Is this THE package?

[bnowak]

Hi Folks,


Living in South America I don´t have the option of doing various small purchases. For that reason I am posting my intended shopping list and hoping to get feedback and suggestions on what should I keep, dump or change.

One point: I´m going for the 80-200 (AKA Pocket Rocket) for 2 main reasons - It´s readily available at BHPhoto and it costs 1/2 the 55-200. It´s lighter too from what I´ve read in Canon´s site.

There goes the list. Wainting for you 2 cents, dollars or whatever you think it´s worth.

1 CANON EOS DIGITAL REBEL w/EF-S 18-55mm KIT 999.95
1 CANON 50mm f/1.8 II EF LENS 64.95
2 CANON 52mm HAZE UV-1 FILTER 21.90
1 TIFFEN 52-58mm STEP-UP RING 7.95
1 CANON 80-200 f/4.5-5.6 EF II LENS 99.95
1 TIFFEN 58mm PHOTO ESSENTIALS (INTRO) KIT 57.84
1 LEXAR COMPACT FLASH 16X-USB - 512MB w/WA 144.95
1 LOWEPRO LOWEPRO MINI TREKKER BAG GREEN 69.00
1 CANON ES-62 LENS HOOD w/HD ADAPT 62 21.95
1 CANON ET-54 LENS HOOD 19.95
1 CANON EW-60C LENS HOOD 21.95
1 CANON SPEEDLITE 420EX 159.95
1 STO-FEN OM-EX OMNI-BOUNCE f/CANON 420-EX 16.95
1 TIFFEN 58mm CLOSE-UP SET (+1/+2/+4) 45.90
1 CANON L3 NECK STRAP 19.95

Thanks in advance.

[iwatkins]

Also consider a remote shutter release cable (if into long exposures) and if you wear glasses, the eyepiece extender.

Otherwise I can' really add anything other than maybe a polarizing filter.

Cheers

Ian

[bnowak]

Thanks iwatkins,

I do use glasses and the Eye Piece Extender will be usefull. The Tiffen Photo Essentials Kit contains Circular Polarizer, UV and Warm Up filters.

I'll post samples in 15-20 days when the camera arrives.

[BobbyC]

I don't know what kind of shooting you'll be doing, but I would consider more CF cards.

[bnowak]

Bobby,

I'll be doing most Landscape, Architectural and Travel Photos and on the side Family Parties and Portraits.

I have a 256 Mb already.

I'm not sure I'll shoot raw. What do you think?

I'm worried about the time It'll take to do post processing. Getting jpegs straight out of the camera seem more practical at least in the beginning.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Since you allready have a second CF Card my first reomendation is moot,. I allwyas recomend two smaler cards to one big card. With the existing 256 you have that covered.

With the shutter release get a tripod or monopod or both.

The only thing that has me worried is the second lens. @ $99.00 that is a great deal,. but with the photo quality your camera will be capable of,.. I think it may be wise to think about getting one very high quality lens as well. The price difference is staggering,. but you will be amazed how well worth it a quality lens is. I know it is hard to wrap your head around this at first,. I was the same way. But it really does pay off.

There fore, I would dump the 80-200mm you list and invest in a 70-200mm f/4 in it's place. This way you will right off the bat be able to compare side by side the "L" lens quality Vs. the standard quality of the 18-50.

You can not loose money on the "L" kens as it retains it's value for resale better than anything else I know.

[Belmondo]

I would also recommend getting an extra battery. There's nothing more frustrating than being miles from your charger (or an appropriate electrical outlet) and having the camera die. There are third-party batteries available, and they're not terribly expensive.

The remote shutter release that iwatkins suggested is also excellent when you're taking longer exposure shots---especially with longer telephoto lenses

Good luck with your new camera. I was playing with a Digital Rebal (300D) yesterday, and it looks like a very nice package.

[Andy_T]

If you really plan to go ahead with the 80-200 4.5-5.6, I'd advise you to try picking up a good used one at eBay.

