OTHER PHOTO EQUIPMENT PAGE:

This page is filled with information on other (non-camera body & non-lens) photography equipment I use or have used and my opinions and observations of it.

ACCESSORIES USED:

A giant spider in Speyer, Germany that munched on my arm.

Gitzo G1348 carbon fiber tripod legs, Arca-Swiss B1 ball head with Wimberley C-10 clamp (replacing stock Arca-Swiss clamp), Wimberley Sidekick gimbal head when using large telephoto lens, Kirk L-brackets on all camera bodies, Kirk Long Rail Plate with quick release (gives me dual rails for precise macro positioning as well as centered lens nodal point/optical center for panoramas), Wimberley lens plates on all lenses, Canon RS-80N3 remote switch, Canon 550EX Speedlite, Canon Off-shoe Camera Cord 2, Stofen Omni-bounce, Wimberley F-6 Sidekick flash bracket (modules M1 & M3), Canon EF12 extension tube, Canon EF25 extension tube, two Canon EF25 II extension tubes, Canon 1.4x TeleConverter (original version), Canon 2x II TeleConverter, hot-shoe mount double bubble level (keeps horizon straight & subjects from appearing to stand at an angle), 5-in-1 22" foldable diffuser/reflector, Logan desktop lightbox, Canon 8X loupe, Lowepro Photo Trekker backpack (standard gear bag), Lowepro Lens Trekker 600AW backpack along with Lowepro Street & Field Waistbelt & Harness (for carrying large telephoto lens), & Lowepro Mini Trekker backpack (for when I'm traveling and have to pass through airports).

Gitzo G1348 Tripod (~$630 USD) [BOUGHT USED | MAIN SUPPORT]: I bought this tripod to replace a Bogen 3236 that had served as my main tripod for over four years. Why did I do this? The Gitzo is made of carbon fiber and weighs only 2.2 kilograms (compared to 4.5 for the Bogen) which makes it easier to carry. That, of course, is nice but the main reason I switched was because the Gitzo has no center column and thus will allow me to get down at ground level with no accessories. The Bogen tripod required me to carry an extra piece of bulky equipment (the Bogen Super Clamp) to shoot at ground level. With the Gitzo I get right down to the level of flowers and insects faster and with the added bonus of having less weight to lug around. I watched my friend and fellow photographer Martin Hanke do this for over a year with his Gitzo tripod. It didn't take me long to see the advantage. I do miss having the ability to set the legs to any angle for quick positional adjustments but feel it is a small price to pay for the gain in versatility and weight savings the Gitzo provides. Something I always do with my tripods is cover the legs with pipe insulation. That makes them much easier to carry across my shoulder and also protects the legs when in my luggage or vehicle trunk. The pipe insulation costs only a few dollars at a hardware store but makes carrying a tripod with camera & lens mounted almost a pleasure. Almost.

Sigma 1.4X EX APO Teleconverter (~$150 USD) [BOUGHT NEW | SOLD]: I bought this TC mostly because it was designed for use with the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8EX lens I purchased at the same time. It was also almost half the price of the equivalent Canon 1.4X which of course was a factor in my decision. It is about 2/3 as tall as the Canon and, strangely, the diameter of the glass is only 2/3 that of the Canon. Fortunately this smaller size translates into a unit that weighs less (143g vs. 220g) and is easier to carry around. Unlike the Canon the glass portion that mates with a lens is flush with the metal mount which lessens the likelihood that it will come in contact with something in a lens and cause damage. Optically I found images I produced with it and the Sigma 70-200mm lens were excellent. In fact, my only complaint about it is its easily-scratched EX finish. This only affects the physical appearance of the TC and does not affect the optics in any way. One quirk I noticed when directly comparing the Sigma with the Canon is that the Sigma produces a slightly higher magnification than the Canon (this is good).

