What are you giving/getting for Christmas. If the sharpness fairy visits, what would you really like

kenadams

ThomasHorton, I find the best thing about being given presents is the surprise and the realization that someone just found a great gift for you because they know you well. Being asked what I want totally kills that.

My girl just took me to see Salt of the Earth, a Wim Wenders movie about Sebastiao Salgado and his works. I stood completely dumbstruck at the cinema counter, as I had no idea where we were going and when we walked into the cinema, I thought it was for the Hobbit. I'm a big fan of Salgado's and still had completely forgotten about that movie.

Photobug

A package is coming via UPS from California..it's from RRS. Now I have to wait 2 days to open the box. :-((

Sports

Yeeehaaah!
My girlfriend got me a 80-400G.
Well, in fact, I'm paying for it, myself.
And to be honest, she doesn't actually know that she gave it to me.
I'm just waiting for the right moment to tell her :-)

Photobug

Oh wow @Sports. You are starting that relationship with a great vision. Always thank the girlfriend and eventually the wife when you buy something.

sevencrossing

Yeeehaaah!
My girlfriend got me a 80-400G.

one Nikon's best
but just wait till you find out what you have bought her

manhattanboy

I got my iPhone 6 Plus early.....Santa decided this would be about like the 800mm f/5.6 if I really tried hard..... )

Its a great phone enjoy; one of my friends also went that route after he saw mine.

My girlfriend got me a 80-400G.
Well, in fact, I'm paying for it, myself.
And to be honest, she doesn't actually know that she gave it to me.
I'm just waiting for the right moment to tell her :-)

but just wait till you find out what you have bought her

LOL!!

Supermario343

Santa is bringing me the 200mm f/2 vr2 next week. I told him that's fine, I can wait :P

Killerbob

At least I have trained my family not to buy me computer or photo gear. But, the wife has agreed I can buy the 200mm f/2G when the shops open and I can order it:) It is a specialty item in Denmark, and I will have to wait, but then that's OK, I will have to wait for the RRS foot anyway...

Ironheart

Here is one thing Santa brought:

http://www.frontgate.com/mini-lens-kit/gifts/tech-gifts/738336
It's a three lens kit that will work on any smartphone or tablet. The fisheye is fun, and the optical quality is more than good enough for a smartphone and the aluminum is well machined.
Perfect gift for a photographer!

Sports

Santa is bringing me the 200mm f/2 vr2 next week. I told him that's fine, I can wait :P

the wife has agreed I can buy the 200mm f/2G when the shops open and I can order it:) It is a specialty item in Denmark, and I will have to wait, but then that's OK, I will have to wait for the RRS foot anyway...

Who would have thought that a $6000 item would be the most popular christmas "gift"?
@Killerbob: Tried Goecker? (in stock, it seems, or am I missing something?)

Golf007sd

@Killerbob: Welcome to the 200 F/2 club. You may also want to consider getting this item as well. I have found it quite handy....literarily: Kirk Super Grip Handle

PB_PM

It's in the shopping cart, and on sale. Hard not to press the checkout button... must resist.

Golf007sd

@PB_PM: Hit it, my friend...you will be amazed at its results, moreover, I would like your thought on it as well.

Needless to say, having owned it and other 50mm, I have found it to be a valuable asset in my bag. In fact, I will be taking it vs. 35mm Art on my trip to Europe simply for one reason: 77mm filter. No need to take lenses, that use odd filter....well expect the 14-24. That never stays home on my trips anywhere.

Killerbob

@Sports, I talked to them before XMas and they only had one item in stock, and I am hoping they will still have it when they are back so I can order it from them:) Living in Greenland only a few online merchants will deduct VAT (20%) before shipping up here.

@Golf007sd, that handle looks nice. Why does RRS not make that?

Golf007sd

@Killerbob: Not sure why RRS does not make one. Never the less, I just got this device some weeks ago when it was brought to my attention by kkanuck (we have two such members, this individual and I are like brothers). Very handy for when caring around big glass while moving about. Trying to hold the lens by its foot has never been my preferred method. In the past, I have always had the lens mounted on my monopod; as I made my way to a shoot.

framer

DW figured out I wanted a leveling base for my RRS tripod. Nice... TA-3-LB-HK

framer

Golf007sd

@framer: DW did good. They know a good thing when they see it Congrats

PB_PM

@PB_PM: Hit it, my friend...you will be amazed at its results, moreover, I would like your thought on it as well.

