The Digital Photo Guy

Topaz Labs introduces DeNoise 5

I hate to sound like a Topaz Labs fanboy but their newest iteration of DeNoise 5 is better than my old standby, Neat Image v6. The difference isn’t huge but TL is somewhat better in the areas of speed, ease of use and detail recovery. NI has a small edge on price. I use the NI Home+ version that includes both the Standalone and Photoshop/Photoshop Elements plug-in version for $49.90 while Topaz DeNoise is $49.99 until August 31. After that, the price jumps to $79.99. Topaz offers free upgrades for current licensees while NI offers free minor upgrades to licensees and a lesser Upgrade Fee for major upgrades.

As always, my readers can use the code “digitalphotoguy” to receive a 15% discount on all Topaz Labs purchases. I am not affiliated with nor do I have any financial interest in Topaz Labs.

Cheap Canon 24-105/4L IS Lens

Here’s your opportunity to bag a Canon 24-105/4L IS lens for an incredibly low price. Every Canon shooter needs this lens.

Old Videos

There’s a link at the top of every page on my site titled Videos. That link takes you to (hold on, are you ready for this) the Videos page. Everytime I repost an old video or article, someone asks, “Where’s the previous/next/other video/article?” I think the worst thing about the Internet has been to foster a mindset that it’s someone’s job to do your thinking/research. Notice how I didn’t link the word Videos to the Videos page because I want you to find it for yourselves.

New Questions

Long-time students know that a benefit of taking my classes is continued e-mail support. My motto is, “Failure is not an option, you will learn!” I regularly answer questions for students from 5 or more years ago.

Recently, new readers (not past students) have started sending me questions that take time and effort to research and/or craft an answer. While I don’t mind questions that have universal appeal and are of interest to many readers, I don’t have time to answer specific questions about one person’s gear, computer configuration or idle curiousity unless they are past students.

I hope everyone understands that I have to save my limited bandwidth for past and present students who have paid for my expertise.

One final point, in order to consolidate my time and efforts, I respond to Comments on this site before I answer e-mails.

Cool Canon Deals (The Real Deal)

If you have a broken, out-of-warranty Canon digital camera lying around that will cost more to fix than it’s worth, you can upgrade to a refurbished Canon for a great price. For example, I have an old Canon 10D. It’s in fine condition but, for the sake of this example, let’s assume it’s broken. Canon charges a flat fee depending on whether it’s a “Standard Repair” or a “Major Repair”  for most repairs. Let’s assume this camera will cost $250 to repair but it’s only worth $200.

Canon will trade the 10D plus $559 for a Canon 40D, a newer and better camera. Current used prices for Canon 40D is about $600-$700 so it’s a great deal when you consider it’s been serviced by Canon and comes with a 90 day warranty. They also have refurbished G11, 50D, 7D and 5DMkII available.

To get more detals, call Canon at 800-753-4200 and ask for Sales.