Editor's Choice 2007: Imaging Essentials

Digital SLRs are generally built to take hard knocks, but shooting while you're rock climbing or biking, or carrying multiple bodies that can bang against each other, can cause cosmetic damage, or worse. These clever, snug-fitting jackets protect your camera against such injury while providing full access to its controls and buttons, with openings as well for its viewfinder, LCD screen, and accessory ports. Unlike conventional rubber, the elastomeric silicone rubber used in Camera Armor is stable in heat up to 420 degrees Fahrenheit; it also protects your hands from cold metal, provides a secure grip, and doesn't trap condensation. Different versions are available for Canon's EOS Digital Rebel XTi, EOS 20D, EOS 30D, EOS 5D and EOS-1D series; Nikon's D40/D40X, D70/D70s, D80, D200, and D2X/D2Xs; and Sony's Alpha A100. Each kit includes a transparent LCD shield, a flexible protective lens hood, and a lens cap lanyard. They're all available in black or "smoke." From $50 to $80.

Epson Perfection V750-M Pro

Even if you shoot digitally you probably have a pile of prints, slides, and negatives from the not-so-old days. Epson's top flatbed offers one-stop digitizing for those analog images. The scanner has similar specs to the V700 Photo (included in Editor's Choice 2006) but incorporates pro-level features. It scans reflective art up to 8.5x11.7 inches and film from 35mm up to 8x10, doing so with a huge 6400ppi maximum resolution, high 4.0 optical density, and 16 bits-per-channel color reproduction. Like the V700, the V750 has two separate lenses, but it adds improved sensor optics. LaserSoft SilverFast and MonacoEZcolor software are also provided. Although the V750's Digital ICE system automatically retouches defects in color film and prints, ICE won't work with black-and-white film. Its impressive solution to this problem is a fluid film-mounting holder -- the first in a flatbed scanner, and something the V750 shares with high-end drum scanners. The system allows you to "wet scan" your black-and-white film, reducing scratches, grain, and Newton's Rings the old-fashioned way. About $800.

American PHOTO Editor's Choice 2007
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