In Focus Blog

Join us for a multi-brand demo day on Saturday, June 16th from 10 am – 4 pm at our Westwood location. This is a perfect opportunity to get all your Father’s Day shopping questions answered. We’ll have vendor reps on hand from Canon, Fuji, Hoodman, Lensbaby, Nikon,  and Sony to answer all of your questions.

Fuji X10 Rebate
We will be offering a $50 instant rebate on the Fuji x10 from June 14 – June 30, 2012

Tamron Rebates
All current Tamron Rebates will be available
 

Join us for a multi vendor demo day on Saturday May 12 and get all your Mother’s Day shopping questions answered. We’ll have vendor reps on hand from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Olympus to answer all of your questions.

Just some quick camera phone shots from the event. Runway shots with Canon supplied camera and lens.

Visit Bergen County Camera’s NJ Photo Expo Website

It’s the biggest photo expo in New Jersey!
Presented by Canon Camera & Video & Nikon USA

Spend an hour or spend the day. You’ll see and learn about digital photography, video and more, including:

• Be among the first to see the newest and coolest cameras
• Discover secrets to better pictures
• Learn from the experts
• Great video from your DSLR camera
• Listen and learn from world-famous photographers
• Shop early and save for the holidays

Come to the NJ Photo Expo for:

• FREE seminars and demos
• Learn how to shoot live models, fashion, close-ups, landscapes, sports, portraits, news and more
• Gift ideas and expert shopping guidance
• Representatives from all the major camera companies
• Hundreds of cameras of all types
• Collectible photographic art
  

A great lineup of speakers!

10:15 am Tom Franklin – Presented by North Jersey Media

Tom Franklin, photographer for The Bergen Record, best known for his photo of firefighters raising the American Flag at the World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks.

11:25 am Bob Krist – Presented by Nikon

Bob Krist, National Geographic photographer, won the title of “Travel Photographer of the Year” from the Society of American Travel Writers in 1994, 2007, and 2008 convention. In 2000 his work was honored at the Eisenstaedt Awards for Magazine Photography in NYC. Each event we’ve hosted with Bob in the past has been a sellout.

12:35 pm – John Isaac – Presented by Olympus

John Isaac, the distinguished former United Nations photographer, has been traveling to his native India for the past 20 years to photograph tigers and other indigenous wildlife. His images have helped raise awareness about the plight of India’s tigers and other endangered species.

1:45pm – Baron Wolman – Presented by Gallery 270

Rolling Stone’s first photographer, and one of the preeminent rock photographers from the 1960s to today.

2:55 pm – Bob Krist – Presented by Nikon

Bob Krist, National Geographic photographer, won the title of “Travel Photographer of the Year” from the Society of American Travel Writers in 1994, 2007, and 2008 convention. In 2000 his work was honored at the Eisenstaedt Awards for Magazine Photography in NYC. Each event we’ve hosted with Bob in the past has been a sellout.

4:05 pm – Harry Benson – Presented by Canon

Harry Benson the Beatles first photographer, and the man who documented the assassination of RFK in Los Angeles.5:15 pm – Ron Magill – Presented by Nikon

“A Walk on the Wild Side; The Joys of Wildlife Photography.” Ron Magill is an internationally recognized zoological authority who has appeared on a wide variety of TV programs including “National Geographic Explorer,” the “Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “NBC Nightly News,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “CBS’ The Early Show,” “Live with Regis,” “Dateline,” and CNN.

It’s going to be a GREAT DAY! We’ll see you there.

Produced by Bergen County Camera
Presented by Canon Cameras & Digital Video, and Nikon Cameras

Visit – Bergen County Camera’s NJ Photo Expo website

NJ PHOTO EXPO SLATED FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3.
Highlighted by demos, seminars, world-class photographers.

The NJ Photo Expo is expected to draw large crowds to the Park Ridge Marriott on Sunday, October 3, 2010 as snapshooters, hobbyists and serious photographers gather to learn, listen and explore the latest and greatest in photography.

Attendance at the NJ Photo Expo is free with advance registration at www.NJPhotoExpo.com. The Expo is open from 10 am – 6 pm.  Seminar registration will be announced shortly to everyone registered for the Expo.

Demonstrations, exhibitions and seminars will give Expo visitors opportunities to:

• Learn how to shoot live models, portraits, close-ups, landscapes and more.
• Listen and learn from world-class photographers including Baron Wolman (Rolling Stone’s first staff photographer), Harry Benson (World famous photographer)  and Tom Franklin (whose 9/11 World Trade Center photo for The Record won accolades worldwide). More speakers will be announced shortly.
• See and try the newest and coolest camera equipment
• Learn how to shoot video with your camera
• Shop early for the upcoming holidays, with expert guidance
• Enjoy collectible photographic art from masters and up-and-coming photographers featured at galleries worldwide.

Launched by Bergen County Camera of Westwood and Englewood in celebration of the store’s 30^th anniversary, the NJ Photo Expo is presented by Canon Cameras and Video, and Nikon Cameras.

More than 20 leading photo brands will be represented at the Expo.

As much as we are nerds here at the camera store, we’re generally pretty jaded when it comes to firmware updates. It’s usually the standard “fixes banding issues when shooting at ISO 3200 in RAW mode with the white balance set to cloudy and the moon is beginning it’s waxing phase”. But! Every now and again they like to surprise us with something that’s actually useful.

Canon just released a firmware update which deals specifically with HD Video in the Canon 5D Mark II. Normally, when doing video with the Mark II, there’s not a lot in terms of manual controls. Actually, none at all. This new firmware update gives you full manual freedom when doing video.

