We have an edition next week on the 19th, then we miss a week for Christmas, returning on the 2nd January.

Updates

This week we have done a lot of updating, prices for the Nikon cameras, lenses, and flashes; Sigma lenses and Tamron lenses. There have been some new items added, prices corrected for the 15% VAT instead of 17.5% and all checked against a range of suppliers with the lowest price highlighted.

One of the major suppliers of Nikon equipment in the UK, A J Purdy & Co Ltd, has closed and is no longer trading. They say all orders placed for items in stock have been shipped and orders for items not in stock will not be. See their website at www.ajpurdy.co.uk for the latest information.

You can use the contact us button on their website to contact them if you need to.

Within our pricing comparisons we have replaced A J Purdy with another mail order supplier.

We have also noticed that the D200 is now discontinued and we think the D40 is the next camera to be replaced as many dealers are running their stock out on this model.

See:-

Nikon DSLR's Price comparisons across suppliers as at December 2008

Nikon Lens price comparison across UK dealers as at December 2008.

Price Comparison across UK Suppliers for Nikon Flash Systems as at December 2008

Sigma Lens Price Comparison across UK suppliers as at December 2008.

Tamron Lens Price Comparison across UK suppliers as at December 2008

With this information you can expand your Christmas wish list, or when you get that Christmas bonus or cash gift, choose what investment to make next in your photographic equipment. However remember that a well trained photographer with simple equipment can get better photos than someone with a fortunes worth of equipment and without the knowledge to get the best from it.

Nikon Firmware and software updates

We have also updated the page showing the latest software and firmware for Nikon cameras, accessories and software. There have been quite a few new versions, its worth looking at this page and comparing it with the camera and software you are running. You can see the firmware version on the camera by going into menus, setup menu (spanner symbol) and then going up or down until you get to 'firmware version', usually pressing up when entering the setup menu will display it straight away. To see the version of software, select 'help' and the  'about program name'. Help is the right most item on the menu bar at the top.

There is a firmware update for the SB900 flash unit, this is done by connecting it to a FX format camera (D3, D3X, D700). See the update instructions or the flash units manual to understand this.

The P6000 which is quite a powerful small compact camera, and has a GPS unit allowing it to add longitude and latitude to photos, also has a firmware update available, but is not shown on our page as we only cover DSLR cameras.

 See Nikon Firmware and Software Versions

Christmas Lights

Very many towns, cities and some smaller places have their Christmas lights on now. Some more exciting displays than others. We have a listing of some of the places that we have identified with Christmas light displays.

See Where to Photograph Christmas Lights.

As well as shopping centres and the like there are a number of special displays, and also people who put a very large number of lights on their homes, often in order to raise money for charities.

If you take a look at the recent editions, (on menu on left) and look at the edition of the 17th October you will see we did a variety of articles on night time and street photography, that may be of help when tackling the Christmas lights.

Want to warm up in January or February

Camera Images is shortly going to be announcing a choice of three NEW courses,  6 day, 10 days and 13 days, based in Ghana, West Africa. These will include the popular Hands on a Nikon course (HNK) and then travel around the country in a chauffer driven 4WD car with a guide and photo tutor to gain a lot of experience and get great photographs. Those who have already done the HNK course will instead have a different tutorial programme, tidying up and then expanding their knowledge.

Recently Keith, from Cameras Images, spent some time in Ghana, taking over 900 exceptional photographs and checking out everything from locations to individual hotels. He is working with two partners with tours experience in the country to arrange theses exceptional photographic opportunities, but will be going out to run these courses personally. They have the programme together and most of the parts costed, but are just confirming a few details.

The course will include just about everything, excluding the air fares. Air fares start at under £200 plus taxes return. The course lengths of 6 and 13 days allow an extra day after the course to see the capital or do other things, but also provides a safety margin for getting you back near the airport in good time. Like all Camera Images courses this is 1 to 1, and has a lot of scope for tailoring, allowing the route to be modified to include topics of more interest to you or more relevant at the time of year you want to go. They can take a second person along if you like, for a small amount more. We will have more information on this shortly, but if you want to make sure you get information fast as soon as it is available then let Camera Images know of your interest by using the response form on their website www.camera-images.co.uk

What a good way to get over Christmas!

Non Nikon users will be able to make use of the same facilities, as other versions of this is to be offered by Photography Skills as VIP Masterclasses. - Watch for full details within the next few editions of this newsletter.