I was surprised. I like photos of people - Street Photography, and thought they would be more prominently featured, but no.
Tuesday 17 December 2019
Thursday 21 November 2019
Maturity of Analysis
Friend Robin Wong has today released a Youtube video entitled "Real Reasons Why Camera Market is Shrinking" (if you don't want to watch the video, he has written it out in his blog. I'm impressed with his Maturity of Analysis that is more than just "The Smart Phone has devastated the camera market". So, he starts the conversation and brings forth some points.
I have several standalone cameras and a mobile phone. Having a good mobile phone camera does not take away from my urge to fondle and shoot a standalone camera. But I have always loved photography as a pursuit of creativity, of art, of therapy, of relaxation. The majority of the public aren't like that though. They're quite happy to use their phone for all their photos. And that means that major amounts of money flow into mobile phones, not standalone cameras. Oh, by the way, one of the unspoken topics is that mobile phone prices are heavily subsided by phone rental plans, easy credit terms and high volume of sales. That's why standalone cameras appear expensive or incur substantial discretionary spending.
The money left over for sales of standalone cameras is significantly reduced. You would imagine that each camera company has teams of data science analysts poring over KPIs, dashboards and stats figuring out candidate buyer demographics and strategising. But maybe not. Sure, the bean counters in those companies are frantic. But the strategists and decision-makers, I think they're mired in corporate mud. They must be because these camera companies are bleeding badly and continue to bleed.
Pulling the plug on the camera business? That's not an exhibition of management skill.
The camera phone has disrupted and usurped the market for standalone cameras
Without a doubt, the camera phone has got so good that impromptu, spur of the moment photos that needed a separate camera device can now be captured by the smartphone. The smartphone is now always with you because you want to have it for phone calls, instant messaging and social networking. And instead of being in the shape or a brick or a half barbell, it is slim enough and small enough to be in a pocket or a handbag. The intimacy and proximity of phone beats having to carry a separate camera around.I have several standalone cameras and a mobile phone. Having a good mobile phone camera does not take away from my urge to fondle and shoot a standalone camera. But I have always loved photography as a pursuit of creativity, of art, of therapy, of relaxation. The majority of the public aren't like that though. They're quite happy to use their phone for all their photos. And that means that major amounts of money flow into mobile phones, not standalone cameras. Oh, by the way, one of the unspoken topics is that mobile phone prices are heavily subsided by phone rental plans, easy credit terms and high volume of sales. That's why standalone cameras appear expensive or incur substantial discretionary spending.
Where goeth the rest of the spending if most of the money has gone into Mobile Phones?
The money left over for sales of standalone cameras is significantly reduced. You would imagine that each camera company has teams of data science analysts poring over KPIs, dashboards and stats figuring out candidate buyer demographics and strategising. But maybe not. Sure, the bean counters in those companies are frantic. But the strategists and decision-makers, I think they're mired in corporate mud. They must be because these camera companies are bleeding badly and continue to bleed.
The loss of volume sales to cell phones is Start of Analyses, It is Not the End
You've got to target the right buyers for the right sustainable product income. That, amidst competition from the within the industry, keen on absorbing whatever ground you give up on. That's the challenge.Pulling the plug on the camera business? That's not an exhibition of management skill.
Saturday 29 June 2019
Looking at other presentation plaforms
After a friend asked about the layout possibilities in Blogger and how the mobile site differs from the desktop browser site, I was curious about what I could do with showing my photos and photo narratives.
By design, Blogger is about displaying text and photos with ready built chronological navigation to your previous articles, complete with Labels and so on. And in contrast, Google Photos and Flickr are focussed on hosting galleries of images with virtual albums and even social media interaction (here's my flickr). There's always instragram (here's mine), it's unavoidable because it's popular and there's no Google+ anymore.
There are of course custom Wordpress sites, Ruang Empat etc.... but I wanted to see what I could have easily.
I gave Adobe Spark a go - it allows you to build webpages that could host single projects (here's my Shoe Encounters one but the url to each one is not memorable. Then I thought, hey, what about the new Google Sites? Features are being added gradually and it allows embeds to other sites and resources - come over and visit What Do Simple Folk Do.
By design, Blogger is about displaying text and photos with ready built chronological navigation to your previous articles, complete with Labels and so on. And in contrast, Google Photos and Flickr are focussed on hosting galleries of images with virtual albums and even social media interaction (here's my flickr). There's always instragram (here's mine), it's unavoidable because it's popular and there's no Google+ anymore.
There are of course custom Wordpress sites, Ruang Empat etc.... but I wanted to see what I could have easily.
I gave Adobe Spark a go - it allows you to build webpages that could host single projects (here's my Shoe Encounters one but the url to each one is not memorable. Then I thought, hey, what about the new Google Sites? Features are being added gradually and it allows embeds to other sites and resources - come over and visit What Do Simple Folk Do.
Wednesday 27 March 2019
Altrex New Ideas - Air Brella
I was rummaging around in the mess I call my camera and gear storage cupboard and came across this gadget I bought, oh, so long ago, in another time. It's an Air-Brella Bounce Flash Reflector from Altrex New Ideas Inc. 7500 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, Ill 60077, USA. It was actually awarded US Patent 4146918.
