November, 2008 Blog Archive

Once again The Camera Store had the Stamp’s photographer for a day contest. The winners of the contest have the opportunity to utilize Canon’s professional equipment to capture the action on the sidelines of a Calgary Stampeder’s football game.

One of our winners was Geneline Peplinski from Calgary. She shot the following photographs using, the Canon 1D Mark III body, the Canon 70-200mm F2.8 IS lens, the Canon 300mm F2.8 lens and a Canon 40D body.

After many great years Hasselblad informs us that they have only a limited number of  V System lenses left.  The lenses below may be the last V System lenses that will be supplied.
 
The lenses we have available are: Planar CFI 80, Lens Distagon CFE 4/40 MM IF, Lens Distagon CFI 4/50 MM, Lens Sonnar CFI 4/150 MM, Lens Planar CFI 3,5/100MM, Lens Distagon CFI 3.5/60.

If you wish to order any of the above lenses, please inform us as quickly as possible.

Please The Camera Store at (403)234-9935 for up to date pricing.
 

CPAWS-Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Calgary/Banff chapter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of Alberta’s natural ecosystems envisaging a healthy ecosphere where people experience and respect nature.

CPAWS is holding a photo contest called Capture the Wild, the contest is designed to raise awareness and funds in support of Alberta’s wilderness.

Visit www.cpawscalgary.org/events/capture_wild.php for more contest details.

INSTANT REBATES ON CANON LENES AND ACCESSORIES AVAILABLE BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1ST - DECEMBER 31ST 2008

See Canon Rebate PDF for complete details.
 

Christmas is closer than you think. The Camera Store has lots of great deals to help you stay within your budget. Our manufactures have rebates available  to save you money. Nikon is offering instant rebates that could save you up to $150. See below for complete list of instant savings:

 $150 off the D700 
$100 off the D300                          
$50 off the D60/18-55mm VR Kit   
$30 off the D40/18-55 Kit    

Congratulations Garry Drake Won the 2008 Digital Photo Expo Early Bird Ticket Prize.  Evelyn Hein awarded Garry with a Mac Book Air Laptop. The 2008 Digital Photo Expo was held at the Telus Convention Centre over the weekend of October 4th and 5th, it was an overwhelming success with over 9000 people in attendance. More than 50 speakers held workshops and seminars on various photographic topics. Our distributors showcased state of the art technology and shared concepts and advice on how to make the most out of the digital world. Since we had such a success with the 2008 Digital Photo Expo, we are already planing a bigger and better 2009 Digital Photo Expo. 

Drop off non-parashable food bank items at The Camera Store before December 1st. On November 18th, if you drop off your food bank items at Bumpy's Cafe you will receive a complimentary 12oz Fresh Brew coffee.

You can also dontate online at www.calgaryfoodbank.com/beansforbeans/

Bumpy's is locatated at:
1040 8th Street SW
Calgary, AB

It’s once again time for the very popular Alberta College of Art + Design Winter Show + Sale. The public is invited to the College’s Main Hall on November 20th to take advantage of the opportunity to purchase artwork by student artists. Hundreds of pieces from all departments of ACAD, including glass work, painting, jewelry, printmaking, sculpture and more will be up for sale. Doors are open at 3:00 on Thursday afternoon, and ACAD is expecting this year to be one of our busiest yet.

All of the work for sale is by ACAD’s very talented students, and money raised goes directly back to student artists to support them through their academic career. 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of the Winter Show + Sale, which is one of the most exciting and anticipated events of the year at ACAD.

The Winter Show + Sale runs for three days:

Thursday, November 20—3 to 9 pm

Friday, November 21—12 to 9 pm

Saturday, November 22—11 to 5 pm

Visa, MasterCard, Debit and Cash are accepted.

Don’t miss this opportunity to come out and support the work of emerging artists while acquiring great art at great prices.

ACAD is a leading centre for education and research, and a catalyst for creative inquiry and cultural development. We engage the world and create possibilities.

Camera supports come in many sizes and shapes for all occasions. There are monopods (one leg), tripods (three legs), sand bags, car window clamps, and chest brackets. I’m sure I must have missed out a few contraptions that have been developed to stabilize the camera while taking photographs.

