< Home

So yeah I have been playing with my camera for a few days, pretty happy about it, though there isn’t much to “wow” about – I did play with Phil’s camera for quite a bit so I know my way around most of the controls. But regardless I do intend to read the manual :P.

Heh the night I got my camera jon told me to take a few shots to make sure the camera works… it didn’t really cross my mind that the camera wouldn’t work, so I dug out my old CF card just to try… and the first shot I took was complete black *gasp*. Freaked me out a bit, until I realize my settings were all off (and the room was pretty dark).

Anyhow the 17-85 is no impressive sharp L lens but I think it gives me a lot of room to play with for now. So no impressive sharp pictures, but monkey is happy.

Oh and I definitely need to get used to taking off and putting back on the lens cap =p

So this week has been an exciting week for me – all my shipments have arrived this week (minus the filters) and I basically almost received a package each day (and the fact that I’m home to receive the package is pretty amazing too). So here is a list of things I received, plus the “thing” I bought at Henry’s Photo Show last week…

Hehe I think its obvious what I did not order – The Windows Vista and Office 2007 Ultimates are welcome gifts from MS, and the little white box was a Mont Blanc pen my aunt shipped to me as a graduation gift. 400D + accessories are graduation gifts to myself (*pats myself on the back*) for all the degrees I obtained thus far ;). The Tamrac messenger bag is what I picked up at the Photo Show – see it wasn’t anything big… and feels a bit empty at the moment with so little gear inside, but I’m sure it’ll start to feel heavier by the end of this year =p.

So I went to Henry’s Photo Show last Friday at the International Center, and it was surprisingly crowded for a Friday showing (can’t imagine how it’ll be like for the weekend). There are some deals, but not a lot… and I’m glad I got in for free (thanks jon). There were a number of interestingly titled seminar and workshops but unfortunately none of them turned out amazing. I think I forget that a) not everyone at the show are computer savvy geeks; and b) maybe half the people at the show only own a P&S so the audience isn’t strictly SLR people.

Anyhow the first seminar I went to (most of these seminars are held by Henry’s School of Imaging, and it is like a condensed preview of the course that they offer at their school) was on Flash & Lighting Fundamentals, and oddly what it taught was basically identical to what I read the night before online at some how to use a flash tutorial site. And then I went to some Stage Presentations that seemed promising – “Portrait Lighting” sounded pretty hardcore… but ended up being too hardcore – they were demoing how to setup those studio lights and softboxes and umbrellas etc. And then I went to another stage presentation that also sounded promising – “Exposure and White Balance Techniques” – but it turned out pretty disappointing. I recorded this stage presentation and just randomly cut out a clip below as an example, and hopefully you’ll see why its disappointing.

Anyhow at least the guy gave out his website which introduces some tools and gadgets he finds nifty. (Anyone know what Lensbabies are?)

And yes some of the stage presentations are more like marketing shows, like one for the Quik Pod – which is like a very tiny monopod that you hold with your hand so you can get the camera away from you to take a shot at yourself :S.

Then I spent most of my time loitering at the Canon booth looking at different SLR and lenses, but it seems like… the people there weren’t very helpful, at least to my questions (maybe my questions were just too… hard). But then I thought my questions are pretty normal, like I asked, what’s the diff between a XTi and a 30D… and the answer was….. “XTi has 10MP compared to 8MP; but 30D has a better light metering system and a better build…. but they are pretty similar”. At least I walked away from the Canon booth with a pretty Spring 2007 catalog with lots of pictures of goodies.

Then I went back to check out some more seminars – stopped by a Digital Darkroom seminar (also by Henry’s) which taught some stuff on PS Elements, and then I went to the Wedding and Event Photography Workflow seminar by Apple, which was by far (no competition whatsoever) the best seminar of the day. Hehe I really think Apple must have some amazing public speaking training program cuz the guy can present really well. The seminar was showcasing Aperture and how it can save you time and make your wedding photo workflow more efficient – and even though it wasn’t selling Aperture per se, comparing this seminar to PS Elements I think I’ll prefer to use Aperture any day.

Anyhow before leaving I picked up the ballhead for jon and the ___ for myself so at least I didn’t leave empty handed =P. Probably wouldn’t go again next year unless there’s something you’re looking for AND there’s a deal on it.