Standard lenses from people selling their analog SLR's seem to be pretty cheap on eBay, it's the quality lenses that keep their value.

Regards,
Andy

[CyberDyneSystems]

belmondo wrote:
I would also recommend getting an extra battery. There's nothing more frustrating than being miles from your charger (or an appropriate electrical outlet) and having the camera die. There are third-party batteries available, and they're not terribly expensive.



Best recomendation yet! Big time! At least one spare!

[pvsurfer]

I'm also interested in the Rebel and I have some questions that I hope you guys can answer...

Is the Rebel's standard EF-S 18-55mm lens a 'true' 18-55mm zoom (based on 35mm standards)? If not, what does it's zoom-range equate to (35mm-wise)?

Also, while I'm pretty sure that my EOS 10s (EF) lenses will work with the Rebel, will the Rebel's EF-S lens mount fit onto my EOS 10s (film) SLR?

Thanks for the education!

[CoolToolGuy]

I'll put in my pitch for an extra battery.
If you get around by car, I would also recommend a 12 volt charger for the battery.
I bought an inexpensive charger via eBay (Lenmar is the brand name), and I leave it in my car. It has an AC adapter as well as a car cord. If my first battery goes low, I load the spare and charge the first one. If the second one goes low, the first one should be at least partially charged. If I go camping, or to a weekend event, I can cover it. This may be slight overkill, but worth it to me. And I can leave the (heavy) Canon charger at home all the time.
I still try to keep the batteries charged, but I have a G3 as well as a Digital Rebel, and the power zoom and LCD screen on the G3 eat the batteries up. Besides, I grew up on a Canon TLB and an F1, where you could still photograph if the battery died, so I'm nervous about the loss of battery power.
Good luck!

[bnowak]

I absolutely agree on the spare battery and car charger. I'm keeping mine from the G3 set I sold to a friend.

On the 80-200 pocket rocket and 70-200 suggestions this is how I look at it (not sure if you guys agree):

It's quite a cheap lens. And getting from EBay is not a good option for me because of high cost shipping and customs issues (I checked prices and best I saw was 66 bucks).
The 55-200 doubles the cost and considering I can borrow a 75-300 from a friend in the office (he owns it but rarely uses it) I'm pretty covered for a beginner.

An L lens is somewhere between christmas and easter if my learning curve is what I expect (last time I used an SLR was my grandfathers fully manual Nikon).

I received a suggestion for switching from 420 to 550 because of manual settings. I think it's a heavy unit and double the price. My budget is already over the head by 100 bucks.

[Andy_T]

Ooops... again :)

pvsurfer wrote:
I'm also interested in the Rebel and I have some questions that I hope you guys can answer...

Is the Rebel's standard EF-S 18-55mm lens a 'true' 18-55mm zoom (based on 35mm standards)? If not, what does it's zoom-range equate to (35mm-wise)?

As the camera has the same 1.6x crop factor as the 10D, no lens you mount on it is a 'true' lens :) Rather, the 18-55 range was deliberately selected by Canon to give you the equivalent of a 28-90 mm camera in 35 mm terms (28-90 mm being the 'standard' lens on the film 300 versions and its predecessors). Still, it's the widest lens you can get for US$ 100.


Also, while I'm pretty sure that my EOS 10s (EF) lenses will work with the Rebel, will the Rebel's EF-S lens mount fit onto my EOS 10s (film) SLR?



No, it will not work on any other EOS camera that does not specifically support the EF-S lenses (so far only 300D), as it would collide with the mirror. For this reason it should not be possible to mount it to a normal EF lens mount.

Regards,
Andy

[pvsurfer]

Andy~ Thanks much for the education!

[CyberDyneSystems]

...but YES your EOS film lenses WILL work with the 300D/rebel :)

[Canuck]

Hi!

