Kipling Goes To A Camera Launch

Kipling Goes To A Camera Launch... And he takes his six honest serving men.

When:
Tuesday the 26th of September at 6:00 in the evening.
Guests started arriving in the previous quarter hour and crowded in from then on.

Where:
The Wanderlust shop next door to the Camera Electronic shop in Murray street.
This is a great venue for a camera launch or event that can be done standing up - there is a lot more room than Stirling Street. Both are good if the subject matter is interesting - Stirling has chairs but the staff have to move the entire shop aside to prepare for an evening. Kudos to the CE employees for making each one of these events successful.

How:
Well, just show up and let the bartender pour you one, browse amongst the fresh sushi, and examine the new camera and lens. Listen to the national sales expert tell you the features. Look at the video presentation. Get the lowdown from the local photographic expert who got to try the new equipment out for a while…he would have been keen and critical at the same time.

The idea of an equipment show is to let you peer closely and handle what the internet only flashes at you. If there is a sip and a snack, all the better. This event featured Suntory Whisky, Asahi beer, and fresh locally-made sushi - so fresh
that it was being sliced and diced right in front of the visitors.

Note: Look at your soy fish next time you eat sushi. What number is printed on the tail? There is a special number…

Why:
To introduce the Fujifilm GFX 100 II camera and the Fujinon GF55mm f/1.7 R WR lens to Perth. This is the flagship of the Fujifilm large format digital cameras and the new standard lens for it.

It well may be the ideal combination of devices for a working professional or keen enthusiast, and the sooner the potential customers get their hands on it - and watch what it does through the viewfinder - the closer they are to a purchase.

What:
Large format ( 33mm x 44mm sensor ) mirror-less ICL system camera and fast standard lens for this format. Heavy, extremely solid, extremely sophisticated. Configured like many smaller cameras but with professional interface and controls. Adaptable to previous iterations of the GFX system; lenses and viewfinders.

Smaller than the previous flagship GFX 100. Easier to handle. More advanced processor and focusing capability.  Sophisticated video capability.

Who:
Now here’s the $ 64 dollar question - though I assure you the camera and lens cost more than $ 64. Who will buy it, and for what purpose? This is a costly instrument and the capital invested has to come back in some form.

I pondered this while sipping and chewing until I fell in conversation with a chap who mentioned his son - apparently he is a professional photographer working in
Europe who deals with architecture and landscapes, and gets paid for it. He asked his dad to come and form an opinion about the new Fujifilm.

This is the market that would be ideally suited to this camera and lens - and to the equally new tilt/shift lenses that Fujifilm are also introducing for the GFX system.

Imagine covering your buildings, or mountains, or gardens and fields with a camera that delivered the utmost very high megapixel file - that was light enough carry wherever - and did not require complex after-processing and stitching to
prepare the product.

Shoot the picture for the back of the bus, the billboard, the new car campaign, or the crowning of a new royal…with one camera and know that you had it in the bag.

The six honest serving men called it a night and went back home on the train and bus well satisfied that the Fujifilm corporation have not abandoned the thinking and working photographers.