Recently in photography Category

A little over a week ago, Amazon told me that I would not be receiving my Canon 5D Mark II until after Christmas. Perhaps I should have been more patient, because I would have received it today had I not cancelled my order this past Monday and purchased a Nikon D90 instead.

I was getting a little antsy about the Nikon D90. I ordered a slew of lenses and accessories for it but even after all the accessories I ordered (days after I ordered the camera) had arrived or had been shipped, the status of the camera itself was still unknown.

UPS had a lens delivery for me yesterday, but I didn't go home to sign for it since I didn't have my camera yet. When I called UPS to hold my package for pick-up, I thought it was odd that there were 2 packages in my lens shipment. The lens is not supposed to be that big.

The second box actually contained my camera! It turned out that Amazon forgot to mark my camera as shipped... either that, or UPS is in possession of a time machine, because my order history shows the following:

Shipment Date: December 4, 2008
Delivery Date: December 3, 2008

I went to pick up my camera and lens from UPS at lunch today. I haven't opened the box yet, but I'm pretty excited about having it in my possession before the weekend.

Do I regret not getting the Canon 5D Mark II? I don't know. I don't have one and I've never had a DSLR before so I have nothing to compare it to. But I've spent less on the Nikon D90, 3 lenses, 4 snazzy filters, a fancy flash and a bunch of other accessories combined than the price of the 5D Mark II body alone. I'm pretty sure I will be just as satisfied with my little D90 because it's not the camera that makes the photographer.

Addendum @ 11:24 PM: Okay, I'm actually glad I cancelled my 5DII order. It turns out that Amazon messed up big time. No one who ordered the body only got theirs yet, and everyone who ordered the kit with lens got the body only. :-( Funny that Amazon thought the "body only" boxes had lenses in them even though the boxes are clearly labelled, "lens not included" and they didn't believe there was a "body only" version even though they are selling them on their web site.

Dear Canon USA,

I recently purchased the PowerShot SD990 IS and PSC-55 Deluxe Leather Case. These 2 items are listed as compatible on your web site, as well as on Amazon.com where I purchased both of these items.

However, when both items arrived, I found that while the camera would fit into the case with some significant effort, there is no way that the magnetic enclosure would snap shut because the camera is too big for the case. Therefore, I do not consider the PSC-55 to be a compatible accessory for the PowerShot SD990 IS.

I request that you remove the PSC-55 as a compatible accessory for the PowerShot SD990 IS on your web site in order to avoid confusing future customers. In addition, I would like to know if you will be releasing a proper leather case for the PowerShot SD990 IS.

Thank you.

Up until last night I was set on buying a Nikon D700. Now I am not so sure.

While the Canon EOS 5D Mark II has more advantages over the Nikon D700, it also has more disadvantages. There are other unlisted differences between the 2 models, but I don't consider those to be important to me.

I've already pre-ordered the Canon EOS 5D Mark II while I am still thinking about it since I can get my money back at any time should I decide otherwise.

Which would you choose?

* I am also in the market for an HD camcorder

OMG, this is so cool. Moo is a service that will take up to 100 photos from your flickr account and print half-sized business cards with a different photo on the back of each card. The cards are printed on a heavy card stock and have a satin laminate finish. Flickr Pro account holders can get a sample of 10 cards printed for free. I am going to order some tonight!

I fixed my brother's digital camera and saved myself $160. That's how much it cost me to get the camera repaired at an authorized service centre the last time the same component broke. See? That computer engineering degree isn't going to waste!

For the record, if you're young and active, don't buy a Samsung digital camera. They are pretty affordable compared to other cameras with the same features, but they are far too fragile. They are also quite slow, and not suited for spontaneous photography. The image quality is fine, but if you don't keep your camera constantly on, you'll miss a lot of special moments. Leaving the camera on isn't a good idea, either. My brother's Samsung Digimax V4 eats batteries so fast that he has to bring at least 3 extra sets of batteries to last an entire day.

Ironically, all of its shortcomings make it an ideal digital camera for my aging parents. They're a little more laid-back and will only snap a photo or two after much deliberation (as a result of years of film camera usage) so speed is of no importance to them. In fact, speed often confuses them, and they'll take another picture if they don't think it worked the first time around. They handle all electronic gadgets with utmost care because they have the notion that small things break easily. (In this case, they are right!) Its set of fully manual features makes my once-amateur photographer dad very happy... and for such a low price, any frugal Chinese parent would be pleased!