Will Canon ever be successful at Mirrorless? Does mirrorless even matter?

I’m so tired of hearing about the whole mirrorless “feature”. Yes there’s some benefit to not having a shutter, but I’ve yet to see any real reason why we should throw out DSLR's for Canon's mirrorless cameras … I’ll take a step back and explain.

What can the Canon R (and RP) do that’s so special? Well there’s "Dual Pixel" focusing. That’s awesome - no doubt about it, and honestly I'm surprised it's taken so long to do this. My second Canon SLR was the 7E series - it would focus wherever your eye pointed in the viewfinder (I believe the Canon EOS 3 had the same functionality). It was flawless and Canon somehow scrapped it! But surely dual pixel focusing is not why most people would want one?

Getting into the Canon R ecosystem comes with a HUGE caveat - a new lens mount. The lenses released to date and planned are typically bigger and heavier than their EF counterparts. And that’s the deal breaker. Had Canon said, hey here a mirrorless camera and you can use EF glass on it, Canon would be in the money (for camera body sales). But they didn’t. And what nobody else in the photography media have admitted to yet is that Canon has already done this - with the Canon M camera range. Did they abandon the M format lenses already? It sure seems so.

I’m writing this, after reading how Canon had a press release earlier this week that said initial sales with Canon R and RP were brisk - but within a month, this interest has (in Japan of all places) already tailed off. Sales of Canon R have flatlined already.

“You can still use a converter to use EF lenses” - it’s like deja-vu all over again. Canon did the exact same thing with Canon M cameras, and wanted a huge amount of money (proportionally to the cost of the camera) for a converter to continue to use EF lenses. The barrier to entry - that’s great when they only make less than a dozen lenses.

The other issue I see with Canon's camera division is the inability to price gear to match the market. The Canon 5Dmk2 price point was so good that they sold millions of them - it was the biggest selling prosumer camera Canon ever made. Then they got greedy and did a minuscule upgrade that added a huge markup. The 5Dmk4 is a bigger step up, but still isn't nearly as ground breaking as the mk2 was and is already out of date compared to the market. Their research and development teams are obviously not talking to the marketing department. But I digress.

Let's take stock of the mirrorless problem here.

Canon has traditionally tried to maximise profits by limiting camera features to prevent diluting their broad product range (which is why there’s still no DSLR or Mirrorless camera with a decent 4K implementation - because they want you to buy a video camera - another topic I’m going to talk about shortly) and fractionally better glass makes much greater profit margins (ironically, there’s more air in a lens than glass!). It makes much more sense to Canon to make you buy another expensive lens, that will likely replace one with the same specifications as one you’ve already bought.

Canon’s M range focused on being mobile - the lenses were light, because the point was to replace a point and shoot without the weight. The quality was intentionally dialled down to prevent eating into their EF line. But ironically they also came out with their “worlds smallest SLR” range which was a similar size and weight, and was a much better fit for many users (which can be seen by its popularity and now in its third revision). Canon’s R range has completely missed the boat here, as the camera got smaller (which you’d expect after removing the glass pentaprism and the shutter), but now they’re extremely front heavy because the lenses are no lighter than their EF brothers.

A few years ago, Panasonic, Olympus and others introduced the Four Thirds system, which had a huge adoption. I don’t believe this was because it was mirrorless, but because of it’s convenient and easy to use hardware that was not locked into one brand. And primarily because in addition to taking really high quality images, it was lightweight. But the obsession with mirrorless was born and has been nothing more than a huge sales pitch ever since.

So what is the Canon R series good for? It’s not lighter, it’s not more convenient, it’s not without its flaws (try looking at YouTube for bloggers reporting quirks with the EOS R camera not working as expected and ultimately not trusting it as a professional camera!). Canon has created yet another ecosystem for mirrorless and I don’t expect it to last any longer than the Canon M series.

I recently watched a video trying to justify using a Canon EOS R as a B-camera for video production, and the comments speak for themselves. We’ve now got to the point where I presume that Canon is trying to find reasons to justify this rushed out and thoroughly botched concept.

