Jim Fisher's blog

As a photographer, it’s easy to get caught up in the quality of your gear. Are you outfitted with a high resolution, full-frame sensor? At what f-stop does the MTF curve of your lens peak? Can you record noise-free images at high ISO levels? How many RAW shots can your camera take before the buffer fills?

I have a confession to make. The wiring in my home theater is convoluted enough to make Rube Goldberg scratch his head in confusion. I don’t want to go into the details, but let’s just say there’s an older HDTV with only a single HDMI port, two switchboxes, a receiver with no HDMI support, a Blu-ray player, a DVR, an Apple TV, two game consoles, a region-free DVD player, and— lease don’t laugh—an HD DVD player.

Ever wish you could get a little more functionality out of your iPod? Worried about protecting it from scratches? There are hundreds of accessories available for iPod music players. If you acquired an iPod this year, or if you’re simply looking to enhance your tried-and-true MP3 player, consider one of the following.
 

Even though the iPad has been on the market for less than a year, there are plenty of options for protective cases. If you got an iPad during the holidays this year and are in the market for a case, consider one of these protective sleeves, compact cases or messenger bags that were designed to be used with the iPad.

Lensbaby makes a number of different lenses for digital SLR cameras, most of them built around the concept of creative use of tilt-shift photography. While traditional tilt-shift lenses are designed for precise control and perspective correction for architectural photography, Lensbaby takes the exact opposite approach for their lenses.

For many first-time DSLR buyers, a tripod can be an afterthought of an accessory. I’ve seen many friends spend close to a thousand dollars on the latest DSLR with all of the bells and whistles—HD video recording, an image stabilized lens, multiple focusing points and what have you—only to mate it with the shoddiest tripod you can imagine. 

Add-on and converter lenses are camera accessories that often get lost in the shuffle. It’s easy to identify the need for an extra memory card, a camera case, an extra battery, a dedicated flash or in the case of an SLR, an additional lens or three as add-on options for your camera.