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Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Back From My High Arctic Wildlife Photo Tour


Arctic Polar bears in peril - their Last Stand

I have just returned from my High Arctic Photo Tour testing the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II camera in the cold and sometimes damp Svalbard archipelago, deep inside the Arctic circle. Once again, I am impressed by the new body but now I have to take some time to get back to the daily routine, process the photos and get ready for my next trip to further test the camera in a different part of the world and environment.

The Arctic is melting fast, at least in the summer time. Global warming is real and worrisome, especially for some Arctic wildlife, like the Polar bears, which depends almost entirely on sea ice for its survival. You can see my equipment bag and more of my works on MichaelDanielHo.com

Now a bit of catching up to the photography news while I was away in the High Arctic since there was no Internet access on the expedition ship. The United Kingdom's recent vote to leave the European Union has thrown a monkey wrench into Canon Inc.s business plans.

Canon Inc. Chief Executive Fujio Mitarai said on Friday he was "very dismayed" by Britain's shock decision to leave the European Union, saying the move hurt Japan's economic growth prospects.

"In Japan, while we can expect to see a temporary surge in the value of the yen, the U.K.'s decision could also bring a halt to the economic recovery that had been underway," Mitarai, head of the camera and printer maker, said in a statement.

"We look to the Japanese government to implement strong monetary measures." Europe accounted for 28 percent of Canon's sales in 2015, although it did not provide details by country. Canon's biggest problem is the relentless rise of the Japanese Yen into relation to other currencies like the US Dollar and Euro, even though the Japanese economy is moribund. This means when the company's earnings are translated in to Yen, they appear lower and thus affect investors' sentiment and stock price of the company.

I think Canon should look past the current turmoil because in the long run, the company's products will drive profit and growth, not what goes on in one country or region of the world, since Canon is a global, diversified conglomerate. They should pay particular attention to the burgeoning challenge of higher end mirrorless cameras coming from Sony to their very profitable EOS line of DSLRs like the EOS-1D X Mark II and soon-to-be-released EOS-5D Mark IV cameras. 

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