Having discovered that it would actually cost more to have my camera repaired than to buy a newer and better model (well, not exactly more, but close enough as to make it seem a little silly), I made my way this morning to that Bastion of All Things Photographic and Jewishly Orthodox, B&H Photo, to pick up a new camera.
If you're even a dilettante photographer and you someday find yourself wandering the streets of New York City, you owe it to yourself to at least go window shopping at B&H. It's a veritable wonderland of all things electronic. And it's owned and operated by Orthodox Jews who know their electronic shit.
And the place is wicked efficient. I was in and out inside of ten minutes. Granted, I knew what I wanted, but still.
It can be a little overwhelming on your first experience. It's never not packed to the gills, presumably because they do such incredible volume that they offer great deals. But their system of moving you through the process of shopping and buying is mind-bogglingly complex, seemingly chaotic, and beautifully engineered. And everywhere you turn, there's a helpful man in a yarmulke and a vest with a button saying "I'm here to help."
The store's broken up into really painfully specific departments.
Literally, there are separate departments for digital point-and-shoot cameras and digital SLR cameras. I know this to be true because I mistakenly went to the first and needed the second. But in my confusion, one of the friendly staff not only pointed out that I was in the wrong place, but guided me to the right place and handed me off to the customer wrangler in that area.
I sidled up to a counter with about fifteen or so "agents" lined up waiting to help, and had a guy bringing my camera inside of a minute.
Here's the thing, though: You're welcome to try things out, test them, decide if you like them, but the folks at B&H are all about inventory control. You don't get to carry your purchase to the checkout. It's placed on the most bizarre automated transit system ever – like something out of Willy Wonka – and you're handed a print out of your purchases which you take to the cashier. Once you've checked out, you go to merchandise pick-up, where somehow a thundering herd of behind-the-scenes employees have delivered your purchase to the front of the store, bagged it and left it hanging on a hook for the merchandise guy to pick up and hand to you. At every step of the way it's scanned and tracked and checked to within an inch of its life.
Amazing to watch. Truly.
My purchase complete, I stopped off at The Velvet Prison to pick up my lenses and grab the (charged) battery out of my old camera, then wandered around in Central Park for a while.
I know, I know, you think I was up to my old tricks, but that's not the case.
I'll admit that I did sit in Sheep Meadow for a while enjoying the sites, but every time I thought about pulling out the camera and snapping a picture I was overwhelmed by a "been there done that" sorta feeling.
So I hopped the N train down to Union Square and switched to the 4 train down to City Hall.
From there, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and spent the next four hours walking around DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights.
Walking across the bridge, I was struck by the number of tourists who were there. I suppose it makes complete sense; it's such an iconic landmark that it would be de rigueur. Still, I found myself having to suppress the urge to shout at people who kept walking into my shots. Not terribly neighborly, at all. Thankfully, I succeeded.
I managed a couple of nice enough shots from the bridge. The day was so hazy that it was pointless to shoot anything in the distance. I had a couple of good angles on the Statue of Liberty, but it just looked like a blurry outline on the horizon.
Closer in, though, I did manage some interesting shots from the bridge, like this one of the Clock Tower condo building and the Manhattan Bridge in the background.
Eventually, I managed to make my way down into Dumbo, where I got my favorite shots of the day.
The view from Washington Street in Dumbo is pretty iconic in its own right. More than one famous photographer has chosen this view as a subject, and it's appeared in countless films and TV shows.
So, for your viewing pleasure, my take on this most famous of views:
If you're even a dilettante photographer and you someday find yourself wandering the streets of New York City, you owe it to yourself to at least go window shopping at B&H. It's a veritable wonderland of all things electronic. And it's owned and operated by Orthodox Jews who know their electronic shit.
And the place is wicked efficient. I was in and out inside of ten minutes. Granted, I knew what I wanted, but still.
It can be a little overwhelming on your first experience. It's never not packed to the gills, presumably because they do such incredible volume that they offer great deals. But their system of moving you through the process of shopping and buying is mind-bogglingly complex, seemingly chaotic, and beautifully engineered. And everywhere you turn, there's a helpful man in a yarmulke and a vest with a button saying "I'm here to help."
The store's broken up into really painfully specific departments.
Literally, there are separate departments for digital point-and-shoot cameras and digital SLR cameras. I know this to be true because I mistakenly went to the first and needed the second. But in my confusion, one of the friendly staff not only pointed out that I was in the wrong place, but guided me to the right place and handed me off to the customer wrangler in that area.
I sidled up to a counter with about fifteen or so "agents" lined up waiting to help, and had a guy bringing my camera inside of a minute.
Here's the thing, though: You're welcome to try things out, test them, decide if you like them, but the folks at B&H are all about inventory control. You don't get to carry your purchase to the checkout. It's placed on the most bizarre automated transit system ever – like something out of Willy Wonka – and you're handed a print out of your purchases which you take to the cashier. Once you've checked out, you go to merchandise pick-up, where somehow a thundering herd of behind-the-scenes employees have delivered your purchase to the front of the store, bagged it and left it hanging on a hook for the merchandise guy to pick up and hand to you. At every step of the way it's scanned and tracked and checked to within an inch of its life.
Amazing to watch. Truly.
My purchase complete, I stopped off at The Velvet Prison to pick up my lenses and grab the (charged) battery out of my old camera, then wandered around in Central Park for a while.
I know, I know, you think I was up to my old tricks, but that's not the case.
I'll admit that I did sit in Sheep Meadow for a while enjoying the sites, but every time I thought about pulling out the camera and snapping a picture I was overwhelmed by a "been there done that" sorta feeling.
So I hopped the N train down to Union Square and switched to the 4 train down to City Hall.
From there, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and spent the next four hours walking around DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights.
Walking across the bridge, I was struck by the number of tourists who were there. I suppose it makes complete sense; it's such an iconic landmark that it would be de rigueur. Still, I found myself having to suppress the urge to shout at people who kept walking into my shots. Not terribly neighborly, at all. Thankfully, I succeeded.I managed a couple of nice enough shots from the bridge. The day was so hazy that it was pointless to shoot anything in the distance. I had a couple of good angles on the Statue of Liberty, but it just looked like a blurry outline on the horizon.Closer in, though, I did manage some interesting shots from the bridge, like this one of the Clock Tower condo building and the Manhattan Bridge in the background.Eventually, I managed to make my way down into Dumbo, where I got my favorite shots of the day.
The view from Washington Street in Dumbo is pretty iconic in its own right. More than one famous photographer has chosen this view as a subject, and it's appeared in countless films and TV shows.
So, for your viewing pleasure, my take on this most famous of views:
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