Spring is in the air but catching a photo hasn't happened for a while. I was making some holiday photos for a customer the other day and asked if they had just returned, and to my surprise they told me it was a year ago. It made me think that photos do get better with age and looking back can be enjoyable, and with people slow to print digital photos they have already seen on a screen photos can age a long time before printing. Here some photos from a year ago that have been printed and are in the family photo album. Bill P.S You may have noticed I like to take photos of water, I am a Pisces with my birthday on Saturday.

Lens Review: 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR DX Nikon Zoom
This past December I had the opportunity to go to Vancouver and photograph a “PANIC! At the Disco" concert. As me and my friend arrived there was already a huge line of anxious fans waiting for the doors to open. The show was huge and must have been nearly sold out. Here, in amongst the thousands of people was me, with my Nikon D-50 and an 18-200mm Nikkor zoom lens.
This was the first big concert I had ever photographed so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. And of course, lucky for me, the concert was really dark and full of weird and tricky lighting situations. Haha. So what to do? Take out my camera and start shooting.
From the edge of the stage (and my subjects less than a meter away) using the 18-200mm Nikkor zoom lens, I was able to get really sharp, clear, photographs of the performers. No flash was allowed for any of the shots, but even without flash the Vibration Reduction of the lens took over and made it easy to keep the camera stable enough for me to come out with hundreds of clean looking photos. The lens also didn’t affect the colour and the photos came out looking as bright and vivid as they were the night of the show. With a time limit of only three songs to capture all the pictures I needed, I was thankful for the lens’ very quick focus time.
Looking around the stadium there was so much to take in: everything from amateur photographers with small point and shoot cameras to those hired by “The Province” paper with an assortment of camera gear worth more than the show probably cost to put on and weighing more than some of the musicians. This leads me to the size and weight of the lens, which is also something I think any photographer there (or anywhere) would appreciate. After carrying around my camera (lens attached) the whole night, I was thankful that the Nikkor 18-200 was so light and compact, as opposed to some of the other high end, quite massive in size lenses that were being lugged around.
After leaving the edge of the stage, I returned to my seat (some 50 rows back from the stage and off to the side.) I decided to see what this lens (being made for zoom) was actually capable of. I used the large focal length of the lens to zoom in close to the musicians and snapped a few shots right from my seat.

Take a look for yourself:
From my seat, using full and partial zoom respectivly:


From my seat I could capture frames that easily compared to the shots I was getting from right at the bands feet. That’s impressive. Keeping the camera stable again was no problem, even from a far distance. I’d love to take this lens out in a few different scenarios. I see it being a great versatile lens for shooting a wide range of places and subjects.
Overall, the lens was enjoyable to work with, everything moved smoothly and its size made it something I think any photographer would consider for some of those “take only one lens days.”

No matter who you are, amateur photographer or pro alike: I think this is defiantly a lens worth adding to your collection.

By Desiree Mark

One more photo from the Pentax K10d. Getting to know stabilization is like learning to use auto focus, it takes time to develop trust in the system and to think of new possibilities. This photo is taken because I could use a slow enough shutter speed to show the snow falling but still hand hold the camera. Click on the photo to enlarge if you can't see the snow falling. Bill

For Nikon fans we will have another 18 to 200 VR on Tuesday. Please see earlier posts for info if you do not know of this lens.It is very hard to get, I always have them on back order this one has taken 3 months for me to receive and of course they sell very fast. Bill

More photos from Pentax K10d

More photos from Sunday. The one of the heron walking 1/60 sec iso 800 300 mm lens. The photo of him standing on one leg 1/350 sec iso 400 as it was getting brighter.

This week I plan on posting photos taken with the Pentax K10D. These are meant to show how well the stabilization system works in the Camera. We have a full page ad in this weeks Weekender magazine featuring Pentax Digital SLR's. The Pentax K10D is a very fun camera to use and I find I can take photos I thought not possible before.The first is a heron I spotted right in front of our house early Sunday before it was very light. The photo is hand held taken through the window at 1/8 of a second iso 800. Also the Christmas tree is gone. Bill

Christmas tree and duck

update for the Christmas Tree

Spring is coming fast and to make it more fun I put our Christmas tree out on the river to watch for break up. I think I heard someone say they do that in White Horse so why not in Grand Forks. So here are the photos to tell the story but it may not last long with today's rain. Bill

Just the time you don't have your camera ready you may find you need it. I thought I knew this but I wasn't ready for these playful river otters running and sliding down the ice. I did get this photo but the the ones I missed were them running and sliding right passed me. They were having so much fun I thought of joining in. Bill

Canon G7 is a very nice camera. We have them in stock again. The photo of the deer running was taken while panning, Jill my cat was taken by my daughter Ann. In our house if you leave a camera laying around some one will pick it up and use it. Bill P.S I will have more Pentax K10d's soon see the last post for photos.

