I’ve been carrying my point and shoot with me a lot lately instead of my DSLR. I shoot a lot of “what I’m eating” and quick location shots for Consuming Louisville and I find that for the shots I need to take my point and shoot works brilliantly. It does what I need it to do and it fits comfortably in my small bag. A year ago I packed my DSLR everywhere and I hardly ever picked my point and shoot up. I was still in the “gearhead phase” of my life as a photographer. Even if my point and shoot would have worked great in a situation, even if I didn’t need the fire power of my DSLR the DSLR was always what I reached for because you know, I’m a photographer, my DSLR is my baby and I’ve got to always use it. Or so I thought.

I’ve evolved and progressed further down my path as a photographer. I can now embrace the notion that it really is not the camera you use. The camera is just a tool. In some situations the small tool is all you need. But not only do I now use whichever camera will work for the job I also don’t care what camera you’re using. I can’t recall the last time I felt compelled to ask someone what specific camera she uses. Lenses? Yes, I love to chat about different lenses but Canon or Nikon? Who cares. 5D or Rebel XTi? So not important to me. It’s the work you’re producing that matters.

In my professional and documentary work naturally I still use my DSLR but that’s because it’s the right camera for the job, not because I feel the need to justify my existence as a photographer by pulling out the largest and most expensive camera I own. Those toy camera enthusiasts? They might be on to something. I think a toy camera might be my next gear purchase.

I don't spend much time at iStockphoto so I wasn't aware that there are some interesting articles to be found there. One that I found today is an exhaustive roundup of photo bags called "The Buyers Guide To: Camera Bags." I'm pretty desperate for a new bag myself. I'm looking hard at a Shootsac. I haven't read a lot of hands on reviews of that bag though so if/when I pick one up I'll be sure to share my impressions of it.

Love your Moo cards but hate that they don't fit in your cool business card case? Apparently lots of crafty people on Etsy want to solve that problem for you.

I love all of Amy Cornwall's tins, Moo MiniCard Paper Sleeves for $2.00 and the festively fabulous MOO MiniClutch for $6.95.

via Flickr Blog

Paul C. Buff the company that makes the very highly praised Alien Bees lighting systems has some really informative tutorials and articles in the company's forums. The most interesting and useful sections look to be Studio Flash Explained and Sample Lighting Setups which include very useful text descriptions and diagrams of various lighting setups and situations. If you're interested in studio lighting you could do worse than spending some times with these articles.

Canon announced some exciting things today like 3 new lenses and the first DSLR to break the 20 megapixel barrier. But what seems to have grabbed most people's attention is the new D40 mid-level DSLR with 10.1-megapixel resolution, JPEGs or 17 RAW files at 6.5fps, nine autofocus points, self-cleaning sensor, 3-inch LCD and "a live-view function that works in a similar way to Canon's higher-end EOS 1-D Mark III, with the ability to both display a live image and output it to a monitor."

The D40 is expected to ship in September with a street price of $1299 for body only or $1499 for the kit which includes the 28mm-135mm IS lens

Photodoto has a nice review of 8 different lens rental services. I confess that I've yet to use any of these services but I'm in the market for some wide-ish angle glass so I like the idea of renting a couple different ones and trying them out before I make the purchase. Maybe I'll try one of these soon.

Don't like asking strangers to take pictures of you or your group and you hate the strained neck weird angle your shots have when you stretch your arm out and try to take them yourself? Your dilemma is solved by the quick pod. It's basically a stick that attaches to small digital cameras so you can extend the camera away from your body and easily take self-portraits, group shots, etc without outside assistance. Pretty clever.

via fototiller

Popular Photography is reporting that the Nikon D40 isn't backward compatible with a most older Nikkor lenses.

During our current lab test (results to be published in the March 2007 issue and online in February 2007) we discovered that the D40 isn't fully backward compatible with most older Nikkor lenses! Sure, you can attach them to the D40, but autofocus won't work unless the lens is a relatively new, digital-only AF-S or ED-IF series. (These both differ from older Nikkors because they have the AF motor built in to the lens body).

If the D40 is going to be your first DSLR this doesn't really affect you but if you've got a bag full of older Nikon glass or would like the option of buying used Nikon glass this is a serious concern.

Tags: photography, nikon, nikon d40

Canon Lens Review is an ever growing database of reviews for Canon lenses. The reviews are very detailed and give lots of useful information to help you make the best decision for your lens dollars.

Nikon is intent on bringing digital slr cameras to the masses. Their latest entry into the DLSR market, the just announced Nikon D40 is rumored to have a street price of around $500 for the body and lens kit (3x 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor lens included). The D40 will have a 6.1-megapixel sensor, 2.5-inch LCD screen, ISO range of 200 to 1600 and lots of other Nikon bells and whistles.

Image courtesy of Nikon.