Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts

Monday, September 1, 2014

Deal of the Day #2 - 9/1/14

Hi Again,

This deal is not nearly as good as the last one, but more people can use it.  Walgreens is offering 30% off everything photo that they sell.  Use the code PHOTOTHIRTY at checkout to get this discount. This promotion is running through the end of September, so you have loads of time to find and print something at a discount.

Later,

John

Friday, November 4, 2011

Deal of the Day #2 - 11/4/11

Hello All,

Walgreens is giving away 25 free 4x6 prints and a free calendar.  Use code: free4x6 for the 25 prints and use code: freeforu for the calendar.  This offer expires tomorrow night.

Later,

John

Friday, June 26, 2009

Deal of the Day #2 - 6/26/09

Hello All,

A Shutterfly coupon

SHIP30 - Free shipping on orders of $30 or more

Later,

John

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Deal of the Day - 5/21/09

Hello All,

Snapfish is offering 50 free prints to any new customers. They use your email address for verification. You can find this deal here.

In addition any customer can $5 off any purchase by using code:

5offnow

This code is good until June 1, 2009.

Later,

John

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Deal of the Day #2 - 5/13/09

Hello All,

Today only at Shutterfly, you can get 25 free prints.

Use coupon code PRINTS to get the free prints.

Later,

John

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Deal of the Day - 1/13/09

Hello All,

Two quick deals for you.

1. Kodak is offering 75 4x6 prints free to new customers. You do have to pay for shipping, but that is still a great deal. That is a lot of free pictures on the best photo paper on the consumer market. You can find this deal here.

2. Sony is offering a free $10 Gift Card for FedEx Photo Print stations, all you have to do is give them your mailing info. You can do this here.

Later,

John

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Deal of the Day - 1/6/09

Hello All,

Two quick ones. Woot is selling a two pack of iPod speakers/chargers for $105 shipped to your door. They are Polk miDocks and you can find this deal here. That is two, not one two iPod speaker docks, one for you and one for the wife. They do not work with 3G iPhones, well they do, but not for charging.

Number 2, a great one for Valentines day. Shopping.woot is selling a 5.6" Philips digital photo frame for $28 shipped. Roses cost more and do not last as long. This frame is a touch on the small side, but for the price it is hard to beat. The only real negative with this product is that it does not have any internal memory, so you need to use a SD card or USB flash drive with it the whole time. Not a deal breaker, just an FYI. You can find this deal here.

Later,

John

Friday, November 21, 2008

Deal of the Day - 11/21/08

Hello All,

Shutterfly has a sale until the 24th, here are the details.

  • Give a personalized Pandigital(R) frame preloaded with up to 50 of your favorite photos from your Shutterfly albums. Receive 20% off frames for a limited time.
  • Save an extra 10% on photo books when you buy two or more.* Cross everyone off your holiday list with just one photo book.
Offer ends November 24, 2008.

Enter code SAVEONBOOKS in your cart. They also offer free shipping on orders over $25, for that use code SHIP25 in your cart. You can find shutterfly here.

Later,

John

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Deal of the Day #2 - 11/13/08

Hello Again All,

Here is a bit better deal than the last one. Snapfish is offering a free 20 page 8x11 Photo Book, all you have to pay for is $7 for shipping. This offer ends on November 16th. You can see the deal here, and what you are buying here. For the record I have not watched Opera, and I do not watch Opera, but her show seems to get a lot of exclusive deals, which I will take advantage of when I can.

My wife just got two of these books for free from Shutterfly and she is very happy with them. They are basically professional photo albums for the 21st century. My friend Erin made one from her wedding pictures so she could show people the pictures, but did not have to lug around a huge photo album. I thought it was a great idea, so I am sharing it with you. To me these books are great because it makes you look like you both have time and are creative, and neither of these things actually need to be true.

Later,

John

Monday, November 3, 2008

Deal of the Day #5 - 11/3/08

Hello All,

A picture deal just in time to get those costumes and shenanigans printed out for all the world to see. Shutterfly is offering many deals on prints, and other products. You can find the deals here.