Pentax K10d This weekend I was able to use one for a few photos. This camera makes taking very difficult photos fun and easy. The deer was about 200 meters away. The far shot is with a 70mm focal length the close with 300. To convert in your head to 35mm film this about a 105 to 450mm or about 9 times closer. This is because the sensor in the DSLR is smaller than 35mm film and has a normal focal length of 28mm. The cropped photo is to show the detail of the hand held photo taken at 1/90th of a second at iso 400. Bill

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this blog, and good wishes to the 105+ people with new cameras this season that I have helped put under the tree. The last month has been very busy with no time to update . There is lots of news and reviews to post so I'll try and catch up in the new year. For me this Christmas, the next shipment of Pentax K10ds have been shipped and will be here soon. Again Merry Christmas and good wishes for the new year. Bill and the people at Contact Photo Arts

A photo of my Mother, receiving her award of Freeman of the Municipality of Alert Bay from Mayor John Rowell. She is a regular viewer of my blog and enjoys her digital camera. Congratulations Mom, Bill

They are here Pentax K10D Link

For a while I have wanted to take this photo, with the river frozen and the stabilization in the Pentax K100D it was easy. This cameras review at DPreview has just been posted. Bill

Yes that is a Nikon D40 in my hands in the last post.It is very small, light and I think the quietest DSLR that I have used. I understand there are very few around. I am going to keep this one in the store for a demo and take orders, Nikon has said they may not be shipping more until the new year, so if you would like to hold one and order one this is the place to come. Bill There is a review coming this weekend from dcresource.com

New stock that is in the door or shipped, first in the door, Nikon D40 kit, Nikon 18 to 200 VR Pentax K100d two lens kit, Pentax 12 to 24 lens, Canon XTi kit. What has been shipped and may come today, Pentax K10D , Crumpler bags please see earlier post with link. Coming this weekend some snow photos as I haven't been out in the sun for awhile. Bill

Canon A530 is a very good camera at an entry level price. Here is a link to a review by Ken Rockwell. He is a pro who provides me with lots of info on new Nikon DSLRs and has loads of photo tips. We have this camera in stock. Bill

Canon G7 and A640 If you are someone with a DSLR who would like a full featured camera that has a big file size and fits in your pocket, you might want to read DPreviews review of the G7 and its comparison to the A640. dpreviews link

We have both in stock or in my pocket. Bill

Mini review: the new Pentax Optio T20.

What I liked:

• The shape - thin, light and rugged; a joy to always have in your pocket and to pull out for those moments when you would say "I really wish I had a camera!"
• The screen - vast, vivid and vivacious; simply the best three inch screen I have seen on any device, be it a laptop, a cell phone or a camera.
• The interface - fun, easy to use and an effervescencent joy to explore. What is really neat about this camera is the touchscreen display. You can draw, paint and crop right in the camera, it's a huge time saver!
  

What I didn't like:

• The sliding lens makes a lot of noise (minor)
• When being used for portraits the green AF assist light is rather blinding
• Low-light performance is not as good as it could be

The essence:
An incredible camera! I might just have to get one for myself.

dpreview has not posted a review yet, however the pre-review can be found here

Contact Photo Arts, home of all things super-chic, will be publishing a mini-review this Saturday. The featured are some of the latest, greatest, fashionable and most-exciting products we have ever seen, so be sure to keep an eye open to the blog for the most recent. Enjoy!
Note that this review will be brief but will capture the essence of the product in question, please see the link for a complete review.

Canon G7 This camera is very much talked about because of what it can do and maybe more importantly for some what it can't do. It is Canons newest camera and I have one to test. From what I have seen so far I think it is the best camera now available for the person who wants a quality camera with a view finder that will fit in your pocket. If you now or will have a DSLR and want a camera to carry with you all the time this may be the one. Bill The two photo are the wide and long end of the zoom.

Did I say something about a long weekend? This is new stock coming in the back door with Sandra and Tina very excited about what is in these boxes. Camera boxes are a little smaller.

