My favorite camera stores are B&H Photo, Adorama, KEH Camera, and Amazon. I will tell you why I like them, and why you should be wary of so many other online camera stores.
My Favorite Online Camera Stores
Author Archives: Jim
Camera Choices: Using Full Size Test Images from DPReview.com
I was comparing the Canon PowerShot SX280 HS with other cameras with similar features (shirt pocket size, 20x zoom range) like the Panasonic Lumix ZS30. There weren’t full reviews of either camera so I went back to reviews of the Canon SX260 HS and the Panasonic ZS20, assuming the current cameras would be somewhat better than the older models and that both would have the pedigree traits of their predecessors (which is often but not always the case for a camera’s family tree).
Should You Buy “Gray Market” Photo Equipment?
What is “gray market” photo equipment and how does it differ from “U.S. Warranty” equipment? Gray market equipment (also called “parallel import”) is imported into the U.S. but bypasses the official U.S. distributor. Gray market equipment costs less, sometimes a lot less.
Great Deal? Don’t Get Burned!
Is it a great deal? Or is it a rip-off? You are searching online for a good price and you come across a terrific deal. Are you about to get burned? There are ways you can tell.
Buy What You Can Afford!
The first rule when choosing camera gear is to buy what you can afford. It is hard to enjoy taking pictures if you are worried about how to pay for the camera you are holding. So buy what you can afford now, and upgrade later. And the second rule? We will get to that later.
How Long Will Your Photo Lab Prints Last Without Fading?
Estimated Print Life from Wilhelm Imaging Research
Would you rather have a high quality print that will last up to 50 years, or a print that will fade in 5 years? That’s not all. The print with a very short life expectancy might cost more than the better quality print. People buy short life span prints all the time. Why? Because they don’t have the right information, and they may have no idea that prints have such widely different life spans.
How to Get the Best Results from the Best Online Photo Labs
The lab you choose and the kind of file you send to your lab can make a huge difference in the quality of prints you get back. How do you pick a good online photo lab? How do you get the best results from your lab? What color space should you use for your digital files and how do you convert your files to the right color space? How big a print can you make from your digital files?
Buyer’s Guide: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs, and More
Welcome to my online buying guide for photographers. With over 80 articles it is one of the most comprehensive photography buyer’s guides on the web.
I get lots of photo questions, especially at this time of year, and many of them begin with “What is the best . . . .” They usually come from photographers or someone who is shopping for a photographer. If you are shopping for yourself, or for a photographer in your life, this series is for you.
My “best of the best” series recommends the best photo gear, accessories, software, books, DVDs, online photo labs, and a whole lot more. Thanks to the information in these articles I get emails from photographers thanking me for saving them time, frustration, and a lot of money.
This article is updated annually in November, with some updates in between. Most recent update: November 29, 2025.
Photographers and Artists Do “Freedom From Want”
Norman Rockwell’s classic painting “Freedom from Want” was created in 1943 and was part of his Four Freedoms series. It was inspired by FDR’s annual address to Congress, January 6, 1941. That address became known as the Four Freedom’s Speech.
Thanksgiving in Haxtun
When I was growing up, we spent many a Thanksgiving at grandpa’s house in Haxtun Colorado. Thanksgiving was a much anticipated and happy time. We would leave home on Wednesday afternoon after dad got home from work. It was a long 7 hour drive to Grandpa’s house in those pre-interstate highway days, so it would be really late by the time we arrived.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Iowa, November 25
Fall colors on the Lamoni Trail, November, 25, 2016.
We were walking the Lamoni Trail and spotted these colorful leaves and berries.
Tutorial: Tweaking a Photo and Remembering the ACR Settings
Max, Before and After ACR.
In this tutorial I will show you how to change the color balance of a RAW or JPEG file, and how to remember those changes to make the same exact changes to other files shot in the same lighting conditions.
How to Photograph an Event and Choose Your “Selects”
Graceland University: Ag FFA and Business Simulation
In a prior article I shared 11 photos from a project for Graceland University. I was in the process of choosing selects. Years ago a photo editor said, “Take lots of photos and send me the very best.” Most editors don’t want to go through all of your images. It is the photographers job to go through the photos from an event and choose the best images for the editor. They are called “selects”. The editor goes through the selection and makes the final choices as to which image or images will be published.
Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) vs Comet NEOWISE
Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) over Home Lake, Lamoni Iowa. October 10, 2025.
