(Photo by Nick Scribner)

Singer-songwriter Willie Nile performed at J&R’s music store today. Nile’s folk-roots-rock music and keen songwriting has always been well received by the critics, and his fans have dubbed him “the next Bob Dylan.”

His latest album, Live From the Streets of New York, is a nice throwback to this New York native’s rock-and-roll sound. For the old school rocker looking for something new, this album is seriously worth checking out.

The glory days of lounging around with a cell phone in hand while maneuvering a three-ton SUV through traffic are long gone. Doing so is unsafe and a liability, if not completely illegal, as it is in New York and several other states. There have been hands-free devices to remedy this problem for years, but most of them were not without their faults.

The BlueAnt Supertooth 3 has been this summer’s blockbuster for hands-free devices. The Supertooth is unlike other hands-free units that are bulky, hard to set up, or require one to look at their phone to see who is calling. Simply secure the Supertooth to your car’s sun visor with its magnet-locking system and sync the Bluetooth speakerphone to your cell phone. There is no tedious installation to worry about.

Where the Supertooth really excels is its advanced text-to-speech technology. When there is an incoming call, the Supertooth announces the caller’s name or number, however it is programmed in the cell phone’s phonebook. Just say “OK” to accept the call—no hands required.

So wrap up the summer with the latest and greatest in hands-free technology. Answering phone calls while driving couldn’t get any easier than this.

Owning a DSLR carries with it some extra baggage—a camera bag, that is. And not all camera bags are created equal. An ideal camera bag holds all the gear one needs for a photo outing, while still being comfortable and easy to access all of the bag’s contents. Lowepro, the leading name in camera bags for quite some time, clearly realizes these requirements, as their Slingshot 200 AW is the perfect bag for many casual and serious photographers alike.

The Slingshot has one nicely cushioned strap and is worn over the shoulder like a messenger bag. But what makes it unique is its ability to swing around to the front of one’s body, allowing for easy access of the camera and camera accessories. The time this saves can be crucial when a transient photo opportunity arises.

The above picture shows my own Slingshot 200 AW, which I’ve happily used for over a year. It holds a Nikon DSLR with a lens attached, two additional lenses, an external flash, and various accessories—and still with room to spare. The AW stands for “All-Weather,” so in wet conditions one can disengage a parka-like elastic covering that is otherwise tucked inside the back of the bag.

With the Lowepro Slingshot 200 AW, the gear one needs is always just a quick sling away. It’s as close to the perfect camera bag as it gets.

For college students, a recording of all their professors’ lectures is invaluable during finals week. And by the end of the semester all of these recordings will require ample storage space. The digital recorder that will best suit these students’ needs is the Zoom H2 by Samson Tech, which accepts SD memory cards up to 4 GB. When recording in MP3, this allows for up to 138 hours of recording time.

The Zoom H2 also works great for music concerts and personal recordings. Unlike most digital recorders on the market, the Zoom H2 records in stereo—not mono—so the sound quality is excellent. For a college student, the Zoom H2 is the perfect gadget.

* And as with any lecture, make sure you get your professor’s permission before recording.

Transitioning from a point-and-shoot camera to an SLR has never been easier. Entry-level DSLRs today are in many ways just bigger and better versions of their compact counterparts, with the main difference being DSLRs’ ability to change lenses. The Nikon D40 has emerged as one of the most popular and affordable DSLRs in this class.

Last week our blog’s resident audiophile, Atane, bought himself a Nikon D40 kit with an 18-55mm zoom lens. Although Atane is no stranger to technology, he admitted to being a novice when it comes to SLRs. Like most people, his only experience in this field is with compact point-and-shoots, which he used only in auto mode for capturing special occasions. He wanted a better camera for photographing his home theater equipment and also wanted to dabble in photography as a new hobby. Atane researched entry-level DSLRs online and tried out the various models at J&R’s camera store, and he liked the construction and the handling of the Nikon D40.

After unboxing the D40 and charging the battery (and skimming just a few pages of the Nikon D40’s manual), Atane was ready to hit the streets of downtown New York City with his new camera. His first pictures with the D40 show, rather amazingly, how a camera newbie can take brilliant photos with a DSLR right out of the box.

Atane takes his first pictures with the Nikon D40 (Photo by Nick Scribner)

All of the following pictures are unedited (SOOC) JPEGs taken by Atane.

Atane’s commentary: I was immediately impressed by how bright and clear the viewfinder is on the D40. I’m used to looking through a smudgy screen that is hard to see in sunlight. I was also impressed by how fast the camera focuses and how close I can get for flower shots. I really like how the out-of-focus area in this photo has that professional blur.

