Whadja Git?

So, did anybody bag any cool photo-related swag for Christmas? Just curious.

_____________________

Mike

Featured Comment by Claire Senft: "Yes, I got two sunny days with nice clouds and moderate temperatures."

Featured Comment by James: "I got a brand new baby daughter! Now I'm gonna need some serious hard drive space to keep up with the photos and video...and time to do stuff that isn't washing and cooking."

Congratulations James! —MJ

Comments

[John MacKechnie]

Well, I got a miniature plastic tripod head that you jam onto a soda bottle. It looks like a quality piece.

I also got 5 Nat Sherman cigars. Not photo stuff, but worth mentioning.

[Wes]

I got nice little lensbaby from a dear friend that I just met. How about that?

Wes

[Terry C.]

I got a very rare/cool Noct Nikkor 58mm F1.2. It is in excellent condition and at 1.2 it is beyond any of my expectations. A Christmas present to remember. On the D3 it is outstanding.

[Sparky]

Just enough cash to finally get my camera fixed. Now I'll be able to go back to looking at the world properly.

[Travis Campbell]

I got two manfrotto superclamps, a lowepro sling bag, and a Nikon 50mm f1.8 lens. :-D

[Gregg White]

I picked up a book and did a little review on my site. "Documentary and Anti-Graphic Photographs". Featuring Evans, Bresson, and Bravo.

[Flaneur]

Got a Lenspen SensorKlear. Nothing thrilling, but useful...

[Ernest Theisen]

I did real well. Two great books; David Plowden, Vanishing Point. It was reviewed here on TOP. And a very funny and cleaver book (also reviewed on TOP) about a cat that shares my nickname, Ernie by Tony Mendoza. It is a hoot. E

[Michael Eckstein]

New Macbook loaded superdrive and 4 gigs memory. It replaced my iBook and G4 tower. Mostly using it as a tower with a 20" lcd monitor.

Wow is this thing fast. Handles my printer and scanner, 2 external hard drives and a Wacom tablet with ease.

[Herman]

I got a cool olpc 'One Laptop per Child' computer. It has a camera built into it.

[David Bennett]

Yes, time and the will to sit down and make a http://www.pixelpost.org/ photoblog.

[Bill Mitchell]

I got (for myself) the Luminous Landscape DVD of his interview with Clyde Butcher. I can definitaly recommend it to every photographic artist wannabee.

[Mark]

Yeah, for X-Mas I cancelled my Nikon D3 order - I had been waiting since Sept. 6. The thing is too expensive as a landscape tool - hopefully the rumoured Nikon full frame >20MP will get me there. I am now scouring eBay for a nice 6x9 or 4x5 film tool. So for X-Mas, I'm back to basics!

[Robin Harrison]

I bagged three superb photography books: Gerry Badger's The Genius of Photography, Stepthen Shore's The Nature of Photographs, and The tony Ray-Jones monograph. That's me entertained for the next month!

[Don]

No damit!

[the editor]

I got a soft box, a couple of reflectors, some material for backdrops. (Sssh, I bought them myself!)I built myself a little space at home and I'm trying my hand at studio work for the first time:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aglimpseoftheworld/

Happy New Year, Howard

[Jean Nantel]

Hey, I guess I hit the jackpot. My sweetie gave me the new Nikon 24-70 f2.8.

[karl]

Books, books, books galore!!!!

oh, and got myself a Mamiya RZ67 Pro and heaps of other goodies but that's cos i'm going pro in the new year. not really christmas pressies, I guess, but I can pretend

[Janne]

What I got? The most precious thing of all - some free time to actually take pictures and to sift through, post-process and post them. And next week, with the whole country closed for New Years, I expect to get through a lot of my backlog.

[Chris]

I didn't get an awful lot photo related, but I did get some more Eneloop batteries. After playing around with a lot of batteries, these are without a doubt my favorites. Combine the benefits of a rechargeable and an alkaline and the result is the Eneloop. It's the only brand I'll use in my K100D now.

