Your favourite online newsletter is back again - no, not the one from the dodgy political organisation in Canberra - the one from us, the Stirling Street photographic shop. We've got better ideas about how to save the nation and ours are a lot more fun!

The Festive Season is upon us - and what better way to celebrate than re-uniting with all your relatives and friends, overeating, and buying photographic items from Camera Electronic Sales and Service. The first two suggestions generally produce family fights and dyspepsia, but the last one leads to a serene sense of well-being. Particularly for our accountant, so come in and spend.

Just so you don't get discouraged and think that we are the only beneficiaries of this trade, look at some of the specials that CESCO is featuring in the coming month.

Camera Electronic Sales and Service has been a professional NIKON stockist for a long time. As a result, we can get some of the best of the best NIKON specials for you:

Camera Electronic Sales and Service is now a proud professional CANON stockist. As a result, we can get some of the best of the best CANON specials for you:

With the above specials you can receive a special gift - a free sensor clean or a Swiss Magic Photo frame.

Here's a hint list to give to your loved ones so that YOU have a Merry Christmas. CESCO has beaut holiday specials all the way to Christmas:

This year stuff your stocking with something other than your leg.:

As you all know we have a hire department that is prepared to rent almost anything to almost anybody, though there are exceptions, but the good news now is that we have three new lenses available for CANON and NIKON users. Ask to see and try our new AF-S 500mm f4 VR NIKON or our new EF 400mm f2.8 IS L CANON or our new TS-E 17mm f4 Tilt Shift CANON.

And do have a look at the new darling of the NIKON section - the LIGHT GREY 70-200mm f2.8 VR lens. Now rental customers will be able to select from the BLACK 70-200 f2.8 VR or the LIGHT GREY 70-200 f2.8 VR depending upon their specific imaging needs. Ask our rental expert Mr. Wells for complete technical details on the differences between these lenses.

Three of them, as it happens. In this mad rush of holiday specials we need to stop a bit and steady ourselves - and that goes double for our cameras. If we want to work in the wonderful summer twilight or take pictures indoors at family parties we need some way to hold our photographic equipment. You can't beat a good tripod for this - and you can't beat a good price for a tripod at CESCO.

This year we have two specials that will tempt you to finally get that tripod!

The first is a very familiar shape and size, though you may not recognise the name. Never mind, you'll soon realise that you are looking at sturdy metal legs and a cast-metal three-way head with full adjustment. The quick release head will remind you of a famous maker's aluminium plates and indeed these will fit fine. The price is a very attractive $ 249. (Note that this is a Christmas Bargain Special reduced from $ 299)

Ask for the GOLDPHOTO YH324C or look for the large pyramid of boxes at the front of our store. This is a good tripod!

If you need a lighter tripod but one that has the unique attributes of an in-built removable monopod and trigger-grip head, search deeper into the store for the OP-TEX 1093G. This has the additional feature of cross-braced legs. A real bargain at $ 149.

Well, I like what I like. And I sell what I like. And I sell it well, because I like it. So here are my personal favourites in our big bag range, together with logical (to me) reasons why they are good.

1. Little bags

   Get one of the new LOWEPRO REZO bags. They come in 120 and 160 size and are classical small one-camera bags for light travel. I saw one swallow a CANON 7d and a 24-105 lens yesterday - a very capable outfit in a very small compass.

2. Bigger bags

   Here the stand-out for me is the LOWEPRO CLASSIFIED 200 AW. It is one of the more elegant of the LOWEPRO line but still swallows a large DSLR, two lenses, and a flash. It is the messenger-style for over the shoulder but does not bulk out away from the side. Very nicely finished.

3. Shoulder backpack

   Two choices here - the LOWEPRO SLINGSHOT 200 AW and the KATA 3N1-20. These are roughly the same size and feature room for a DSLR and a couple of lenses as well as a flash and a small lunch. The difference is the KATA has a strap arrangement that allows the pack to be worn on either shoulder as a single strapper or over both as either a conventional pack or a cross-strap pack. The LOWEPRO has right-shoulder strap only but the geometry of it is such that you can swing it down and under your arm so that it is right in front of you when you need access to your gear.

4. Heel Boy!

   Take pity upon us older photographers who have to haul several bodies, a range of lenses, flashes, cables, and revolvers round to various events. None of us relish climbing stairs wearing big backpacks or toting two handfuls of suitcases.