Sigma 2X EX APO Teleconverter (~$170 USD) [BOUGHT NEW | SOLD]: I bought this TC at the same time and for the same reasons as the Sigma 1.4X (price and matched to the Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8EX). Unlike with the comparison between both company's 1.4X TCs, the Sigma 2X TC is the same size as the Canon 2X TC with the exception being the protruding glass that mates with a lens on the Canon. The Sigma 2X is like the Sigma 1.4X in that this glass is flush with the metal mount and thus lessens the potential for unwanted contact with something. The Sigma 2X weighs slightly less at 234g vs. the Canon 2X at 265g. When comparing both directly I found that the Sigma 2X TC gives slightly less magnification than the Canon 2X TC. I do notice a degradation in image quality using the Sigma 2X but also notice this with the Canon 2X so feel they are comparable in this area. As expected, the EX finish is used which I don't care for.

Wimberley Plamp (~$30 USD): This is a plastic claw at one end and a clamp at the other connected via Loc-link units. What it does is give you a third hand when photographing. Clamp it onto your tripod and you can use the claw to steady a plant moving in the breeze, hold a reflector or diffuser in place, or even hold a prop or subject in a certain position. It is somewhat bulky to carry around but will wrap around a tripod head and is something I may take with me when I plan on focusing on plant or macro subjects (unfortunately I almost never go out just for this purpose). Best of all, the company that produces it seems to offer excellent customer service. Soon after I purchased mine one arm of the clamp broke off. I e-mailed Wimberley to see about purchasing a replacement. Amazingly, they sent me the replacement free of charge and even paid for the shipping to get it to me! Wimberley also makes some fantastic gimbal tripod heads for large lenses and a great dove-tail style clamping system (both of which I use).

Arca-Swiss B1 Monoball (~$400 USD) [BOUGHT NEW | MAIN SUPPORT]: I used the Bogen hex plate system with their 3055 head for a number of years and was perfectly happy with it. That all changed when I purchased a large telephoto lens, however. I found the Bogen system inferior when trying to support such a large lens because I wasn't able to center the weight of the lens on the tripod head. This forced me to constantly fight the front-heavy load to keep it level. The small 3055 head tended to creep when locked down with such a heavy load too. Additionally, no matter how much I torqued the hex plate screw into my big lens' tripod mount the lens would twist on the plate when in use or when carried while mounted to the tripod. To fix this at minimal expense, I first tried purchasing the larger Bogen 3038 Super Ball head. This helped a little with the creeping when the head was locked but I still could not balance the load on the head and the hex plate still twisted. So, I next tried using the Bogen 3268 plate which has a larger surface area. Unfortunately, it also twisted when the heavy lens was mounted. So, I finally buckled down and bought an Arca-Swiss B1. Before you do the same please keep in mind that I was perfectly happy with the less-expensive Bogen system until I bought my large lens. If I didn't use large lenses I would still be using the Bogen system with no complaints.

The Titt Inn. What must be the best place to stay in southern Norway.

Since I was buying the Arca-Swiss B1 I thought I might as well complement it with some great accessories. So, instead of the standard Arca-Swiss brand plates I looked for a better option. What I found was that Wimberley made a replacement clamp for the B1 with two improvements. First, the clamp tightening screw is held captive so you cannot accidentally unscrew it completely from the clamp and lose the small screw, knob, and/or spacing cylinder in the field rendering your head completely useless. But my favorite improvement in the Wimberley clamp is the two grooves in the clamp's base. These grooves match up perfectly with small stop screws on the end of Wimberley lens plates and prevent whatever is mounted to the plates from sliding completely out of the clamp and falling to the ground. This can be quite useful in case a person inadvertently forgets to tighten the clamp back on the load. It also allows me to quickly adjust the placement of the load in the clamp (like a focusing rail) without having to worry that I will accidentally slide the load completely out. I now use the Wimberley C-10 clamp with Wimberley lens plates on all my lenses that have tripod mounts. How could this clamp be made even better yet? By hollowing out some of the aluminum and adding two small bubble levels to the back and left edges. This change would make the clamp perfect by allowing me to ensure my camera is level when I want it to be and prevent me from getting crooked horizons. For now, the best solutions out there for this are the use of either a hotshoe-mounted bubble level (what I regularly use) or a pan/tilt/swing head along with a level at the top of the tripod (like many Gitzo and Bogen tripods already have).