Canon now has EF series lenses (and their EF-S line tailored for smaller sensors), Cinema series lenses, M series lenses and now R series lenses (yes they also had FD series pre 1987 but that’s pretty much dead now). The first two have obvious benefits, where Cinema series lenses use video industry T-Stops instead of the photo industry f-stops for determining how much light will pass through the lens. The different gearing for cinema lenses also makes total sense and makes up for the bodge of trying to gear the focus and zoom on an EF lens. Canon M and R series can’t claim any real benefit - yes the R lenses have an extra ring that’s configurable, but that is there purely to add a difference to justify its existence. It is otherwise a feature that nobody asked for.

Someone, anyone, please - tell me what I’m missing! Is it any surprise that Canon's camera division isn't doing so well right now?

Consumed with history.

I've been busy and engrossed in a very interesting project that I believe needs to be blown open to all to see. We all know of the importance of history, to hopefully recognise the need not to repeat the same stupid mistakes, as well as to cherish our unique and interesting past in the present. The project has a historical background, but one that seemingly has been buried or suppressed.  The suppression is remarkable, considering what has been uncovered. I'll start from the beginning...

Panoramic View of Carlops, Scottish Borders

A few months ago, I ate at a local restaurant and the owner, Rosemary, recognised my name and already knew what I did. After paying for a wonderful meal, I offered to return and discuss her ideas for photos, not really realising how this was going to play out as the work was relatively undefined. But the subject matter was quite surprising, the life of a poet and his son a painter, born in the area, and largely forgotten about.

The meeting took place at the Allan Ramsay Hotel, Restaurant and Bar in Carlops. So it makes logical sense that the person in question was Allan Ramsay, and his son Allan Ramsay (Jr). The hotel has been a fixture in the village for centuries, and has been called the Allan Ramsay Hotel for much of that time. The work I was asked to do was to photograph things that related to the poet's work from "The Gentle Shepherd" which was based in the local Carlops/Penicuik/Linton area. However the issue was that I'd have to find out about the connections in order to photograph them.

In the 1808 edition of the Gentle Shepherd, there are a number of plate images that reflect the location of the scenes. I was told there was once a trail that the locals took to follow in the footsteps of the book, and we found old photographs of people in locations referenced in the book. So I took the initiative of finding known trails in the area and noted where these places were in order to try to reproduce the images. After numerous treks through the area, and consulting various historical maps (including the one in the book) and noted listed building locations, I built up a map that identified where the landmarks were. For simplicity I've created a shortcut link to help:  map.drw.photo

Unfortunately many of those images are now known to possess some artistic license. Some show waterfalls and hills whose size would be difficult to believe - even though the river has since been dammed at a reservoir, the quantity of water doesn't make much sense. But a few of them are indeed relatively easy to identify, once you have found the exact location they portray and the appropriate angle.

In the process of doing this, we've uncovered various other pieces of information about him, and in turn that lead to more and more photographs. One very interesting thing is a unique monument that was built near Penicuik House. However it isn't on the same grounds, but instead in the middle of farmland. The interesting thing is that the house is largely surrounded by trees, but there is an intentional void cut into these trees that permits a view of the monument from the back of the house itself. The vast majority of the local residents have no recollection of the monument, nor know of its location.

There are a number of other interesting points that really make you stop and wonder. The song Auld Lang Syne, typically associated with Burns, was first written and published by Allan Ramsay in 1720 (Burns was born in 1759). Both start with "Should auld acquaintance be forgot", then differ. Burns never met Ramsay as Allan passed away before that was possible, but Burns work was very much built on Ramsay's literary work. That Burns is still famous today, is puzzling when Burns owes much to Ramsay.

