10.30.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 7:58 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents!
Not a whole lot to report today. A few minor things, both the Nikon D300 and the Canon EOS 50D got Firmware upgrades the other day. You can download those and load them on your camera via USB Cable or CF card with a Reader. For those of you hoping, I’m sorry, neither firmware upgrade implemented Video onto their respective camera’s. You will just have to wait for the next generation. Also, still no official statements for any of the following, Nikon AF-s 50mm F/1.4, Canon EOS 5D Mk II, or the highly anticipated Panasonic G1 Micro 4/3rds Camera. The first two I would expect before the end of the year, the Panasonic G1, honestly, I don’t expect that anytime before PMA’s in March.
As usual, if there is something you would like my opinion on or would like me to do some research into, just let me know either here as a Comment or Via e-mail! I look forward to hearing from you soon!
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10.29.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 3:43 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents!
Pretty uneventfull day… very few customers and nothing terribly intresting. I did have one customer who came in looking at the Olympus P&S camera’s. Personally I’m not a big fan of Olympus, though they definatly have their Nich. Customers come in with kids quite often and ask what camera’s are child proof. Well, the Olympus definatly has that area down. Olympus P&S cameras have several models which are Water Proof and Shock Resistant. The Olympus SW series are increadibly durable camera’s, the SW850 is an 8mp, 3x Optical Zoom that can go underwater to 3ft and take an impact from 5ft. So no longer do you need to worry about your kids throwing your camera in the toilet, it will survive, or Heaven Forbid, your 5 year old throws it through the TV! Or what if you’re a partier? You take your camera and with a bunch of friends get drunk out at a bar, you can afford to lose track of your camera at some point and not worry about it getting physically destroyed! Beer splashes, drops onto the floor from butterfingres, this camera will take it with very little problem. There are other models as well that go even deeper under water, the 1030 can go down under water to 33ft, pefect for that trip to Hawaii with intentions of scuba diving around the reef!
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10.28.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 7:10 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents!
Well, today was my first day off work since I started this blog (actually my first day off work in 13 days). Now, what that ultimately means is that I haven’t talked anybody’s ear off about camera equipment. Well, that is almost accurate… I did speak briefly to Vanessa, and we discussed the fact that her 4GB memory card simply isn’t enough for a major event like a wedding or something to that effect. So, we discussed getting more memory cards for her, and I also mentioned some other options. Several companies make a portable hard drive that have built in memory card readers. Many photographers use these for two major purposes, 1: many of them can separate into a separate folder each time you upload your memory card, so if you are shooting different subjects and need to keep them easily organized and separated, you can set the machine to do that automatically, 2: it offers you much more hard drive space to store your images over a longer period of time. These products come in a range of prices and brands. My personal experience lies with the Epson P-5000 which has 80GB of space and a 4″ display LCD screen for viewing the images. Now, this particular model has been discontinued, but its updated models increase Hard Drive space and simplify operation, and run around $500. There are other options from other brands that are much less expensive but many don’t offer an LCD screen or as much storage space.
As per usual, feel free to send me any questions or comments and I’ll make sure I answer as soon as possible! If you want me to write about something specific, just let me know!
Until Tomorrow,
Douglas
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10.27.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 1:48 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents.
Today we had a somewhat busy day at the shop. Many print orders and several instances where I had to remind younger women that drinking alcohol at night time parties is an instant recipe for terrible red-eye on their photographs. The fact that it is dark, and your eyes dilate naturally to see plus the addition of alcohol which causes your eyes to dilate even more allows the flash from a cheap P&S camera to penetrate the Iris of the eye and reflect the red colour of the Retina. So to make your pictures as best possible, beware of that direct flash to the eyes at night, especially when out drinking!
Also managed to have a few sales today! I finally managed to sell the shops last Nikon S550, a very popular camera, but a somewhat older model now being replaced by the slightly better featured and slightly more stylish S560 which we should have on shelves by the end of this week! Along those lines we are still waiting on the other models of the “new” Nikon P&S cameras, I still have yet to see an S60 personally and I am rather upset by this fact (I was looking forward to playing with it and seeing the touch screen focusing in action).
