Photography

I'm often asked for recommendations on what headphones to use with an iPod or other portable media device. Recently, there's been a trend towards questions about "traditional" headphones from people wanting to listen to their iPods at home or in the office. So how do we choose a traditional headphone that's comfortable, offers good sound quality, and won't break the bank? Here are factors to keep in mind.

Like a full moon on February 29th, there are some dynamic events that coincide with one another and produce some very compelling results. An example of which is the Las Vegas Photo Marketing Association expo in January, Germany's Photokina in September, followed closely by Photo Plus a few weeks ago here in Manhattan; these three events combined have been the platform for the release of a broad range of lenses of into the wild to the benefit of us photographers. So let's warm up the old ‘way-back machine' and take a look at the most interesting lenses of 2008 beginning alphabetically with Canon.

Morovision's MONOCAM adapter is a simple, yet ingenious, device that merges the immediacy and simplicity of digital photography with the covert surveillance capabilities of night vision technology. The MONOCAM is designed exclusively for the Olympus 1030 SW digital camera, and its tension-set clamp will accept a PVS-14 or an MV-14 night vision monocular. The MONOCAM concept is remarkably simple: it can be assembled, powered-up, and fully operational in seconds. Because the MONOCAM system relies upon the photographic genius of the Olympus 1030 SW, you don't have to be Ansel Adams to make the shot – all you have to do is point and shoot.

The MONOCAM set-up we received for review included a premium ITT NEPVS-14 night vision monocular. This state-of-the-art nighttime optic features a 3rd generation ITT "Pinnacle" intensifier tube rated at 64 lp/mm, manual gain control, an integral infrared illuminator, and it operates on a single "AA" battery.

It is no wonder that bird watching is amongst America's fastest-growing leisure activities. A recent US Fish & Wildlife Service survey claimed that more than 50 million Americans watch birds. After all, it is a healthy activity that lets you commune with nature and connect with fellow birders; it affords the occasional thrill of a rare observation, and you can do it anywhere. Besides, it's good for your conscience: supporting birding is supporting environmental conservation, for all the bigger sport optics firms contribute to environmental organizations (it is in their best interests).

As digital photography reached all American households, with everyone of every age owning a point and shoot digital camera or three, photographing birds via 'digi-scoping' also blossomed immensely. The two go hand in hand.

Once you buy the basics, birding has practically no recurring costs. Bird watchers need binoculars, first and foremost, along with a hat to shade your eyes without inhibiting the use of the binoculars. Most birders also carry a journal and pen to record observations, and a field guide to learn the birds.

A handy pocket-sized (4.6 x 7") weather-proof journal we carry is the Rite in the Rain Journal Spiral Notebook , which goes hand-in-hand with the Rite in the Rain All-Weather Pen. For making positive 'id's in the field, we carry the Penguin Book of North American Birds, which has illustrations of over 600 native species and a special listing of 100 rare finds. 

Soon after receiving a Nikon D90 to play around with I slipped off to shoot images along

the Delaware River. Nearby was a family of kayakers who had stopped for a breather and a bite of lunch. It wasn't long before 'Dad' moseyed up along side me for a closer look at what I was doing.

"I own a D300 and I thought that's what you are using… but that camera looks smaller and you're shooting video with that thing and my D300 doesn't do video… at least I don't think it does. Is that the new one I keep hearing about? If it is… I want one". I told him it was, and that he should, and he told me he was going to order one from B&H, which – don't ya' know - happens to be where he gets all of his camera gear. And yes… this really happened.

 Aimed at professional photographers, Aperture is Apple's answer to a complete digital workflow. The software suite allows you to import, organize, edit, and output photographs. Although pros will still need to use Photoshop for heavy lifting, Aperture features integrated tools for level, color, and exposure adjustments. Any adjustments made in Aperture are completely nondestructive, preserving the integrity of your original digital images.

One of the neat things about being the largest photo retailer on the planet is that along with the garden variety of used cameras and lenses, we also get a rather eclectic variety of collectables – not to mention truly oddball items - passing through our Used Department on a regular basis. And being the 800-pound gorilla of the industry, we have become the default, first-stop sniffing point for folks looking to trade in, trade up, or simply sell off that bag of camera gear Uncle Bob bequeathed you when he crossed the end zone.