For my camera bodies, I would have loved to buy Wimberley L-brackets with the same type of stop screws that are on their lens plates but they don't produce custom L-brackets for camera bodies yet. So, instead, I bought Kirk Enterprises L-brackets. These don't have stop screws like Wimberley plates but do allow me to quickly go to a vertical format without having to flip my ball head over to the side. The advantage of this is that my lens position barely changes if I decide to try a vertical shot and therefore I don't have to reposition my tripod and recompose to get the same perspective I had with the camera horizontal. This saves me time in the field and that could be the difference between getting a shot and missing it. Something worth mentioning is that with the L-brackets I could have bought an Arca-Swiss B1E, which has no panning base, and saved a little cash. But that panning base still comes in handy when using L-brackets. If I shoot with the camera facing down or up at more than about a 30 degree angle I need to put the stem of the head into the slot of its base. With no panning base, I would then have to move the tripod if I wanted to adjust the camera left or right because the sides of the slot prevent this movement. Also, if I want to use a standard camera plate someday then I'll have to move the stem into the groove on the side of the head for vertical shots. Again, without a panning base, changing composition left or right in such a situation requires movement of the tripod. A last argument for getting a ballhead with a panning base is that, if you ever want to use a Wimberley Sidekick gimbal head mounted to your ballhead (as I do), you will need the panning base to pan left to right. For all those reasons I strongly suggest you buy a head with a panning base. Don't skimp here to save a few bucks!

The latest Kirk L-brackets have a new feature which I like. They have a metal piece which runs through the left camera strap mount and thus connect to your camera at two points; the left carrying-strap mount and the tripod mount. I don't know if that makes them any more secure (the ridge at the front or back of the old ones seemed to do a great job with that already) but it should serve to make them more solid with less flex when shooting in vertical format.

If you are using the Bogen hex plate system and are considering a big telephoto lens, I'm sure you'll also find the Bogen hex plates unusable with such large lenses. But here's another option that may work for you: buy a full-size Wimberley gimbal head along with a dove-tail lens plate. As long as you are only using your telephoto lens when you go out with the Wimberley head, that setup would work fine. You'd just have to put on your regular head for all your other photography and swap to the Wimberley head when you planned to use the large telephoto. I love the B1 and am glad to have one but others could get away with doing this and I think they'd be perfectly happy with the arrangement.

Ideally, someday I'll buy a second tripod and the full Wimberley head and use them only when I'm shooting wildlife and use my current Gitzo tripod and Arca-Swiss B1 head when shooting everything else. But for now using the B1 coupled with the Wimberley Sidekick works great and saves me that expense (easily over $1,000 US dollars). If curious, as of July 2007, I'd buy the Gitzo GT3540XLS tripod along with the Wimberley Head, version II. That tripod costs $750 US dollars and the Wimberley Head version II $600, or $1350 total. And that's why I still use my single Gitzo G1348 tripod, the Arca-Swiss B1 head, and put on the $250 Wimberley Sidekick when using my large telephoto lens. A bonus of shooting this way is that I can carry another lens with the large telephoto and mount it or the camera directly to the B1. With the Wimberley Head, I'd lose the versatility of a ball head when using something other than the long telephoto (or be forced to carry the B1 and swap between the two heads in the field).

