PhotoWalkPro

I picked up a great little tip for the Nikon D3 this week.  The camera is full of so many great features that it’s easy to overlook some of them.  One that I haven’t used is the Auto ISO feature.  Auto ISO will regulate the ISO of your camera to allow you to maintain certain settings without having to constantly adjust your camera.  Say you are shooting a soccer game where you want to maintain a fast shutter speed like 1/250 of a second at f/8 but the lighting on the field is varying due to shadows or clouds.  By setting the Auto ISO feature you can set the minimum shutter speed and the ISO will regulate to compensate for the changing lighting conditions.  You can also set the ceiling for the ISO so it won’t rise above a certain ISO, like 1600, to keep you noise levels low.  Now when you shoot, just set your shutter and aperature and start cranking off the exposures.  It’s just way too slick!  If you have a D3, give it a test run and see just how handy this feature is.  Don’t you just love those crafty camera engineers?  Thanks Lindsey for this great tip.

Yesterday’s list of lenses was enough to make even the strongest bank account cry.  Quality lenses, new out of the box, can set you back more than you just paid for your camera.  So here are a couple of things to consider.

When buying a lens, think of it as a long term investment.  I have been shooting Nikon for the better part of two decades and the lenses I used 20 years ago still work on the newest of Nikon bodies.  That’s actually true of Nikon lenses that are 30 and 40 years old (there is some loss of functionality but they will still work).  Even Canon has stayed with their lens mount ever since they made the jump to the EOS system back in 1989, almost twenty years ago.  So you can see that when you buy a lens, it will probably outlast your camera body by many years, especially since new camera bodies come out almost every 18 months.  The one thing to consider along with the mount is the commitment you will make to the brand of camera you buy.  If you have invested in 4 or 5 lenses, you probably aren’t going to make the jump from, say, Canon to Pentax because you would have to start buying lenses all over again.

But here is something else to consider, nothing says that you have to buy a new lens.  There are those out there that do want to jump ship or move up to a new lens and the easiest way to do that is to sell their old gear.  When Nikon came out with the D3, there were quite a few heavy Canon shooters that actually dumped their gear so they could make the move to the high ISO benefits of the D3.  They didn’t just stick that old gear in the closet, they sold it.  So why not take advantage of their change of heart by adding to your lens collection.  Here is an example of a good bargain I found on eBay as compared to the brand new counterpart.

Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR    New – $1789, Used on eBay – $1395

If you can live without the VR, you can pick up the slightly older 80-200mm f/2.8 for around $500 on eBay.  Not a bad way to go, especially if you plan on shooting with a tripod where the VR wouldn’t even come into play.

If buying items on eBay makes you a little nervous, you might consider going the consignment route.  Wildlife photographer, Laurie Excell, runs a consignment business called EquipmentLady.com.  Laurie helps photographers sell their gear through her site and is a much safer bet than an unknown entity on eBay (she does sell through an eBay store but you know who you are dealing with up front).  Check this out, right now on her site, she is listing a Canon 5D that is currently going for $1600 and if you are a Nikon shooter that has always dreamed of owning that really long 600mm lens, then today is your lucky day.  Right now there is a 600mm f/5.6 lens for sale in her store for the incredibly low price of $811.  Ok, these are auctions but considering you can’t even buy this lens new anymore so you would have to settle for the $9000 600mm f/4, anything under $4000 is a real bargain.  There are also local camera stores that sell equipment on consignment so make sure you check around for a local option.

Finally, if you really have your heart set on peeling away the plastic on a brand new lens, consider going with one of the third-part lens manufacturers.  Companies like Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina have been making some quality lenses for years and have dedicated legions of fans using their stuff.  To use my previous comparison of the new Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 at $1789, a comparable lens from Sigma, the 70-200mm f/2.8, sells for $750 (this lens is discontinued but there are still new ones to be had).  Not a bad deal for a really nice lens.

So the bottom line is this, photography is expensive, but it doesn’t have to break your bank.  Do some research and shop the alternatives and chances are that you will find there are bargains to be had without compromising quality.  Do your research before you buy and remember that you’ll probably own your lenses longer than your next car.

* Finally, a few words to the wise -

When shopping on eBay, always opt for paying with your credit card so that you are covered by their built-in protections against fraud.  Also, buying “used” generally means that you don’t get a warranty.  It’s the price you pay for paying half the price.  Also, if you buy a “new” lens from an eBay retailer, ensure that you are getting a new lens covered by a warranty that is applicable for where you live.  eBay can be a dumping ground for Grey Market so email the seller, get their confirmation that it has the proper warranty, and then pay with your credit card so you can dispute the purchase if necessary. Caveat Emptor!