So as everybody knows, I’m picking up a 400d soon and have been doing some research on it to locate the best deal around. Since I’m getting it with a pretty basic kit lens I figured there would be some deals lurking around on the net… such as ebay.

So after unsuccessfully bidding on a henry’s ebay listing, I decided I would either order from BH, or from this online ebay store Digital Shopping Network (DSN). The prices are around the same but somehow the DSN deal came with a load of miscellaneous crap like a camera bag, tripod, lens filters, lens cleaning kit, card reader and a 4G CF card (the CF card was the only thing that was probably most useful). I actually called DSN twice to confirm that the camera and lens are both new and not refurbished and comes with full manufacturer’s warranty. Seems like such a good deal!

Now I have always been aware of bait and switch techniques with cameras, but I figured with a ebay store that is a power seller with 13018 positive feedback – nothing can go wrong right? I even read some of the ebay feedback – seems like the only “catch” is after you win the item you’ve to call them to complete your payment, upon which they will try to sell you some extended warranty and accessory (probably overpriced) etc. Like most of the responses are similar to this:

I bought a Canon XTI Camera/Lenses and accessory package awhile ago. The order arrived very speedy and was packaged well. My only complaint if any was that when I phoned to complete my payment, I was put on with a rather pushy salesperson who tried to upsell me on a Warranty and battery. Other than that it was a good experience.

No big deal right? I mean I can always say “no” to a salesperson no problem. Even the not so happy experiences are related to delayed shipping to Spain or some obscure place in the world – but I’m not in a super hurry to get the camera either. But before I decide to place the order… I decided to google for some reviews on the store and apparently it is cross listed with “Sunshine Electronics” and to my horror…

I purchased a Nikon D80 SLR digital camera bundle package offered through their ebay store. Pushy last minutes sales for overpriced accessories as well as EXTREMELY OVERPRICED shipping insurance (Market shipping insurance fee is 1.1% of the merchandise value, vs. 4.7% FORCED by this store – according to the web page “…Shipping insurance is an option offered…” ??). Received all items in 3 days. The D80 user manual was of poor quality (looked like photo copied), there was no Nikon USA warranty. Called Nikon USA and confirmed that it could be a GRAY market camera…Called customer service…I was told that for an extra $82, I could get the Nikon D80 with a VALID Nikon USA warranty.

Well, there goes my trust with this DSN ebay store. Browse more…. and saw a “Barclay’s Photo” offering precisely what I want for an extra $1 (compared to DSN) – body, lens and 4GB CF card. Checked out the store webpage a bit, seems pretty legit… and Barclay’s Photo seems to be a big name seller right… NOT… you’re thinking of Barclay’s Capital, the UK bank. Again, good thing I researched on the store before ordering – apparently Barclay’s is the renamed PriceRite Photo :|. And here’s the most horrifying online buying story I have ever read. Its apparently pretty infamous – the most dugg story in 2005. The story is long but not THAT long – I think there must be 5000 replies to the original post, the actual post probably only took up 1/20 of the scroll bar length. Just to quote from the start of the story to captivate you…

“I will make sure you will never be able to place an order on the internet again.” “I’m an attorney, I will sue you.” “I will call the CEO of your company and play him the tape of this phone call.” “I’m going to call your local police and have two officers come over and arrest you.” “You’d better get this through your thick skull.” “You have no idea who you are dealing with.”

These are all direct threats that I received today from an individual who identified himself as Steve Phillips, the manager of PriceRitePhoto in Brooklyn, New York when I called to inquire about my order with them. My crime? Telling him that I planned to write an article about my unfortunate experience with his company regarding the camera order I had placed with him yesterday.

(Oh and did I mention the blogger was buying a cheap 5D?)
Anyhow lesson learned from online shopping – if the deal looks too good to be true and it is from a “store” – check with BBB on their reliability first – yup if the US does anything better than Canada, BBB is one of them.

Haha this talk about headphones tonight… reminded me of this song and MV liu showed me a while ago. Pretty good MV (Wong Fu, what can I say) and song, so thought I’ll spread the love.

…
Growing up, I was social but, never was the type to open up
So my closest friends were never close enough
I suppose to them I was emotionless…
So, my headphones were my constant companions
Around my neck they were constantly hanging
And late at night when I’m haunted by phantoms
The songs I would jam would subconsciously ban them
And damn
I know it’s just lyrics and beats
But lyrics to me are like infinite peace
…