Camera Christmas Gifts?

[Furgus]

So what did everyone get camera related? A new camera, some new accessories? Post what ya got.

I got:
Giottos Pro Class Tripod-GB3150
Manfrotto Ballhead-486RC2
monitor calibrator-Spyder Express, and some books.
I plan on going out this week and getting a new bag (Lowepro Slingshot 200, or 300) and a Wacom Tablet.

Hope eveyone had a nice holiday.

 

[YEKCIM]

A few bucks toward purchase of new Nikon equipment sometime in the near future; debating D50 vs D80.

~YEKCIM

 

[Groucho]

Not a thing; I think everyone knew that I was too busy buying things for myself.

Got a fair amount of Disney stuff though.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I got some flash stuff:

Alien Bee B400 Flash Unit
Alien Bee B800 Flash Unit
2 10 foot Light Stands
1 48" White Shoot-Thru Umbrella
1 48" Silver/White Umbrella

My wife got a cell phone (Blackberry Pearl) with a camera built in. I'll compare it with my regular camera and see which one takes better photos. Maybe I'll just switch to a camera phone.

 

[pixie dust 112]

Dh got me a Canon PowerShot S3 IS. Does anyone else have one of these? It seems wonderful and I was reading the instruction books last night. Seems like if you press the right combination of buttons, it becomes the space shuttle.

 

[JR6ooo4]

Nothin' here...

In fact I plan on returning most of the gifts I recieved. It is all stuf I could play with but nothing I realy "need". Since I am trying to be a little more budget minded I would rather bank the cash than open the boxes and not realy use the stuff.

Mikeeee

 

[wdwpluto]

3 1GB CF cards and the wireless remote shutter release for my Xti.

 

[ukcatfan]

I got it a couple of months early, but my Pentax K100D was my x-mas present. It is also my upcoming March birthday present, but it was completely worth it. I have to thank my DW.

Kevin

 

[fitzperry]

Nothin' here, but I did get a fancy new espresso machine. Cafe au lait, anyone?

 

[DueyDooDah]

Canon Remote Switch RS-80N3 and the ET-1000N3 Extension Cord
1GB mini-SD card and adapter
The books Camera RAW and Photoshop CS2 RAW
and
the permission to buy CS2!!! Wahooo! (now, do I wait for CS3?)

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My new S3 IS was my XMas gift (I agree with you, pixie dust, LOL. I fell asleep 5 nights in a row reading it).
Two camera cases, large and small.
A 1GB card.
Two newer photography books.

We also won a raffle at the kids school so I got a huge gift basket full of "Memory Making" (i.e. photo and scrapbook) stuff which I haven't even gone through yet.

I wanted a larger tripod and a remote shutter release but I think Santa forgot. May have to put in a late request.

DH got Photoshop software and a Photoshop book.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Oooh, I forgot about books. I just got "Light - Science and Magic, Second Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting" today, does that count?

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Canon Remote Switch RS-80N3 and the ET-1000N3 Extension Cord
1GB mini-SD card and adapter
The books Camera RAW and Photoshop CS2 RAW
and
the permission to buy CS2!!! Wahooo! (now, do I wait for CS3?)

CS3 will be out in the spring. It will probably cost $150 to upgrade from CS2 to CS3. There may be a grace period on the upgrades (where purchasers of CS2 after a certain point in time get a free or low cost upgrade), but I don't know about plans for one.

Anyone know what's in CS3? If you bought CS2 now, would you get $150 of use out of it between now and when CS3 comes out? What about buying PS Elements now and upgrading it to CS3 in a few months? It's probably worth spending some time researching your options.

I would strongly suggest downloading the Lightroom Beta and playing with it. I imagine that there will be a package deal with eLightroom and CS3 and you'll want to know whether or not you want the package.

 

[Furgus]

Just picked up my Wacom Graphire 4X5 Tablet and Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW, with Christmas money

Tablet is very cool, but I see a steep learning curve with it.

Might have to start a new post to see if anyone has an tips when using a tablet.

 

[extreme8]

Just picked up my Wacom Graphire 4X5 Tablet and Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW, with Christmas money

Tablet is very cool, but I see a steep learning curve with it.

Might have to start a new post to see if anyone has an tips when using a tablet.