   The roller cases are the answer - the TAMRAC CYBERPRO FLYER and the LOWEPRO MINI ROLLER. They are wonderful - they swallow a complete wedding's worth of equipment and the sturdy handles and big nylon wheels mean you can drag the things at a high lope as you chase the bride. They are small enough to take aboard commercial flights without drama. (Although I have always cherished an ambition to push a pallet of Box Brownies out of the back of a C-130 and watch them burst over the AIPP summer picnic)

5. Waterproof

   I stand amazed every time one of our customers runs off to a jungle with $ 10,000 of delicate photographic equipment dropped into a school satchel. And then worries about whether the sensor is clean. Heaven forbid that I should ever go to a jungle myself, but if I did it would be with one of the CAMERA ARMOR waterproof bags. They employ a triple-sealed inner bag in a Kevlar outer case to cushion the gear from the elements.

   Were I to be tempted down to the beach and into the water with my digital SLR I would house it in a DICAPAC WS 10. It can withstand several metres of submersion and any amount of beach spray and sand, so I think my equipment would be safe. Mind, you, I do not go swimming - I have an agreement with the sharks that I stay out of the water and they stay out of the saloon bar. It is an arrangement of mutual benefit.

The summer holidays are traditionally the time to get out and about at the beach and on tour. Landscape picture time and overseas adventures. Good oh for those who enjoy sunburn, flies, and gastric troubles. Some of us revel in the quiet and stay at home and work in our studios.

Or we would if we had a studio. In many cases we do - it is just hidden in a disused games room, bedroom, or garage. THIS summer is the time to think about cleaning out the old bookcases, broken exercise bikes, and piles of discarded items that clutter up this space and turning it into your very own photographic world.

For those who have never thought of studio work, well turn these themes over in your minds ; models and miniatures, flowers , still lives, portraits, nudes, historical recreations, food, products, jewellery, glassware, pets, the list goes on. Most of these do not need a giant space - they are well within the scope of a small room and a few well-chosen pieces of studio equipment.

CESCO supplies lights, stands, backdrops, tables, and triggers for all sorts of studios - big as well as small. We have the professional backdrops and their supports for every sort of subject. We can advise you on how to light your favourite model at a price you can afford. Let's be specific:

Say you have a small bedroom area that you can clean out - 3 metres by 4 metres or so. Perfect for miniatures, still life, small product, or intimate portraiture. You can make a very good start with one of the small 2-light kits from ELINCHROM or BOWENS - the 200 watt second types are more than enough for this area. These start from as low as $ 999. Ask about the lovely attachment to highlight hair from ELINCHROM called the honeycomb kit. You can get it for only $ 69 when purchased with a kit. Normally $125, or the really cool BOWEN's effects kit with snoot, bardoors and gels also on special for only $ 399 when purchaseed with a kit. Normally $ 699. Indeed the GLANZ D160 kits with three heads might give you even more scope for lighting schemes. None of these kits are expensive.

Backdrop? SUPERIOR roll paper in 1.35metre or 2.75 metre size is the professional standard. And one roll lasts a loooong time. We have REDWING backdrop stands if you wish to suspend this paper without marking the walls. If your preference is for a muslin drop, try the solid or mottled GLANZ cloths.

Light table for glassware? Light cube for jewellery? Small tent for eBay illustrations? Come on down, we've got them.

Prop furniture? IMPRESSIONS FURNITURE in Osborne Park is one of my favourite stores for one-off chairs, tables, or screens for portrait work.

With all these ideas, and any more that you have to mind, please come in and see us at 230 Stirling Street, Perth. There are always new things for studio work and far more than I can include here. We love to hear your plans and help out with suggestions and technical knowledge.

CESCO has a large amount of ex-demo NIKON that we have listed as "very special". Not just sales talk either - this is rather unique for Perth.

This is a mixed bag of ex-demo NIKON stock. The goods are sold with NIKON warranty but as it is ex-demo the term of the warranty is reduced to 6 months. The goods are boxed with the appropriate papers and bits, though there may be some of the less important fripperies missing, like instruction manuals.

Nevertheless, the goods are new, completely checked and refurbished by NIKON, and priced VERY attractively. Some of these things we have a lot of and some are one-offs, but they all represent the screaming eagle bargain chance of the year. Belt down here or get on the phone to us with your credit card so you don't miss out!