You blew it up (yes like a balloon or rather a summer plastic swimming tube for the kids, then fitted your flash, facing into it. There would be a thin plastic sheet acting as a diffuser between the flash head and the transparent balloon surface. There would be elatic rubber bands holding the flash to the balloon.
It still inflates. But the rubber bands are long gone. They did not last more than a few uses.
It sure was a conversation piece. And an icebreaker when used.
You blew it up (yes like a balloon or rather a summer plastic swimming tube for the kids, then fitted your flash, facing into it. There would be a thin plastic sheet acting as a diffuser between the flash head and the transparent balloon surface. There would be elatic rubber bands holding the flash to the balloon.
It still inflates. But the rubber bands are long gone. They did not last more than a few uses.
It sure was a conversation piece. And an icebreaker when used.
Friday 15 February 2019
Has Camera Buying become like Hifi Buying?
We've been inundated and overwhelmed with loud and incessant chatter from self appointed champions of of camera buying from YouTube. And if you don't stop and think for yourself, you become hypnotized sheep, hanging on to these very opinionated people, emulating them and then becoming opinionated yourself and spreading toxicity.
In truth, these Youtubers are there to make an income from Youtubing - they dont need to work as photographers, their income is sufficient from YouTube and that depends on subscribers, hits, likes and being seen as influencers.
They try to appear and serve objectivity and comprehensiveness and all round knowledge. They need to appear to be the champions of vloggers, instagrammers, event photographers, sports, nature and landscape photographers, movie makers.
They want to be invited to press events because they gain reputation and credentials (if not swag, free flights and accommodation). And they get to test the gear for a few hours, or borrow for a couplenof weeks.
They have to appear familiar with different brand lenses, the quirks of different menus, buttons, dials.
When they can't figure out what opinion they should have, they open the floor to commenters on their videos and then it just becomes a loop of chatter. Self re- affirming and good for more hits.
Hifi gear used to be all about features and price and exclusive manufacture. Once you bought the gear, you could enjoy it. And then get dissatisfied because you really can't increase your enjoyment unless you upgrade.
Camera gear isn't an end in itself. Its a tool, a means to get your shot. The best camera won't get the most creative shot. You make up the rest of the contribution. Your personality, your heart, your talent, your skill.
The easiest way to fail in photography is to say to yourself "my camera gear can't do this" regardless of the quality of your gear.
Please Consider
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Olympus Viewer 3 retired, now use Olympus Workspace
Olympus just made Olympus Workspace available in 32 bit, 64 bit and MacOS versions. There is a file named OV4.ini in the folder with the executable so maybe it was going to be called Olympus Viewer 4 but they decided to make the name change so that we would take notice. Also, 4 isn't a greatly favoured number in Japan and China.
You'll want some manual or documentation. When you first install Workspace, the documentation is not supplied. You need to run Workspace, choose Help > Update Software to display the following dialog
to get the Adobe Acrobat format file in
C:\Program Files (x86)\OLYMPUS\Olympus Workspace
You'll want some manual or documentation. When you first install Workspace, the documentation is not supplied. You need to run Workspace, choose Help > Update Software to display the following dialog
C:\Program Files (x86)\OLYMPUS\Olympus Workspace
Friday 25 January 2019
Why did Olympus call the new pro flagship E-M1x ?
The new pro flagship for the Olympus Micro Four Thirds line has just been launched. Youtubers, bloggers are having their initial impressions published.
After running through a few of these, the question that I came up with is, why did Olympus call the camera the X ? What's your guess?
From Peter Forsgard
From Tony Northrup
From Joe Edelman
From Creative Island Photography
https://www.creativeislandphoto.com/blog/olympus-e-m1x?fbclid=IwAR1K-IXx5GlCuslNiuj3fbZsdQnz8-VBOEtZo12mGb_RTsn5ocraKrYJOT8
From Mirrorless Lessons
https://mirrorlesscomparison.com/olympus-vs-olympus/omd-em1x-vs-em1-ii/
From Young-Sun Teh
After running through a few of these, the question that I came up with is, why did Olympus call the camera the X ? What's your guess?
- It's X for Xtra Large?
- It's X for eXperimantal test rig to develop all the new tech without size or energy constraints and let that trickle down later to the other cameras in the line?
- It's X for eXtended OMD-EM1?
- It's to balance with eXtra long lenses?
Here are the initial impressions / videos so far. Come to MeWe and join in the community for friendly chats on Olympus gear https://mewe.com/join/olympusfriendsaustralia
From Robin Wong
From DP Review
From Peter Forsgard
From Tony Northrup
From Joe Edelman
From Creative Island Photography
https://www.creativeislandphoto.com/blog/olympus-e-m1x?fbclid=IwAR1K-IXx5GlCuslNiuj3fbZsdQnz8-VBOEtZo12mGb_RTsn5ocraKrYJOT8
From Mirrorless Lessons
https://mirrorlesscomparison.com/olympus-vs-olympus/omd-em1x-vs-em1-ii/
From Young-Sun Teh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)