Just ordered my first SLR (20D), few questions

[elbirth]

I just placed the order for my very first SLR camera, and I've decided to go with the Canon EOS 20D. I've wanted a 10D for a long time, but never had the money for it, and then the 20D came out, so I was quite happy when I was able to finally purchase it.

However, being new to the SLR field of cameras, I do have a couple questions that I hope you guys can either help me out with or point me in the right direction. And if any of this is covered in the manual with the 20D, just point that out and I'll go looking there (I'll definitely be reading through it from the start).

My questions, straight and simple:
- I've seen mention of the sensors, mirrors, etc getting dust on them and needing cleaning. Can I do this myself, or should I take it to a camera shop? If I take it somewhere, about how much does a cleaning cost? Same thing for the lenses. I'll only be starting out with 2 lenses, so I don't expect to be changing them too often to allow dust to get in there.

- When I put the camera up for the day, night, etc, is it ok to leave the lens on it, or should I take it off?

- I have a few 256mb CF cards that I've used with my G3... a Kingston and some Viking cards. Should these work fine with the 20D, or do I especially need the high speed cards? I don't plan to do sports photography, etc, just yet. Given the different quality/resolution settings on the camera, about how many pictures per card could I expect to fit for the different settings?

I think those about sum up my initial questions thus far, and thanks for any help you guys can provide. I apologize if any of these things have been asked multiple times before, but I've only recently been lurking the EOS section of this main forum, and have looked around some, but not really extensively. Once I get my camera and take it out for a spin, I'll definitely be posting some photos in the photo sharing forums.

[Scottes]

For cleaning, for now, get a dust blower (Giottos Rocket Blower preferred for $10) and a simple lens cleaning kit, usually about $8. Depending on your use you won't need to clean the sensor for a while. Then it's $20 for Eclipse solution and a set of Pec Pads. The blower will get much of the dust off the lenses, mirror, and sensor, but eventually some sticks to the sensor.

It's OK to leave the lens on. In fact you're better off leaving it on because changing lenses is how dust gets into the mirror and sensor.

The CF cards will work, but you probably won't get full speed out of it. Don't worry for now - when you start doing action/sports/etc then you'll know that it's time for faster cards. Each 256MB card will hold about 25 pictures in RAW or (I think) 70-80 large fine JPG.

Have fun!

[DaveG]

My questions, straight and simple:
- I've seen mention of the sensors, mirrors, etc getting dust on them and needing cleaning. Can I do this myself, or should I take it to a camera shop? If I take it somewhere, about how much does a cleaning cost? Same thing for the lenses. I'll only be starting out with 2 lenses, so I don't expect to be changing them too often to allow dust to get in there


- When I put the camera up for the day, night, etc, is it ok to leave the lens on it, or should I take it off?

- I have a few 256mb CF cards that I've used with my G3... a Kingston and some Viking cards. Should these work fine with the 20D, or do I especially need the high speed cards? I don't plan to do sports photography, etc, just yet. Given the different quality/resolution settings on the camera, about how many pictures per card could I expect to fit for the different settings?

I think those about sum up my initial questions thus far, and thanks for any help you guys can provide. I apologize if any of these things have been asked multiple times before, but I've only recently been lurking the EOS section of this main forum, and have looked around some, but not really extensively. Once I get my camera and take it out for a spin, I'll definitely be posting some photos in the photo sharing forums.

There are all kinds of recipes for cleaning the sensor and you should look at a bunch of different sites to choose a method that's right for you. The sensor itself should stay clean, at least mine does. The shutter is closed and protects the sensor when you change lenses so it's not like lens changing will cause dust on the sensor every time.

In any case DO NOT clean the mirror! If you look through your viewfinder and see dust it is almost certainly on the focus screen NOT on the mirror. That mirror is surface coated and if you try to clean it (other than a with air from a blower brush) you could easily scrape some of that silver off. Even if it WAS dirty it won't affect your images since the mirror gets out of the way every time you fire the shutter.

- I'd leave a lens on the camera or at least a body cap to protect the insides.

- I think that you'll need to reformat those cards for the 20D but that shouldn't take more than a minute or so. They will work fine with the 20D but they are small, especially if you take advantage of RAW. The instruction book for your 20D (it's availble on line if you want to look) will indicate how many shots you'll get. On my 10D I get about 80 RAW shots at ISO 100 with a 512 card. The 20D's files will be bigger and your cards smallers so I'd guess at about 30 RAW shots on a 256 card. At some point (soon) you will just want to get bigger cards. They are getting cheaper every day, and the speed improves too. I just got a Lexar 40X one gig card for $95 Cdn and a year ago I paid $230 for a 512 Lexar 40X card and thought that I got a great deal on that then!

[Andy_T]

Elbirth,

what lenses do you plan to get?
That might be an even more important question for you to consider.
And it's a question with plenty of options to discuss :wink:

Best regards,
Andy

[elbirth]

Scottes and DaveG, thanks a lot for those responses. I'm definitely planning to get larger cards soon when I can- I've seen a 1gb Lexar 40x card for about $110 (US) that I'm contemplating.

Andythaler, the package deal I ordered is coming with a Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL AF Zoom Telephoto Lens and a Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 HF AF Mini Zoom Lens.

[Jim_T]

One more thing on the compact flash speed..

