-If nothing else, all the snobbish F4s'ers (your truly included) can get togather and compare their cameras and say bad things about Canon.
(of course, we can also thump our noses at the 8008s'ers and F3'ers...)

-A week ago I had an opportune discussion with the district representative from Nikon during which I learned a lot about the new N90 camera (relayed in a summary post), and in turn I was asked to try to disseminate information about the Nikon School. Since this is a commercial venture it might not have been appropriate to just post an advertisement. Nontheless I hope it will not offend anyone if I post a summary of what I learned and summarizes the brochure that Luis referred to in his post with questions about the school.

The Nikon school is designed for a range of experience from raw amatuers interested in learning more about their new cameras to advanced amatuers who want to see how to use the most sophisticated features of the current generation professional level equipment. The orientation is not limited to Nikon equipment, but the examples will be based on photographs and techniques that the instructors use in their professional work. The instructors are all working pros with a close working affiliation to Nikon. The current list includes Sam Garcia and Bill Durence here in the East, and probably Steve Hener and Michael Corrado in the West.

Topics list: Lens selection Exposure Metering Composition Films Filters Light Electronic Flash Close-Up Photography Special purpose equipment and techniques.

Large numbers of photographs are shown and discussed. Cost $75, includes lunch and a Handbook. Call (516) 545-8666 (9:30 am - 4:00 pm Eastern Time) for registration information, or local retailers have forms. Sessions last for two weekend days. September 12-13, this weekend, sessions begin in Pittsburgh and Phoenix, Scottsdale. Chicago and Minneapolis the following and Sacremento and Orlando October 3-4. Get the brochure for the less timely dates and locations.

This said, I have not taken the school. I have sat in on other similar sessions by Nikon pros many years ago. I thought that they might be useful to exactly the audience they were pitched to, and not to working professional audiences. It really is one big Nikon advertising promotion, but a lot of the questions that are asked on the net are for exactly the kind of information that they pass along. If you look at the topics list anyone can tell that these subjects could be the basis for a photography degree program, so don't expect to leave with all the knowledge to become a working Nikon professional. They will candidly comment about comparable competitors' products.