[John Sarsgard]

A couple of cool things. An Apple Cinema display, which I more or less asked for, and it's just great. But also (off photo-topic, but just completely cool) a turntable that outputs USB. So I can take all the old vinyl, from my late 60s college years, and flea markets since, and play them, and get them into iTunes and onto the iPod! Coolest toy I have even dreamed about in a while.

[Ian Provan]

I didn't git nuthin, I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage ...

[Rob White]

Does getting a new/old Nikon D200 and NEW fast, super wide primes from KEH count? (20/f2.8 and 35/f2)

[Chad Thompson]

I received a Nikkor 35mm f2 lens that I've been playing with all day. I also managed to add Black Saint and tha Sinner Lady to my vinyl collection. At this point I don't know which is more fun.

[Jason]

I got a rock

[Will Clark]

Colorvision Spyder3Elite monitor calibration setup. 'tis a substantial improvement on their earlier Spyder2 in both electronics and software. Works well with new H-P w2207 LCD monitor that came the day before.

[Tom Clifton]

Well it's only marginally photo related, but my folks got me a 15" MacBook Pro laptop.

For the last year, I have been trying to weigh getting a new laptop (the old one is eight years old and has booting issues) or a 300 mm f2.8 Canon lens. With a new laptop, the choice got a whole lot easier.

[Alexander Vesey]

A Noct???? Boy, I wish that Santa Claus had visited my house!

Nothing so fancy here--just Kenneth Libbrecht's _The Art of the Snowflake_.

Alex

[Mark]

Got one of those eye-fi SD/wifi cards. Doesn't really fit my workflow, but it will be fun to play with....

[Mike Johnston]

"...a turntable that outputs USB."

Wow. You got a link to this?

Mike J.

[Joseph Vavak]

I got a copy of Driftless: Photographs From Iowa by Danny Wilcox Frazier. It's a great book full of gritty black and white photographs documenting everyday life in the midwest. A nice surprise.

[Ken Tanaka]

Jeez, what a coincidence. Like Karl I, too, got myself a Mamiya RZ67 with a couple of used lenses, a couple of backs, an alternate fresnel screen, and a tilt/shift adapter for it. Back to the future, eh? Actually I've wanted to take a whirl with this camera for quite a while. I have a particular project in mind for this camera, at least initially.

My lovely wife gave me David Plowden's new book "Vanishing Point". It's positively absorbing.

[Juan Buhler]

I got a flurry of visitors to my blog, coming from a certain photography blog. Bandwidth went from ~600MB used on the 22nd to 8GB on the 23rd. Funny, actual page hits only doubled or so, meaning that people actually *looked* at the photos.

Thanks Mike!

[Thiago]

Got the book "Master Lighting Guide for Portrait Photographers". And a Black's Gift card.

And the chance to do a family portrait for a couple of good friends. It makes me really happy to get their trust into doing it.

[John Hicks]

A couple of nice partly-cloudy 80F Florida days and the time to do something photographic with them.

Time..the ultimate swag. I'm still trying to get around to scanning the snaps from our excursion to Apalach in October.

Time...

[Damon Schreiber]

a Pentax FA 1:1.4/50mm lens. And a rock.

[Doc.]

Film. 20 rolls of dirt-cheap Arista.edu... planning on going through it like a hay through a horse when I go down to Boston for New Years and New York for the new year.

I also got to give some great gifts to my family and friends, which was by far the most enjoyable thing. I bought all of my books at local bookstores, and failing that, through the amazon (evil!) links on TOP. Support local businesses, or TOP!!

[erlik]

An Olympus E-3. Now I'm waiting for the battery grip.

That nice trip didn't materialize... :-/

[Jeff Curto]

USB turntable?

I got one for my kids (heh-heh...) for Christmas:
http://www.ion-audio.com/turntables

This was after my younger son (who's now 11) had been playing a bunch of my old LPs and, when he came upon my Sticky Fingers album said... "look dad... it's interactive!"