The 20D has a comparitively HUGE amount of internal memory. When you take a shot, it first gets saved to the internal buffer memory, then once the save is complete, the image gets transferred to the flash card.

The 20D can hold 23 JPEG's in its buffer memory. This means that even with the slowest flash card ever made, you can STILL squeeze the trigger and fire off 23 frames at 5 frames per second.. (That's 23 pictures in just under 5 seconds) :)

Once you've hit 23 frames the buffer becomes full and can't hold any more., THEN you have to wait until the buffer makes room by transferring its contents to the flash card. This is where the flash speed comes into play. A fast card significantly reduces the transfer time.

If you just take a shot or two here and there, you won't be able to tell the difference between a fast and slow card.

[elbirth]

One more thing on the compact flash speed..

The 20D has a comparitively HUGE amount of internal memory. When you take a shot, it first gets saved to the internal buffer memory, then once the save is complete, the image gets transferred to the flash card.

The 20D can hold 23 JPEG's in its buffer memory. This means that even with the slowest flash card ever made, you can STILL squeeze the trigger and fire off 23 frames at 5 frames per second.. (That's 23 pictures in just under 5 seconds) :)

Once you've hit 23 frames the buffer becomes full and can't hold any more., THEN you have to wait until the buffer makes room by transferring its contents to the flash card. This is where the flash speed comes into play. A fast card significantly reduces the transfer time.

If you just take a shot or two here and there, you won't be able to tell the difference between a fast and slow card.

That's a great point, thanks for mentioning that. I've read that it can take the 5fps bursts up to 23 shots, but didn't realize that it was actually 23 shots it could fit in the full amount of the buffer... though I guess it does make sense. I won't be doing much of any high-speed shooting for the time being, and if I do, it definitely won't require me taking more than 23 shots in a 5 second interval.

[Andy_T]

Andythaler, the package deal I ordered is coming with a Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL AF Zoom Telephoto Lens and a Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 HF AF Mini Zoom Lens.

That means that you do not have a really wide lens (28 mm on the 20D is like 45 mm on a 35 mm camera). Might be ok if you never take landscape pictures etc.

However, it might be an idea if you could also get the kit lens with it.

Apart from that ... why did you decide on these lenses?

I don't mean to question your decision and I don't have any experience with them ... but they do not get recommended very often on this site. E.g., check this site for lens reviews: http://www.photozone.de/bindex2.html

How much do they add to the price?

Best regards,
Andy

[elbirth]

Andythaler, the package deal I ordered is coming with a Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL AF Zoom Telephoto Lens and a Sigma 28-80mm F3.5-5.6 HF AF Mini Zoom Lens.

That means that you do not have a really wide lens (28 mm on the 20D is like 45 mm on a 35 mm camera). Might be ok if you never take landscape pictures etc.

However, it might be an idea if you could also get the kit lens with it.

Apart from that ... why did you decide on these lenses?

I don't mean to question your decision and I don't have any experience with them ... but they do not get recommended very often on this site. E.g., check this site for lens reviews: http://www.photozone.de/bindex2.html

How much do they add to the price?

Best regards,
Andy

I got them because I bought my 20D as a package deal that had those 2 lenses in that package.
The package consisted of the 20D body, those 2 lenses, UV, Polarized, and Flourescent filters, an extra battery, a 128mb CF card, a card reader, some LCD screen protectors, a memory card case, a compact tripod, full-sized tripod, cleaning kit, a camera bag, and a backpack with a camera compartment.
This same package was available with just the kit lens for $20 less, and I mainly went with this one because I figured I was getting 2 lenses rather than 1, and the prices of them separately are close to $100, and I was thinking that I could still buy the kit lens separately and save a little bit of money.
I can always buy the kit lens separately for like $30 if I really end up needing it, which I'm thinking I may do anyway.

[Andy_T]

This same package was available with just the kit lens for $20 less, and I mainly went with this one because I figured I was getting 2 lenses rather than 1, and the prices of them separately are close to $100, and I was thinking that I could still buy the kit lens separately and save a little bit of money.

That makes sense, then. Good to hear that you got yourself a nice deal. What was the total price of the package?

I can always buy the kit lens separately for like $30 if I really end up needing it, which I'm thinking I may do anyway.

Now that sounds like a very good deal :shock:

Where did you order your camera?

Best regards,
Andy

[elbirth]

That makes sense, then. Good to hear that you got yourself a nice deal. What was the total price of the package?
The package itself was $1659, and shipping was $39... so right at $1700 (US) for all of that.

Now that sounds like a very good deal :shock:

Where did you order your camera?

I got it from a place that sells on eBay called 47th Street Photo (http://stores.ebay.com/47th-Street-Photo_W0QQsspagenameZl2QQtZkm) that I've heard pretty good things about. I just ordered it last night, and I'm hoping I'll get it by the end of the week.
The $30 for the kit lens that I mentioned is averaging some prices I've seen from sellers on eBay as well- I've seen prices range from $28-$33 on average.

[Andy_T]

... doesn't look bad!

Their rating in www.resellerratings.com obviously went down a bit recently, but it surely doesn't look bad.

Hope they come through with the camera ... that 'in stock' really means it.

The lens package might not be stellar, but the price surely is interesting. Good luck and lots of fun with your new equipment!

Best regards,
Andy