It's Paid For

Earlier this morning, I logged into my online bank account and did something I didn’t think would be done so relatively quickly. That’s right, I eliminated my camera-related debt.

When I last took stock of my camera-related purchases, the total cost was $1,285.35 including taxes. I’ve since bought a few more items which I’ve listed below. All purchases were made at Downtown Camera; prices exclude taxes.

• Nikon EN-EL9 battery: $79.99
• Lambency flash diffuser: $39.99 (discounted to $27.99)
• Manfrotto Tripod Kit – 190XBD legs + 804RC2 3-way head: $199.99
• Tripod bag: $24.99
• Sto-Fen flash diffuser: $31.99 (discounted to $28.79)
• Nikon 35mm f1.8G DX lens: $275.00
• Hoya 52mm UV filter: $19.99 (discounted to $17.99)
• SanDisk Ultra 4GB memory card: $29.99

With taxes, these purchases total $773.74. Combined with the earlier total of $1,285.35, the total amount of money I’ve spent on camera gear is a whopping $2,059.09!

Thankfully, as of this morning, it’s all paid for. I feel no need to purchase additional gear; what I have right now satisfies my current needs.

Fun With Jane

If you’ve been following my Twitter account, you might have seen me tweeting about picking up “Jane.” Despite my well-known romantic ineptitude, it finally looked as if I was making headway on the road to losing my virginity before my death.

The key part of that last sentence is “looked as if.” If you thought I was picking up a woman and bringing her home for some extra-curricular activities, congratulations – you’ve been had.

Say hello to Jane, my new 35mm prime lens.



Jane isn’t too different from Nifty, my other prime lens. She offers the same maximum aperture (f/1.8) and other advantages which come with a fast prime lens. However, apart from the focal length, Jane brings a significant advantage to the table which Nifty lacks: she can autofocus on my D60.

Truth be told, Nicky’s inability to autofocus with Nifty has been a minor issue. I’ve enjoyed flexing my manual focusing muscles, even though this has been a challenge when photographing moving subjects. With the addition of Jane to my team, I should be able to photograph events like parades with more ease. By no means, however, does this mean that Nifty is being replaced; my plan is to use both lenses wherever possible.

As for this lens’ name, it comes from a Toronto bus route. Click that link and do the math, folks. :-)

Frosty The Sto-Fen

Yesterday, I expanded my crew by one. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Frosty The Sto-Fen (Frosty for short).



Frosty has the same interest as Mr. Diffuser, but it's much easier to take with me. Now I don't have to tote an extra bag just for the privilege of having a diffuser. Due to this advantage, I was considering this purchase for a week or two.

Having said that, even with the extra bag, there's no denying Mr. Diffuser's circular shape. Maybe I shouldn't expect Frosty to perform as well as its predecessor, but all will be revealed this Saturday when I test it out at Freedom for the next edition of Designer Saturdays.

We're movin' on up, even in a week as slow as this one...

Can't Buy Me Glove

Last month, I received an email from a friend recommending that I buy a pair of Nike football gloves (he didn't specify the exact type). Yesterday afternoon, he told me a bit more about them as well as where I should find them. Armed with this information, I searched for them today - but my efforts turned out to be fruitless.

My first stop was the National Sports store at Yonge & Sheppard. Not only were the gloves not in stock, but the salespeople didn't seem to care about helping me with my purchase. After a few minutes of futilely looking at a few pairs, I walked out of the store without knowing where I'd go next. I eventually headed to SportChek's Eaton Centre location; even though a few pairs looked good, I ultimately decided that I wouldn't drop my cash here. After similar ventures to Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) and Europe Bound - Travel Outfitters, I ended up empty-handed (pardon my diction).

I obviously need my photography gloves to be warm and dexterous. My current gloves are pretty warm, but they're too bulky for me to easily fetch items like my wireless controller. Unfortunately, a less bulky pair may give me dexterity at the expense of warmth. One person at MEC went so far as to say that no one pair of gloves offers an optimal warmth/dexterity balance. She recommended that I buy a pair of liner gloves and slip my current gloves over them until I'm ready to shoot. I tried this method with a few pairs, but this proved to be nothing more than a pain in the neck.

My search is by no means over. If only I could talk to the hand(s)...

Nifty Fifty

Earlier today, I headed over to Downtown Camera to purchase my new lens: Nikon's AF Nikkor 50 mm 1.8 D. In layman's terms, this is a prime (i.e. non-zooming) 50 mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.8; this makes for some serious bokeh and low-light capabilities. Unfortunately, since it isn't an AF-S lens, it won't autofocus on my D60; I knew about that going in. Having said that, the camera has a rangefinder to help me manually focus; I don't find this to be a hassle at all.

If you recall, I also intended to purchase a tripod. However, when I fully grasped how much money I'd have to spend in order to make a sturdy investment, I scratched that notion for the time being.

Here's my Nifty Fifty in the flesh.



This will probably be my last major camera-related purchase for at least a few months. Lens-wise, I'd like to buy a telephoto lens that goes up to 200 or 300 mm. I said "major" because, due to a brain cramp from God-knows-where, I didn't think that purchasing another UV filter was necessary until I was already on my way home. I ended up heading back to Downtown Camera to rectify that mental error; good thing Stan didn't catch a glimpse of my return visit.

On a side note...before leaving the store after my initial purchase, Stan told me that the "Nifty Fifty" term only applies to the Canon version. That was the first time I'd ever heard that rule...