When I have a customer come into the shop and ask a question, I do my best to give a true answer. Yes, I am a salesman when I’m at the shop, but I don’t sell by deception and misinformation like some. Heh, quite frankly I have been accused many times of giving too much information. But I am of the mind that when I sell a product, I want to sell the product that is the best product for the customer, it doesn’t make sense to sell the customer a product that ultimately they will be unhappy with. I had a customer come in today almost ready to purchase a Canon 50D. He had done a lot of online research, but a lot of what he had read didn’t make sense to him, and he had never held or felt the camera in his hands. I could probably have easily sold it to him today, but experience in sales and as a professional told me that the weight of the camera and the button controls on the camera would not be to his liking. He mentioned that he had also done extensive research into the Nikon D90. Both camera’s are very similar as far as feature set (the D90 having some minor “Entry Level” features that the 50D doesn’t have). This was a slightly older Gentleman, which immediately told me that the weight of the 50D with its Magnesium Alloy Chassis would be too much for him on a daily basis and decided the D90 would be a better option for him. I explained to him the Key differences and pulled out the D90 to let him hold it and get a feel for the button placement and feel for it in his hand. He mentioned he had read that the Canon’s images tended to look somewhat sharper and that it had something to do with the sensor. I briefly explained to him the difference between Nikon and Canon’s AA filters and ultimately convinced him that the Nikon was the camera for him. He wasn’t prepared to purchase today, but he told me that from our conversation that I had earned his trust and that when he was ready he would be back to see me. Now, my methodology isn’t the best at the daily sales level, I full well understand that. And this type of situation happens to me on occasion, I have people tell me that they are convinced but aren’t prepared to purchase today, but they will be back… well I would say only 2-3 in 10 actually come back, but I guess I have too much respect for the camera’s and the Manufacturer’s to sell a person a camera and allow it to be used twice and then put in the closet to collect dust for the next 10 years (sadly I have seen it happen).
Until tomorrow, and as always, I am happy to field any questions you may have! Just leave me a comment or send me an e-mail!
Always,
Douglas
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10.26.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 8:25 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents.!
Im very sorry for having missed yesterday, but sadly there was no access to the computer to write it! But at the same time, there has been almost no new information. There are some interesting video interviews floating around from Photo+Expo in New York this last week, many of which talk about some interesting new products and software, including some that will instant FTP from the camera.
Now, one of the more common questions I get asked is about wide angles and Fisheye lenses. Many people come in with Canon Rebel’s wanting Fisheye lenses, many Skater photographers just using the cheap camera’s. Well, I have bad news for you folks using the APS-C Canon Camera’s, Canon doesn’t make a Fisheye lens formatted for that sensor size. Nikon has their 10.5mm Fisheye which is designed for their DX format camera’s, but it also has an issue in that it doesn’t have an AF-s motor drive, so it wont autofocus with the “Mini” Nikon’s (D40, D40x, and D60). Now there are options, and an increasing number of options at that. Sigma has recently announced both a standard fisheye and a True Circular fisheye lens for digital sensors, as well as updates to their FF (Full frame) Fisheye’s. Now Sigma tends to be a fairly popular lens, but in my personal experience, they are not the best built lenses and are a PAIN in the Butt to get repaired if something does go wrong with it. Now, for Canon users, you can always use the classic FF 15mm Fisheye lens, but I find that the cropped sensor tend to do just that, crop out all the fisheye affect. So there are options out there for that Fisheye lens you have always wanted, but do the research and possibly rent a lens once or twice and shoot around with it to get a feel for it before finally committing to it!.
Good luck and as per usual, if you have any questions, I’m more then happy to field them and answer them as best I can!
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10.24.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 5:59 pm by Administrator
Hello Ladies and Gents.
Well, I have some good news and some bad news for you all! The bad news… not a whole lot of new information… announcements are incredibly slow right now but I’m hoping for some before the end of the year. The good news, what little information there is right now seems to be some nice rebates from the two “Major” brands, both Nikon and Canon. Canon’s rebates seem to be primarily Lenses and their two major flashes, nothing major just $50 here and $150 there… when your talking about getting $80 off a $1500 lens, a person tends to go “big whoop”, but as any photographer knows, this equipment is exspensive and every dollar helps!
http://www.usa.canon.com/app/pdf/Promotions/ir_lensflash_oct08.pdf
Nikon’s also has some price drops, but they don’t have the specific information online, it should hits stores within the next few weeks!
