Just got a D30! :)

[reddawn]

Hi

After weeks of deliberation between an EOS 30 / Elan 7e + Nikon Coolscan 4000 ED and an EOS D30, I finally went for the all digital solution yesterday...... it is definitely the more costly solution, but I am now enjoying every moment of it (didn't sleep much last night, was pouring over the manual ;P). The EOS 30 / Elan 7e is definitely a slightly better body than the D30, and I really love it when I got to try it out for a while, but alas, managing negatives is not something I am keen about, despite trying to convincing myself it's an non-issue......

As I haven't totally convinced myself what are the kind of lenses that will suit my use (and budget!), I only got the 50mm f1.8 with the D30 at the moment. Somehow I have a feeling I will be getting more very soon :P

I'm glad I didn't go the film scanning route - the hassles of film was what made me got a G1 a few months back.....
Speaking of that, hmm....I wonder how much an overworked G1 which has clocked 8000+ shots in 3.5 months would fetch in the resale market...I need cash to get lenses! :P

[LaptopPop]

reddawn wrote:

As I haven't totally convinced myself what are the kind of lenses that will suit my use (and budget!), I only got the 50mm f1.8 with the D30 at the moment. Somehow I have a feeling I will be getting more very soon :P



Congratulations! Of course, the dirty litte secret is that its not just lenses which can rob your wallet....

First on my list is more storage - the little tiny flash card that comes with it is just not enough for me. The 1 gig microdrive is a great match for this camera, especially if you end up shooting in "RAW" mode. I also strongly recommend a seperate card reader.

Second is an extra battery or two. The D30 is great for battery life - but at least one extra is very important.

Next are lenses. Lots and lots of options here - depends a lot on your shooting style and subjects. Many people like the Canon 28-135 IS USM zoom as a general all-around lens to start with.

Then we have the flash department. The D30 just loves to work with the 550EX....

Oh, and you'll want a photobag, good tripod, good filters, etc. etc.

Enjoy!!!!
-lee-

[DanS]

Me too!

My D30 plus 28-135mm arrived yesterday. 1Gb Micro is en route. Shopping for the 50mm 1.4 lens.

As an extra bonus, the free Canon offer of a 340mb Microdrive + extra battery and cash back on lens was extended to July 31st.

The D30 bargains seem to be abounding. I was told (rumor) that a Canon price drop may be at hand and retailers are angst to move some current inventory.

Orientation is coming along.

Anyone have a recommendation for a good photobag?

How about high-quality filters?

[lefarmer]

You need the bag that you can get all of your gearn in and still have 50% of the bag free. Believe me it will fillup. I am a member of the "Bag Of the Month Club"...LOL.....

If you're inclined toward a backpack Tamrac and some others have compartments that you can add on. Where do you put the 70-200 AND the 300 lens..... Yeah it looks like you have outriggers on your backpack but it does work....LOL......

[reddawn]

Hi all,

Well I've since expanded on my small lens collection, adding the 28-135 f3.5-5.6 IS USM. I tried the Sigma 24-70 f2.8 DG DF before that and really hated the irritating grinding focus noise and the slow focus speeds.

Now I'm wondering if i should have gotten a faster lens. I shot a wedding in a church last week, and found myself lacking in shutter speeds to freeze any kind of action. Luckily, most of the shots came out okay, but I was forced to push the D30 as high as ISO 800 in some cases! On a brighter note, I'm convinced the IS has saved me on quite a few occasions ;P

I actually forgot about switching to my 50mm f1.8
Now we know why I don't do this for a living! :)

But since I don't shoot weddings that often, I'm quite happy with it as a general lens, and will likely add the 70-200 f2.8L in future for weddings and other indoor events like this.....

any other lens recommendation that anyone wants to share? How about wider ones? What are some of your preferred choices for wide angle lens? I don't think the 28mm on my 28-135 is going to be sufficient for me!