I'd love to hit that checkout button, since the price makes it tempting to do so. I do have a few reasons for resisting though. Primarily shooting data, the 50mm focal length makes up around 20% of shots in an year on average. Most of that 50mm usage comes out of the venerable 24-70mm F2.8G, rather than a prime, so that's a factor as well. The lonely 50mm F1.8G sits in my hard case most of the year, but then again it's a little on the weak wide open, which might be why I hold off using it very often. Would those usage scenarios change if I were to have a high quality 50mm lens like the Sigma at my disposal? That's hard to say. I'd like to say yes, but I'm not sure enough to hit the checkout button at this point.

Golf007sd

@PB_PM: I trust your judgment. As you know, I love my 24-70 2.8, BUT, at the 50mm, it does not touch the Sigma Art in performance....it is not even close, specially wide open. Should you ever get the Sigma, hold on to the 1.8G, the weight is a huge difference, which will make it a nice all day lens when shooting at F/2.0 or above. If that is not acceptable then sell it and put the funds toward the Art lens

Rx4Photo

The GOOD news is I got one of those novelty lens mugs for Christmas ...
The BAD news is that it's a Canon L glass mug ...
At first I didn't have the heart to tell my wife what she did because she thought it was such a cute idea, but I eventially did.

Off to the hobby store to buy some Gold Paint !! )

PB_PM

@PB_PM: I trust your judgment. As you know, I love my 24-70 2.8, BUT, at the 50mm, it does not touch the Sigma Art in performance....it is not even close, specially wide open. Should you ever get the Sigma, hold on to the 1.8G, the weight is a huge difference, which will make it a nice all day lens when shooting at F/2.0 or above. If that is not acceptable then sell it and put the funds toward the Art lens

There is no doubt in my mind that the Sigma would optically blow the 24-70mm F2.8 away. In some respects that is why the decision is a struggle, since I have been considering a move towards high quality fast primes for artistic work, and a lower cost, light weight, dual zoom kit for casual things. I don't like the idea of having both high end primes and zooms. I'd like to go one way or the other, just for financial reasons.

If I went for primes, the rumored Sigma 24mm f1.4 Art (or the Nikkor), 50mm F1.4 Art would go along well with the macro 105mm F2.8 VR I have now. I'll hang onto the 24mm F2.8 Nikkor until the Sigma appears, and if it does not I'd add the 1.4 Nikkor at some point. At which point I'd likely grab the little AF-S 24-85mm VR, to compliment the 70-300mm VR that I already have, for a light weight lens kit. Not to mention that the VR lenses are nice to have for video shooting, which tends to come in handy for family events. For that type of video work the absolute sharpness required for still isn't as important, to me anyway.

I'm sure I'll figure out what I want to work with soon. Hopefully I can make up my mind before the sales end. )

NSXTypeR

The GOOD news is I got one of those novelty lens mugs for Christmas ...
The BAD news is that it's a Canon L glass mug ...
At first I didn't have the heart to tell my wife what she did because she thought it was such a cute idea, but I eventially did.

Off to the hobby store to buy some Gold Paint !! )

It's the thought that counts.

I had a similar reaction from my mom when I bought her a phone that cost about $150. I asked her, would she rather me had bought her a $150 handbag?

She said she'd rather have the phone.

I bought her a Motorola G, 2nd generation phone, which is a pretty decent phone. But it wouldn't have gotten a decent hand bag.

kanuck

+3 on the IPhone 6 gift. Wait til you see how good the camera is! The only thing that bothers me is the 1GB buffer, which creates a snails pace once 3 or more functions are running at the same time. In my case, that would be the internet, Tmap GPS and an MMS text messaging service like Kakao Talk. The more apps running the slower it can be. Otherwise, its as close to a perfect smartphone as you can get. The 6s will hopefully have a 2GB buffer perhaps in 2015....

HipShot

Getting ready to order a MacBook Pro 15" Retina this last day of the 2014 tax year. Any particular specs I should include for processing photos?

Hammie

Getting ready to order a MacBook Pro 15" Retina this last day of the 2014 tax year. Any particular specs I should include for processing photos?

Make sure you get the full 16GB of RAM and at least the 512GB SSD drive. I don't feel you will need the dedicated graphics card for photo work, unless you will be doing more video, then maybe.

I regret not going that route with mine. I find if I have more than one Adobe product open, it sometime chugs along rather than scream through the workflow.

Just my 2 cents.