Let’s go over your options.When you’re taking photographs in low light levels and you have to hand hold your camera at slow shutter speeds, quite often you can’t hold the camera completely still during the long exposure, even with the latest image stabilization offered in lenses and/or cameras. The resulting image tends to be slightly blurred. A solid tripod  is the very best in image stabilization  offered today.

Monopods basically are single legs that are adjustable for height. It has a screw at the top that attaches to the bottom of the camera. Obviously it won’t stand up by itself. The principle use of the monopod is to support the weight of the camera  while you hold and position the camera. The advantage of the monopod is it’s very portable. It is available in aluminum, steel or a carbon fiber material which is lighter but more expensive. Adjustable heads are available for the monopod to allow you to tilt the camera while still keeping the monopod vertical for maximum support.
Tripods come in many sizes, materials and qualities. It is very important to select the right tripod since it is very common that you might leave the camera sitting on the tripod without you nearby to catch it  should it’s legs weaken and fall over. 

Points to check when shopping for a reliable tripod:
Extend the tripod to it’s maximum height. A good tripod should extend  at least 5 feet before you raise the center column. How wide are the bottom leg sections? If they are the width of Chinese chopsticks, they won’t offer much support and vibrate in any wind conditions. If the tripod doesn’t feel solid when you push down from the top where the camera would sit, don’t buy it.
Do you have to flip a lever or turn a collar to release the leg sections? Collars work but do get tighter as weather conditions get colder. It’s much easier to release the legs in any temperature by flipping a lever. Make sure that the levers are solid metal and not plastic which could snap off over time and are usually not replaceable.
 

Some tripods come with adjustable heads which is where you would attach the camera. The best of this type allow you to tilt the camera front to back and ninety degrees to the side in case you want to shoot a vertical composition instead of a horizontal. If the head only rotates and tilts front to back, it’s a video camera head. Make sure the head is made of metal too, not plastic parts. The hand crank to raise and lower the camera that you find on some inexpensive tripods are totally useless and irritating. It just becomes something else that you want to attack with a hammer. If you had a camera heavy enough to need a crank to raise or lower it, you wouldn’t be using that cheap tripod, would you?

The majority of the better tripods are made of aluminum. They are light but strong. Manfrotto, Gitzo and Velbon are three very good brands to look for. These tripods come in both aluminum and carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is a much stronger, lighter and more expensive alternative to the aluminum models. With the airlines all being very strict with maximum luggage weights, the carbon fiber versions travel better. If you’re going on any backpacking adventures and want to take a tripod with you, again the carbon fiber wins. The three brands I mentioned above all offer a warranty and long term support. If a part is damaged, they have replacement parts.

As I said, tripods that include heads are usually inferior to those where you select the appropriate head for the type of photography and equipment you are using. Manfrotto, Gitzo and Velbon all have tripods with the ability to attach your  head of choice.  Heads come in a variety of sizes and styles depending on what type of equipment you plan on supporting.  Some are ball heads which basically adjust to any angle by rotating around a metal ball. When the angle is right, you tighten up the knob to stop the movement. If you are planning to use the head for panoramas as well, make sure the head has two controls, one strictly for rotation only. Otherwise the ball head will not keep a consistent horizon line. Some ball heads are fine; many are too weak to hold the equipment firmly in place. The specification sheet that comes with the heads usually give a maximum weight it will safely support. If the ball slowly slips, it is possible to have the equipment on top to shift far enough to topple the whole tripod and fall over. Not good!  The other type of head gives you separate adjustment levers for each of three planes. There is less problems with these although not as compact as ball heads.

Finally, check the bottom of the legs. Some have spikes to grip in soft ground. Some have rubber tips to be used on hard floors. The best ones have spikes with rubber collars so that you can use them in both surfaces. Just a small point but you don’t want to be scratching hardwood floors with your tripod.

Smaller alternatives to tripods are sandbags and GorillaPods.  The “Pods” come in several sizes and are extremely light and effective. While they are only miniature tripod supports, they are very effective if you need to position your camera on a table or any uneven surface. What makes them unique are their legs which can wrap around a tree branch or fence post and hold on with the camera attached. Not expensive and great for traveling.   

A good tripod makes a great gift. A good tripod will last a  lifetime. It’s worth it’s weight in gold if it allows you to capture that once-in-a-lifetime shot that you couldn’t have captured hand-holding the camera.


Peter Gold MPA
The Camera Store
pgold@thecamerastore.com