X-500 compared to the EF 42, but it is coming out with a lot more options for control, and with a lot better recycling time. I would be willing to bet on a similar battery consumption for both.

The other interesting measurement concerns the mag Mod accessories. They are essentially for use in a reflective environment - where they do extremely well, I might add. Wasting their output in open air is pointless, apart from the slight broadening of the illuminated surface.

In summary, if you can do the job you envisage with an Elinchrom 250, you can do it with the EF X-500. If you need more grunt, you need the EL500 or modern equivalent.

And no, I did not dig out my box of flashbulbs with the Edison bases and fire one off. But I will one day, and we'll see how many metric gerbils it puts out.

Grateful thanks to Igor, my faithful assistant, who coped with the humidity, darkness, and dodgy science.

Fill Up At the Fujifilm Pixel Pump Today...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 01:00:00 +0000

Well, that's what the images of the new Fujifilm EF X-500 flash reminded me of after I took their pictures for this column. I kept feeling around the left hand side for the filler hose...

The real reason is I wanted to show you the easy menu system of the flash. The menu of the previous flash was only a two-button affair, but that meant that you were condemned to following through a whole series of things that you did not want before coming to the bit you needed. The new flash uses more buttons and a control dial but lets you in and out far quicker - and it lets you do far more things.

a. Standard - 91 octane - you set to set your own level from full blast to 1/512 of the power. Or you can just leave it on TTL and see what you get. The oblong lighted button under the Mode sign opens the page and you whizz the control wheel round to whatever you want. Then punch either the page button or the central wheel button to set it in place. No waiting ten seconds while the computer thinks about it.

b. Ethyl - 95 octane - the next push on the page button sets up the zoom for the flash tube - you can run it from a 24mm wide angle to a 105mm portrait length. Again there is the Auto zoom option if you are changing gears frequently.

c. High Test - 98 octane - the page button will also take you to the LED light. This light glows just under the main flash head and can be operated separately or together with the flash. It acts as a quasi-modelling light or can be run up to quite a fair power as a video light. Again there is an intensity control and arrangements for this light to assist with illumination for auto focusing.

d. Oh, I almost forgot...how do you know when the flash is receptive to change and when it is locked? The part of the screen that contains what you are trying to adjust - in this case the power of the manual flash - is rendered black when it is active. Once you hit the page button or the central wheel button it is locked in and turns white.

e. Aviation Petrol - 100 octane - now it gets fun. See the thing that says Multi? That means the flash is going to fire like a stroboscope while the shutter curtains are open and you are going to get multiple images recorded on one frame. It is either going to be art or science.

You get to choose how many times the flash goes off and how it is spaced out - the Northeast corner of the green panel contains two figures; the left one is how many times it fires, the right one is how often. You can set the power level as per usual on the scale below these. This is a manual operation - not TTL.

f. Diesel - this is the setting for the flash when it is going to serve as a slave in a flash group. The amber colour is a distinct warning that you have clicked the switch on to the next segment. You'll see that it shows as Manual but you can also switch it to TTL. I am in several minds about this - the times I have tried to run systems where they had a degree of autonomy have always seemed to contain the most out-of-control light levels.

I have decided that I know what ratios I want and am prepared to dial them into the various group flash guns. The number of times that I have had to deviate from the plan are minimal, provided I have had time to test out the shots before the actual action start`s.

g. Cognac - when you have finally decided to be the boss. This is the master position for the flash - it can run up to three other groups of flashes, with multiple flashes in each group. As you can see, there is TTL, or otherwise. The degree of control may be far more than you can sensibly manage in any one shooting session, but if you find the combination that works, you can lock it in for future reference. The flash gun will return to previous settings after it is turned off and on.

PS: You don't get discount pixels at Camera Electronic but the restrooms are clean...