I love this time of year. Before you know it it will be Halloween, then before you know it, it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas shopping season will begin in earnest. Starting today, I will begin writing posts on occasional Thursdays, sharing some gift ideas for those people who like to start their Christmas shopping early for everybody on their nice, not naughty list.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart and mind are the true lens of the camera.—Yousuf Karsh
Back in the day when camera manufacturers thought we wanted and needed lenses that had depth-of-field scales and infrared focusing marks—as if autofocus actually freed us from these technical concerns—they used to include lots of what many companies now seem to think of as extra cost items.
Lens hoods is one item that seems to have fallen out of lens boxes. While some kindly camera and lens manufactures do include them, especially on their premium priced lenses, others—I’m looking at you Olympus—do not. Really $59.99 to $69.99 for the 61F lens hood for an M.ZUIKO Digital ED 75mm f/1.8 Lens? This dearth of options from the factory has spawned a huge submarket of inexpensive and sometimes mostly inexpensive lens hoods. The JJC metal Lens Hood, for example, for this lens costs $27.59. It’s just a lens hood. There’s no optics needed.
Lens Pouches Too
The same thing has happened to cases and pouches for lenses. I must admit to smiling whenever I get a new or used Panasonic Lumix or Leica lens and it comes with a nice pouch and the high quality lens cases that Sigma provides with their lenses are genuinely awesome. The rest of us? Most of the time, we’re on our own.
How I Made this photograph: Keep your gear clean and protected when you go out on location. This tree was photographed on the rim of Bryce Canyon with a Pentax K100D and smc P-DA 12-24mm F4.0 ED/AL (IF) lens at 19mm. The exposure was 1/500 sec at f/8 in Manual mode at ISO 400.
I’ve always been fond of products from OP/Tech, a company located less than ten miles from the Bridger Mountain Range and ninety miles from Yellowstone National Park. They’re a family-owned company and 90% of their products are made in their Montana factory. And they are genuinely nice people who care about their products, and how they’re made and care about their customers too.
OP/Tech USA’s Fold-Over Pouch, for example, comes in ten different sizes at prices ranging from $14.99 to $19.99 and are designed accommodate all kinds of lenses and other accessories. The Fold-Over Pouch is an easy way to store and protect small to medium-sized lenses, converters, adapters and other miscellaneous items. Their soft, durable neoprene construction protects delicate gear against dust, moisture and impact. The pouch’s fold-over closure system has no abrasive hardware and stays attached to the main body so there’s no fear of losing it. (They were obviously thinking of me, it seems.)
Fold-Over Pouches are made in the good ole USA and fit a wide variety of lenses. The next time you’re visiting your favorite camera store pick one up and if ordering on-line add one to your order. It won’t break your piggy bank and you will love it.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat Joe to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($3.50), click here.