Practice, practice, practice.

I got the Wacom Intuos 3 about a month ago and after hooking it up I wondered what I had gotten myself into. It seemed impossible to do anything with it.
I used it for a few days and now I don't know how I ever worked without it.
You'll love it - Photoshop will never be the same!

 

[ktulu]

Technically the xti was my christmas gift, but I got it early. I got a new bag, Lowepro, don't recall which one right now, 50mm f/1.8, lens hood (don't recall which one), canon wireless remote (rc-5) and two more batteries. I'm hoping my wife will get me the 75-300mm IS for Valentines. I need to get out and play with the 50mm and remote now

 

[handicap18]

I got the Tamrac Adventure 9 backpack/photo bag. It is quite large and holds all my camera stuff together in one place (first time in a while thats happened). I currently have in it my D50 with 18-70mm lens mounted, 50mm f/1.8, SB-600 flash, 70-300mm lens AND my Gary Fong Lightsphere II diffuser, along with SD cards, extra battery, battery charger, and other wires. Even with all that I have enough room for 1 or 2 lenses. When I told DW that she gave me this funny look than sternly told me "If you get another lens then I'm getting a French Horn!". hmmmm I'm thinking about it.

Oh and on a related note, I finally found a place that had the new Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR lens in stock. So I ordered it last week and it arrived today. Funny thing is, the day after I ordered it from one place, Ritz Camera sent an email saying that the one I ordered from them had been shipped. So by the end of the week I'll 2 copies of the new lens. I'll have to compare them to see if one may be better than the other and then return one to my local Ritz shop.

I took a few test shots, but haven't downloaded them to the computer. The VR works GREAT. Its also pretty quiet when focusing which is nice.

 

[mabas9395]

My company doesn't do our christmas bonuses until after the first of the year. If its not much, then I'll probably go with the canon 10-20mm ultra wide angle. If its a little nicer, I might go for a 70-200mm f/2.8.

My wife ordered a Bogen 3021BPRO tripod and a Bogen 488RC2 ball head for me for Christmas, but its not here yet.

 

[DueyDooDah]

Anyone know what's in CS3? If you bought CS2 now, would you get $150 of use out of it between now and when CS3 comes out? What about buying PS Elements now and upgrading it to CS3 in a few months? It's probably worth spending some time researching your options.

Yep, I know many of the new things in CS3, but they have not released info on all of the features yet. The ones I've seen may be worth waiting for, esp. smart filters and the B&W conversions.

I'm sure I'd get use out of CS2, but $150 worth, probably not. I do not make money on my work.

I currently use Elements 4.0 and feel it is lacking in one major area: curves. Hence my dilema. Is one feature really worth the investment? (Actually, I know there are many more, but this one I think I am ready for.) Also, knowing me and how I think about software (I've been in the tech business for many years), I have already decided the upgrade is coming. Just when is the issue. If I put it off too long, I'll explode -- and I'm sure noone wants to see that.

I would strongly suggest downloading the Lightroom Beta and playing with it. I imagine that there will be a package deal with eLightroom and CS3 and you'll want to know whether or not you want the package.

I have it, but still need more time to figure out how it fits in my workflow.

And I want to apologize for hijacking the thread. I got carried away. Let my diversion end here.

 

[jann1033]

Yep, I know many of the new things in CS3, but they have not released info on all of the features yet. The ones I've seen may be worth waiting for, esp. smart filters and the B&W conversions.

I'm sure I'd get use out of CS2, but $150 worth, probably not. I do not make money on my work.

I currently use Elements 4.0 and feel it is lacking in one major area: curves. Hence my dilema. Is one feature really worth the investment? (Actually, I know there are many more, but this one I think I am ready for.) Also, knowing me and how I think about software (I've been in the tech business for many years), I have already decided the upgrade is coming. Just when is the issue. If I put it off too long, I'll explode -- and I'm sure noone wants to see that.



I have it, but still need more time to figure out how it fits in my workflow.

And I want to apologize for hijacking the thread. I got carried away. Let my diversion end here.

i don't know much about curves but elements 5 has color curves.( not sure if the big guy has more curves than that ) you can get a free elements 5 download and see if that is worth it or not to you