Well, I learned a hard lesson today … make sure your optics are clean before taking pictures.

I spent two days taking a huge number of pictures … and, after transferring them to my computer, I found that there was a water stain on my UV filter … and that stain showed up on EVERY shot.

A few of the shots are recoverable … as the stain is in a contrast area … but the majority of the really good shots are a total loss.

[tags]Lens, Camera, Photography, Optics[/tags]

The Chicago suburbs seems to have a distinct shortage of camera shops.

I’ve been looking for a new tripod to replace my old one (that broke).

I went to Helix in Lombard … they had a good selection, but nothing that I really liked.

Wolf Camera in Schaumburg had a someone more limited selection … including one that I really liked. It had everything I was looking for … light weight, good size when extended, and very small when collapsed. But it cost $249. Of course it was made of carbon fiber, which was why it cost so much.

A bit of research found another camera shop in Glen Ellyn … P.J.’s Camera shop on Rosevelt Rd. They had a few tripods, including one that I liked.

It’s a Manfrotto 718SHB … it’s reasonably light, good height, and very small when collapsed. The only problem was the shop didn’t have a spare mounting bracket (for Ginny’s camera). I had to search the internet to find a place to get one.

[tags]Camera, Tripod, Manfrotto, Bogen[/tags]

The following is a post I made to the LUNI mailing list regarding digital camera recommendations … I thought I covered a lot of good suggestions, so I figure I would post it here too.

Someone on the LUNI mailing list wrote:

What brand of digital cameras do people on the list use? Right now, I have one by Fuji, but it’s a bit on the cheap side and I am thinking of getting a new one.

I’ve had great luck with Canon EOS digital cameras.

My Digital Rebel (300D) was great … although the frame rate & buffer was a bit lacking (3fps with a 4 frame buffer). My new Canon 30D is even better at 5fps and a 30 frame buffer.

Of course Canon makes excellent optics … so the pictures come out great.

My personal recommendation would be to go with a digital SLR … that gives you the most flexibility. You can be in fully automatic mode, or play with shutter priority, aperture priority, or manual modes.

One thing to look out for is the storage media and connection mechanism.

Personally, I like the compact flash medium. Secure Digital isn’t bad either. I would stay away from the memory stick cameras, as the media only works in a small selection of cameras. CF memory is nice because it’s widely used and there’s a lot of ways to transfer data from the card. You can use a USB reader or PC Card adapter for a laptop.

The connection mechanism is also a consideration … don’t get a camera that requires a dock, as you might have to take that around with you all the time. Get a camera that has a *standard* USB connector. My dad has a camera that connects with USB, but the connector is non-standard on the camera side. So if he looses the cable, he has to go to the vendor (Olympus, I think) to get a new one. All my Canon digital cameras (300D, 30D, and Powershot A85) use mini-usb connectors on the camera side. If I loose the cable, I go to an office supply store and get a new one.

Also get something that has good battery life … nothing worse than running out of juice when that perfect shot comes into the frame. I’ve got a spare battery for my 30D and the A85 uses AA’s.

[tags]Canon, Digital Rebel, 30D, 300D, Compact Flash, Digital Cameras[/tags]