Here are a few short notes on other equipment I use:

Digital Media Management: When shooting wildlife or any sort of action, I keep one or two unused Compact Flash cards in my right pants pocket. That way, instead of wasting time digging in my bag looking for another one when I fill the one in the camera, I can quickly pull the new one from my pocket and load it. I put the used cards in my left pants pocket. If I have only a few frames left on a card and there's a lull in the action, I'll take advantage of it to go ahead and swap cards too. That way, if I get some great action, I won't miss the second half of it because my card is full forcing me to make a change when I should be taking pictures.
Microfiber Cloth: Most people say not to do it, but I will carefully use a shirt tail to clear off crap from the front of my lenses in the field (of course, I'm actually cleaning off the protective UV filter and not the actual lens). However, if the lenses get grease on them or I need to clean off a filter, I'll use a microfiber cloth and that is why I always carry one with me.
Custom Function Guide: Of course, with digital cameras, the LCD menu system gives you all the information you need about the custom functions. But with the EOS 3 film camera (and for the Elan 7 I used to carry), you only have this information in the manual. I didn't want to carry around the whole manual all the time so I made a small, printable guide which I carry with me. It also has all the ISOs, apertures, and shutter speeds available in both one third and half stop steps for reference. If you want a copy you can download it (22K Excel spreadsheet).
Remote Switch: This is essential for macro photography. Although you can use the built-in timer coupled with mirror lock-up to reduce mirror-slap-induced vibration in SLR cameras, using mirror lock-up along with a remote switch is a better option. Why? Because, with the remote switch, you can precisely time the moment of exposure. I use this mostly when presented with an intermittent breeze. I'll enable mirror lock-up and push the remote switch button once to lock up the mirror. Then I wait for a lull in the breeze to push the button again and get an exposure without being at the mercy of the wind. Not all camera bodies support this functionality but, fortunately, both of mine do.
Digital Camera Power: My first digital SLR, the Canon D60, would eat batteries like crazy. I could easily go through two fully-charged Canon BP-511 batteries in a day with it. Now I'm using a Canon 30D along with the BG-E2 vertical grip which holds two BP-511A batteries. Amazingly, I can shoot for two or three full days, even in cold weather, before I need to swap or recharge the batteries. I think this can be attributed to three things. First, I'm now using BP-511A batteries and they hold more Amp-hours of power than the older BP-511 batteries. Second, I'm using two of them instead of just one. Third, the 30D is supposed to be more power-efficient than previous Canon models and it certainly seems to be the case! I'm still amazed that I can go for a full day with the large focus motor of my big telephoto lens and the LCD back panel of the 30D constantly being powered by two BP-511A batteries and they will still show a full charge at the end!
Battery Grip: When I bought the 30D I decided to purchase the battery grip too. Why? Well, I was shooting a lot of vertical wildlife shots with the D60 and my right wrist and arm were simply getting tired being constantly bent over the top of the camera! I was also getting weird, uneven sunburns on my arms from being in that awkward position for extended periods. The battery grip gives me a shutter button, main dial, and the two buttons at the top right rear of the camera (one of which I have set up to enable autofocus) in the same location regardless of whether I'm shooting horizontal or vertical format images. Now I can shoot vertically for long periods with no discomfort and no weird sunburns! A side benefit of the battery grip that I didn't expect is that it holds two batteries and seems to be able to power the camera with no problem for extended periods of time.

FILTERS:

Some photographic purists are against the use of filters. I believe in using them because they frequently improve my photographs and allow me to capture light and moods that I could not capture without their use. I also feel that the best way to learn is to play around and experiment with everything available, which includes photographic filters. I initially used screw-on Tiffen filters exclusively but quickly switched to the Cokin P system and now feel the Cokin filters are better. Screw-in filters don't allow fine positioning of the filter effect, take longer to put on your lenses, can cause vignetting, and tend to cost more especially if you have to buy different sizes of the same filter or step-down rings for various lenses. The Cokin P filter size is big enough to use on wide angle lenses with minimal to no vignetting and is less expensive because one only has to buy a single filter of each type to be used with all lenses (except those with rear-mount filters). The disadvantage to the Cokin filters is that they are resin and scratch easily. Since I frequently hand hold my filters in front of my lenses they are that much more susceptible to scratching. Still, the only time I now use screw-on filters is on the front of my lenses to protect the front elements from the elements! I think there are only three filters which are essential to good landscape and nature photography, however: the circular polarizer, graduated neutral density (you'll want a few with different graduations and powers), and warming. I use those three types of filters most frequently and the rest only when I want to experiment with different effects. Here's a table showing filters I use:

