32 Hours in New York and other news…

I am back home after spending 32 hours in New York and am realizing it is getting crazy close to Christmas! Seeing all of the hustle, bustle, and action of NY reminded me that I have some shopping to do and it’s getting down to the wire. While in NYC, as I mentioned last night, I visited B&H Photo. Man, their store is AMAZING!!!! It is a busy place, but their inventory is huge. I have never seen anything like it. Want proof? Below is a pic of me with a $120,000 canon 1200mm lens. Wowzers!!! YEP, ONLY 12 OR SO MADE…EVER! But B&H has one right there in their used department.

Since I did not have a spare $120k, I walked away. But hey, that doesn’t mean you cant have some fun! If you click here you can buy it and I would make a pretty nice commission! Man, what a way to support this site! Ha ha! Really though, who would buy this lens? I wondered that. Even if I were a millionaire, this would take more than 1/10th of my cash!

I also found out that they are having some great Holiday Deals ON DSLR’S. (I found the link so you can check them out). I believe they are even offering free shipping right now. They even have some cool Pentax compacts on sale. My son wants a new compact camera for Christmas. He also wants a  musical keyboard and some Xbox games (and about 20 other things), so my wife and I checked out some of the small compact cameras while at the store. There were SO many to look at and handle. Wow. My wife liked  the Canon G11, which I hope to review soon, and I was all over the Olympus EP-1 (my review at the old site here).

It was funny because while browsing the massive store, I stumbled upon the Leica section and saw what appeared to be a Leica 50 Summiulux ASPH! Wow, that was a surprise as these things are just about impossible to find in stock right now. Turned out this was just a display model and they were out of stock 🙁 But then again, so is every camera store in the freaking world!

I have been buying from B&H Photo for MANY, MANY years and have spent a fortune with them in my lifetime. It was so cool to visit the store in person and witness their massive operation. My wife and I spent a few hours there and were both deeply impressed. Highly recommended if you are in the NYC area! If you have never been there in person, set aside 2-3 hours or more if you want to play with some of the cameras or lenses, which are all out on display. For example, they have the latest Canon 1ds out on the floor with some L glass on it. You can shoot with it and test it out. I also liked that you could bring in YOUR camera and try out any lens you want on it. I saw a woman trying out a Canon 85L on her 5DII. That is a sweet combo BTW.

After B&H, we walked to Times Square and we were pretty excited because we have never been to New York and this was one place we have always wanted to see. All of the light and excitement of Vegas, without the casinos and huge losses! What I really liked was that I did see a ton of photographers. Many were street shooting and others were doing some tripod work. We also walked by the legendary Macys store and I was instantly filled with Christmas spirit when we walked inside the store.

M9 – Zeiss 28 2.8

I had an absolute blast with my Leica M9 and the awesome Leica Noctilux 0.95, both the old and new version. While I am not a street shooting pro, I had fun attempting to shoot street stuff at F0.95 at night and high ISO. I say attempting because have you ever tried to shoot street at F1 at night? NOT EASY to do, but it was a learning experience, and I came away with some very cool keepers.

You will see all of my shots in NYC in my Leica Noctilux Review TOMORROW evening, so be sure to check back then to read the review. I have to say, after shooting that heavy Noctilux 0.95 all day, I can see where it may not the best solution for an every day lens. I kind of had a Nocti Overdose as it is ALL I SHOT during the past 36 hours.

Before leaving, my wife and I took a walk through Central Park and it was a nice day. It was in the 30’s, but unlike Chicago, it seemed calm and there was no wind. The whole experience was wonderful and we had a blast. I am from Chicago and it reminded me quite a bit of the Windy City, but with more people, more lights, and more action on the streets. I also tried the hot dogs and pizza, and sorry New Yorkers, I prefer Chicago dogs and deep dish!

M9 and New Noct at F4

Oh yea, while at B&H Photo, I also spoke with the guys about the Leica M9 situation. I was told they are getting cameras and filling all of the orders, but for now they have stopped taking pre-orders, as they want to fill the orders they have now. They are getting their weekly shipments from Leica and filling them as fast as they can.

When they start taking orders again, it will mean that they are caught up. So when they do this, I will post an update and link immediately.

So here I am, back in my cozy home and getting ready to write my Leica Noctilux 0.95 review tomorrow. I am going over my images and getting them ready.

Man, did I take a TON of images…gonna take some time so I better end this post now.  New York was awesome and it is a great place for photographers, especially if you have never been there before!

New reviews, here is what’s on the Agenda:

Leica Noctilux 0/95 – TOMORROW 12/8!

Zeiss 35 C-Biogon 2.8 ZM Lens on the M9 – Week of 12/14

Zeiss Zm 28 2.8 and 50 Planar – Week of 12/14

Leica X1 – HOPEFULLY SOON! I am hoping that this will happen within 2-3 weeks.

Nikon D300s – Getting one of these this week and will start on this one immediately. Gonna be interesting shooting a DSLR again. How will I like it after shooting a rangefinder for so long?

Canon 7D – I am also getting this camera this week. Should be cool to compare it to the D300s, its main competitor. Cant wait to try it out!

Plus, a Nikon D3s is on the horizon! More Nikon, Canon, Sony etc…all on the way soon! Too much fun!!!