Pentax User’s Holiday Gift Guide 2007

The Pentax DA 31mm Limited is considered the ne plus ultra of Pentax lenses for its razor sharp clarity, beautiful contrast, and amazing engineering artistry. It's among the most expensive Pentax prime lenses, but everyone who's used it recognizes it as possibly one of the finest optics ever produced for SLR cameras. Period. (~$1499)

Flashes

The Pentax AF540-FGZ is the bounce flash I love so much, I wish I had a few of them. Similar to the venerable SB-800 from Nikon, the AF540 is a swivel head bounce flash that includes high-speed flash features and wireless connectivity for master, slave, and multi-flash set-ups. I feel it's better than the AF360-FGZ in that it's a lot more powerful and that the swivel head is good for vertical portrait photography. The AF540 is also a P-TTL flash, which means that in Auto mode, it fires a pre-flash to gauge proper exposure, but it's also backwards compatible with regular Pentax TTL flash systems, like on the *ist cameras. (~$289 to $399)

To compliment any flash, it never hurts to have a flash stand (~$20) + tilting head (~$15), an umbrella (~$20), a collapsible reflector (~$25), some Honl velcro snoots ($10-$22)and a Sto-Fen Omnibounce (~$16), all of which help you create more dynamic lighting options from just that one little strobe. And don't forget a bag to tote your stands and tri-pods. I really like the F.64 light stand bag, which can carry at least 4 light stands and 2 small tripods (~$35).

If you have an older flash with manual capabilities, like a Vivitar 285, an inexpensive radio transmitter set helps you get it wireless and useful again, like the Alien Bee Radio Flash Triger 1 ($40), or get at leat a couple of the expert Pocket Wizards (~$190 each). Just keep in mind that older flashes can have high trigger voltages that can damage your camera if you connect them directly to your hot shoe, so if you don't go wireless at least go safe with a Wein Safe Sync (~$40).

And probably one of the most affordable ring lights ever made (and I'm not including macro ring lights in this statement), the Alien Bees Ringflash is a trick portrait flash that delivers an even fill of light around your subject. (~$399)

Mac and PC

Adobe Lightroom 1.3 is one of the best RAW photo format developing and organizing applications, and it's a big step up from Pentax Photo Lab. It let's you batch process, apply metadata, sort quickly, and then export to the web or your printer with the kind of fluidity that we all dreamed about just 3 years ago. Even though it's not a full Photoshop replacement, it's a tight enough application that for most work it's all you need. (~$199 to $299)

I like free stuff, too, so if you've got Lightroom, don't forget to download OnOne Software's WOW! Presets. Jack Davis has taken a some creative looks and made them easy to apply to your photos, and they make a great start for tweaking your own custom presets.

The Drobo is quad-bay USB 2.0 external hard drive that has its own RAID software so that it functions as both extended storage and a safety backup, for up 4TB. It's compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and the Mac OS X 10.5 (including Time Machine). It's $499 to start, but you buy the hard drives of your choice as you need them.

Calibrate your monitor like a professional with either the Spyder 3 Elite from Colorvision ( $279) or the Eye-One from Pantone and X-Rite ($249). Budget minded beginners will still appreciate the Spyder2 Express ($79) or the Pantone Huey Pro ($129), which offer a similar level of calibration, but with features that are limited to just a few profiles.

Learning

One of the nicest people I've met this year is Yvon Bourque, who's written terrific companion books to both the Pentax K10D and K100D Super. Each one is full of first hand knowledge and it's paced in a way that's more intuitive to learning about your camera than the standard manual, so that you'll know the nitty gritty of the camera quickly without any of the condescending tone that you frequently find in "Getting Started With Your..." books. The books are available as ebooks ($15) and spiral-bound editions ($20 plus shipping), which Yvon makes himself. It's a great deal, so if you want one of them printed for a family member for the holidays, try to order it soon.

Accessories

What self-professed camera lover would not want to keep their cameras stored in style? That's why Pelican makes cases like the dreamy Pelican 1600. "Watertight, crushproof, and dustproof." And, of course, it looks mighty bit nicer than a ratty old satchel. (~$150 to $185 with foam inserts)

Why do I *heart* the BG-2 Battery Grip? It fills out the proportions of the K10D with added heft that make handheld shots that much sweeter to do. The vertical shutter trigger makes portraits easier to handle thanks to an added e-dial, just like the main trigger. The extra battery tray not only keeps you juiced up longer, it has storage room for a spare SD card and the Pentax remote. (~$149-$199)

How can you not love having a spare SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card? 4GB for under $50 is soooo worth it.

And, of course, I love the Pentax F remote, too. It functions with almost every Pentax camera made in the last few years. Just walk away and click. (~$20)

And two more things. Just for me.

I have to admit, what I'd like is a decent monitor and printer to replace my antiques. The Apple HD Displays may not be as good a deal as the Dell equivalents, but I like that they have the sleek aluminum look and built-in Firewire and USB ports (Refurbished from Apple.com: $599 to $1499). And thanks to the new Vivera archival quality pigment inks that HP has been using lately, I think the HP B8750 (~$400) is looking like a pretty good deal. It prints 13" x 19", the refill ink cartridges aren't too expensive, and it would look just swell on your desk. But preferably under my Christmas tree.