Canon 20D manual Nikon, SB-800, Speedlight

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Nikon			▲					✚ What “extras” do pros get
SB-800								for the $300, $350, or $400
								they drop on a high-end hot-
Speedlight
								shoe flash? More power, for
								starters. Nikon’s line-topping
								SB-800 Speedlight provides a
	$	$334 street
								Guide Number (GN) of 125
		www.nikonusa.com						(at 35mm and ISO 100), while
		800-645-6687						its nearest neighbor in the
								Nikon catalog, the SB-600,
With Nikon’s D2H SLR, the SB-800								tops out at GN 98. In practical
communicates the exact color tempera-								terms, you get more throw,
ture of its output (which changes with								and/or the ability to shoot at
flash duration) to ensure accurate auto								smaller apertures. The SB-800
white balancing; the SB-800’s high-								also supports full i-TTL wire-
speed FP mode allows sync speeds of								less control of up to three
up to 1/8000 sec; a modeling flash fea-								groups of remote SB-800s
ture helps confirm lighting; FV-Lock								(plus the Master Unit attached
(Flash Value Lock) lets you preset a flash								to the camera); each group can
exposure, recompose, and maintain								contain an unlimited number of
proper exposure of your subject.								flash units. How’s that for get-
								ting your money’s worth?
Canon Speedlite
580EX			PRO-LEVEL FLASH UNITS: PUT MORE POWER IN YOUR POPS
	$480 street		Pentax AF-500 FTX
	www.canoneos.com						slave. Put the AF-500 on-camera as your
800-652-2666				$299 street			main light, or take it off-camera, using its
Canon’s recently introduced flagship				www.pentaximaging.com			optical slave for more advanced lighting
flash, the Speedlite 580EX, has more			800-877-0155				setups. (Your SLR’s built-in flash would
features and additional power, but is			Pentax’s top-of-the-line unit				be the main light—all Pentax AF SLRs
both smaller and lighter than its pred-			works in either film or digital				have one.) Other features to like: a stro-		-ProLevel
ecessor, the 550EX. New capabilities			arenas, and offers something absent from				boscopic modeling light and 2-fps motor-
include wider coverage (to 14mm), full			most pro-grade flashes: a built-in optical				drive mode (to 20 consecutive pops).
180-degree swivel in either direction,
seven new custom functions, 25 per-				WELCOME THE WACOM
cent faster recycling times, more
5600 HS				relationship	to the screen, each point on the tablet corresponds pre-
even center-to-edge coverage, and a				BEST		No matter how much mousing we do, palming a flat
broader AF-assist beam that covers						lump to move a pointer will never be as natural as
				BUY
all the AF sensors of every EOS SLR.				★using a pen. That’s why a tablet can make such a dif-
			ference during retouching. Just like in real life, the harder you press,
Konica Minolta
			the larger and darker your mark, and, unlike the mouse’s relative						Flash
	$299 street		cisely to a point on the monitor.
	www.konicaminolta.us			Wacom is the ruler of the tablet world. They are the technology’s
866-515-0330			innovators, with competing tablets few and far between. Two of their
Fully compatible with Konica Minolta’s			lines are relevant to photographers: the Graphire3 for enthusiasts,
Maxxum film and hot-shoed DiMAGE			and the Intuos3 for the serious retoucher. The tablets connect to your
digital cameras, the line-topping 5600			computer via USB, and provide a surface like a super smooth mouse
HS offers pros and serious amateurs			pad upon which the included wireless mouse and pen tools require
unusually weather-resistant construc-			no batteries. The pressure sensitivity of the Intuos is twice that of the
tion that protects against moisture and			Graphire (1,024 levels vs. 512), but this difference will probably						Units
dust; high-speed syncing at all possible			be imperceptible to the average user. The big differences are
shutter speeds; a control lock to pre-			the new ExpressKeys and Touch Strip on the Intuos3. So
vent inadvertent missettings; a strobo-			conveniently located and programmable, you
scopic modeling light that lets you pre-			might find yourself eliminating the key-
view strobe effects—and Konica Minolta			board altogether and doing all your
includes a stand to help you take			work from the tablet itself.
advantage of the 5600 HS’s TTL-con-			● GRAPHIRE3: $100–$200;
trolled, wireless off-camera capabilities.			INTUOS3: $200–$750; 800-922-9348;
			www.wacom.com