ken zirkel

People are always asking me what kind of point-and-shoot camera should they get. They want the best! So, I immediately start thinking of some great cams in the US$400 and up range. Then they come back with, oh, it has to be under US$150. Um, right. So, here are the standard links I send folks [...]

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Because I’m completely crazy, and because I have kids, and because I enjoy paddling sports, I was attracted to the idea of getting one of the new underwater cameras. I love my Panasonic DMC-LX3, and the Panasonic DMC-TS1 just came out, and seemed to be getting better reviews than the Olympus, so I bought a [...]

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Every time a new camera model is announced, people flood the online photo discussion boards, wondering, “once the new model comes out, the price of the old model will plummet, right?” My sense from watching these things has been that this is rarely the case. However, I didn’t have any empirical evidence to back this [...]

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I used to own a Widelux panoramic camera. I bought one in the early 1990′s, then sold it when I got a digital camera (and, truth be told, I was unemployed and needed the money). I don’t really miss it much; scanning the film was such a pain, and you can of course approximate the [...]

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I was looking for a lightweight tripod for travel, something that would fit in a suitcase and be reasonably compact and light to carry, but still be sturdy and usable enough to support a DSLR with 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. For quite some time I’ve owned a Manfrotto 3021PRO, which is an inexpensive aluminum tripod and [...]

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I ordered my Russian-made Zenitar 16mm fisheye lens on 4/22/08 from www.rugift.com. I received it 6/10/08. That’s about six weeks. I didn’t quite realize it was actually shipping from Russia (to the Eastern US). Apparently there were some problems with Customs; the lens got returned to the facotry and had to be re-shipped. (why? doesn’t [...]

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If you have Bridge and Photoshop CS3, why would you want Lightroom? Lightroom is a complete workflow solution. You can do everything from assign metadata on import to process your photos to manage your printing. Lightroom does everything Bridge does, but easier. Lightroom does a lot of things bridge does not: 1. manage your printing. [...]

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I picked up a Lensbaby at Photoshop World a few weeks ago … they were sold out of them at the show, so they mailed mine. It finally came yesterday:

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Even my outstretched arms cannot encompass the amazing angle of view of the Peleng fisheye lens. (Believe it or not, I’m standing about three feet away from the lens) I purchased the Peleng from seller “kievcamera” via an eBay auction. Cost: US$199 + $15 shipping.

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