The sale runs through November 5th, so act fast if you want something.

Later,

John

Monday, October 13, 2008

Deal of the Day - 10/13/08

Hello All,

This one is only good today and tomorrow, but it is a good deal none the less. Snapfish is offering up to 50 4x6 prints at $ .01 each, and then only $ .09 for each one after that. You can find this deal here.

Use coupon code FALLPENNY08 at checkout.

Here is a great primer on getting the best results when using photo printing places.

Later,

John

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Camera Thoughts and Recommendations

Hello All,

A lot of people I know seem to be in the DSLR market and have asked my opinion on the topic. Here are some general thoughts about DSLRs and some general advice on this purchase.
  1. No matter what, you will take better pictures with a DSLR
    The sensor is bigger, the cameras turn on faster, they take pictures faster, they focus faster, the flash works better, you are less likely to get any red-eye in the pictures, and the batteries last longer. There is even more that DSLRs do over regular point and shoot cameras, those are just some of the simplest advantages. The biggest single deciding factor for me in getting a DSLR was all of the times I tried to take pictures with our little canon, and they did not turn out, and all of the memories I missed. Many life events do not happen again, using a point and shoot limits what you can capture.

  2. DSLRs are flexible and upgradeable
    You can buy a new lens and transform your DSLR into a new camera. This seems obvious, but I figure I should throw it out there. Zoom lenses, Macro (up close), Fish Eye, and more.

  3. Shots in low lighting are hard for even a DSLR, get image stabilization
    I was not a believer in image stabilization at first, but now that I have used it and seen the results I am sold. It works great indoors on fixed objects. Motion indoors is not so good, but for everything else it works great.

  4. Take a while to play with a camera before you buy it
    This one is huge. Seems small but it is huge. Go to a big chain that sells the camera you are looking at and play with it. Since you are there you should see if they can match the price you found on-line. They probably cannot, but it is worth a shot.
    I was set to buy a Canon XT, but when I played with it, I did not like how it felt in my hands. The XTi was modified and I liked how it felt better, so that is what I bought. This is huge as you do not want to be holding an uncomfortable camera for hours on end, you will end up not using it.
There are my general thoughts, now on to buying advice. For a basic DSLR for someone on a budget, the Sony DSLR-A200 with the 18-70mm lens is my pick. It has image stabilization in the body, anti-dust shake, and is 10 MP. This camera with lens can be found for under $500 without even trying. Here it is from MS Live search for $470 with free shipping. You can find reviews all over the place. Two basic reviews, here and here. A middle-level review and a high-level review. You can also get this camera with a long zoom lens in a kit as well. It is more money but you can find that on this site. It is about $100 more, but well worth it if you are going to have a DSLR and be serious about taking pictures. If you buy it from Abes of Maine you can use coupon code DORM, and get an additional $10 off the price.

For a middle level DSLR get the Canon XSi. It is what I would buy if our XTi stopped working. I am a bit biased toward Canon, as I like how their pictures look, and we have canon lenses already. This camera is a bit more money, $699 retail, than the Sony, but has a better image stabilization option, and as I said, I like how the pictures look better. You can find this camera with a lens here. It is not really a middle level, it is really entry level, but price wise it is middle entry level. Here are the basic review, middle review, and high-level reviews of this camera.

I do not really know enough to recommend a high level camera, but if you buy an expensive Nikon you will not go wrong. It is the iPod argument. iPod dominates the MP3 market. The reason is they are not only the best, they are the easiest to use. If you want a MP3 player you would be crazy not to get an iPod. If you look at high-end camera stuff, like people who take pictures for a living, they almost all use Nikon. Nikon makes big boy cameras. Buy a full frame Nikon and you will be happy.

