When I took my new portfolio from the wrapper the above word was what I exclaimed. Hit the jump for the nitty-gritty.

First off, let me say that AdoramaPix offered me this book free of charge due to a previous review I had written on AdoramaPix’s normal print services, which are still my primary print outlet. They contacted me and offered me one, they did not ask for a review, and I am doing this of my own volition. As a side note, this is the first review on Three Five Photo of a product that I did not pay for myself. Kudos to AdoramaPix for promoting their products in a very lassiez-faire attitude and for giving me this chance to try out their Book offering.

Ease of Creation: 8/10
AdoramaPix has an online software suite that allows you to create custom book designs, edit/use their pre-designed templates, and an option to create a blank book so you can import pages created in an layout suite like Pagemaker, Quark, Photoshop, or InDesign. The software is a little slow running, depending on your machine, but VERY in depth. The only thing I wanted to do but couldn’t was to have a round/oval clipping mask on my logo on the front. Aside from this one thing using the book software was excellent and offered much more stability and options than the Blurb Booksmart software I used in the past. Another plus to using an online suite is that the book saves to Adorama’s servers protecting your work from being corrupted or lost in the event of a hard drive failure. It took me right at 2.5 hours to compile my book using the software. Normally, I would have used InDesign but I wanted to be able to give a full review of the process.

Quality: 9.5/10
When I first opened my book, as I mentioned before, Wow was all I had to say. The cover is heavier than most typical book covers. The pages are thick and the paper used provide excellent color rendition. Pages lay flat as advertised and the finish is just the right balance between gloss and satin. Overall, the book feels very well made. The only thing I have against it is it shows fingerprints, so carry a soft cloth if you are using this book as a portfolio as am I.

Shipping: 10/10
As usual Adorama’s shipping packaging was excellent. The piece was well protected and shrink-wrapped inside its protective shipping carton.

Note: Below are a few things I would suggest Adorama to add in.
1. Template pages. I used a predesigned book and the edited it as I needed, however there were several page layouts that I liked better. I had to create those from scratch. Had there been a page layout template it would have been much easier.
2. A paper that is slightly more fingerprint resistant. This isn’t a big complaint at all, the paper is excellent as is.
3. More predesigned book. The selection is excellent, but there could be more.

Conclusion: While priced slightly higher than other POD bookmakers the product delivered is more than worth the increase in price. This is a product you will be happy to received for yourself and to deliver to your clients. I am looking forward to seeing how well they can shrink my current 8×12 book to a 6×9 book to use as a portable portfolio that fits in my messenger.

Before I get into the good stuff, I just want you mention that I won’t be going into significant technical details about this lens. That information is readily available from Nikon USA’s website, and unlike other blogs, I don’t feel the need to continue to beat the dead horse. The point of this review to is to let you know how this lens feels in the field during use. That being said, lets get started.

Having recently acquired some funding to upgrade my photography I entered into full on research mode. As a photographer, I find that I swing one of two ways … 1.) I try my best to maximize each dollar. I consider the amount of possible use, the number of times per month I can use it, longevity, upgradability, image quality, etc, etc, etc. and 2.) I blow a wad of cash on something that I’ll probably use once a month (maybe).

For me, the 80-200 f/2.8 AF-D was a case of #1. After a month of research, I felt that the 80-200 would be the best option for my style of photography. Good range for wildlife, nice low-mid range for portraiture, fast for low light usage in wedding situations, awesome bokeh, and great crisp focus. At 1100.00 new, in comparison to the 2000.00+ 70-200, the 80-200 f/2.8 is a STEAL … period. Occasionally, you can find it Refurbed by Nikon in the 800.00 range, Used ones tend to go in the 500-900 dollar range. Something to note when shopping for a Used 80-200, there are actually two versions of this lens. Originally, the lens was a push/pull style but was later switched to the current two ring version. Having used both, I can personally say that I prefer the two ring version that I own.

Build Quality

You cannot talk about this lens without discussing the build quality. Weighing in a roughly 3.5 pounds the 80-200 f/2.8 is largely constructed of metal. I don’t recommend dropping it on concrete. Internally, the lens contains 16 elements in 11 groups including 3 ED elements. The aperture is formed with 9 rounded blades for buttery smooth bokeh when shooting wide open.

Focus Speed

One complaint that people have with this lens is that it is slow to focus. Personally, I don’t agree with those people. From my own tests with a Nikon D80 I can focus the entire range in less than 2 seconds. Two seconds might seem like a long period of time, but for the range the lens gives you I find it to be quite acceptable. There is occasionally some back focus, but I have determined that this isn’t a problem with newer/better spec’d bodies (D90 and up).

Image Quality

Well, it’s just perfection … Im not sure if there is anything I can really say more than that. It is tack sharp with little evidence of distortion. It has great contrast and with the f/2.8 you can get great shots in natural light. The below images was taken at 200mm, roughly 25ft away, handheld in natural light.

Hood

The optional hood, the HB-7, is … well, pathetic in my opinion. It is functional, but no where near as good as it could be. However, the HB-29, that is made for the 70-200 is an excellent replacement. The mounting grips are different though and you will need either a 3rd party adapter (via eBay) or you can choose to modify the HB-29 petal hood to fit the 80-200. In my opinion, the adapter is well worth the 30.00 (including shipping) even though it can be a little difficult to use sometimes.

A third option is a 77mm screw on rubber hood. They are made by several different companies, but I recommend the one manufactured by Mamiya. This hood sells for about 30.00 and can be purchased via any number of camera stores.

Overall

Overall, this is a spectacular lens for the money. Some might not think that 1100.00 is a small amount, but when compared to the 70-200’s price, 1100.00 is a great value. Don’t think about it, just buy it! I got mine here.

