If you’re shopping for a camera, lens, camcorder or other photo gear, I recommend these vendors:

B&H Photo

B&H has almost everything in stock. Their web site is well organized and an excellent source of technical information. Some products also have informative customer reviews. Prices are good and returns are no problem within the return period. B&H ships very promptly and shipping charges are reasonable, at least within the USA. In the NYC area, even the cheapest UPS Ground shipping option results in very speedy delivery. 

Adorama

Another reliable vendor with good prices (sometimes a little better than B&H’s).  Their web site is very comprehensive and easily searchable.  Almost everything is in stock. Shipping is speedy and reasonably priced.

Amazon.com

Amazon too has almost everything in stock. Their web site is excellent and the numerous customer reviews provide helpful “real world” feedback about products. Prices are almost always competitive. Shipping usually takes a little longer unless you pay extra for the fast shipping option. Returns are no problem within the return period. My only peeve with Amazon is that they don’t make it easy to find their customer service phone number. For the USA and Canada, Amazon’s customer service phone number is 800-201-7575, and from outside the USA and Canada it’s 206-346-2992 or 206-266-2992.

If you’re in northern New Jersey and want to speak with a knowledgeable salesperson, I recommend that you go in person to Bergen County Camera in Westwood, New Jersey.

Some online vendors advertise extremely low prices, but have a terrible reputation for not delivering products at the low prices they advertise. If you see a great price online, be sure to check out the vendor at Resellerratings.com. The vendors with the lowest prices often have near-zero ratings (on a scale from 0 to 10), with dozens of “Very Dissatisfied” customer reviews on Resellerratings.com.

I am an affiliate of B&H Photo, Adorama and Amazon, so if you make a purchase after clicking through their links above, I’ll earn a small commission. Thank you!

Sometimes photos just ask to be in black and white.  A few examples from a recent wedding:

Wedding photography at The Garrison in Garrison, New York.

M8, 35mm f/2.5 lens (probably at 2.8), 1/500 second, ISO 320

In theory, the Leica M8 should suit my style well: a discrete, high quality camera with rangefinder viewing to see the exact moment of exposure and to see outside of the frame. So I’ve kept track of developments in the digital rangefinder world. (My previous experience with rangefinders is limited to a large Fuji 670 medium format camera which I used occasionally for a number of years.)

I eagerly borrowed an M8 under Leica’s “test drive” program. I played with it over the course of two days and have summarized my notes about the camera and what I might look for in a future digital rangefinder:

1. Image quality: generally excellent.  The 35mm and 75mm Summarit lenses (included in the test drive) offer superb sharpness and bokeh. My quick and subjective pixel-peeping suggests that, at lower ISO’s, the M8 offers resolution comparable to the excellent Canon 5D (with Canon’s best prime lenses).

2. High ISO: adequate but not thrilling.

3. Ergonomics:  the smallness of the camera and lenses is delightful.  This is a big selling point, in my opinion. The body is attractive, but could be more ergonomic. Its shape seems to be firmly rooted in the film era; the body almost says “there’s film in here”. Removing the baseplate is a nuisance. It’s fine for leisure photography, but would be annoying in a fast-moving work environment. The power switch was firm enough that it never accidentally switched off.

4. Exposure and metering:  exposure compensation via the menu is quick but not quick enough. Canon does this right. Exposure lock works well with a half press of the shutter button and has a helpful lock indicator in the viewfinder. Light metering is basic but good. 

5. Viewfinder: I wish it provided more information. I grew up using manual focus cameras with basic viewfinders. But modern cameras provide much more info, such as aperture, ISO and exposure compensation. It’s difficult to go back to having less. When metering manually, I would like to know how many stops away I am from the recommended exposure. Also, the viewfinder is not very friendly for eyeglasses. I can comfortably see the 35mm framelines (~50mm field of view), and I can just barely see the 28mm (~35mm field of view) framelines. Based on a brief comparison, the Zeiss Ikon viewfinder looks a little better.

