There are many things that I enjoy doing when I travel to New York City at Christmastime.
- I always walk through Central Park – especially around Strawberry Fields, the park’s “quiet place” of reflection. Of course, that “quiet place of reflection” is mobbed with tourists that get their picture taken with the beautiful IMAGINE mosaic.
- If they’re in town, I always watch Manhattan Transfer perform their Christmas show at Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. Let me tell you. Their most recent performance was a knockout. As always.
- And if I’m there on a Sunday, I always stop at B&H Photo Video for a camera or lens upgrade.
A lot of my camera equipment comes from B&H. My Nikon D700 digital camera was purchased there, as was my 85mm f/1.8 lens. Last Sunday, I went to B&H for the specific purpose of “trading up” one of my lenses – a bulky, manual-focus 50mm f/1.4 lens that I purchased on eBay a couple of years ago – with the hope of replacing it with a light, quiet, automatic-focus 50mm f/1.4 prime lens.
B&H allows you to trade in your old equipment for store credit on new equipment. So I went to B&H’s trade-in area – actually, it’s an entrance on the side of B&H’s superstore – and spoke with one of the counterpeople.
He took my old 50mm f/1.4 lens and examined it. “I can give you $40 for the lens.”
Of course, $40 initially sounds like an insult, but when one factors in that it’s a manual-focus lens from the 1960’s that’s seen its share of wear and tear, $40 seems fair.
So $40 worth of store credit later, I walked to another part of the B&H superstore facility. Another person sitting behind a counter. “I’d like to see what you have in a 50mm f/1.4 prime autofocus lens.”
He checked his computer. “We have three used lenses like that in stock.”
“Can I see one of them?”
A few minutes later, he brought me the prime lens. It was extremely light – not bulky and clunky like my old manual focus lens. And when I tested it out on the D700, it was whisper-quiet and focused in microseconds.
I filled out a form. “Your lens will be up at the cashier’s. Thank you for shopping at B&H.”
Fair enough.
I then waited in line for a cashier. “Will you be paying in check, cash or charge?” one of the workers asked me.
“Cash,” I replied.
“This line, sir.”
I handed the cashier the money – plus the store credit voucher – and received a receipt. “Go to that line over there and you will receive your lens.”
I realize that everything’s organized from one end of the store to the other, but man oh man…
No matter. After one more waiting line, the lens and I were united. I put the lens – along with some B&H promotional folders – in my camera bag, and all was well.
I’ll probably test this lens out next week… I have a project in mind that might require some time with this prime. I think I’ll be impressed with the results with the new lens.
And when the pictures are printed and posted… I hope you will be impressed, too.
Chuck The Writer 