Tag Archives: equipment

Ring in the New Year by recycling your old photo gear

It is time to clean out the closet.

I was handed this ultimatum.

My wife wants to know why does one person with 2 hands have 4 camera bodies? More importantly, if I want to buy more gear, I had better make room. Can you tell this 2nd argument was the one that convinced me?

These days there are so many ways to recycle your older gear.

Some camera retailers like BHPhoto will buy your old gear. Most have a online form you can click to choose the make and model number, accessories you may have like batteries, strap, software bundled.

Analog photo gear above can be bought for a fraction of what it cost. My collection of cameras are all still functioning. I've been known to loan them out to worthy students who are enrolled in my BW film class.

I happen to have the first generation Canon 1D (4 Megapixel) DSLR.

After I complete the online form, I get a dollar amount that BH Photo will pay me for it.

Don’t expect to get a lot for your used equipment especially if they have been 3 generations of your particular body.

The more of these OEM (original equipment manufacturer) you have the better the price you will get. After you populate their online form with the info, their website will spit out a quote which you can expect them to pay if you want to proceed with the sale. In the long run it’s better than having it sit around and gather dust.

Even if your gear is old and doesn’t work, some websites will actually pay you to ship to them and they will recycle it for you especially.

I have an non-functioning Powerbook G3 400Mhz laptop that is laying around, so I headed over to Gazelle.com to see what it was worth.

Nada.

They did offer to pay postage for shipping to them so they can recycle it for me.

What do you guys have in the way of old gear?

Your closets full yet? Do you just have a big house with lots of room? Maybe you have a very understanding packrat significant other.

Peter Phun Photography

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Simple Beauty Dish Part 2

My homemade beauty dish.

Does it need a name? If it does, maybe you guys can help me name it/him/her.

Since  I finished it,  it has been sitting idle.

I have been dying to put it to use but until recently, when I taught my Small Flash Lighting workshop, I just didn’t have a model to do some test shots.

So… does it work?

You be the judge.

Mouse over the big picture above and see for yourself. Continue reading Simple Beauty Dish Part 2

AA battery management for photographers

My AA batteries now have a safe haven, never to run loose and create havoc in my camera bags, leaving me to wonder if they're spent or still good

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only photographer with this problem.

I’ve tried rubber bands.

I’ve tried Gaffer tape.

Gaffer tape works good but it’s too pricey to be used that way.

If you use any kind of portable electronics that is power thirsty, then you’re probably buying batteries in bulk at a discount store like Costco, Home Depot or Wal-Mart.

Those packets usually contain 48 AA batteries at a good price.

I’ve tried to pry the packet carefully around the sides and see if I can reseal or tape the opening close when I’m done taking out what I need.

I’ve made a hole that’s just big enough to extract the battery and taping over the hole.

No one way works better.

Since I found these wonderful AA plastic battery containers, I break open the packet and pop them 4-at-a-time into one of these.

My Speedlights use 4 AAs so these containers are perfect.

Now my AA batteries never roll around or come loose anymore.

The best part?

They cost a whopping 20 cents $2 each so I picked up a 5 pack(2 in a pack) of them from Meritline.

By the way, I’m  an affiliate of that retailer.

Why not? If you guys buy this item by clicking through here, I’ll be able to retire. 😉

So, if you guys use something else for battery management, do share them with me under comments.
Peter Phun Photography |


Micro SD, Secure Digital Card, Card Reader, USB Pen Drive, MP3 player, CF Compact Flash card

Low light action photography Part 1

Even at a shutter speed of 1/800 sec, Indonesian badminton player Taufik Hidayat's racquet registers as a blur. Badminton, the fastest racquet sport, is one of the toughest to shoot because no flash is allowed and the gyms are usually not very bright. I used a Canon 40D, a 85mm 1.2 L lens, ISO 1600 at the U.S. Open 2 years ago.

Now that DSLRs are in the hands of more and more 1st-time camera owners, I’ve noticed this question come up a lot.

I’ve tried to photograph my son’s basketball games, but all my pictures are blurry. How do I get better pictures with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel?

Continue reading Low light action photography Part 1