It's really cool, works well, plugs into a regular amp as well as the USB port... and hey... a lot of us listen to tunes while doing photo stuff... so it's *sorta* related...

[John]

Well, being one of those OCD types that protects his not-so-cheap lenses with cheap uv filters I was pleased to get some nice multi-coated filters to begin upgrading. Also a couple of books, one on photoshop, one on lighting and a gift card for B&H. And I bought the PS CS3 upgrade for myself Now all I need is time and the fortitude to get out and shoot in this winter weather...

[RobinP]

>>"...a turntable that outputs USB."
Wow. You got a link to this?<<

http://www.usbturntable.org.uk/

Mike, these things are really nasty, you wouldn't want to put your precious vinyl anywhere near one.

Oh yes, for Christmas I got a very good Man Ray biography and a Willy Ronis calendar.

Cheers, Robin

[John Roberts]

A set of graduated neutral density filters.

[Rudi]

The book "Looking East: Portraits by Steve McCurry".

Also, I got myself an underwater housing for the Canon G9 (Christmas is swimming season around these parts! :-) ).

[Paul Mc Cann]

Thought I'd do my good deed for the year, so with grubby book voucher in hand I clicked through to Amazon U.K. Searching on Vanishing Point brought up a lot of titles, its a popular bookname, but inputting the authors name brought up the right one. Sixty squids ? Wow, a lot of moolah for a book. ($120 roughly)Not exactly an impulse buy. Out of curiosity I checked on Amazon.com. Hmmmm. $63. Big difference. Someones profiteering. At least they show the £ worth marginally more than the $. Adobe, who I now hate, have the reverse. Buying from them the $ is worth more then the £

[CP]

a hitachi PJ-TX200J LCD projector that went on sale :-)

[Philip Storry]

An Olympus Zuiko Digital 7-14mm 1:4 Ultra-Wide Angle lens.

And it's one of the most amazing bits of glass I've ever used. Sharp, wide, and remarkably good at controlling barrelling and other distractions...

Unfortunately, it also takes in SO much of the scene that it has become apparent that my skills at metering are... Less than I thought they were.

Time to brush up on that then! :-)

[Don Bennett]

Just two things this year. A small swiss army knife (Classic SD) and a Nikon D-300. Totally unexpected. Two things were enough.

[Luke Smith]

"Galen Rowell: A Retrospective". Not all fine art, but his photos make me want to "be there" like no other. He got the shots no one else could.

[phojus]

A Diana+

Whoopeeee

[Brian]

The turntable is likely from Ion. ion-audio.com.

[Michael]

Nothing photo related, but I did get a Nintendo Wii and a 32-inch LCD TV for the bedroom. Today my arms are sore and my thumb is numb from playing a little too much Wii Sports and Mario Galaxy :-)

[Ken Norton]

Olympus OM-4T and an hour to go shoot. First results at www.zone-10.com.

[Felix]

Well this is what Brad Pitt got!

http://stateoftheart.popphoto.com/blog/2007/12/what-angelina-g.html

I wish I had a woman giving me presents like that for xmas.

Apart from that my brother got me a Minolta X-500 which was stolen from me 3 months ago. Now all I'll have to get is a 28mm f/2.8 lens which was attached when it was stolen, although I might have a look on the 24mm f/2.4 as well.

[Milo Di Mattia]

Zuiko digital 35 f3.5 macro... From my wife. ;-)

[KeithB]

A red ryder BB gun. I wear safety glassses. 8^)

Here is a link to one of the USB turntables from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Ion-iTTUSB-Turntable-USB-Record/dp/B000BUEMOO

[KeithB]

I guess I should have also pointed out that if you already have a turntable, cartridge and pre-amp you like, 8^) you should go for a FireWire Audio interface like the FirePod. That, Garageband, and maybe Audacity are all you need to put albums on iTunes:
http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/Tutorials/TransferringLPs.html

[Peter Robinson]

What might be better than a USB deck is one of these http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/gadgets-gizmos/instant-music-vinyl-cassette-ripper/index.html which allows you to use your existing deck/amp.