6. Focusing: manual focus takes some getting used to, and is a serious challenge with moving subjects. The Zeiss Ikon, with its longer rangefinder baseline, is a little easier to focus. Being limited to center-point focusing can result in focusing errors when recomposing. When I consider how many photographs I make at a wedding, and how often I photograph moving subjects or off-center subjects using wider apertures, I truly appreciate good, fast autofocus on DSLRs.

7. Color and automatic white balance: usually very good (using the supplied UV/IR filters).

8. Raw files: nicely sharp. Photo Mechanic preferences have to be set to “Render RAW for preview if possible”; otherwise full-screen previews appear jaggy.

9. Shutter:  I’m used to DSLR sounds, so the M8’s shutter release and winding noises seemed quite acceptable. I didn’t do any fast shooting, so I’m not sure whether the frame rate or memory buffer would be a problem.

After a bit of practice, I made some very good photos with the little M8. The test drive helped me appreciate why some people love this camera and why there was a large, eager first wave of buyers. High quality in a small package is a big deal. I didn’t encounter any glitches. The main limitations are those already well-known to rangefinder users (no convenient way to shoot very close-up subjects or with longer telephotos).

I liked it a lot, but not enough to make the large investment right now. I’ll eagerly watch for future developments. I do hope that Leica will update some aspects of its design and perhaps introduce a lower cost model as an entry to its great lenses.  A digital Zeiss Ikon would be intriguing as well.

I arranged the test drive from the friendly and knowledgeable folks at Bergen County Camera in Westwood, NJ. They’ve been serving expert and novice Leicaphiles since 1980.

They were walking toward me, from a dimly lit area toward the windows.  The moment was truly unposed and brief, and the light was beautiful. 

Canon 5D, 85mm f/1.2 lens @ f/1.4, 1/1250 second, ISO 3200, available light. Wedding photography at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, New York, NY.

iWeb is Apple’s easy-to-use software for making quick, simple web sites, and it’s part of the inexpensive ($70) iLife software package. I’ve used it for the Group of 10 Wedding Photographers web site. Is there anything comparable for our friends who use Windows and don’t need professional-level design software like Dreamweaver? I’ve found these candidates in the under $100 price range:

Kompozer

CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer

Easy Web Editor

Google Page Creator

And there’s Microsoft Expression Web, about $150, which looks like a more advanced program.

Would anyone like to share their experience with the above, or recommend other simple web design software in the under $100 price range?

Excellent papers have been introduced in recent years by manufacturers such as Hahnemuhle, Harman, Epson, Crane, Ilford and others. My current favorite paper is Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta 325. I am using it for all of my portfolio prints and fine art prints. It has a sturdy feel and a richly textured surface. I prefer it over smooth papers. It works beautifully for both black-and-white and color photographs.

Fine Art Baryta is a relatively new paper from an old manufacturer.  Hahnemuhle has been in business since 1584!  Their papers are used by painters, graphic artists, illustrators, bookbinders and photographers.

Please click here to search for Hahnemuhle Fine Art Baryta paper via my B&H Photo affiliate link.

How do you keep up with the many interesting blogs out there? The best tool I’ve found so far is Google Reader. Previously I used separate newsreading software, but have found Google Reader to be more convenient. It works in your web browser and makes adding and keeping up with blogs quite easy.

Sean Reid has written an insightful article titled “Yes, It Matters“. It is one of the best articles I’ve seen about the photographer’s choice of tools. The article appears on The Luminous Landscape web site, which has been a valuable resource for information about photography since the 1990’s.

I live in Cresskill, NJ, a suburb about 9 miles from Manhattan, and don’t ordinarily have opportunities to photograph wildlife right on my street. This afternoon, however, a hawk appeared on a neighbor’s lawn and made lunch of an unfortunate squirrel!

Technical info: Canon 40D camera with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. Developed with Adobe Lightroom.