Well, my camera is dirty on the _inside_. The internal sensor is dirty. “Bob”:http://bobsplanet.com says that you need some special tools from I’d recommend getting the wipes, the fluid, and the wand for serious cleaning from “Micro-Tools.com”:http://micro-tools.com that will cost you about $25 overall: * “SensorWand 14mm for Cleaning 1.5x & 1.6x Sensors”://https://www.micro-tools.com/store/item_detail.aspx?ItemCode=SW1. This is […]

If you have a fancy tripod, you need a special dove-tail plate that works with Arca-Swiss type quick release clamps (Arca, Boga, Kirk, Markins and Wimberly). They are expensive at $45 but perfect for video cameras that go on fancy ballheads like the markins q10 on my tripod. See the “Nikonians”:https://www.photoproshop.com/usa/product_info.php/cPath/21_27/products_id/381 to order it. Powered […]

The Nikon d40x uses the high speed SDHC flash card. You can now get 4GB versions of these things. Canon uses the bigger CompactFlash card. “Sandisk”:http://www.dpreview.com/news/0607/06071701sandisk4gbsdhc.asp for instance has one that is 2MBps or Class 2. As an aside an SD card is 2GB or less, an SDHC card is next generation that is 4GB […]

If you have Nikon (unlike me!) then what’s the best choice for a prosumer right now? Probably the d40x based on “DPReview.com”:http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40x/page14.asp. It is a 10 megapixel camera and streets for just $600. Plus the kit lenses are good. The “18-135”:http://www.bythom.com/18135lens.htm is sharp, but has big problems with vignetting and with chromatic aberration plus distortion. […]

Well Nikon (the “Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR AF”:http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/2763/lens-test-nikon-18-200mm-f35-56g-dx-vr-af-s.html makes are nice superzoom that is a good reference standard for superzoom. Iisn’t fast and does have optical distortion (0.73% barrel at 18mm so you’ll want to use DxO, vignetting everywhere below f/6.3 and it is good for 8×10 from 18-100, pretty good for 5×7 at […]

Well with the lenses I know I have, I cover just about every situation well but indoor sports for things like basketball. The 100-400 is just too slow but has great zoom with the 1.6x lense factor, so everything looks blurry. The 24-105 F4/L is also too slow as I need 1/500-1/1000 second to freeze […]

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On our machines, the C:\ drive is fast and small and the e:\ drive is the user directory, one thing that is quite hard is to make sure the various user files in c:\documents and settings move to e:\. You can do a simple thing which is to Right click on the My Documents and […]

! I got the really amazing Gitzo 2530 and the Markins Emilie Q3, but I didn’t realize that for these high end tripods, they have something called a “camera plate” that adapts the little thingy on the camera to the tripod. It is called a quick release plate and I gather you need one for […]

I bought a 4GB Sandisk Extreme III card last June when I got my camara, now its pretty clear that a single card is a little scary so time to get a backup. Tong Family Blog: Fast Compact Flash Cards Rob Galbraith did actual in camera testing with the Digital Rebel XT to see what […]