New gear!

Seems like the last-minute information leaks were just about right on, once the official announcements were made.  The new D7000 looks like a LOT of camera for the money.  Lots of great features, and like Chase Jarvis said, ergonomic features are even more important than "specs" when it comes to making great images.  Go take a minute and check out the amazing images and video he and his crew put together.  (So this is what he was up to in Palm Springs a few months ago, eh?)

The 35mm f1.4 lens should be fantastic, though that's just not my favorite focal length.  Nikon shooters who prefer primes should be ecstatic with the recent introduction of the 24, 35, 85, and the rebuilt 50mm from not too long ago.  The upgraded 200 f2 will remain awesome, no changes to the optical formula are specified.  I've not shot with that lens but I hear it's a really neat piece of glass.  Maybe need to rent that sometime...  After recently acquiring the new 24mm f1.4, I sure intend to rent the new 85 and take it for a spin.

I'm trying to decide how excited to be about the new SB700 speedlight.  In appears likely to improve on most every aspect of the SB600, which already represented a lot of flash for the money.  I'm encouraged by the increased power, new interface including switches (in the manner of the SB900) to control the flash mode (for example, master, remote, etc) without having to enter the menu, and the fact that the SB700 can now function as a master.  The off-camera flash guru Strobist expressed dismay at the lack of a PC jack, but that's probably not important if you are able to work within the CLS system and avoid Pocket Wizards.  The SB700 costs a fair bit more than the SB600 but is still cheaper than the SB900 and that probably helps it remain a fairly good deal for a lot of folks.  You know, I think I'm starting to like this new strobe already.

Hmm, so I think that's enough gear stuff for one day.  All the new stuff looks great, honestly, and we already knew that our old stuff wasn't really holding us back anyway.  I'm heading out to shoot!

Until next time.

Edit: As was the case for the SB900 versus the SB800, it looks like the SB700 may not be more powerful than the SB600.  It can be difficult to tell, based on that information is published.