I’d like to purchase a good laser colour printer so I can print out some shots for friends and family as the need arises. Typically nothing larger than 8×10, and probably more like 5×7 prints. Anyone have any suggestions on a good, fairly affordable colour printer? I’m foreseeing spending about £200.00 - £250.00 or so, but perhaps my estimate is way off. Thoughts?

I don’t think many of us here ever get fed up hauling around our camera, but I suppose that changes when you have to take an 8kg Linhof full-frame camera with you. But what do you do about it? Well, New York photographer Kipp Wettstein decided to build his own.

Using aerospace-grade aluminium and carbon fiber he created a light-weight and very mobile camera. He designed it in such a way that the lens and camera shape work together to create optimal sharpness and colour contrast.
It’s no surprise that this doesn’t come cheap: Kipp can be commissioned to build you one, but that will set you back between $5000 and $9000.

Recently Digital Photography School asked its readers about camera bags and what they thought the best bags were. It turns out a number of folks responded and the top 3 bag brands mentioned were Lowerpro, Crumpler and Tamrac. It’s interesting to read in the comments that some folks won’t buy these popular camera bags because they are too obvious to thieves and instead go with bags that are more general. For more: Best Camera Bags as Rated by Digital Photography School Members.

I currently have a Shootsac myself which I really like. It’s not ideal for a lot of camera gear, but great for a day out shooting. It keeps all the items I need anyway, as well as spots for my wallet and phone. I love that you can easily change the covers and have two already that I alternate between, and that it doesn’t entirely look like a camera bag.

What bags do you guys use or recommend?

As a follow-up to my post the other day on Save Polaroid, here is a great article from Photojojo: Polaroid-a-palooza: Ten Ways to Love Polaroid Before The Film Runs Out. If, like me you don’t have a Polaroid, you can always cheat with the Polaroid-o-nizer.

As a side note, if you bookmark just one site this week, make it Photojojo (a fantastic site).

As everyone probably knows already, earlier this year Polaroid announced that they would discontinue production of all instant film. It’s a sad thought really. I know digital is much more accessible nowadays, and cheaper in many ways, but it is sad to see this dying out. I have no skills with a Polaroid, but I know a number of people who are exceptional and produce beautiful photos.

So, if you are a lover of instant film, head over to www.savepolaroid.com and join in. As the site says,

“This site is not about saving Polaroid, the company, rather the remarkable invention of Edwin Land, the instant film that made Polaroid a household name. “

Many folks will argue that film in general is on borrowed time already, but I’d hate to think that. Maybe I’m just being naive.

A heads up to anyone using Adobe Lightroom and/or Camera Raw:

The Lightroom 1.4 update for Mac and Windows has been temporarily removed from the Adobe.com web site. Those Lightroom users who have installed Lightroom 1.4 should uninstall the update and install Lightroom 1.3.1.(Mac, Win) until a further update can be provided. (Source/Read more: PhotoshopNews.com)