72mm size	77mm size	Cokin P size
·B+W UV Multi-Coat (on Canon TS-E 24mm/3.5L) ·B+W UV Multi-Coat (on Canon 180mm/3.5L)	·B+W UV Multi-Coat (on Canon 17-35mm/2.8L) ·B+W UV Multi-Coat (on Canon 28-70mm/2.8L) ·B+W UV Multi-Coat (on Canon 70-200mm/2.8L)	·HiTech CC20G (green) ·HiTech CC20M (magenta) ·Tiffen Grad-ND 0.6 ·Tiffen Grad-ND 0.9 ·Singh-Ray Gold-N-Blue polarizer ·Cokin #021 (80B)
Cokin P cont.	Cokin P cont.
·Cokin #023 (82A) ·Cokin #028 (81C) ·Cokin #029 (85A) ·Cokin #057 (4pt star) ·Cokin #123 (blue grad)	·Cokin #125 (tobacco grad) ·Cokin #127 (mauve grad) ·Cokin #154 (3 stop ND) ·Cokin #164 (cir. pol.) ·Cokin #694 (sunsoft)

Something worth noting is that when I use the Canon 17-35mm wide angle lens on my film camera along with an effect filter (most often a warming or polarizing filter) I will usually take off the UV filter to prevent vignetting. (I don't worry about vignetting as much with the wide angle on my digital camera because of its 1.6x crop of the central section of a full 35mm frame.) I will also always hand-hold the filter when used with this lens and forego use of the filter holder again to minimize or eliminate the possibility of vignetting. I actually tend to hand-hold filters in front of the lens most of the time anyway unless I'm worried about exact placement of a certain filter or some other circumstance arises that makes me feel using the filter holder is better (eg. cold, shaking hands which can't hold the filter steady or could bump the lens and make the image blurry).

While on the subject of vignetting, here's a tip I learned to minimize vignetting from the Cokin filter holder. I figured this out over time while still shooting film because I'd strangely get vignetting in only one or two corners of my pictures and it was definitely caused by the filter holder. When using a filter with a rotating effect like a polarizer, adjust it to where you want the effect by rotating the filter holder and then, while holding the polarizer in place to prevent it from rotating further, rotate the filter holder so that the arms which hold the filter are oriented on the long edges of the frame. That means, when shooting a horizontal picture, the arms should be at the top and the bottom of the lens parallel to the ground and, when shooting a vertical picture, the arms should be at the left and right of the lens perpendicular to the ground. Why? Because that keeps those arms away from the corners of your image where the exposed portion is closest to the edge of the image circle produced by the lens. I'm not saying this will eliminate vignetting completely (which is why I don't use the holder at all when shooting with a wide angle lens) but it will minimize it.

IN THE BAG:

How do I carry all my gear around and what gear do I carry? That depends on where I am going, what I plan on photographing, and how long I plan on going. However, if I am taking a day trip and have the possibility of photographing an assortment of subjects how and what I pack are pictured below (last updated January 2007). As with most photographers, my gear changes as my needs change so this will certainly change in the future. However, for now, it is my standard outfit of gear and what I use and carry most often in a LowePro Photo Trekker backpack. To see a larger version of the pictures just click on them.

1. Canon EOS 3 film body with Kirk L-bracket and Op/Tech camera strap connectors hooked together.
2. One Canon EF12 and two EF25 extension tubes stacked together under a Canon 2x TeleConverter.
3. Canon 550EX flash. Although not pictured, I'll keep extra rolls of film here on top of the flash.
4. Canon 30D digital body with BG-E2 battery grip, Kirk L-bracket, and Op/Tech camera strap connectors hooked together.
5. Canon 28-70mm f/2.8L lens with shade mounted backwards.
6. Cokin P filter holder. I keep this loaded with my 10 most used P-sized filters.
7. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L lens with shade mounted backwards and Wimberley P-20 plate.
8. Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L lens with shade mounted backwards and Wimberley P-20 plate.
9. Cokin Circular Polarizer, Blue-Yellow Polarizer, and 3-stop neutral density filters along with a Op/Tech padded camera strap.
10. Canon EF 17-35mm f/2.8L lens with shade mounted backwards.

