George’s Camera and Nelson Photo Supplies
As far as I’m aware, there’s two main photog stores in San Diego: George’s Camera and Nelson Photo Supplies. I’ve bought various pieces of equipment and sought advice from both, and have had generally good experiences with each.
However, my last experience at George’s left a sour taste in my mouth. I happened to be in the neighborhood, so I stopped in just to check out the new gear and play with the Canon 30D, which will probably be my next body upgrade. Anways, as I was tooling around with it, I asked one of the salesmen about on the Tamron 18-200mm that was attached to it.
“Oh, it’s a great lens, particularly for the price. Very good.”
It’s a newer lens, and I hadn’t yet looked up the reviews on it yet.
“Really? How’s it compare to the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS?”
“Well, obviously it’s got greater range, but no image stabilization. But it’s the same glass.”
“Really? The same glass as the Canon?”
“Yup.”
Odd. Both Tamron and Canon makes their own glass. And Canon’s is really good. Especially on the L lenses – which is why the Canon lens I referred to costs about $800 more than the Tamron. Hmm … maybe they just worked out a deal with Canon.
He holds up portrait print. “Here’s a sample, I shot this with the Tamron lens.”
It’s a good photo, and I’m curious about the printer, since the output can drastically alter what you think the lens in doing.
“Is this a LightJet print?”
“No, it’s a real photo print. On photo paper.” He turns it over to show me the Kodak logo on the paper’s reverse.
“Right – the LightJet is a Ra4 chemical bath printer. Like the Fuji Frontier. Not inkjet. They use a laser to expose the paper, from analog or digital sources, and do chemical dips.”
He looks a little confused, stammering a series of “Uh … yeah. Maybe. I don’t know … what it was printed on. It’s a real photo.”
It’s at this point I just thank him and leave. On returning home, I research the Tamron lens. It is a very good lens for the price. In fact, it’s an awesome lens for the price. But it absolutely is not Canon glass. And to work at a camera store and not know what technology your own prints are developed with?
Yeah, there’s that sour taste again.