With some parts of the world celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend and Christmas fast approaching I’ve noticed a marked increase in email questions from readers asking what digital camera, lens or accessory that they should buy themselves or a loved one.

Tutorials on Buying Digital Cameras

• How to Buy a Digital Camera – a 9 Step Guide
• Should You Buy a DSLR or a Point and Shoot Digital Camera?
• Which Memory Card Should I Buy?
• When is the Best Time to Buy a Digital Camera?
• How to Choose a DSLR Camera
• DSLR Lenses – An Introduction

Digital Camera Deals

Looking to buy a digital camera? You can shop using the following online options for some good deals and also help us here at Digital Photography School at the same time. A small commission from the sales generated from the following links goes to help keep DPS growing and improving.

• Amazon’s Digital Camera section have some pretty good deals at the moment – particularly with it’s Black Friday Sale which has been on this weekend. They’re also offering FREE 2GB memory cards with any purchase of one of their top 20 Digital Cameras.
• We now also have a little Digital Photography School Store which we’ve opened with the help of Amazon. You can visit it here.
• Lastly – if you’re looking for a useful place to compare prices of cameras online check out this useful Digital Camera Price Comparison tool.

Photography Monthly Magazine (September 2007) has a handy review of fast telezoom lenses that gives comparisons between 10 different options on the market.

The review shows that if you’ve got money to spend that you can definitely get improved results – however most of the lenses tested produced excellent results despite the variation in prices.

Following is a brief summary of each lens reviewed, it’s rating and it’s Pros and Cons. For the full reviews with more detail check out Photography Monthly’s September 2007 edition.

1. Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR

Rating: 92 out of 100
Description: “Just as desirable as the Canon f/2.8 version, Nikon goes a step further by giving two Vibration Reduction modes for Normal and Active use. “
Mounts available: Nikon
Pros: Excellent image quality, very fact focussing, vibration reduction options.
Cons: Tripod mount tricky for some quick release systems

2. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

Rating: 91 out of 100
Description: “As you would expect from a lens this far up the price ladder, the optic keeps the same orientation throughout it’s operation with internal focusing and a non-rotating front element.”
Mounts available: Canon
Pros: Fast, accurate, able to be used with teleconverters due to it’s f/2.8 aperture.
Cons: Issues with attaching tripod collar, mid range in terms of cost.

How should I care for my digital camera’s memory card to make it last as long as possible?

Where there are many things that are unique from one digital camera to another – one thing unites us all (or most of us) – we all media cards to store our photos onto (the exception to this are a few cameras with lots of internal memory).

So how can you care for your memory card and get the best results from it?

Here are 13 tips for using and caring for Memory Cards (note – if you want advice on buying memory cards check out our post on Which Memory Card Should I Buy:

1. If Disaster Strikes – Stop Shooting

If you have a disaster and accidentally delete your images or see an card error message – stop using the memory card. All is not always lost when you have one of these problems and it may be that you can still recover your images – the key is to stop using the card or else you might overwrite your other images. Data recovery services or tools may be able to restore your images for you.

2. Delete Images on your Computer not In Camera

Deleting images from your card while the card is on your camera can actually prolong the life of your memory card. The rule is that the fewer times you add or remove data on your card the better. Erasing all your images at once after uploading them to your computer means one erase cycle rather than lots of them if you delete them one at a time on your camera.

3. Remove Cards Safely When Connected to Your Computer

After uploading images to your computer from a card make sure you follow the proper procedure to eject the card before removing it from your card reader. In OSX this means right clicking the drive assigned to your card and hitting ‘eject’. In Windows use the ’safely remove hardware’ option in your system tray to remove the card and the card reader).

A few weeks ago we posted a review from Camera Labs that explored the options for Canon DSLR owners when it comes to kit lens upgrades. This of course only appealed to those of you with Canon DSLRs and I received a few emails from readers wanting information on alternatives for Nikon users.

I’m not a user of Nikon DSLRs so couldn’t offer much personal advice – but today stumbled upon a helpful article in Digital SLR User magazine (UK) which reviews 4 Nikon Kit Lens Alternatives. Nikon generally offers two options for kit lenses (the 18-55mm II and the 18-135mm – but you can always choose to buy the camera as a ‘body only’ option and upgrade to a better lens. This review looks at the two kit lenses already mentioned and two other possible upgrades to consider.

If you want to read the full review I recommend tracking down the August 2007 edition – but if you just want a quick summary – here’s how they ranked the four alternatives:

1. Nikkor DX 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6 – rating: 4 Stars

This was the most highly recommended of the four lenses due to it’s good build quality, excellent zoom range and image stabilization. Of course price wise it was almost double all of the other lenses tested). On the downside it was the biggest and heaviest of the zooms and had a little ‘zoom creep’ (the zoom moves a little when you point it downwards).

Their summary of this Nikon Lens was – ‘The DX 18-200mm is the graddaddy of zoom lenses in the Nikkor range right now, and it’s compact, easy to use and offers superb zoom capability. The second-generation VR II technology is an added bonus.’

It received 4 stars for ‘handling’, ‘functions’ and ‘operation’ and 3 stars for ‘cost’.

2. Nikkor DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 – rating: 4 Stars

The ‘Pros’ of this lens were listed as brighter f4.5 aperture at 70mm, superior build quality and longer zoom than the basic kit lens. The ‘Cons’ were it’s expense and that it had a few corner sharpness issues.

‘Handling’ and ‘Operation’ both scored 4 stars and ‘cost’ and ‘functions’ scored 3 stars.

“The DX 18-70mm is a big step up from the DX 18-55mm II in every respect. It’s a great general-purpose zoom, especially if you’re considering a 70-300mm now or in the future.

Have you ever been out and about with your DSLR and wished that the lens that you had fitted could zoom in just a little more? That extra reach can be handy in many situations – but for most of us a new lens is out of our budget – so what’s a photographer to do?

One solution to the problem is to consider getting yourself a teleconverter for your lens. Teleconverters (sometimes called extenders or multipliers) are generally much cheaper than a new lens and can multiply the focal length of your lens by anything from 1.4 times to 2 times.

In this tutorial I’ll explore some of the pros and cons of teleconverters.

Last year I took a trip to the Australian Open Tennis and in preparation for it I treated myself to a Canon 1.4x (L) Teleconverter EF (also called extenders) to use with my 70-200mm f/4 lens.

I’d previously used this lens at similar events and while it produced some wonderful results it left me thirsting for more focal length to get even more closely framed shots of players.

Canon make two teleconverters for DSLRs – the 1.4x and 2x versions (and other manufacturers make similar models – for example Nikon’s 2x, 1.7x and 1.4x). Keep in mind that extenders don’t work with all lenses. You should check with your manufacturer before purchasing to see if you own compatible lenses. I’ll profile a few more teleconverters below.

The Pros of Tele-converters/Extenders

Focal Length – The obvious benefit of using a teleconverter on your camera is that it extends the effective focal length of whatever lens you use it with. A 1.4x converter will give you an extra 40% (extending my 200mm maximum to 280mm) and a 2x converter will give you a 100% boost (effectively giving me a 140-400mm zoom.

The benefits of this extra reach are obvious – it could turn the framing of a tennis player shot from court side from a full body shot to a tightly framed upper body shot which reveals rippling muscles, dripping sweat and the grimace of their face as they strike the ball….