Ok, now I had some customers come in today with questions about the Sony SLR camera’s. Now I personally have never had much affinity for them. I think they are bulky, image quality is so-so at best, and the Lenses and Accessories are nearly impossible to find in a store. Now, the Sony’s do have some major advantages! Many of you may know the name Minolta or Konika-Minolta, they were a major player in the camera market about 7-8 years ago, during the “Digital shift”. Well, they produced their Auto-Focus system called the Maxxum and it was a success film and early digital camera. Now, right before the “Digital Shift” Minolta invested a lot of money into a film system called APS (Advance Photo System) which was a smaller Negative than 35mm and allowed options for Panoramic and different size formats all on the same Neg. Well, APS all but died with Digital hitting shelves within 2 years of its release and APS couldn’t withstand the ease and Convenience of Digital. Well, when APS died, so did Minolta due to their major investment in APS. So Minolta goes under and Sony buys up their Camera division and puts Minolta tech into the Sony Alpha camera’s. So now people who had invested in Minolta Maxxum camera’s can use their Lenses on the Sony Alpha camera’s. That was one major advantage Sony had because even a Cheap lens runs you about $150-$200 so even one or two lenses and your saving yourself some major money. Sony has two other major advantages, #1: they produce their own Sensor tech. so it becomes much cheaper to produce the camera’s, allowing them to sell their camera’s without a sensor mark up like Nikon who purchases the majority of their SLR sensors from Sony. Sony also as a Tech company has a Feature rich concept for their products. So they formulated a different way of doing their LiveView which is a little more functional than the other major companies. Sony however does not have the best mind for Imaging Quality, and again, Lenses and Accessories are very difficult to come by unless you already have some from the Minolta Maxxum days.
That is all for today. Until tomorrow!
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10.23.08
Posted in Photoshoot Projects at 4:47 pm by Administrator
Well Ladies and Gents,
Today has been rather slow in news… right now we are between major photo conventions (Photokina being last month) so announcements are far and few between. And on top of that, sales are nil right now due to the economy. So sadly really not a whole lot to report…
Now, on a W1000W note, Kitty and I started fleshing out ideas for an upcoming shoot. I can’t divulge any details at this time, but the shoot should be a fun one and should have a lot of potential for some very nice photos! Keep reading future posts for more details as they become more public!
Until tomorrow!
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10.22.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 7:28 pm by Administrator
Welcome to day number two!
For those of you who were hoping for some equipment reviews, I have to remind you that it is a plan for the future, it is something I strongly want to do, but it is also something that will take time and funds that for now I do not have.
Now to tell you what I DO know. I find it a little odd that just yesterday I bid farewell to the Nikon D80. Today at work I had two people coming in to the shop prepared to purchase one, and sadly I had sold the last one yesterday. Now don’t fret too badly, Nikon does have some back stock on them, and they should be available for a little while yet to come. However, I will say that if your looking for a modern camera and not worried about a few hundred dollars extra, I Strongly suggest looking at the Nikon D90. A great camera with many consumer friendly features, including the next step from Nikon and Canon towards a functional LiveView with one button activation and the first SLR camera with Video functionality. There are still issues with these features (and when I can do a more in depth review of these I will) but they are functional and these are features that nobody would have dreamed of just two years ago.
