Product Reviews

August 31st, 2007 by jeff

Posted in | 15 comments


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  • Alyn Ward

    Hi Jeff,

    I just wanted to say thanks for the tip on the Boda Bag lens bag. I bought one after reading your comments on it and it is awesome! I can finally take my 70-200 2.8 VR and 28-70 2.8 with me on my photographic walks. It is very convenient and it makes it almost a pleasure to change lens with it.

    I wish I lived closer to make it one of your photo walks but I am on the “other” coast. They look like a lot of fun and a good way to meet some people with the same interest, this is something I really need to do.

    Keep up the great work on your blog I read it daily.

    Best regards,
    Al

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/tidaldesignsphotography/show Kimmy

    The Really Right Stuff link is bad!!!

    I wanna know what the BEST BALL HEAD IS!

    but, can I afford it? Prolly not!

    Thanks for all you do for us.

    Kim

    • http://www.revellphotography.com jeff

      Thanks for the heads-up Kimmy. They went and changed their link on me but it’s updated now.

  • http://none David W

    I purchased your book on the 50D for my wife and she loves it…Thanks.

    Will you be doing one for the 7D?

    David W

    • http://www.revellphotography.com jeff

      David,
      I’m really happy that your wife loves her book so much. As for the 7D, I’m not writing the book for it but there will be a Snapshots to Great Shots book for your camera. It’s being written by Nicole Young, a great photographer out of Utah. It’s not out yet but it is available for pre-order over at Amazon.

  • Patricia

    Hi,

    I’ve just purchased a Nikon D90 and saw your book “Snapshots to Great Shots” for the d90 on Amazon, but they do not have any. I have tried a number of places and they are all the same. Where can I get one in the UK? If I am not able to get one, would the copy for the d5000 be any use to me? Thank You.

    Patricia.

    • http://www.revellphotography.com jeff

      Hi Patricia,
      Unfortunately that book was scrapped by the publisher for a different project. The D5000 book should be helpful, especially if you are new to DSLR photography. Many of the menu screens and functions are exactly the same. If you combine it with your owners manual you should get a lot of use out of it. If, however, you are looking for a book to explain every detail about every knob, button, and menu item then you might want to look into a specific book on the D90. Happy Shooting. :-)

  • Betsy Spath

    I have just ordered your book for the T2i Canon. Can’t wait!

  • Raf

    Hi there Jeff… I just got your book of the D5000! It`s just great!! thanks for sharing all your wisdom into pages!!

    Now… do you thing you could make an article about the Micro Nikkor 105m AF-S VR lens?

    Again, Thanks!!

  • Dianne Tavora

    Hi Jeff,

    I purchased my cannon 50D and your book together a few months ago. Your book has been a fantastic help and I wouldn’t be enjoying my camera as much as I am with out the help of your book.
    Just a quick question – tripods are heavy and difficult to add to your luggage when flying. Is there lighter and not so bulky model to help in this situation?

    Many thanks,
    Dianne

    • http://www.revellphotography.com jeff

      Thanks for the kind words on the book Dianne. As for the tripod, it’s one of those things that you will probably have to compromise on when it comes to travel. I have a small Gitzo carbon fiber that fits neatly in my checked luggage (I usually remove the tripod head first to make it even shorter). The problem with this tripod is that it is short and I’m very tall, which means that I don’t have a lot of functionality when it comes time to use it. If you fo the taller tripod route, you should stick with carbon fiber to keep the weight down and get a good tripod bag so you can carry it on as checked luggage and not have to worry about the legs opening up. Finding the right tripod is a lot like finding the right camera bag, sometimes you need more than one to fit the situation.

  • Bruce White

    Hello Jeff,

    Have you, or do you have any plans for publishing a Snapshot book for the Pentax k-r?

    Ciao,

    Bruce
    Western Australia

  • Matt Britton

    Hi jeff,

    I owned your book for the D5000 some time ago when I brought my forst dSLR. Without trying to blow your trumpet too much, it was fantastic.

    I’ve only just discovered your site after trying to see if you wrote a book for my newly purchased D300s. Obviously I’m quite gutted you never. I gave the Digital Field Guide a try, but it just didn’t cut it for me. Was there any reason behind you skipping this model? Is there any other books you’d recommend for this model as far as menu settings are concerned. The camera is a massive step up from the entry level models and the features can be a tad over whelming.

    Loving your site, I will be keeping my eye on it now I’ve found it.

    Thanks from the UK

    Matt

  • Steve Jackson

    Hi Jeff,

    I have your books on Canon 50D and Exposure. Both great reads, thanks for writing them!
    I am an amature photographer that is working to become a pro and I am in the process of saving up to get a good lens.
    I was wondering if you had a recommendation on a great lens to get for sports photography at baseball and football games.
    Any help would be appreciated!
    Thanks,

    Steve

    • http://www.revellphotography.com jeff

      Hi Steve,
      The fact that you have a 50D will help you a little in the sports world and hinder you a little as well. The hinderance is that you won’t be able to get the frame rates or high ISO speeds that you might get with a more professional camera. However, because your camera uses an APSC sized sensor, you can actually get a lot of utility from a lens due to the crop factor. Most serious sports photographers are shooting with a 400-600mm lens with very large apertures obn full frame cameras. These are extremely expensive pieces of glasses, which are usually priced north of the $10,000 range. because your camera has a 1.5X crop factor, you can get the same filed of view with a shorter focal length. Simply put, a 200mm lens on your camera is equal to a 300mm on a full frame camera. A 300mm on your camera would be like using a 450mm on a full frame. The big thing you want to consider for your shooting is aperture. Due to the poor lighting in a lot of sports arenas, you really want to use a lens with a large aperture like f/2.8. This will give you maximum light gathering as well as a very shallow depth of field, which is great for isolating a subject on the playing field. If I were you I would start off looking at a 70-200mm f/2.8. This isn’t the cheapest lens but it’s certainly going to cost you about half of what a 300mm f/2.8 would. The 300 would be my next lens of choice. The other great advantage you would have in using a lens like the 70-200 is that it is more mobile and wouldn’t necessarily require the use of a monopod. This means you would have more freedom to move around and get the best angle from the sidelines.

      I hope that helps.