There are a number of references to the location of the Gentle Shepherd, all of which are located in the Pentland hills area. Carlops/Penicuik, Woodhouselee/Glencorse and Currie (1.5miles south of) are mentioned in various historical references. All the locations have similar features, but only Carlops matches all of the features described in the book. A side note is the distances mentioned - at the time there was a difference between a Scottish mile and an English mile, so the distances don't match. In the region between Woodhouselee and Carlops are Eight Mile Burn and Nile Mile Burn, both of which refer to the Scottish miles away from Edinburgh.

In order to finance his poetry, Ramsay was first a wigmaker and then started a bookshop, selling his work. This turned into a lending library where people could rent his books. Is this the first lending library? His library was in the Luckenbooths building that was located alongside St. Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile - but was demolished in the mid 1800's as it obstructed the road (which today is ironically a pedestrian zone again). Today the Luckenbooth brooch is still sold - named after the building it was likely first sold.

Today, one of the most expensive properties in Edinburgh is in the building (and connecting dwellings) that Ramsay built, alongside Edinburgh Castle. From Princes Street, these can be seen as the white/red buildings on the hill. Princes Street is also where a statue of Ramsay resides, and his face is also on the Scott Monument. How surprising it was to walk into a bookstore on Princes Street to enquire about his book, only to be left with a blank expression and nothing. It does bring to the fore that most of us walk by historical objects on a daily basis and have no idea what they are meant to represent.

It is unfortunately depressing to find that a number of professors at St. Andrews University appear to have allowed teaching about Burns to persist, while the history about Ramsay has been ignored. The timing coincides with when Scotland lost its independence to the English to form the union. At the time, the Scottish language and dialect was taboo. So in these modern times where many Scots are unhappy with the political state of affairs, it is rather interesting to rediscover Ramsay.

I presumed from the beginning that photographing an art project like this was a good networking opportunity. Projects like this aren't done for the money, but for the return to the larger community who want to listen. In order to do this, I've hiked many miles (which is probably why hiking up Ben Nevis in the middle of it wasn't a big deal) with my 50 megapixel camera, tilt-shift lens and tripod (which is what was used for all my images), and met a number of very interesting people along the way.

Rosemary asked why I was doing this, and I said I thought the history needs to be told, that the local historians need a chance to pass this information down. This is something a community should embrace, because this is part of their history, and that should never be lost. The trails of yesterday have been forgotten, some locations are unidentifiable, but we have restored a reference to Ramsay's work. In hindsight, work like this is both timeless and priceless - Ramsay needs to be brought back from history and permitted a venue to speak. For everything he did, Ramsay deserves as much, if not more credit than Burns - perhaps Ramsay should have his night celebrated each year?

On October 14-16, 2016, the Allan Ramsay Hotel is hosting a Allan Ramsay Festival. A number of my photographs will be on display, and contained within a guide book that tells the story of Ramsay, father and son.

DRW

A Twist on an American Favourite

I lived in the States for over 22 years and immediately took a liking to Pumpkin Pie. I don't remember how many I baked over the years, but I do know that there was usually a can of Libby's pumpkin in the cupboard, and the corresponding can of Carnation evaporated milk.

Some years ago on a regular visit to Target store (closest UK equivalent is probably a Tesco Superstore), I came across some disposable plastic bakeware - meant for sharing baked food (and not caring about if you forgot to bring it home or it disappeared). In it was a mini cookbook which included a recipe for what I have always called "Pumpkin Cake".  I've not made many pumpkin pies since then, as most people much prefer this instead. It's probably the fastest cake to make too, once you've assembled the ingredients. So here I'm sharing with you one of my favourites. If you take it to share at work, expect it to disappear quickly!

Pumpkin Cake - Serves 12.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs.
1 can (425g / 15oz) of Libby's Pumpkin (try Tesco Superstores or online).
1 larger can (410g) Carnation evaporated milk (don't use condensed milk!).
250ml - Sugar (when poured into a glass measure, 250ml = 1US Cup)
4 tsp - Pumpkin Pie Mix (available at Steenbergs online in the UK).
1 1/2 packages (600g) of store brand Vanilla Sponge Cake Mix.
1 package Pecan Nuts (broken or whole - approximately 250g).
1/2 a block of butter.