1. In this compartment, I carry the following: Canon RS80-E3 remote switch, Canon Off-Camera Shoe Cord 2, Cokin P filter holder, Cokin 72mm and 77mm adapter rings, a micro-fiber cloth, a laminated EOS-3 custom function guide I made, tissues, whistle/compass/magnifying glass/mirror/thermometer/LED flashlight multi-purpose survival tool, and a magnesium survival fire starter.
2. In this compartment, I carry the following: all my unused Compact Flash storage media, a double bubble hot-flash mount level, another LED flashlight, and an allen wrench for fixing my lens/camera plates and head.
3. In the third comparment, I carry the following: four extra AA batteries for the flash, an extra 2CR5 battery for the EOS 3, and 2-4 spare BP-511A batteries for the digital camera.
4. Although not numbered, I also carry the following in the outside pockets of the backpack lid: around 100 feet of nylon 550 cord, an emergency blanket (the shiny silver kind), a red plastic emergency poncho, a flash extender/fresnel lens, and a 5-in-1 22" reflector/diffuser.

As I get older I may work to trim this equipment down by switching to slower and lighter weight lenses and also by trying to combine focal lengths covered into less lenses. When carrying all this equipment with my large tripod and walking a few miles I definitely feel it!

When traveling via air, I use the Lowepro Mini-Trekker and fill it with the following: Canon 30D digital body with vertical grip and Op/Tech camera strap connectors hooked together, Canon 17-35mm f/2.8L lens, Canon 28-70mm f/2.8L lens, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens, two EF25 extension tubes, Canon 2x TeleConverter, two BP-511A spare batteries, a lot of Compact Flash cards, Grad-ND filters, Circular Polarizer filter, Cokin P filter holder and 77mm adapter ring, micro-fiber cloth, Op/Tech camera strap, tissue paper, and an LED light. My tripod, Arca-Swiss B1 ballhead, a pocketknife, a blower bulb, and the BP-511A battery charger go in my checked luggage. I should probably also put my flash and flash remote cord in my checked luggage but haven't ever done so. Even if I did the Mini-Trekker really has no space after the above-listed gear is loaded so I'd have to carry the flash somewhere else.

In the Lowepro Lens Trekker 600AW I carry the Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with my Canon 30D mounted and the double bubble level in the camera's hot shoe. Alongside the lens goes a pair of small binoculars, the Canon 550EX flash, fresnel flash extender attachment (I always use this with the flash when mounted on the 500mm), Canon 1.4x TeleConverter, Canon EF12 extension tube, and two Canon EF25 extension tubes. Alternately, I sometimes don't carry the flash or flash extender and instead will put in a small wide-angle like the 17-35mm or TS-E 24mm. The tripod is, of course, carried separately but the Wimberley Sidekick is kept in the Lens Trekker 600AW's tiny front compartment along with all my spare Compact Flash cards (the ones not in my right pocket ready for action). When I arrive at a location with this setup I load up the Sidekick then pull the lens and camera unit and attach them. If the light is good (meaning bright enough) I'll also mount the 1.4x TeleConverter at this time. Then I keep the bag on my back and only have to dig into it when my pocket supply of fresh CF media is running low, when I want the extension tubes, or when I want either the flash or the wide-angle lens. Usually I'll try to keep the TeleConverter handy in a pants pocket.

