TekPicks

We are a Nikon shop for all of our high DSLR cameras and accessories, but if you are ready to put down the point and shoot model and graduate to a “Professional Grade” camera the choices can be pretty overwhelming. In our opinion, if you are spending less than $1,000 on your camera most brands will not produce a discernible difference in quality.

One factor to consider are the accessories. You can easily end up spending more on your add-on’s then the camera itself. That is one of the reason we like the Canon Speedlite 270EX Flash. It small, but packs plenty of power, has a wonderful range of motion including swivel and a recharge time of less than 4 seconds.

The best part is at about $150 the Canon Speedlite 270EX Flash is half the price of other comparable models. Plus as you get more comfortable and want to explore other options Canon has a whole family of EX flashes available suitable for just about any need.

Its no secret we love our Nikon cameras. Earlier this week the company announced a slew of new models for 2009 including one we will be adding to the collection, the CoolPix P90. The 12.1 MP camera packs a whopping 24x optical zoom via a NIKKOR ED glass lens along with other handy features like Nikon’s new 4 Way VR image stabilization and face recognition system. The electronic LCD viewfinder is a generous 3 inches and can be adjusted for the optimal viewing angle. The cost is pretty reasonable too at less than $400. The Nikon CoolPix P90 should be available for sale in April.

Grab It: Nikon Coolpix P90 12.1MP Digital Camera with 24x Wide Angle Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Zoom and 3 inch Tilt LCD

Remember when flash memory was expensive? Today, not only is it cheap but its fast too. Our favorite is the Transcend card pricing out at a mere $1.87 per GB with a free USB reader thrown in. Plus it can read/write at a minimum speed of 6 MB/Sec which pretty awesome since we often transfer hundreds of high resolution images at a time. Just make sure your device is SDHC compatible.

Grab It: Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card with Compact Card Reader

This looks like a nifty little gadget that could prove to be useful. It is a 3 axis level that snaps into the flash shoe. Not something what we would necessarily everyday but for those precision photos during an evidence inspection it could be pretty handy. [Via]

Grab It: 3-Axis Bubble Level

Rob Galbraith of Digital Photography Insights has create a very nice and extremely detailed database of CF/SD card performance for over 20 different cameras and card readers with the regular addition of new devices.   He has also posted a great tutorial on how he defines and tests performance.  Be sure to check out this resource before you next flash memory purchase. [Via]

We have been drooling over the Casio EX-F1 for more than a year, but even with the ability to record at 1,200 FPS we couldn’t justify the $1,500 price for a camera that wouldn’t be our primary shooter.

But the just released Casio EX-FH20 might be the perfect compromise. First, its less than half the price coming in at a penny under $600, while still managing to retain the most lust worthy features. Specs include 9.1-Megapixel Resolution – up to 3456×2592 RAW (DNG) or JPEG Stills, 1280×720 at 30 fps AVI, Motion JPEG HD Movies; 20x optical zoom; 3.0 TFT Color LCD screen; high definition 720p video recording; plus a toggle between high speed slow motion video, so you capture in 30-210 fps, 420 fps, or 1,000 fps. Casio has also simplified the menus to make navigation more streamlined than the EH-F1, from which we have read was pretty clunky.

Just think of all the explosion goodness you can record at 1,000 FPS…

Grab It: Casio High Speed EXILIM EX-FH20

The Eye-Fi is sweet little gadget.  In addition to posing as a standard 2 GB SD memory card, the Eye-Fi also packs a Wi-Fi chipset they allows you wirelessly upload your photos from any hotspot.  You are not just limited to transfers to your PC, the software can also move your pics to a variety of photo sharing sites like Picasa, Flikr, Facebook and Snapfish.  One note, the Eye-Fi cannot handle the RAW format, so power users will still need to employ traditional transfer methods.

Grab It: Eye-Fi Card, Wireless 2 GB SD Memory Card

Extensive field work does not always lend itself to carrying or positioning a traditional tripod. Not to fear, the Gorillapod tripods solve this problem. They are small, lightweight and forever flexible. allowing you to wrap them around darn near anything to grab that perfect shot.

Grab It: Joby GP1-01EN Gorillapod Flexible Tripod (Grey)

With cameras and all the gear that goes with them costing thousands of dollars, it is not impractical or unreasonable to consider purchasing a high end case to carry everything.  Haliburton makes a quality product and this case is no exception.

Features include a heat-tempered aluminum shell which has the strength of steel at only one quarter the weight, sturdy triple-digit combination lock for superior security, easy to customize, high-density, layered foam padding, extra strength hinges withstand pulling of over 400 pounds, sturdy drawbolt latches and an innovative neoprene gasket keeps out dust and moisture.  This model also meets the TSA requirements for carry on luggage size at 13″ x 21″ x 7.5″ which a great thing because I never check my equipment.  Grab It.

I am not sure if it was eating too much lead paint as a kid or living under power lines all those years, but I cannot hold a camera steady to save my life.  Sure most new camera’s have some sort of image stabilization feature and there is always the old string and a washer trick, but that only works if you are holding the camera horizontally.  The Olympus E-520 is the first shooter to add vertical stabilization as well to help eliminate all those blurry pictures.  The E-520 also sports a 10 MP LIVE-MOS Sensor, HyperCrystal II LCD, automatic face detection and wireless flash capabilities.  The body starts at just under $600 making the E-520 a great option for a back-up or weekend camera for us power line kids.