ViewFinder Holiday shopping guide

ViewFinder Holiday shopping guide
…making a list and checking it twice!
Whether you’re making your own wish list for Santa or playing Santa to the photographer in your life, here are some of our favorite photo goodies ideas — from stocking stuffers to big-ticket special presents — to help you with your Christmas shopping. You can also order ViewFinder Gift Certificates to give someone a one-day photography class at the ViewFinder Center Winterthur.

Photo Software & Tools
Process, organize, edit, crop, correct, print and more. The right software and tools will help you get results that look as good as — or even better than — you remember.

• Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 (110 CHF)
  Photoshop Elements is a great gift for any photographer. With tools like crop, color correction and sharpening it allows you to edit and print your photos.

• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 (370 CHF)
  Lightroom lets you easily catalog and edit your photos. It’s a great program for keeping track of images and it has sophisticated tools for outputting your images as web galleries or slideshows. Mac and PC compatible.

• Apple Aperture 2 (255 CHF)
  Aperture has many of the same features as Lightroom but with a more flexible workflow. In addition to slide shows and web galleries, Aperture also allows you to create printed books. Available only for Mac.

• Wacom Intuos3 A5, Pen Tablet (440 CHF)
  If you do a lot of digital editing or retouching the Wacom tablet could be the perfect tool for you. Using the tablet and pen gives you precise control while editing, without the hassle of using your mouse.

• Colorvision Spyder 3 Elite (280 CHF)
  Calibrating your monitor(s) helps you ensure the color accuracy of your images. The Spyder 3 calibrates your computer monitor in just five minutes. You can create color profiles and calibrate multiple screens to a single specification. It also has a useful feature that lets you compare ‘before’ and ‘after’ settings.

Thanks for the Memories!
Every photographer needs more memory. We highly recommend carrying several 1-4 GB cards, rather than one larger memory card. If something happens to that one large card, all your photos are lost.

      SD Memory Cards

• SanDisk Extreme lll, 4GB (60 CHF)
• SanDisk Extreme lll, 2GB (35 CHF)

      Compact Flash Memory Cards

• SanDisk Extreme III, 4GB (50 CHF) 
• SanDisk Extreme III, 2GB (35 CHF)

     Use Protection
     Keep memory cards safe in a secure hard case.

• Hakuba Hard Plastic Digital Media Storage Case (15 CHF)

Don’t forget to back up!
Additional storage for your computer is a must for keeping a backup of all your images. Portable hard drives and viewers are small and easy to carry. A must for travelers!

      Portable Hard Drives

• Lacie 250GB, USB 2.0 (140 CHF)
• Lacie 250GB, Firewire (170 CHF)
• Lacie 500GB, USB 2.0 (355 CHF)
• Lacie 500GB, Firewire (420 CHF)

     Portable Storage Viewers
     A portable multimedia storage viewer allows you to backup and review your images in the field.

• Epson P3000 Multimedia Storage Viewer 40GB (465 CHF)
• Epson P7000 Multimedia Storage Viewer 160 GB (950 CHF)

Tripods
There are many styles of tripods, but all tripods help reduce camera movement and blurry images. Normal, self-standing tripods are great for landscape and macro photography, but keep in mind that good quality comes at a cost. Pro photographers invest thousands of dollars in good tripods, but even for a modest budget you can get quality performance. Look for a good quality tripod and head combination that you will carry and use will give you your money’s worth in noticeable image results. We suggest a lightweight carbon fiber model and a good quality ball head, like our favorites from Manfrotto.

• Manfrotto Tripod 055 XPROB (315 CHF)
• Manfrotto Ballhead MN486RC2 (140 CHF)

      Table-top tripods are great indoors for self portraits or for low-angle shots outside.

• Manfrotto Table top tripod with ball head (66 CHF)

      The Gorillapod is a new design with bendable legs that can wrap around tree branches, street signs,
      railings and more. Great when you don’t have a flat surface and fun for shooting at unusual angles.

• Joby Gorillapod GP3 (80 CHF)

     For point and shoot cameras, these handy little tripods are easy to carry and use.

• Ultra pod (25 CHF)
• The Pod (30 CHF)
• Modo Pocket Tabletop Tripod (35 CHF)

Clean & Protect
Help your favorite photographer keep their camera clean and safe. From cloths to brushes to air blowers they all help remove those pesky dust spots and smudges from camera lenses and sensors.

• Sigma 6 x 6” Micro Fiber Lens Cleaning Cloth (10 CHF)
• Rocket Air Blower (15 CHF) 
• Arctic Butterfly 724 Sensor Brush (170 CHF)

     A convenient alternative to a standard lens caps, these neoprene hood hats fit over most lens hoods.

• OpTech Hood Hat (10 CHF)

     To add some protective padding around camera gear, these cushioned wraps do the trick. Available in
     different sizes.

• Domke Protective Wrap (starting at 20 CHF)

     Relieve some stress with this comfortable padded neck strap.

• OpTech Pro Camera Strap (35 CHF)

Lighting
Photography is all about light. There are so many ways to add, reflect, diffuse, alter and more. Here are a few worth checking out.

• Pocket Wizard Plus ll Set (225 CHF)

      Pocket wizards are great for any photographer using flash. The pocket wizard triggers the flash without
      any cords getting in the way.

• Lastolite Triflip 80-in-1 Reflector (155 CHF)

      Make photos look more professional with an 8-in-1 reflector kit. Reflectors make a great difference in any
      photo, and they are simple and easy to use.

• Lightsphere Dome Diffusion (60 CHF)

      Unhappy with the look of photos taken with flash? The Dome Diffusion connects to the camera’s flash or
      an off-camera flash. It diffuses the light to give it a more natural look.

• Circular Polarizing Filter (95 CHF)

      Polarizers are great for increasing color saturation and reducing reflections. They also help darken blue
      skies at midday.