Holiday's, birthdays, New Years give me plenty of reasons to post a few thoughts and links for my fellow photographers.
If you are thinking about buying a new lens, either for your loved one or for yourself here are a few thoughts and links for you.
Lenses. A great Holiday gift, no question about it. Here are my favorite places to review possible selections. I'm not being paid to promote any vendor or product and these are the places I go to research and buy a new lens. I'm sharing it with you so that you won't have to jump through a lot of hoops and ask a ton of questions when you need answers. If you can't find what you are looking for on these web sites, you'll have trouble finding it anywhere. I trust this information.
1. SLR Gear.com Great listing for just about every lens on the market, though not all have been reviewed. Still, I look here before anywhere else, because the technical aspects of purchasing a lens should not be ignored.
2. Fred Miranda Reviews. Another great resource for researching the different lenses on the market.
3. LensPlay by Bob Atkins. Bob has one of the most extensive review sites concerning SLR lenses. What I like most about his site is that he also looks at the less expensive lenses and gives some great advice for best bang for the buck.
Once you've figured out which lens to buy, where do you buy it? I can't recommend driving down to the local Wolf or Ritz camera store and getting one off the shelf and for two main reasons. Reason 1 is price. You'll be paying full retail for that lens, plus sales tax. Reason 2 is condition. Most camera stores aren't going to keep a lot of lenses in stock for any particular model, so there's a good possibility that the lens you are buying is one that's already been handled, and there is a good possibility that it has already been damaged. Nope, I usually buy my lenses from one of three online sources.
1. B&H Photo. This is the most trusted and reliable online ordering site for photography equipment out there. Not always the absolute lowest price, but without a doubt the best selection and without a doubt the best overall service.
2. Adorama Camera. This is another great place for all things photographic. Very trustworthy, very good selection. The customer service is outstanding.
3. Amazon Camera & Photo. Amazon has a huge selection of lenses. Some of those are from second party vendors and I caution you when using Amazon to look at who the lens is actually coming from. For the most part, Amazon is pretty reliable, but from time to time you can expect a problem with an order or shipment. Still, if you're looking for the absolute lowest price for a lens, Amazon is a good place to start.
Stay tuned. In the coming days, I'll be writing another article on my favorite lenses to recommend. Then you'll be ready to shop until you drop.