Buying Guides

A professional photographer is someone who can take a photograph that's technically and aesthetically right on the money with even the most basic of imaging tools, though few, if any, would bet their reputations on entry-level cameras on a regular basis. That's because as feature-packed as under-$500 cameras are, they're simply not up to taking the pounding pro-quality DSLRs are subjected to on a daily basis. But ruggedness is only part of the equation when it comes to the top guns of DSLR cameras.

People tend to upgrade their portable music players all the time, only remaining loyal to their favorite musicians from device to device. Because music is so central to our lifestyles, you may find that upgrading your in-ear headphones could have more of an impact than getting another flashy gadget. Monster has a compelling line of in-ear headphones inspired by artists like Miles Davis and Puff Daddy, which sound as good as they look.

In the process of trying to organize the dozens of DSLRs we sell at B&H into their respective price and performance categories for our 2010 Holiday DSLR

 I have been using Kata bags for a while now. To haul my lighting gear, I was using the Kata OC-88. However, I found that it wasn't quite long enough to fit light stands or a portable backdrop. So, my photographer-husband, Andy Dunaway, did some research and found a good fit for me - the Kata OC-97. It's long enough to fit two of my Manfrotto Stacker Light Stands, an Elinchrom Rotalux softbox, an Elinchrom Quadra Ranger pro set, some Lastolite Tri-grips, five Nikon SB-900's and more.

At BetterPhoto.com, I've seen many photographers improve the overall quality of their work, thanks to the regular use of this valuable accessory: the tripod.

When I started using a tripod consistently for stationary subjects, two awesome things happened: 1)  using a tripod regularly soon became a habit; and better still, 2) my photography improved immediately.

The Canon PowerShot SD4000 IS is a Digital Elph camera with big camera features. The 3.8x optical zoom lens has a blazingly fast f-stop of 2.0. You can shoot in low light as well as capture out-of-focus backgrounds behind razor-sharp subjects.