[Tim Bray]

I got a Christmas-Eve walk at a chilly but sunny beachfront park where an elderly but determined citizen found the chance to sunbathe: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2007/12/24/Christmas-Eve

[Scott Jones]

a pair of gray sweatpants that are too short.......how depressing......

[cog]

got a 500GB external drive

[Andy Frazer]

I got a new Slik AF2100 pistol-grip, ball-mounted tripod head to replace my eighteen year-old one (an AF210?) that is finally beginning to slip when used in portrait mode.

I also got another 1GB of RAM so that my 12-shot panoramas will run through CS3 PhotoMerge in under fifteen minutes.

[Lou Doench]

I got a brand new K10D. And i'm happy happy happy

[Bill Bresler]

I did real well. See:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11302402@N00/2136958974/
I also bought myself a gift, the Amadou Diallo book. Mike, I think Whittig's review is right on.

[jeff kott]

Santa showed up on Dec. 26 with a new Voigtlander Nokton 58 1.4 in a Nikon mount chipped to meter with my D200.

[yunfat]

A D3 and a Noct-Nikkor? Who exactly do you know at the North Pole, and why no Epson 9880 for the triple crown?

[PleasureSean]

About the USB turntable - the most important thing with digitally recording vinyl is the digital converter. I've used cheapo converters that were super easy to use (Griffin's IMic) and the recording quality was dismal - no low end at all. So I would research a bit about the digital converters used in the various USB turntables (ION, Numark, and Stanton) as that makes a big difference as to how your digitized music will sound. I'm also trying out digital recorders that record at a higher frequency and bit rate (Samson H-2), a dedicated stand alone Sony CD recorder that a friend has that records at 24-bit, and finally using different software to record right onto a computer card at higher frequencies and bit rates. The bottom line is just because it creates a digital music file doesn't mean its going to be a good one. I want to get the process right at the start so I don't have to redo it later.

[Bahi]

Mr Johnston: some of us are wondering about your own photography-related Christmas stuff. One of the things my wife and I decided to treat ourselves to this year was Amazon's UK version of the Prime delivery service. Your affiliate links came a little late for us last year but we'll be clicking through from now. Your site is one of the web's highlights and knowing that it gets a little from Amazon purchases we make makes me more likely to purchase from Amazon. I'm glad you decided to ignore the cynics on this one.

[John Frendreiss]

> Ian Provan
> I had to pay $50 and pick up the garbage ...

Hey Ian, that happened to me on Thanksgiving! :-)

[Tom]

I got a Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM from my girlfriend! :)

Oh and I also "ordered" a FED Leica replica to add to my collection from the money I got from my parents.

[Kevin Pfeifle]

Yes, I got (for myself) a Pentax DA 70mm f2.4 limitted prime.

[Ade]

I got W. Eugene Smith's "Dream Street" and the Henry Wessel book, which was only on my wishlist after I read about him here - thanks, it's fab. Kudos to Wes too for mentioning the Lensbaby; been wanting one for ages and the photo store vouchers I got will just about cover the cost. :-)

[PhysicsMan]

This Santa bought himself a 40D and is ooooh so happy with it.

[Tom]

Got a Nikon D300 and some books about Ansel Adams and Jerry Uelsmann.

That dude who got a Noct-Nikkor must have been REALLY good this year...

[Gordon Buck]

Zeiss Ikon "Ikonta" folding camera using 2-1/2 x 4-1/4 film -- I think it works!

[Jim]

I got an Olympus 35ED rangefinder. The Oly looked like it had sat on a self for the past 30 or more years. With a little "tinkering", I made it shine. I ran a roll of film through it and took the film to the one hour photo shop. I've got a shooter!

[Robert Chapman]

We got a three-week photo tour in Thailand and Burma.
Nyah, nyah!

[Matt Miller]

A new Voigtlander 125/2.5 Macro in Pentax KA mount. My first macro lens.

[Grant S.]