Comet Lemmon was not particularly bright compared to other recent comets that caught the attention of the public. Here are two views of the same image. The first image above shows you the whole frame. The comet is below and to the right of the two bright, side-by-side stars that are near the center of the frame. The tail of the comet is hard to see. This image was taken with a 50mm lens on a tripod mounted Canon 5D MArk III digital camera. The ISO was cranked up to 10,000. The exposure was a 15 seconds at f5/6. Even at that the comet is not very bright. This comet was better suited to long exposure telescope images that track the comet across the sky. Click the images to see larger versions.
Graceland University Sponsors “Ag, FFA, and Business Simulation” for High School Students
High school teams work on their designs.
It was a fascinating day. Hundreds of high school students from across Iowa gathered for a fun day of activities and competition. The students were divided into teams and each team was guided by a Graceland student or professor from the business and agriculture departments.
All of Your Most Important Photos Deserve to be Optimized
Kaylyn
Kaylyn is a regional director for Growing Hope Globally (see the third link below) and I was taking pictures of her addressing a local church group.
Testing My Satellite Communicator on a Cloudy Day
Satellite Communicator
While my car was being serviced I was sitting in the auto dealer’s waiting room. I was bored. I looked at the dense clouds outside and decided to see if my satellite communicator could pick up the satellites through that cloud layer.
Fall Color Series: August 28 – December 18
Aspen grove, Marshall Pass, Colorado.
Autumn is by far my favorite nature photography season. I take more pictures in the fall than any other season of the year.
Ohio, November 18
Autumn Leaf, Columbus Ohio. November 18, 2016.
I was out in our neighborhood and spotted this autumn leaf still hanging in there.
Iowa, November 17
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 17, 2025.
Here in southern Iowa most of the deciduous trees have lost their leaves, and the leaves in the trees at Lake LaShane that were pretty and colorful just two days ago are turning brown. The fall color season is pretty much over. It was great while it lasted. In my head I can hear the Mamas and the Papas singing “All The Leaves Are Brown. . .”
Photographing the Sun, the Moon, and 8 Planets in Less than 24 Hours
Mercury and Venus northeast of Lamoni at 6:01 am. November 16, 2020
Exposure Data: Canon 5D Mark III, Canon EF 50mm lens. f/4, 2.5 seconds, ISO 800.
For quite some time I have wanted to photograph 8 planets in less than one 24 hour day, along with the sun and moon. It is not always possible due to one or more of the planets being lost in the glow of the daytime sun. Cloudy weather can get in the way too. Five years ago today, November 16, 2020, was the day. I finally had my chance and I accomplished my goal in 12 hours and 27 minutes.
I began with Venus and Mercury early in the morning. Click any of these images to see larger versions.
Iowa, November 16
Autumn leaves, Lamoni Iowa. November 16, 2025.
Most trees in southern Iowa have dropped their leaves but a few are hanging in there.
Iowa, November 15
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 15, 2025.
Fall is still hanging around at my favorite lake in southern Iowa.
Tutorial: How to Use the “Slow Shutter” iPhone app at Night
My favorite iPhone photo apps, including the Slow Shutter app.
It started when a friend asked me how to use a long shutter speed on her iPhone. It was at night not long after the recent Northern Lights excitement all across the U.S. I told her to get the Slow Shutter app. This article is a brief tutorial to get you started using the app at night.
Iowa, November 14
Autumn leaves, Lamoni Trial. November 14, 2025.
Most of the trees on the Lamoni Trail have dropped their leaves, but this tree is still looking good.
Iowa, November 13
Autumn leaves at Lake LaShane. November 13, 2025.
Fall colors are fading in southern Iowa, but there is still some color here and there.
Iowa, November 12
Autumn Leaves, Lake LaShane. November 12, 2025.
A lot has changed over the last two days. The fall colors are fading in southern Iowa. The prettiest trees are starting to lose their color. A lot of trees are bare and trees with leaves are turning brown. I am still finding patches of color and a few trees that are hanging in there with some nice color. Like yesterday, two of those trees were at Lake LaShane.
Northern Lights
Northern Lights, Home Lake. November 11, 2025.
The Northern Lights over southern Iowa were the brightest I have ever seen. A long row of cars showed up at the lake as people came to watch. The lights filled so much of the sky that I used a 15mm lens that has a 180 degree diagonal angle of view to take most of it in.
Iowa, November 11
Autumn leaves, Lake LaShane. November 11, 2025.