As the festive season draws near, we would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.
We hope you have enjoyed the Camera Club this year and you have benefited from your involvement with the Club.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the Club on January 21, 2019 in the Pittwater RSL auditorium at 7.30 pm when we will be having our welcoming evening to fill you in on the coming years happenings.
To get you started, the program for 2019 and the updated rules and definitions are now available on the club website .
Come along on the 21st January and help make 2019 a year to remember for your Camera Club.
"Which of my photographs is my favourite? The one I'm going to take tomorrow." Imogen Cunningham
Digital Image Titling
PLEASE ensure your digital images are TITLED and include your FULL NAME as per the instructions on our website. Use only lower case characters with no spaces. Use underscore in place of spaces. eg: the_shearers_ben_jones.jpg
All digital images are to be sent to [email protected] no later than 8.00pm on Sunday night (the day before the competition).
Head On Photo Awards
The Head On Photo Festival is happening again in 2019 with $60,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs. For more information follow the link. www.headon.com.au/awards
Magnum to launch online street photography course
Famed photography collective Magnum photos are soon to launch their first online course for street photographers. For further information follow the link. www.magnumphotos.com/
The Osmo Pocket – when a drone company launches a handheld camera and gets it right
by Jackie Augustine 5th December 2019 Last Thursday DJI announced its Osmo Pocket, a $349 “compact, stabilized smart camera that fits in your pocket,” as DJI describes it. This was one of the most exciting camera announcements this season. Before we get into the reasons why, here’s a high-level overview of the camera’s features: Form factor. The Osmo Pocket camera looks a bit like the Flip Video camera of days past and the Ricoh Theta 360 camera. It indeed fits in most pockets and is optimized for single-handed operation. Screen. The camera features a small LCD, with additional viewing possible on one’s connected smartphone screen. Camera. The Osmo Pocket features a 1/2.3-inch sensor with f/2.0 aperture, which records 12-megapixel photographs and 4K video up to 60fps at 100Mbps. Gimbal. The camera’s most distinctive feature is DJI’s true-and-proven 3-axis gimbal (in fact the Osmo Pocket borrows features, such as ActiveTrack, Motionlaps, and Hyperlapse, from its $139 gimbal-only device, the Osmo Mobile 2, which uses a connected smartphone as the camera). Tracking. The Osmo Pocket gimbal does more than smoothing jittery capture, including ActiveTrack (after the user identifies an object by tapping on the screen, the gimbal will automatically follow it), FaceTrack (the gimbal keeps the photographer’s face in the middle of the screen when they take a selfie video), and FPV (First-Person View capture mode that records video from the user’s perspective instead of locking the gimbal to maintain the horizon or tracking objects/faces). Smartphone app. What took GoPro 10+ years to realize is that no matter how good the camera, its success ultimately depends on the user having an intuitive and versatile smartphone app to create sharable masterpieces from their raw footage. With the Osmo Pocket comes a brand new app, DJI Mimo, which not only offers editing tools, but also camera control features, media management features, and various premade settings, templates, music files, and filters to create visual stories, trailers or cinematic masterpieces. Accessories. Similar to smartphone apps, accessories turn the camera into a complete product rather than a piece of hardware that captures visuals. To this end, the Osmo Pocket already offers a range of accessories catering to different use cases, such as a waterproof case for underwater videography, a controller wheel for precise tilt and pan, an extension rod (an expandable gimbal control stick with operation buttons on the handle), and actioncam-like mounts so that the Osmo Pocket could also be affixed to your bike helmet or your dog’s harness. The bigger story – What’s so significant about the Osmo Pocket? While none of the individual features are revolutionary by themselves, the combined feature set tells us that DJI simply “gets it:” It’s the gorgeous and easily to create end results that matter. The Osmo Pocket shows that DJI has learned from the mistakes of many other camera vendors: it’s not about capturing high quality imagery – it’s about the ease of use to create something visual (from cinematic highlights to 3×3 panoramic photos) that begs to be retained as a visual memory or shared in the here and now through tight integration with the device that’s always with us, the smartphone. Along with various accessories, the smartphone integration turns the Osmo Pocket into a complete product rather than being just a photo/video capture device. DJI keeps morphing as a company. While initially positioned as a company that sold flying devices with a camera (in fact, the camera was originally licensed