pwagner
19th of July 2003 (Sat), 02:41
Hello board!
Enjoy! http://homepage.mac.com/pkwagner/index.html
I've been watching the various Canon message boards for about 3 months, gearing up for a major camera upgrade. Anyway, my 10D and 100-400 L IS USM arrived July 3rd!
My Background: I'm a software engineer at Apple (not iPhoto; I work for iTunes and wrote much of the user interface for the now-famous iTunes Music Store). I bought a point-and-shoot 2 megapixel camera 3 years ago and upgraded to the Minolta Dimage 7i last year. Since my parents are "birders" I use photography as a great way to spend the grueling day-long outings at the local Silicon Valley swamps, grasslands, marshes, etc. My other main camera use is to take pictures of my ever-growing collection of carnivorous plants.
I found that the Minolta was great for macro work with screw-on macro adaptors, but the fixed lens was a major limitation for birds. The other great feature of the Minolta was the built-in time-lapse photography capability; that was great for 2-hour shoots of drosera (sundew plants) attacking insects.
I just wanted to share the results of my second weekend with the new toy. By then the 28-135 IS USM joined the party. I must admit that this camera setup is spectacular. For my friends who just count pixels and zoom factor, it's hard to even describe just how much better VALUE the $3000 Canon setup is over the $800 Minolta. The focus speed, focus accuracy, and image stabilizer of the 100-400 "L" is AMAZING.
Last weekend I finally got a chance to get out and take some real pictures. $3000 buys an amazing setup! For me, the 1.6x crop factor is a MAJOR benefit. In fact, a tripod, the 1.4x "II" tele-converter, and a roll of masking tape (for the "II" leads) are on my short list of expensive extras.
Comments and help are always welcome!
-- Peter Wagner
Enjoy! http://homepage.mac.com/pkwagner/index.html
I've been watching the various Canon message boards for about 3 months, gearing up for a major camera upgrade. Anyway, my 10D and 100-400 L IS USM arrived July 3rd!
My Background: I'm a software engineer at Apple (not iPhoto; I work for iTunes and wrote much of the user interface for the now-famous iTunes Music Store). I bought a point-and-shoot 2 megapixel camera 3 years ago and upgraded to the Minolta Dimage 7i last year. Since my parents are "birders" I use photography as a great way to spend the grueling day-long outings at the local Silicon Valley swamps, grasslands, marshes, etc. My other main camera use is to take pictures of my ever-growing collection of carnivorous plants.
I found that the Minolta was great for macro work with screw-on macro adaptors, but the fixed lens was a major limitation for birds. The other great feature of the Minolta was the built-in time-lapse photography capability; that was great for 2-hour shoots of drosera (sundew plants) attacking insects.
I just wanted to share the results of my second weekend with the new toy. By then the 28-135 IS USM joined the party. I must admit that this camera setup is spectacular. For my friends who just count pixels and zoom factor, it's hard to even describe just how much better VALUE the $3000 Canon setup is over the $800 Minolta. The focus speed, focus accuracy, and image stabilizer of the 100-400 "L" is AMAZING.
Last weekend I finally got a chance to get out and take some real pictures. $3000 buys an amazing setup! For me, the 1.6x crop factor is a MAJOR benefit. In fact, a tripod, the 1.4x "II" tele-converter, and a roll of masking tape (for the "II" leads) are on my short list of expensive extras.
Comments and help are always welcome!
-- Peter Wagner