Right out of the box, Photoshop Mobile tends to be more in line with traditional computer-based post-processing. Virtually now learning curve if you are familiar with CS2 and up. There are all the normal settings like Saturation, Exposure, Contrast, B/W, Focus and Tint settings in addition to the “artistic” presets. Also unlike BC, PS Mobile gives you varying levels of each setting as opposed to a preset amount for each type of change. As a result you can get very sharp (for an iPhone shot) high contrast black and white images, which seem to be a favorite among iPhone shooters, myself included. In addition, PS Mobile also includes a Sketch mode as well as a sharpening tool.

The place where PS Mobile is lacking is the artistic modes they provide. I have found very few instances where the artistic presets actually added to the aesthetic of the image. Oh, and Adobe … if you’re reading this … that Rainbow tint has GOT to go. As I said before, if you like high contrast B/W images, you’ll love Photoshop mobile.

Photoshop Mobile also, as of the last version, has added in some great border choices. In a world where the camera phone has taken the place of the Polaroid, borders are an important detail in given the images that vintage look. I especially like the film emulsion border. I love to see more creative borders.

Chase Jarvis is a name that, if you are a photographer, you should already know. He stormed the iPhone world recently with his app, Best Camera. Being a fan of Chase, I bought it right out of the gate. After getting past a few of the birthing pains of a brand new app I have to admit I really enjoyed it. BC gives some seriously artistic presets to play with, as well as several settings. Some of these include, Fade, Warm, Cool, Contrast, Desaturate, Darken, and Vignette. However, as mentioned above, the strength of these are preset. You can stake them, but if the base effect is too strong, there is nothing you can do to really counter it.

A positive though, is that BC’s artistic presets are first rate, especially for those people who love super saturation or vintage images. This is where BC really shines, although there aren’t too many of them to choose from.

In conclusion, I have found Photoshop Mobile to be a highly usable image editor for on-the-go shooting. While I hate to say it, I also find it much more robust and usable than Chase’s Best Camera. However, I do recommend getting both of them due to the fact that multi-app processing brings a lot to the party. If you can only get one … snag Photoshop Mobile.

Both apps can be found on the iTunes App Store. Chase Jarvis’ Best Camera is currently selling for 2.99. Photoshop.com Mobile is Free.

At first look, the book is very well made and put together. The basic print paper is a good weight and took the ink well. The color images were dead on. The glossy cover looks good and the paperback cover is stout. The binding is tight giving the book a good strong spine.

The cons was I found my RGB B/W images had a light green cast to it, but Im sure that is an issue of Lightroom/Photoshop/Me than it is Blurb. Shippping was a tad bit high in my opinion, but if you look you can usually find free shipping coupons on the web. Another Con is their Booksmart software. I found it usable yet dismal at the same time. If you’re very creative I highly recommend downloading some templates from The Art of Engineering blog. She has released them in both TIFF and InDesign file formats. These templates allow for custom layouts so you don’t have to use Blurb’s preset layout defaults. I used these templates for [ In Situ ] and loved them. Very well done.

While I may chose to publish a traditional book via a normal publisher at some time in the future, I find the positive aspects of self-publishing via Blurb too good to pass up.

A few weeks ago I picked up her newest book, At Work, and I must say it is both exactly what I expected it to be as well as far away from it at the same time. All in all however, it is an excellent read. Let’s start by judging the book by the cover …

At first look the book is packaged in a very nice way and the design is exactly what I want from the cover of a Photography book. Let me sum up what I like in 4 simple words … Eye-catching, simple, simple, an simple. I absolutely HATE over-designed, self-righteous, pretentious, book covers that do nothing but create an eyesore on my bookshelf. Annie’s book is classically designed, simple large serif font in black, on a tactile taupe canvas jacket covering. The book feels solid, heavy even, everything a book should be to catch my eye. But for those who don’t get butterflies in their stomach for good design this book is a little treasure, the kind that one stumbles over and never really understands the value of it until they spend ample time with it.

Moving along to the actual information in this book, first off let me tell you this isn’t some sort of directional manual. The entire book is more of a autobiographical memoir that moves in a non-fluid manor. Annie has picked out the high points of her life and expounded on each of them. Add in amongst the various remembrances she has inserted some simply amazing pictures that gives us a peek into the lives of those she has had the honor of capturing on film. Well know stars like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ella Fitzgerald and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Legendary authors of our time such as Hunter S. Thompson and Robert Penn Warren. As well as various Presidents and political figures. While amazing, the book sometimes gets a “look at all the famous people I’ve taken pictures of” feel to it, but Annie’s words help to put this feeling to rest.

Near the end we finally get some good “insider” information when Annie discusses gear, both new and old. She then responds to 10 commonly asked questions. For me, these last two chapters were the most enjoyable to read after the sections on photographing John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I think her points on gear might surprise some of those who are new to the field.

Even though it is obvious that Annie worked hard to get where she is, throughout the book I feel that she feels overwhelmingly lucky to have been in the right place, at the right time, to get to apply her love of Photography in the way she has for so many years. She understands that so many of us hope for just such a time and place. I think each of us can be honest that we too would write this type of book if we had lead the life of this institution of American Photography.

In short, love her or hate her, this artist’s life is one to revel in. When one of us makes it big, in some small way, we all make it big. This is no less true for the amazing Annie Leibovitz. With this in mind, I highly recommend this book and suggest it as a great rainy day inspiration piece. [end]

As a side note, no one has paid me for this review. I purchased the book with my own funds and of my own volition. I have added a few links to where you can pick up this awesome read below.

Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Half.com