from GoPro), that changed to one that sells cameras that fly, as Eric Chen, then Director of Aerial Imaging, pointed out at our Visual 1st (Mobile Photo Connect) conference back in 2015. With the Osmo Pocket we now have a non-flying camera that very much leverages technologies developed for DJI’s flying devices, thus having a competitive edge over traditional actioncams, compact cameras, and camcorders. Cameras – think China. Where is the consumer camera innovation happening? We used to think it was Japan, with an occasional flareup in the US or Europe. But as companies like DJI, as well as Huawei and Insta360 (both with speakers at this year’s Visual 1st conference) prove, China is not just the country where the camera (component) manufacturing is happening, it’s also where new and exciting cameras are being envisioned and designed. That Long Tail again. I’ve been at it for a while now, but the Osmo Pocket is yet again an example of the evolution of the camera market that increasingly caters to more and more finite use cases. Yes, the smartphone is becoming a better and better camera, but there is also room for capture devices that by their nature can do things that are not (easily) feasible on smartphones. As long as that long tail camera connects seamlessly with one’s smartphone, many consumers can be convinced to purchase multiple cameras, as our research showed. Parting thought: I mentioned earlier that DJI gets it. But will the consumer get it? Not necessarily so, as the concept and benefits of a gimbal are unknown to most consumers. So it will require a fair amount of evangelizing to create awareness of the benefits to build a critical mass of Osmo Pocket users who could trigger world-of-mouth. Establishing a new category is always a huge challenge. We’ll keep following DJI’s progress!
Facebook
Not a member of our Facebook page yet? You are encouraged to join - this is the place to get lots of tips, advice and help, to see what other members are up to and be able to stay in touch between meetings. Just follow this link. www.facebook.com/groups/pittcameraclub/
Pittwater Camera Club Images of the Year
Thank you to all who attended our Annual Awards Evening and Images of the Year Competition on December 3rd.
A hearty congratulations to all who put in the hard work throughout the year to take out the coveted points score awards and to the winners of the Images of the Year.
We had 40 people attending the evening and our judge for the night , Alan Hitchell, with his witty anecdotes and jovial manner, was entertaining as always .
The supper supplied by Pittwater RSL, and funded by your Camera Club was tasty and plentiful.
These events are always a wonderful way to get together and chin wag with your fellow members and swap ideas.
The raffles this year were an exeptionally high standard, and I thank every one who contributed.
PHOTOS TELL YOU a lot more than words when it comes to a new meeting space in Arncliffe, Sydney, that features the photography of EIZO’s Australian photography ambassadors. The Gallery is designed as a combination office space, demonstration area and meeting place. One of the best things EIZO can do to sell its monitors is to let photographers see them in action and while this is not the key function of the new Gallery, there is a selection of EIZO’s latest monitors scattered around the various meeting areas. And already a number of photographers have given workshops and presentations in the EIZO Ambassadors Gallery. So, why is it also a gallery? Around the walls you’ll find photography by Jackie Ranken, Rocco Ancora, Les Walkling, William Long, Lisa Saad, Karen Alsop, Tony Hewitt, Peter Eastway and Mike Langford. Said EIZO’s Australian managing director, Matthew Bauer, “All the artwork has been beautifully printed, mounted and hung and I just can’t believe how magical it is. A very big thank you to Les Walkling for his assistance and incredible attention to detail, generosity, and speed!” So, if you’re in Sydney, keep an eye out for events at EIZO’s new Ambassadors Gallery.
8th Annual Mobile Photography Awards
The Mobile Photography Awards were founded in 2011 to recognize and celebrate the talent and imagery of the mobile photo & art communities. Alongside our annual competition (October-December), we produce themed exhibits with international open calls throughout the year. For more information and closing dates follow the attached link. mobilephotoawards.com/
Adam Williams Tutorials
For those wishing to improve their image making skills and learn from an awarded professional, Adam has 24 free tips on how to make your photographs truly awesome. Go to his website to find out more. www.australianphotographer.com
Lens Calibrating for Sharp Images
Not achieving the sharpness you expect from your uber expensive new lens? The following link is a simple explanation to achieving razor sharp images through calibrating your lens to your camera.
Don't forget - Momento offer a 30% discount to our financial members off their first order then all subsequent orders will receive an automatic 10% discount. Hop over to http://www.momentopro.com.au/ to sign up.
Other bits and pieces which should be of interest.