These pieces of equipment are in a separate cabinet here at the shop - do come and inspect.

Just when you thought it was safe to walk by the large format printer display section of our shop, we have added the new EPSON 3880 printer. This is the greatest news since sliced bread and doesn't go stale or mouldy in a week.

Please forgive a biased writer for praising the 3800-series machine inordinately, but my personal success with the previous model - the 3800 – encourages me to recommend the new 3880 to nearly everyone. The set-up time for these machines is quick, the complexities of connection eased by a good set of instructions, and the day-to-day colour management and operation is literally as simple as three clicks of a mouse.

The new 3880 features an improved ink mix with two more vivid magenta cartridges. It still handles up to A2 sheet media, including some quite thick board types. Standard A4 printing is very fast indeed with two-way ink distribution and the speed with which this turns out a contact sheet has to be seen to be believed.

Best of all - the EPSON 3880 is priced well for Christmas. It normally retails for $ 2199 but you can take one home for $ 1945. That's enough saving for lots of paper and you can spend your summer vacation printing all your best pictures.

The sales and training team from NIK SOFTWARE have recently been in town and the CESCO staff members were given a detailed briefing on the suite of computer programs produced by this firm. These are plug-in items that modify existing PHOTOSHOP, LIGHTROOM, and APERTURE programs to improve the look of the images. The various parts are:

1. Dfine 2.0

   This is a noise-reduction program that provides extremely precise control. You can selectively apply the reduction without having to create multiple masks.

2. Viveza

   This is a colour modification tool that again can be applied very precisely over varied areas without lengthy pre-selection or masking.

3. Color Efex Pro 3.0

   Filters here, and creative retouching and enhancement - special effects and film simulation

4. Silver Efex Pro

   A similar film simulation range but this time dealing with monochrome images - a complete answer to black and white images.

5. Sharpener Pro 3.0

   Advanced sharpening tool that produces the best effects without guesswork.

The demonstration of these products was amazing - all the staff work with other conventional image-modification programs and are familiar with the computer work needed to select, mask, layer, and modify curves. These products do it faster, and without a great deal of the tedium and manual precision need with other systems. We look forward ourselves to working our own images with NIK.

Please note that NIK software is available as individual program disks or you can purchase kits that bundle all five of them together. The lighter version is configured for LIGHTROOM and APERTURE alone and normally costs $ 399. If you are working with PHOTOSHOP or PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS you need the more extensive version - it will normally set you back $ 799.

But remember this is the holiday season, so we are offering these two NIK kits for only $ 319.95 for the lighter version or $ 719.95 for the full version.

Camera Electronic are proud to support the following events and will be at these events demonstrating products and showing our friendly faces!

• Light Fantastic 2010 is shaping up to be the best yet with key note speaker Nick Rains and with many other inspiring speakers and lots of displays of the best in photographic gear and software -
  http://www.extension.uwa.edu.au/downloads/Light_Fantastic_2010.pdf
• Top Queensland photographer Nick Rains and Nick Melidonis come together for the first time with a powerful and inspiring half day seminar on Photoshop and workflow, fine art imaging and how to get stunning images with the NIK software suite of plug-ins. Mon Feb 8th at Notre Dame University following Light Fantastic. See Nick's website page for more details
  http://nickmelidonis.com/courses-workshops/photo-inspirations/
• Nick Melidonis continues his popular series on Photoshop in 2010 with two NEW courses on Lightroom and Photoshop Elements. For full outlines and enrollment see Nick's website on
  http://nickmelidonis.com/courses-workshops/

You'll see a new face round the shop this month - Ashley Walton has joined us on the sales floor. So far he has not pounded the computer terminal in frustration but by the time Christmas finishes it may be a different story.

One of the old familiar faces will be missing - our storeman Jim Schultz. We wish him well in his future endeavours.

The rest of the crew will be carrying on as usual, but watch for the physical reconstruction of the HIRE DEPARTMENT in the New Year. Everything in one place at last? We can only wait and see.

A cheery Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday to all the CESCO customers together with the thanks of the management and staff for your custom during this year. We will be closing on December 24th at 3:00 PM and re-opening on January 4th at 8:30 AM.

Anyone who wishes to disturb this writer during that holiday period is reminded that I have a new .50 cal M2 machine gun and nine yards of AP ball ammunition set up on the front lawn. In honour of the holidays I am going to shout Ho Ho Ho as I fire it.