Photography

Families with digital cameras take thousands of pictures but banish most to a computer hard drive never to be seen again. They never make the connection that their home theaters are digital photo-ready. This despite the fact that gathering people on the couch for a slide show was second-nature a generation ago, especially after a vacation or during the holidays. With some advance planning, setting up and running a picture show is a lot less labor intensive than dragging a mechanical projector and retractable screen out of the closet each time you want to impress the neighbors.

Loading slides correctly was a hassle before the show turned digital.

Today, your big screen is already in place. And with that bright display, you don't even have to dim the lights. So why wait? Here are five ways to do it.

Soon after receiving a Nikon D90 to play around with I slipped off to shoot images along

the Delaware River. Nearby was a family of kayakers who had stopped for a breather and a bite of lunch. It wasn't long before 'Dad' moseyed up along side me for a closer look at what I was doing.

"I own a D300 and I thought that's what you are using… but that camera looks smaller and you're shooting video with that thing and my D300 doesn't do video… at least I don't think it does. Is that the new one I keep hearing about? If it is… I want one". I told him it was, and that he should, and he told me he was going to order one from B&H, which – don't ya' know - happens to be where he gets all of his camera gear. And yes… this really happened.

One of the cooler jobs at B&H belongs to the guy in charge of identifying and evaluating the rare and/or oddball items that come through the doors in the B&H Used Department. Due to a great measure of modesty and humility, this particular person prefers to remain anonymous, so let's just call him 'Steve'. The scary part is that 'Steve' can usually identify the oddest pieces in the lot at first sight. And don't be surprised if he points out the brass thing-a-ma-jiggies on the focusing rail aren't original. 'Steve' knows his stuff.

We continuously turn up rare and unique photographica here at B&H, and thanks to 'Steve', these gems can now be browsed through in the new 'Collectables' section of our website. To kick things off we assembled a cross section of notable photographic eclectica available in our Collectables section. Some of these items are original manufactured products, and some are hybrids, i.e. a Zeiss 16mm Hologon with a Leica M mount.

 
Linhof Technica III 5x7 Folding Rangefinder

 Aimed at professional photographers, Aperture is Apple's answer to a complete digital workflow. The software suite allows you to import, organize, edit, and output photographs. Although pros will still need to use Photoshop for heavy lifting, Aperture features integrated tools for level, color, and exposure adjustments. Any adjustments made in Aperture are completely nondestructive, preserving the integrity of your original digital images.

 Now that we've settled down following all the hubbub raised over the Canon EF 1200/5.6L we featured in our last newsletter, we agreed it would be a good idea to look at the options for those of you who simply can't justify - i.e. explain to your significant other - popping a hundred grand for a lens regardless of how cool it is.

One of the neat things about being the largest photo retailer on the planet is that along with the garden variety of used cameras and lenses, we also get a rather eclectic variety of collectables – not to mention truly oddball items - passing through our Used Department on a regular basis. And being the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, we have become the default, first-stop sniffing point for folks looking to trade in, trade up, or simply sell off that bag of camera gear Uncle Bob bequeathed you when he crossed the end zone.

If you're into bird watching, the holy grail would have to be the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, a huge (20" tall with a 30" wingspan), yet incredibly elusive woodpecker that despite reports of extinction, is spotted every now-and-then deep in the boonies of Florida and Arkansas. It's also known as the 'Lord G-d' woodpecker because that's what spotters have been known to blurt out - often accompanied by soiled trousers - when dive-bombed by one. 'Lord G-d' has also been exclaimed - minus the soiled trousers - by those seeing a Canon 1200/5.6L USM for the first time. At 36lbs, 33" long and 9" wide at the front element, calling this lens a 'tele' is like calling King Kong a monkey.