Closing thoughts
I used to recommend the Nikon D40 for the entry-level camera. It is a good camera, and very inexpensive. However it does not have dust reduction, and with a DSLR dust is an issue. Dust will get in you camera, and spot your pictures. It is not a matter of if; it is a matter of when. If you can live with that, or want to process the dust out of the pictures using the computer, the D40 is a fine way to go. If you never plan on switching lenses, the D40 is a fine way to go. If this is you, you should ask yourself why you are buying a DSLR, but it is your choice. The dual lens kit can be found for $560 and the single lens kit for around $430. This camera is slightly easier to use than the Sony, and has more lenses available for it, but the lack of dust reduction kills it.

Good luck to all in your camera purchases. The XSi is what I would get without considering cost. The A200 would be what I get thinking of bang for the buck. One last piece of advice, if you are getting a new camera, or lens for a trip, buy them early so you know how to use them and can play a bit before you leave and the pressure is on.

-- Update --

I forgot to mention what else you will need to get a fully functioning camera. You will likely need a memory card, a lens filter, a case of some type. I recommend getting at least a 4Gb card for a DSLR, and I like the Sandisk Extreme series. You can find a past post on good deals on memory cards here.

A UV lens filter is basically cheap insurance for your lens. Lens scratches are very bad, and ruin a lens, if you scratch a lens filter, who cares, you are out $10, buy another one. I buy mine from Amazon, just make sure they are the right size for your lens.

Lastly a good case is very nice. We have two, a big one for everything, lenses, tripod, charger, everything, and a little one for just the camera and one lens. The big one is here, the little one is here. I really like the little case, it is the prefect size to carry just the camera and give it some protection.

-- Update 2 --
A special thanks to Jon for the comments. In light of his comments I fixed the iPod spelling in this post. I have not read, or done any extensive research on UV filters. Using my logic and that alone it would seem that some glass with a bit of coating on it is some glass with a bit of coating on it. If anyone happens to have a more expensive UV filter it would be interesting if we could do a double blind test and see if there is any difference. If no one does for a Canon I will just buy a cheap one for Jon and assist him with the testing.

For a clarification. I do not think you should get your advice from the local experts then buy online. I do not have a problem with it, but I do not advocate doing that either. I meant that you should play with it at a big chain. They can compete with the on-line prices if they want to, the little guys likely cannot. I am all for the little guy, you usually get better service and they usually know more than a chain. The only reason I buy on-line and push the on-line purchase is that salesmen have an agenda. Maybe not all, and maybe not the little guys, but for the most part they do. They know the mark-ups on the different cameras and how much they will make if they sell you whatever. Sometimes this influences what they tell you, and possibly what you buy. If you buy on-line after doing the research yourself you take that out of the equation. Jon alluded to this in his post. All in all an excellent comment, keep up the good work.

One last thing. I was trying to figure out how I would tell someone what to buy with regard to cameras and I came up with this analogy. These three cameras are like cars. The Sony is a Toyota Camry, the Canon is a BMW 5 series, and the Nikon is a Mercedes S500. All will get you from A to B, and do a much better job than the crapbox Chevy Cavalier you have been cruising in for the last couple of years. The differences are in the extras. The Toyota does the job, and well, but you are not going to take it to the track, and you are not going to turn heads. It is fine transportation but that is all it is. The BMW you can do all that, but you can turn some heads and it will work on the track. The BMW also has bells and whistles coming out of everywhere, lots of things the Toyota will never have and the Mercedes will get around to installing sooner or later. The after market pieces for the BMW are wide and varied as well. Toyota upgrades are few and far between. Lastly the Mereceds is old and established. It does everything well and has a rich tradition and following. You can get more add-ons for this car than you know what to do with. You pay a lot for all of that, but for some it it worth it.

So there you have it, my attempt to clarify the camera differences using cars.

Later,

John

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Deal of the Day - 8/30/08

Hello All,

Shutterfly is having a labor day sale on many of their best selling products. The items include 4x6 prints, calendars, posters, cards, and photo books. You can see the entire sale details here.

I prefer Kodak paper, Shutterfly uses Fuji, but Shutterfly's service and products are quite good. They are my second choice behind Kodak, and my first if you strictly look at cost.

Later,

John