 If you are looking for in-depth coverage of PMA that includes every new camera, lens, and accessory to hit the photo market, boy are you in the wrong place.  There is no way I could ever cover all of the photo goodness that can be found here.  That being said, I do have a few items that caught my eye as I wandered up and down the aisles.  My first stop was supposed to be at Nikon to set up an appointment later in the day but I got side tracked at the Sigma booth by a huge behemoth of a lens.  The APO 200-500mm f/2.8 is just plain BIG and with the 2X adapter, offers a 400mm at f/2.8 through a 1000mm at f/5.6.

The Casio booth was chock full of point-n-shoots and video cameras and such but I wanted to get a peek at their new EX-F1 camera which sports a 12x optical zoom but more importantly it has the abillity to capture images at 60 frames per second at full frame and 300 frames per second at VGA resolution.  So here’s the kicker, if you are really worried about your resolution, you can crank out 1200 frames per second.  All this for $999.99.

Pentax was very busy with the release of their newK20 and K200 cameras.  Everyone working the booth was wearing shirts sporting a big 14.6 on it which is representative of the 14.6 MP K20.  I haven’t had a hands-on yet but I am glad to see Pentax putting up the good fight.  It’s more of a sentimental thing with me, having done some of my earliest shooting on with a K1000.  I was also interested to see the new Samsung GX20.  I was kind of surprised to see Samsung come out with a dSLR and I was curious to see what lens mount they were using.  Their display case was full of Pentax lenses so that answered that.  Then I noticed something that caught my eye, the Samsung camera was also a 14.6 MP camera.  Hmmm, G20, K20, 14.6 MP, and Pentax lenses.  So is the Samsung camera really the K20 dressed in Samsung clothing?  I’ll have to look into this later but I would guess yes.

So what other nifty things did I find on my first day?  There was a 48GB 233X CF card from a company called Pretec, a nifty sensor cleaning tool called the FireFly that ionizes the aair being blown through it to remove the static charge from the sensor and allows the dust to be blown away, the new 5550 backpack camera pack from Tamrac which is a larger version of the Adventure 9 pack that I carry everywhere I go, and the new Epson Stylus Photo R1900 printer that uses the new UltraChrome Hi-Gloss 2 pigment inks.  When I walked by the printer was cranking out a long pano on 13″ wide canvas from a roll, very cool.

And if you are in to LCD photo frames, have I got one for you.  I found a monster of a frame that would look great above the fireplace, that is if you have room for a 34″ display, and the images looked fantastic.

I also bumped into my buddy Vincent Versace who dropped 7 new training DVD’s on me that he has produced through his new company, ACME Educational.  Versions of some of the classes are coming to Kelby Training but the DVD’s are high-res with sample files.  The classes include Beyond Skin: Going Deeper with Photoshop by Lee Varis, author of the best selling book, Skin (which is all about retouching skin), Believing is Seeing: The Anatomy of A Digital Still Photograph by Vincent Versace, and two by John Paul Caponigro.  One entitled Atmospheric FX and the other, Drawing With Light, 21st Century Dodging & Burning.  I will be watching them in the next couple of weeks and will post reviews when I do.

I finished the day by sitting down at the Nikon booth to watching the amazing Dave Black.  Dave is a phenomenal sports photographer who’s iconic images have graced many a sports magazine cover, including Sports Illustrated.  If you like sports, the chances are you have seen Dave’s images.  Dave is not only a great photographer but also a great instructor.  Over at his website, he has two sections to share his knowledge about how to get the shot. Once a month, Dave puts up a new instructional article in his “Workshop at the Ranch” section. In his “On the Road” section, Dave gives a blow by blow description of his recent shoots and how he got his images, right down to his camera settings.  If you want to get inspired and learn from a master, you have to check out his site.  There’s a reason Nikon had Dave shoot the promotional shots for the D3.

Finally, after much to much walking, I sat down to some great brats and beers at the Haufbrau House with some buddies.  A nice finish to a busy day.

I am back at it again today and will be bringing more to you tomorrow.  Until then, have a great day.

I am off on the 8:00 AM flight for Vegas and that once Utopia-like and now luke warm event known as PMA.  I saw the Nikon watchdogs come alive today with the press release of the new D60 camera.  I can’t say that I am overly excited about this new release.  I was really hoping for a musclebound version of the D3, a new Racer X to covet. But alas, I am left with just the consumer fodder to ponder.  In all seriousness, I am looking forward to seeing one of the new lenses that was also announced today, the wide angle PC-E Nikkor 24mm tilt/shift lens.  Nikon hasn’t produced a new shift lens in quite some time and if you haven’t used one, you need to experience it just once.  The perspective control is nothing like you are used to (basically because you haven’t had any control except to fix it in Photoshop).  For old farts like myself that used to do a lot of field work with a 4×5 view camera, the tilt and shift were half the reason you lugged that big accordion around.  Granted, this lens won’t come near the control of a view camera but it does do great things for architectural and landscape work.  So this one is already on my must see list.  And for a retail price of only $1929, I am sure these babies are going to just fly off the shelf (translation, only those that really need this lens are going to buy this lens).  I haven’t really had a chance to check out the other lens offerings except to note that there is a new 60mm micro that also might bare some checking in to.  I will let you know what I find.  Speaking of which, I am trying to get my email posting to work so I can post directly from the show via my Crackberry.  I don’t know if this will work out so if not, I will try and take notes and post at the end of the day.