WHAT TO BUY:

When I started out in photography I was buying all my equipment new. But I learned quickly that it was better for me to buy used equipment and now most of my current equipment was purchased used. The main and obvious reason for doing this is that it saves money! Equipment, especially lenses and camera bodies, can be found in various stages of use or demo condition and, not surprisingly, the more used or worn an item is the less expensive it is. The only thing one must do is have the patience to wait and search for bargains. But you can save considerably if you are willing to do so. I regularly see lenses in like new condition selling for 60-80% of the cost of new ones. Other benefits besides price savings are also realized by buying used. By purchasing your equipment from others who no longer want or need it manufacturers won't have to use natural resources and create pollution to make more. Those sellers benefit by receiving something they want and can use (most likely money) in exchange for the equipment that they don't want and can't use. The only loser is the manufacturing company because it forfeits the potential profit of a new item. With older equipment you can usually find it in used condition for a very reasonable price if you're willing to do some digging and take the time to find it. However, for the latest and greatest equipment you'd be hard pressed to find someone selling it used so you're stuck buying new. The money I save by buying used equipment helps pay for my film and other equipment.

WHERE TO BUY:

The place I recommend above all others is B&H Photo Video in New York. I have placed over 20 different orders for new and used equipment from them throughout the years and have never had a single problem. Research their reputation on the web and you'll see my experience with them is common. You may end up paying a bit more when you order from them but in most circumstances the difference is worth the peace of mind you get from knowing you'll get what you ordered in the condition you expect it and will have support in the unlikely event you have problems with your order in the future.

The second place I buy equipment from is eBay. Here on occasion you can find good deals on used (and even some new) equipment. It is also a good place to sell your unused equipment. This is not even close to as secure a place to do business as B&H Photo, however, so make sure you inform and cover yourself if you try to sell or buy equipment on this online auction site.

WHERE NOT TO BUY:

One place I tried out but probably won't order from again is Adorama. Contrary to what others on the Internet state I suggest you use caution when dealing with this company. Why? Well, I found they were a little cheaper than B&H so I placed an order for a few inexpensive items along with 10 rolls of Fuji Provia 100F to try them out. Unfortunately, the personnel filling orders don't seem too bright when it comes to mathematics because when my order arrived it only included 9 rolls of film. As if that weren't bad enough the film came loosely packed in the plastic roll holders and had no information on expiration date, method of storage, or source. I ordered USA (not import or gray market) properly stored film and got some unidentifiable rolls instead. At least it was the correct film! In Adorama's defense, when I addressed both problems they notified me of the expiration date of the film via e-mail and credited my credit card for the value of one roll of film. Still, B&H includes either the box or a note with information on every film order I have placed with them and they have never had a problem getting me the correct quantity! 2003 UPDATE: I just received a film order from B&H that also had no expiration information. Like Adorama, they provided it to me soon after I asked via e-mail.

"Perfect glass" according to Adorama.

I thought it was possible that the film problem was just an isolated incident so I again tried Adorama when I found they had a used Canon 2X TeleConverter for a good price. Before buying the TC from them I wanted assurance that the glass was flawless so I e-mailed them to inquire about its status. Within two days I received a response stating that the glass was indeed flawless. So I placed the order and a little over a week later the TC arrived. Now look at the picture. See those three spots at the bottom of the back element? They are not reflections and are instead cleaning marks in the glass coating. In my opinion those three small scratches make the TC at most condition 9- and definitely make it impossible to be considered flawless. I did not attempt to return the TC, however, because I don't believe the marks will noticeably degrade my images. Still, an honest seller would make sure they were mentioned to a potential buyer regardless of the condition quoted. Sorry, Adorama; you are 0 for 2 with me and there most likely will not be a 3. 2007 UPDATE: I recently sold the TeleConverter mentioned here on E-bay. While taking pictures of it to include in the auction I simply could not find those cleaning marks no matter what the light (tried florescent, incandescent, and sunlight)! So I again have to defend Adorama because it is quite possible the person who evaluated this TC for me just didn't see those cleaning marks and truly thought the TC had flawless glass. I'm still wary of Adorama from my two experiences (remember the miscount on the film) but will consider them as a potential equipment source in the future. (If curious, in my E-bay auction I did mention that I had found cleaning marks when I had purchased the TC but couldn't find them any more.)