Many new cameras, Canon A530, Canon A640, Canon SD800, Canon G7, Canon Rebel XTI Kit with 18 to 55, Pentax T20, and we now have more stock of Pentax W20. Also look for our Panasonic flyer coming soon. Testing and getting to know these cameras may take me awhile. We are closing both Sat. the 11th and Monday the 13th. We are looking forward to the time to prepare ourselves for the Christmas rush which began some time last week. Bill

If you have been reading my Blog you will know that I have said before "while washing the dishes and looking out the window", the view is one reason we don't have a dishwasher. Light for photos can also be very nice in November. I like the soft reflections and the morning light.
I used my daughter's Pentax S6 as it was handy. Jack the cat may have been hunting, not enjoying the view. Bill

You must be wondering what happened to me. We ran an add last weekend and have been very busy. Lots of phone calls and e-mails. I promised awhile back some photos from the Pentax 10 to 17mm fish eye lens, here they are. As you can see this is a lot of fun and with software to correct distortion it can be very usable. Enjoy, I hope you can see the one I have fixed a little. Bill

Out the window of our store this morning I spotted this tree and grabbed a camera, Pentax K100D, I have more stock today. Getting out the door I also saw this shot of our bank, who we owe a lot of credit to our success. Bill

Pentax 10 to 17 F3.5-4.5ED fish-eye lens new today. This lens is very special so here is a link to Pentax. I'll post a photo soon.

Nikon 18 to 200 VR I have stock but this is very interesting, if you have not read Ken Rockwell before here is a link Ken Rockell

Next shipment of photo banks coming this week. What is a photo bank? Its like a piggy bank, but instead of putting money in it you put your photos or digital files. I don't think files are photos untill you print them. There is a slot for your memory card and you down load to a very small battery operated hard drive. This can be very usefull while traveling as it can be hard to find a specialty photo store that can put your original files on a CD. Box and chain stores process and down grade your files and give you viewing software you don't need. Sometime this software wants to take you places you may not want to go. We have seen many examples of customers traveling with a 6 to 10 mg camera ending up with a CD of 4x6 print quality files that have been auto corrected by software. Here is a link to see a photo bank

Photos for Mom, for everyone else these are taken with Nikon D80 18 to 200 VR lens. This is a very nice set and I very much enjoyed testing it. Mom if you look close you can see our house from the hill, and there is smoke from the chimney in the shadow. Bill

New compact camera from Nikon today. The L5 is a 5x zoom 7.2 mg that comes with AA rechargeable batteries. This is one of Nikon's newest cameras and features VR, vibration reduction. I'm sure this will be a good seller, did I mention the 2 year Canadian warranty? Bill Nikon L5 Link

Nikon 18 to 200 VR. WE now have this lens in stock, so far this year they have been very hard to find. I enjoy this persons web site and all the helpfull info and he realy likes his Nikon 18 to 200 VR Ken Rockwell link http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm

Digital photo workshop tonight at the Grand Forks Library 7:00 PM. There is no charge but you do need to sign up at the library. For the Fall this will be held the first and third Tuesdays. The first Tuesday focused on beginners, the third intermediate. This is the third year and so far I have had fun helping people with their cameras and photography. With the interest in digital cameras photography has again become a fun hobby. Bill

Wide angle lenses are often forgotten with cameras offering longer telephoto lenses. 3x cameras are now seen as too limited and 6x,10x 12x are more popular. The 6x does not mean the camera brings the object 6 times closer but rather the lens changes its magnification 6x from its widest view to the most telephoto. In our need for bigger numbers wide angle often becomes forgotten until you can't backup enough to get what you would like in your photo. I also like what a wide view does to change the feel of a photo. We have a pro we print for shooting wedding photos with a wide view and looking at the photos one gets the feeling you are part of the wedding not viewing the photos.
So today I have new, the Raynox super wide conversion lens added to a Panasonic FZ7 known mostly for its very good 12x Leica lens. This is a photo of our store front shot at a distance of about 20 feet or 6 meters, with and without the conversion lens. The lens does cause distortion that I fixed with acdsee pro software. Here also is a link to Raynox Bill

Buying and selling cameras with cameras changing very fast can be very interesting. Today after reading this review, see link, I canceled my back ordered test camera. At the PMA show I held this camera and got a very good feel for it and would like to sell it. As you may know I really like Panasonic cameras for many reasons but also I find I need to take the time and choose the cameras I sell carefully. This review made me change my mind about this camera. Bill

dcresource link

While washing the dishes this morning I spotted this cold deer making its way across the river. Shake reduction in new cameras is a good thing. Pentax K100D 300mm APO sigma lens cropped photo, one cold deer.