I had the greatest of pleasures watching my wife and I's cafe fill with people for a traditional Xmas roast, and the satisfaction of empty plates coming back to the kitchen. Children searching the tree for chocolates, crackers pulled and hats worn. Laughter filling the room. People making new friends.
And me, wandering around with my K100D and trio of pancake primes, creating memories for all to share.

[George]

Summicron-M 75mm 2.0

A little splurge by myself. Whenever I see my grandpa (only once or twice per year), I try to get a couple portraits taken of him. He just passed 90 years old and is slowing down considerably. Not sure how many more portraits I will get to take. And Leica M lenses keep going up in price (this lens goes up $300 on Jan 1) so the timing seemed right. First new M lens I've bought!

[Sean]

I got Don McCullen's retrospective and Breeson's The mind's eye.

[Joerg Richner]

A gorillapod and - not only photo-related - a swiss museumpass.

Hoorray :)

[Julie Edwards]

I got a couple rolls of film, a pack of paper, two gift cards for B&H, a camera bag, (Tamrac Messenger 4, just for day trips out when I'm just planning to take a small amount of stuff) and a Wacom pen tablet. I also got a little $$$ to pay for more film/paper/darkroom time. I got everything I wanted and more than I need. I loved reading what everyone received on this thread.

[bob]

Sony HVL-F56AM flash for my Alpha 700.

[Michael Seltzer]

I got "Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul." Wyman is a base player and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Not exactly photo related, but it is nicely illustrated. I also received a 4 DVD set of MGM Film Noir. Some nice photography in film noir. So how's that for trying to shoe-horn my Christmas into this thread. (Also, as music is the most persistent ot thread on this blog--which I appreciate, btw--I thought I might get away with it.)

Michael

[Ben Marks]

I got myself a 50/1.5 Zeiss Sonnar in M-Mount. New glass is fun. But mostly I like watching the kids over the holidays. So I got my family down to NYC to see the rest of my family and a lot of friends. And the Sonnar had to come down for the visit too . . . so now there are 8 GB of new data to edit and sort.

[David Kelly]

A Nikon F "Apollo" body from near the end of production (73XXXXX) with a plain prism that is probably older because it has a square eyepiece. And the Billie Holiday "Stormy Weather" four CD set -wow!

[Marshall]

Battery grip for the D300 - now I can motordrive through action at even more hard drive-eating speeds! Protective wraps for stuff that doesn't go smoothly into slots. Auxiliary case for flashes and such (which will paradoxically also help me leave some stuff at home when I want to travel light).

Also, time with family and pictures of them that will never be "art" but will always count just that little bit more...

[Simon]

I have been digital for some while now but sorely miss the film experience. So I got a Mamiya 1000s from Santa to dip the occasional toe back into ID11.

Simon
(UK)

[Dennis]

Late ... actually spent little time online during the holidays (and loved being away from the computer !) Got "The Photographers Eye" and Plowden's "Vanishing Point" from a wishlist I built in part from this site. On the giving side, had a pair of 32" square canvas prints done (for my wife) at simplycanvas.com - each is a 4x4 grid of family pics from the last 5 years. Took quite a bit of time picking from my favorites ones that could be cropped square, then arranging them nicely. We're very happy with the result.

[Rory]

Probably a bit late for this comment, but -Michael Kenna's 20 Year Retrospective, Gerry Badger's The Genius of Photography and a couple of rolls of Neopan. Also picked up 18 rolls of film from my sisters wedding processed and scanned - first wedding I have covered. Now the work starts - hand printing the b+w, getting the colour printed, and making the book!

[Jeremy]

Got to see the Ansel Adams and the Annie Liebovitz shows at the Corcoran in DC (and the Hopper). Got a gorillapod, and got the Squeeze the Diallou book (thanks for the tip) which will help here too. Also snagged a Spyder monitor and printer calibration doodad (but that hasn't arrived yet) and a set of Epson pigment inks.

Managed not to get the G9; still waiting for the Sigma.