So make sure you check back often, Same Bat time, Same Bat channel.

What I really liked most about this show is that it was all about the photographer.  It is smaller than PMA and PhotoPlus but it had a nice feel to it.  It wasn’t about selling to the suits where the back meeting rooms are more important than what is on the show floor.  This is a show put on by photographers, for photographers and it shows.  Having said that, most of the exhibitors at the show were not showing anything that was brand new.  There were no unveilings going on.  Most of those are going to happen at PMA or, in the case of Sony, Casio, and Samsung, at CES.  So here are just a couple of things that caught my eye:

Epson Exhibition Fiber Paper – This stuff is just amazing.  I had certainly seen the press releases and heard others talk about it but this was my first chance to actually see it and touch it in person. Let me tell you, the buzz is definitely worthy of this great product.  I’m definitely going to buy some for my own stuff.  The only downfall for me is that there is no custom profiles for my older model 2200 printer.   As for the printers, the R1800 and R2400 printers are both great but for me, it is still the 3800 that still makes me giddy.  This thing just rocks, and it isn’t much larger than my 2200.

Nikon –  Nikon was of course showing off their newest DSLR cameras, the D3 and D300.  I won’t go into great detail on these because there are quite a few great reviews floating around the web.  What I will say is that these two cameras are amazing and make me feel like my D2Xs is a lesser camera (I never thought I would think that).  Along with the new bodies, Nikon was showcasing their new lenses.  The 14-24 and the 24-70.  Both lenses are f2.8 and are some of the smoothest focusing and sharpest lenses turned out by Nikon in some time.  They also had the new big boy lenses, the 400, 500, and 600, up for display.  Very sweet!

Canon of course also had their newbies out for display.  The 1DS Mark III which, although I am not a Canon guy, is a very impressive rig.  There is also the 40D which I have had a little time playing with and is a great option for the prosumer.  The Canon G9 is also making some noise as one of the best point-n-shoots that is definitely professional grade.  A very nice camera indeed.

Wacom – I had a chance to stop buy and see the new Cintiq 12WX.  I don’t even know how to describe this other that WOW!  It takes the pen tablet to a whole new level.  You don’t have to give up your monitor either.  It splits the video signal so that you can see it on the Cintiq as well as your monitor.  Wacom has definitely hit one out of the park with this one. 

Lumedyne - was showing off their new shoot-thru ring flash.  This is one of those hot portrait lighting techniques that will be made much easier with this new flash system. 

Hoodman – From the people that brought you the camera ldc loupe, Hoodman was showing off a new UDMA Firewire card reader.  It doesn’t sound like much but if you are going to be using ultra-fast UDMA memory cards, you are going to want a reader that will take advantage of that speed when downloading. 

Gallery Wrap Prints – This seems to be the big rage for large format printing.  I saw at least a dozen vendors that were offering this type or large format printing option on canvas and I have to say that it is pretty cool.  If you are offering your customers large format canvas, you will really want to look into this. 

Tons of Book Binders – I spent some time talking to renowned wedding photographer and all around great guy David Ziser at the show and we both agreed that the album/book market is exploding.  Wedding photographers are getting away from those traditional albums and moving towards the printed books that were made popular by Apples iPhoto.  There are now so many options for delivering your images that it almost makes me want to get back into the wedding business (I said almost). 

Kelby Training – The folks over at Kelby Training set up their first booth for the promotion of their new online training subscriptions and it was a great success.  That was due largely in part to having all those great Photoshop instructors on-hand to give a taste of what would be received with a subscription to the new service.  The entire Photoshop User TV crew was there (Scott, Dave, and Matt) as well as RC and Corey from Layers TV.  If you haven’t had a chance to check out the new training sessions, you should do yourself a favor and get on over to KelbyTraining.com.  It’s like going to Photoshop World without having to find a hotel room.

On a personal note, I was very psyched to visit the Kelby Training headquarters as well as the set for Photoshop User TV.  Yes, I got a peek behind the curtain to see how all the magic was made.  It was definitely a blast and was also nice to put some faces to the NAPP and Kelby Training folks that I have talked to on the phone but never previously met.

That’s all from sunny Tampa and the imagingUSA Expo.  I’m back on a plane home later today and back to work tomorrow.  See you then.