Allow me to leave you with some opinions! Leading up to the release of the Nikon D90 I followed several forums and rumor sites, many discussing the advent of Video Functionality in SLR cameras. I studied long and hard the different Brands and how they incorporated the LiveView into their SLRs to make it easier for Studio Photographers and people upgrading from standard P&S (Point and Shoot) cameras which have heavily relied on their LiveView systems for some years now. Now different brands have taken different approaches to the implementation of LiveView with Sony somewhat taking the advantage using a two sensor system allowing for LiveView without having to lock up the Mirror and bypass the AF system. Now, with Nikon and Canon, they have more set designs in their Camera Bodies (and Nikon doesn’t have the facilities to make their own sensors, so purchasing a second sensor, even a much smaller one, will increase cost of production greatly!) So they opted for a Mirror Lock system in which the internal mirror is locked in its horizontal position allowing light directly onto the main sensor for their LiveView. Now Nikon was the first to program the camera to take that LiveView and record it into a 24 F/s AVI video. Some people are complaining about the 24 F/s, but what they seem to not remember is not that long ago all our Box Office Movies where shot on 24 F/s Film! The other issue for the Nikon D90 video function is that you can only record five minutes at a time. Nikon did this purposely because the sensor they used for the camera was not designed for extended recording, so on fear of burning out the sensor they limited its record time to five minutes. Personally, I think its just fine! The Canon 5D Mk II which will hit the shelves I’m told by the Local Canon Rep. at the end of Nov. will have a 30 F/s Video recording function with a brand new sensor (Canon can do this because they produce their own sensors) designed to take the video recording, but even they capped the video’s at 4gigabites of size. Now I personally think that Video has no place in high end SLR camera’s like the 5D Mk II because if a professional wants to take video’s, they are going to take a separate Video camera specially designed for it! Now I think the D90 is a perfect place for Video Function in an SLR camera. The people who buy those camera’s, the high end consumer, are looking more for a fun toy and an all in one tool, so that they don’t have to carry multiple tools around the family vacation even if the quality isn’t quite as high.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoy these little writings! Until tomorrow!
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Posted in VH1 Save the Music Event at 7:34 am by Administrator
I have decided to take on a project that hits close to home for me. I am a firm believer that you should give back to your community. Even more so when it comes to the education of our children. I am sure many of you know that in today’s public schools that they have decided to take on a great deal of cut backs. One of the biggest and one of the many first cut backs is the music department! This is why I decided to do a fundraising event for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. This foundation raises money to give to schools across the nation to educate children in music.
Music in my opinion is a very important part of our childrens education. It teaches them hand eye coordination. It helps stimulate the mind in creativity. It can even help them concentrate studying while listening to classic.
The reason why this is really important to me is because I was one of the kids who had to suffer the cut! I was learning how to play the violin, and when I got into high school, I was in an orchestra class. On the first day of my freshmen year, they told me that they are no longer having this class due to school’s cut backs. They told me that if I wanted to play that much, then I would have to go to another school just for that class alone! This school was across town! That was impossible for me to do! To go back and forth for only one class! I could not bare the thought for another child having to go through that for the love and want of music!
Keep your eye on our blog site to see how this event in unfolding itself. The goal for this event is in early January. A big party to celebrate the love in diversity of music along with starting out the New Year on a good note by giving to a cause!
Also with in the week there will be a new page on the website dedicated to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation. On this page we will posting the events updates, the bands that will be performing, the DJ’s who will be spinning and a paypal donation button if you can not come to the event! Remember every dollar counts!
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10.21.08
Posted in Reviews and Opinions at 11:23 pm by Administrator
I believe that every start has to come after an end. So now, let us have a moment of silence for the recently departed Nikon D80… It was an amazing camera that fought strongly ‘til the very end.
Ok, so now that our ending has passed us, we can get on with the beginning! My name is Douglas, and obviously you have some interest in photography or you would not be here. Now, allow me to attempt to give myself some credibility here. I have had my hands around a camera for nearly ten years, and in that time I have attended 3 different schools to study photography. I worked as a professional photographer for nearly that entire time, and currently working in a specialty camera shop for over a year and a half.
Now, as for what I’m doing here… I haven’t thought that far ahead yet! ::laughs out loud:: For now, I figure I will report to you some of the rumors I hear and find about upcoming equipment from the major brands and tell you my opinions on such rumors. Eventually, I’d like to start doing some equipment reviews. But there are two major issues with that, One: I don’t know what equipment you want me to review! Two: The equipment I have access to is a bit out dated… now this blog isn’t designed to make me money, but in order for me to review equipment beyond what I have, money is needed to have access to it. If you are interested in helping, there are many ways you can do that. The W1000W main site now has a page where you can purchase art prints of our work, you can also hire me directly if you need help learning your new camera.
In the meantime feel free to let me know what you would like from me to research and inform you! I’ll look forward to hearing from you!
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