1. Set the oven to 180˚C.
2. Grease a large deep rectangular cake tin or pyrex glass pan (approx: 33x23x5cm).
3. In large bowl, whisk eggs then add pumpkin, milk, sugar and pumpkin pie spice mix. Stir until smooth, pour into pan.
4. Sprinkle the dry cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture, then roughly cover with the pecans. Melt the butter (I use the same glass measure used earlier and microwave it), and pour over the pecans so it touches the cake mix.
5. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes (fan oven: subtract 5 min), check with a fork in the middle that comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool before serving (goes well with vanilla ice cream :)

Once you're done, it should look like this:

Open for Business

2016 has been an interesting year so far

After receiving notice of my layoff from my employer of almost 15 years last October, I was finally unleashed from having to work for someone else. I've already experienced a layoff on two previous occasions, so it didn't come as a shock. The work had become tedious, unchallenging and boring anyway, but there was always the benefit of a guaranteed paycheque. What I didn't expect to find was that the job really dulled my creativity, and kept me back from doing what I've always wanted to do.

So I signed on for unemployment, knowing full well that I wasn't going to get any money (and didn't), but the process put me on towards getting help for setting up my photography business, through the New Enterprise Allowance program. Going through the NEA started me down the road of getting my ducks in a row, making a business plan, taking classes at Business Gateway (available throughout Scotland for free), and understanding what I was up against. When I did start up, the program pays a small weekly stipend to help with the initial costs of business.

I intentionally attended Business Gateway classes in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders as I really wanted to make an effort to work outside Edinburgh. The Borders are quite unique for being so isolated and rural, making me realise how my marketing efforts would have to be primarily offline - most of the area has poor Internet and mobile-Internet connectivity. It also doesn't have a decent newspaper either, so most news passes through word-of-mouth or annoying Facebook groups (which often dissolve into written gossip). Networking with others discovered how Facebook was seldom responsible for any work, regardless of where people originated from in the area. The other surprising fact was networking with numerous people who work in the area, who said that they seldom got any work from anyone in this part of the Borders.

So at the end of the previous tax year, my business started crawling into first gear. I made a few small sales while ticking over the tax year, helping me net a nice tax rebate that went towards the new DSLR that I had my eye on. I've spent some of the money from the NEA program to help convert my garage into a studio of sorts. And now I've started working with others to take on work across Scotland.

Now I'm slowly gathering props for food photography and experimenting with styling food and shooting tethered. Food photography has two extremes - one done by a mobile phone in a restaurant (blogging) and the other takes hours to carefully compose an image and then shoot food before it 'expires'! Who knew food photography could be so challenging! I don't know of may others in the region who take food photography so seriously, because it really isn't something you can do without the right tools. Yesterday I made this little beauty:

I'm sure to the casual viewer, it's nothing more than a table with a cloth, bowl and eggs. What's not shown is the work to get the table (a very rustic pallet that was carefully dismantled, then re-assembled as a table), the eggs (from two different sources), the table cloth was cut and made from a larger sheet of cloth and of course the bowl was picked up at IKEA. The colour of the eggs is actually accurate - one of them really does look like a golden egg! All in all, probably 4 hours work, not including the travel time to pick up the pieces.

The last thing I recently acquired was photographic business insurance. Something that I've put off for as long as I could, but realise that it is an essential component of every legitimate business. So I now have coverage for Professional Indemnity and Public Liability just in case something goes wrong in a big way. Remember, we're all human, and at some point even professionals make mistakes. I've heard the horror stories of trips and falls that could cost someone more than their business - important if you're a sole trader without the benefit of a limited company structure. If you're on the look out for a photographer to work with you, make sure they're insured just in case. To be honest, insurance is probably the most legitimate difference between an amateur and a professional in the UK (since there is no defining criteria).

While I don't yet have a diary full of work ahead, the future looks bright, and work is fun. I look forward to working with you in the future.

Best regards,
Dean