Atane’s commentary: The 18-55mm zoom lens is really sharp. I walk by this sign every day on the way to work, but I never noticed the picture on the Park Row sign until I viewed this photo on my computer.

Atane’s commentary: I was taking pictures of the fountain in the park on Pine Street when Nick [the writer of this post] suddenly stopped me and told me to look up at the skyscrapers. There was some really good light that lasted only a couple minutes, and I was lucky to capture this shot, my favorite of the day.

Needless to say, Atane is very happy with his Nikon D40 kit. His first day out taking pictures kindled an interest in photography, and he’s now looking forward to getting more accessories, such as more lenses and an external flash, as his interest continues to grow. And with a DSLR like the Nikon D40, the sky is the limit.

While J&R may seem all about technology (and we are), there is a softer side to our store that many people don’t know about. Starting this summer, J&R now offers a wide variety of designer sunglasses. Feel free to browse the current selection of sunglasses online, or just come to our downtown NYC store and check them out in person.

Buying a digital camera these days is a lot like buying cold medicine. There are endless brands and types, and each boast why that particular product is the best one. But the objective is always the same: to relieve the cold symptoms, or to take good pictures. The Nikon Coolpix S600 eliminates the stress of having to search for the right digital camera if all one cares about is getting good pictures. This little camera really has it all.

The 10-megapixel sensor puts the Coolpix S600 at the top of its class of compact point-and-shoots. The 4x optical zoom is particularly useful on the wide end, stretching out all the way to 28mm (35mm equivalent) for panoramic views of landscapes and skies. Camera shake is greatly reduced by Nikon’s Vibration Reduction lens technology, which allows for longer exposures at night without flash.

To wrap things up, Nikon encased the S600 in a stylish, brushed metal shell. So search no longer, the Nikon Coolpix S600 will do it all—in style.

Nikon entered the full-frame digital SLR race a bit late. Canon’s five-year head start, beginning with the EOS-1Ds in 2002, had given them an edge among many professional photographers embracing the advantages of a full-frame sensor. Nikon finally responded last year with the D3, which proved to be a very competitive alternative to Canon’s full-frame line. But there were two issues that prevented many Nikon users from immediately trading in their DX cameras for a D3 FX camera: size and price. With the recently announced D700, Nikon fixes these issues and hopes to make their full-frame line more accessible.

The Nikon D700 is essentially a D3 with the body of a D300. This is a considerable achievement, considering the mammoth proportions of the D3 and the significant size difference of a full-frame sensor. What’s the big deal about a bigger sensor? Because there is a lower pixel density on the larger full-frame sensors, photographers are able to boost the ISO comfortably, which allows them to shoot in low light without flash and get pictures that aren’t diluted with tiny red specks known as noise. The other main advantage of a full-frame sensor is the ability to use ultra-wide lenses that are wider than any lenses available for DX cameras because of the DX crop factor. Additionally, Nikon’s entire catalog of Nikkor 35mm film lenses will work on the D700 without being affected by any crop factor.

Although Nikon will keep their DX line for the foreseeable and distant future, their FX line will soon be in the hands of most professionals and serious hobbyists. The D700 aims to bring full-frame-sensor Nikons to a larger audience. For those looking toward the future of professional photography, the Nikon D700 is a good investment that will certainly continue to gain in popularity as Nikon continues to beef up its FX line of lenses.

The iPod is now ubiquitous on city streets everywhere in the world, and many people carry their iPods with them everywhere they go. So it’s surprising that a majority of iPod users are still stuck with the included white earbuds. The audio quality is mediocre, and unless one is in a perfectly quiet environment, the iPod’s volume bar has to be cranked up well above the halfway mark to have a satisfying listening experience. With all the news headlines today that admonish listening to high-volume music through headphones because of its link to deafness, it’s now become a health hazard as well.

The solution to all this madness is an investment in a quality pair of noise-canceling headphones. And one shouldn’t look any further than the widely popular Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 QuietPoint Headphones. With one AAA battery and a flick of a switch, these headphones will block out nearly all background noise. The screeching of a subway’s brakes, the droning of an airplane’s jet engines, or the whirring of an electric fan is removed by the headphones’ ability to cut out constant, undesirable frequencies in the environment. Now listening to an iPod on a subway with the volume below the halfway mark is possible.

After using the Audio-Technica QuietPoint headphones for a while, it’s hard to imagine what life was like without them.