Follow the link to download and for more info:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=MultiMiscPageAct&key=EOS_5DMKII_Firmware&fcategoryid=139

If you’re having trouble installing the firmware, feel free to stop by the store and we’d be more than happy to help you out.

In our last installment we spoke somewhat briefly about the MiniDV format of camcorders. This time around we’re going to go into the DVD format. DVD was first introduced in the computer industry in 1995, the same year MiniDV made it’s introduction into the video market, but it was not available for video or consumer use until early 1998. DVD camcorders did not gain popularity until the year 2000. At first the image quality on DVD camcorders was lacking at best. The quality has gotten much better over time but is still not on par with either the current tape formats or the solid state/hard drive formats. This might not sound like the most compelling argument for DVD. I mean, who wants to spend money on a format in which the quality is less than it’s competing formats? Read on and you will discover.

The biggest advantage to DVD format is that it’s the simplest of the video formats. It has two basic fuctions – to record and to play back. If you don’t want to fuss around with connecting the camcorder to your television DVD is the way to go. Pop the DVD into your DVD player and you’re ready to go. There can be compatability issues with playing DVD’s, though that is of minimal concern. Almost any modern DVD player (from the last 2 to 5 years) will be able to play recordable DVD’s.

Other than quality the other main disadvantage is that standard DVD’s for these camcorders can only hold up to 30 minutes per disc. The discs aren’t expensive (around $15 for a 10 pack) but it can be a nuisance when recording an event that’s longer than the disc’s capacity.

There is something that needs to be mentioned when it comes to different types of recordable DVD discs. There are three types of discs on the market. DVD-R (know as either “minus R” or “dash R”) will work in any DVD camcorder and is readable in almost any DVD player. DVD+R is a format that was introduced by Sony to compete with the already popularly available -R discs. +R discs hold slightly less information than -Rs but the trade-off being that the +R discs are more stable when writing information at higher speeds. You need to make sure your camcorder/DVD player are able to write/read +R discs. Both -R and +R discs also come in -/+RW formats. RW stands for re-writeable. They give you the ability to delete and re-record scenes on the DVD itself. I don’t recommend RW discs for camcorders due to the fact that they’re less reliable than standard R discs. The last and least popular of the formats is DVD-RAM. RAM discs (which stands for Random Access Memory) are also re-writeable but are more stable than their RW counterparts. RAM discs are great but just like the +R discs you need to make sure your equipment is compatible with that format.

Overall I can fully recommend DVD camcorders for those looking for simplicity above all else. The image quality issue (if you would even call it that) isn’t of huge concern. To the untrained eye the image quality differences are negligible.

Check back here next Wednesday for the third installment of our Intro to Video Formats column – HDD/Flash Memory.

Amongst the video formats available today MiniDV has been around the longest. Initially introduced as a pro video format back in 1995, MiniDV would eventually grow into the most popular video format for both consumers and semi-professionals. Though MiniDV is becoming eclipsed in popularity by the solid state and hard drive camcorders, it is still a viable format for video recording.

The first and main advantage with MiniDV tapes is the fact that it is still the most uncompressed consumer video format on the market. A single 60-minute, standard definition, $9.99 MiniDV cassette can hold up to nearly 20 gigabytes of video information. A comparable flash memory camcorder can hold 80 minutes of video on a $90 4gb SD card. If you do large amounts of video recording MiniDV can also be surprisingly affordable.

The other main advantage is the ability to easily edit video from tape. Almost any computer with a firewire input has the ability to import and edit video from tape. With DVD format camcorders editing is a possibility but not recommended. It takes a lot of time and energy to edit from DVD. Flash memory or hard drive camcorders are easier to import and edit than DVD, but you do need to double check the camcorders compatability with your computer and it’s software.

Now onto the disadvantages of MiniDV tape. The most evident drawback is the fact that tape is slowly going the way of the dinosaur. Blank tapes will still be available for quite some time, though it may get difficult to find the camcorders themselves. Every generation camcorder manufacterers tend to discontinue a tape model and replace it with either a flash memory or hard drive model. I’ll give MiniDV another 3 years before they’re no longer available – and I believe I’m being pretty generous.

The other considerable drawback is the construction or build of the camcorders themselves. A well made camcorder will always be a well made camcorder but there’s something that all MiniDV camcorders have in common – the actual tape mechanism that inserts and ejects the tape is quite fragile. I’ve seen numerous faulty tape mechanisms over the years and it can be a real pain. Remember to treat the camcorder with care and I don’t think you’ll have a problem.

I can still fully recommend MiniDV has a viable medium for video. Since it has been around for quite some time there’s not a whole lot of innovation that can be done. It’s an almost-perfected format that can’t get a whole lot better – or a whole lot worse, for that matter. If you’re shopping for video on a budget MiniDV is a great way to go.

Check back next week for the following installment of our Intro to Video Formats segment – DVD.

Canon has found a new processor for printer and video rebates. All previously issued rebate checks can now be deposited. If you have experienced any difficulties with your rebate checks, you can call Canon at 1-800-OK-CANON

Full information is available at Canon’s website

If you need to mail a rebate please do not mail to CPG, instead mail to Canon’s new rebate processor:

Canon USA Rebates
P.O. Box 342140
Bartlett, TN 38184

Don’t cash that Printer rebate check dated prior to November 14, 2008.

Please don’t mail your Canon Rebate in until Canon finds an alternate processor.

Canon has informed us that rebate checks issued by their 3rd party provider CPG are not valid and will bounce if deposited. Canon will make good on this and will be contacting those impacted as soon as alternate processing can be arranged. Until further notice, please direct all inquiries to Canon’s Customer Call Center 1-800-OK-CANON. Also do not submit rebates until Canon posts new instructions on their website.

Please read the canon-rebate-notice here.

Canon will also update their website as information becomes available.