So, we’ve been working hard for a little while in the background now to fix this by designing mobile versions of our sites specifically to how people use smartphones. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sure every reasonable feature you’d want from the desktop site is still there, but we’ve reorganized everything for a vertical flow, and optimized all the interactions to use big, easy to hit buttons, and not teeny-tiny little links. We’re working to make a mobile experience that goes beyond the sterile, drab, clunky one most sites offer, with confusing layouts and loads of missing features, and to make you a mobile site that feels just as powerful as our actual one, and just as intuitive as a well-made app.

And, we think we’re getting close. We’ve got some beta testers going over things right now, and you can expect to see these go live in the coming weeks. But, until then, how about some screenshots from an actual mobile device to show you what’s coming up?

We have two scanners – the Super Coolscan 4000ED (pictured right) and a Super Coolscan 9000ED.

In the Large Format area we’ve got Graphic View II.

If you’re looking for medium format lenses, we’ve got some too – a Hasselblad C 80 f/2.8 for example.

Or perhaps you’ve been seeking a 105mm macro for your Canon but your budget is under $400? We’ve got a Sigma 105mm  2.8 for EF mount here for you.

What about that caption contest? Check it after the break.

Unfortunately, I got only one response. From Derek. Sigh.

I really should have offered you more incentive than mocking Scott.

So let’s give it another go. This time with a photo of yours truly.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Stillwell

And I’m upping the stakes – the first four captioned photos (to my e-mail nhenry@robertsimaging.com) will earn their submitters a Roberts card wallet with their next order. Limit one per customer, yadda yadda yadda.

Orange clamp sold separately

Step right up, folks! Check out the Used department highlights for the week:

Pictured left – a Nikon AF-S 500mm F/4 D in BGN condition.

An all new (ha ha) category in Used – the Lighting and Studio category – temporary home to a Dynalite M2000X power pack among other packs and heads.

We’ve added some BGN rated medium format Bronica and Mamiya gear to the Medium Format used folder.

Next week should have us introducing another new category and highlighting some more rockin’ gear.  A special photo after the jump…

If you think you have a better caption than "Hardly workin'" - send your superiorly captioned image to nhenry@robertsimaging.com and I'll post 'em (within the bounds of taste) next week.

Mmm, translucent mirror technology...

Welcome back, folks. I’d like to point out a few pieces in our used department just waiting for a good home.

We’ve a Sony SLT A33, the intro model featuring their Translucent Mirror Technology.

A Nikon AF 20mm f/2.8, sure to please your wide-angling inclinations.

If you missed Canon’s rebate program- you can still pick up a 24-70 2.8L for less than $1400.

And should you find that the AF-S 70-200 VR II too expensive, we’ve got the previous model here.

Also, there’s a real good lookin’ EOS 1D Mark II N waiting for someone to appreciate its 45 auto-focus points and 8 frames a second.

Maybe I should submit this to the photo contest...

I’ve been working with Scott in the Used department at getting more of our used gear onto the website. There are photos!

I’m going to be highlighting the more exciting items here on RAW weekly on Wednesdays. This week we’ve got a (holy crap!) Seagull 4A-105.

We’re still offering our Sony NEX-5 with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 and HVL-F7S flash for people looking to get in on the sweet, sweet Interchangeable Lens Compact action on the used.

For folks with mini-DV tape to burn, we’ve got a Canon GL2 for under a grand.

And if you’re looking for a standby of the standard zooms…check out the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L

But, while we’re still cleaning things up on the new site (preorders and mail-in rebates will be up soon, and we’ll be filing products for a couple months still, but you can always always search for them), it’s calm enough that I can get back to blogging things up for you. Yay!

And, right off the bat, I get to tell you that after a lot of discussion, deliberation, and debate, we have decided to permanently switch our website’s URL to “http://robertscamera.com” The numbers seem to suggest that’s what most of you expected our website to be anyway, and far be it for us to stand in the way of convenience. But, the robertsimaging.com is an old and storied URL, and it’s been with us since the beginning, so, for now at least it will live on here on the blog, which will continue to be at http://blog.robertsimaging.com, or also at http://robertsraw.com.

Also, to match how you all perceive us, we’re changing all our online branding to just “Roberts.” Plain and simple. If you need cameras, you need Roberts.

We’ve updated the links for our Facebook fan page and our Twitter. Now, they’re at:

Facebook – http://facebook.com/robertscamera

Twitter – http://twitter.com/robertscamera

See how easy this is getting?

Also, for all you Foursquare players out there (hey, I’m one, find me at http://foursquare.com/user/760727), we’re working on claiming all of our Indianapolis entries so we can reduce confusion for you. Right now there are two separate entries for us downtown, one for Roberts Imaging and one for Roberts Distributors (which is at the wrong address, boo!).

So, big changes this year. Exciting ones, we hope. And, we’re thankful for each and every one of you that’s been with us through it all, and for all of you who will be with us in the future.

If you’re looking to buy an Epson Stylus R1900 or an Epson Stylus R2880 and a current Canon D-SLR* you can get $450 back from Epson -so long as you purchase them together between August 1st, 2010 and August 31st, 2010.

For full terms and conditions, give us a ring at 1-800-726-5544 or check out the .pdf on in our Rebate Center.

*EOS 50 D, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D, EOS Rebel T1i, EOS Rebel T2i, EOS Rebel XSi, EOS Rebel XS

TA-DA!

So, despite the obvious changes (like, it being white), most of it’s the same Raw! you already know and love. But, there are some new things, and some old things we never really explained right that’re worth knowing. So, let’s get going!

1. [CHANGED] That whole big white strip up top? That’s the new search box. Looking for relevant material on something? Give it a quick search.
2. [CHANGED] We’ve cleaned up the categories, making them simpler and broader, and we’re cleaning up what’s filed where. So, when you want news about DSLRs, that’s what you’ll find.
3. [UPDATED] Podcasts! We’ve offered two podcast feeds for ages now, one for audiocasts (The Voice of Raw!) and one for videocasts (Raw Footage). We also post these to the blog, so here’s a tip:
   1. In the upper left of all posts with an audiocast will be this icon (click image to see larger).
   2. If you subscribe to the feed available in the upper right of the blog (using iTunes, Zune, or your other favorite podcast software), then the content from these posts will show up on your device when you sync. No further effort required.
   3. The same goes for video posts. Subscribe to both.
4. [NEW!] What’s Hot? New to the blog, don’t want to read through the whole archives? The “What’s Hot” section in the sidebar will show the five posts that have been viewed the most recently.
5. [NEW!] Taken to liking the works of one of our bloggers? Like their style? Click on their name in the header of any post to see all posts by only them, and a brief bio to boot.
6. [NEW!] You can now respond to specific comments/commentors on our posts. Just look for the small black “reply” box below the comment you want to address!
7. [UPDATED] When viewing a single post, at the bottom of the post are a collection of social icons. Click any of them to quickly and easily share, bookmark, or email using your favorite social sites and services.
8. [NEW] Better links. At the bottom of the site, on every page, you’ll find links to all of our most popular things. Our Monthly Photo Contest, the Flickr Group for Nick and Derek’s Photo Walkabouts, our YouTube videos, you name it. They’re all down there. Up top are bold icons to our four most used social services.

So, as you can see, there’s quite a lot of nice stuff going on so far with this new site. A few things were removed, like the star ratings (no one really used them much) and the archaic Tweet This link (replaced by the social icons in the single post view, slicker, friendlier, better.) But, by and large, we think you’ll find the new look to be much better for pretty much everything.

Got thoughts on the matter? Hit us up in the comments.

http://www.robertsimaging.com/sharephotos.jsp