Sounds like a great setup. I'd be curious to see how it works, as opposed to the 10D. I have a Canon EOS 10D and I can say that if you use cheap glass, it WILL most definitely show in ur pics. I kinda wish I had kept the 70-300 Sigma lens just to show what a difference it makes in the pics! I know and others can agree with me that getting quality glass is extremely important to the quality of pics. Bottom line, I plunked out the $$$ for the 120-300 F2.8 Sigma lens and I can't imagine shooting any other way other then Sigma EX or Canon L glass. I am really thinking of selling the 28-80 F3.5-5.0 Sigma lens. I just need to be able to afford the replacement. I think I can manage about in time for Thanksgiving. Next problem, going to a photography sales place and finding a camera bag, or backpack to haul all this stuff in. If I get it here in England, it will be in pounds which it is $1.72/pound. So say I buy 100 quid of stuff, it will cost me $172! I have to buy pounds from dollars and then I can buy stuff here. I just might lug all my stuff one day and see what I can find! My stuff isn't getting any lighter, though. In case you're interested in how the monster lens is, look at the First pics w/ Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 HSM thread started by me, Canuck. I took both pics.

I can reccommend the battery grip and definitely an extra battery. I think it was the day I took that Wales Beach pic and knackered one battery. That one died hard and thankfully I had the other to go off of of that would have been the end of that day of pic taking. I can also advise getting another CF card. Why? If you have one CF card go TU (bad), then you are done taking pics! It's like don't put all your eggs in one basket! The other possibility, which has happened is that I run out of space on a CF card and have to use the other one. I reccommend 512MB at the low end and whatever you can afford on the high end. There are also these cool bits that allow you to burn from CF to CDR/CDRW! I am looking into it. They are about $300!
The charger that came w/ my 10D weighs like ounces so that's not an issue, and having a cheap 240/120 transformer has been a lifesaver. Electricity here is 240V
50Hz, and the charger I have is 120V 60Hz.

Just a collection of thoughts....
Cheers from England,
Canuck

[msvirick]

bnowak wrote:
Hi Folks,


Living in South America I don´t have the option of doing various small purchases. For that reason I am posting my intended shopping list and hoping to get feedback and suggestions on what should I keep, dump or change.

One point: I´m going for the 80-200 (AKA Pocket Rocket) for 2 main reasons - It´s readily available at BHPhoto and it costs 1/2 the 55-200. It´s lighter too from what I´ve read in Canon´s site.

There goes the list. Wainting for you 2 cents, dollars or whatever you think it´s worth.

1 CANON EOS DIGITAL REBEL w/EF-S 18-55mm KIT 999.95
1 CANON 50mm f/1.8 II EF LENS 64.95
2 CANON 52mm HAZE UV-1 FILTER 21.90
1 TIFFEN 52-58mm STEP-UP RING 7.95
1 CANON 80-200 f/4.5-5.6 EF II LENS 99.95
1 TIFFEN 58mm PHOTO ESSENTIALS (INTRO) KIT 57.84
1 LEXAR COMPACT FLASH 16X-USB - 512MB w/WA 144.95
1 LOWEPRO LOWEPRO MINI TREKKER BAG GREEN 69.00
1 CANON ES-62 LENS HOOD w/HD ADAPT 62 21.95
1 CANON ET-54 LENS HOOD 19.95
1 CANON EW-60C LENS HOOD 21.95
1 CANON SPEEDLITE 420EX 159.95
1 STO-FEN OM-EX OMNI-BOUNCE f/CANON 420-EX 16.95
1 TIFFEN 58mm CLOSE-UP SET (+1/+2/+4) 45.90
1 CANON L3 NECK STRAP 19.95

Thanks in advance.


This is indeed a complete package.
Later add a 24-135 Canon USM IS and a few batteries, and you are cooking.
I wonder where a 50 mm f 1/8 goes for $64. It is indeed a good buy. If you have little more dough left, may be you will think of 10D instead.