Red Dawn

[Scarlet]

reddawn

You could try SIGMA 17-35.....50% of Canon's price with good quality of pics

[reddawn]

Scarlet wrote:

reddawn

You could try SIGMA 17-35.....50% of Canon's price with good quality of pics

Thanks....I will give it a tryout..... :)

[Scarlet]

Wait....There is new release of SIGMA 15-30.... anybody test that???

check here

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0107/01071301sigma1530mm.asp

[LaptopPop]

Three big caveats -
1) Lens is scheduled to be available *in Japan* August 1st, no news about when it should be available to the rest of the world.

2) Lens is about 1.5x the cost of the Sigma 17-35

3) Brand new product -- I prefer waiting a few months for initial manufacturing glitches to work themselves out.

I love the zoom range it covers though. I was thinking about getting a 14mm and a 17-35 zoom - this might replace both. The aperture range (3.5-4.5) is a bummer though. Oh well, I guess you can't have everything! :)

-lee-

[reddawn]

LaptopPop wrote:
Three big caveats -
1) Lens is scheduled to be available *in Japan* August 1st, no news about when it should be available to the rest of the world.

2) Lens is about 1.5x the cost of the Sigma 17-35


wat?? :(

I was thinking of another strategy for covering the wide range. Since I wanted wide angles mainly for buildings and other landscape shots, I will have time to change lenses and compose and such.

Therefore, I was thinking of

1) Sigma 14 mm f2.8
2) Canon 20mm f2.8
3) Canon 24mm f2.8

This ought to cover all landscape shots / building shots, no? Will it work out? Will I miss the 17-35 range? The price for this combo is right, and I get superb quality and fast lenses with the primes......certainly much better quality wide open than either the Sigma 17-35 or the Canon 17-35L right?

[LaptopPop]

reddawn wrote:


1) Sigma 14 mm f2.8
2) Canon 20mm f2.8
3) Canon 24mm f2.8

This ought to cover all landscape shots / building shots, no? Will it work out? Will I miss the 17-35 range? The price for this combo is right, and I get superb quality and fast lenses with the primes......certainly much better quality wide open than either the Sigma 17-35 or the Canon 17-35L right?


Let's see -- rough US prices are:
Sigma 14 - $800
Canon 20 - $500
Canon 24 - $400

Canon 17-35L - $1300
Sigma 17-35 - $450

From what I understand, the quality of the Canon L glass is wonderful. On the other hand, its almost always easier to make prime lenses than zooms. Using three primes like this seems like a way to get real sharp pics and good max apertures.

One thing to watch out for -- I believe the Sigma 14 has had some quality control issues - you need to be sure to test the lens you get for good side to side sharpness.

Good shooting!
-lee-

[JCDoss]

LaptopPop wrote:
Let's see -- rough US prices are:
Sigma 14 - $800
Canon 20 - $500
Canon 24 - $400

Canon 17-35L - $1300
Sigma 17-35 - $450


An alternative, since you don't seem averse to Sigma glass...

Sigma 20/1.8 EX DG $359 (B&H, 7/25/2001)
Sigma 24/1.8 EX DG $300 (B&H, 7/25/2001)

Both lenses have only been out for a few months, so there's not a great big user base of reviews yet. However, I've read some positive things on both lenses. And, with the whopping big apertures and lower prices, they are worthy of consideration.

Both lenses also incorporate a dual-focus mechanism, which means they're capable of full time manual focus. This may only be important to me, but I don't want to fiddle with switches when I need to manually tweak focus. The 20mm lens has a whopping big filter size, though (82mm) which means filters will cost you bookoo bucks. :)

It bears mentioning that Sigma has had a pretty crappy reputation in the past. But recently, with the advent of their EX line, their quality and level of respect has gone up exponentially. Sigma isn't perfect, and there are always compatibility issues to contend with, but they're always worthy of consideration.

JCDoss

[redbutt]

LaptopPop wrote:

The 1 gig microdrive is a great match for this camera, especially if you end up shooting in "RAW" mode. I also strongly recommend a seperate card reader.

Second is an extra battery or two. The D30 is great for battery life - but at least one extra is very important.


You said it. I just got my D30. I also got a 340MB Microdrive AND a 1GB Micro just for good measure. The microdrives are key. The 340MB will hold 90+ raw images. And for those that are interested...damn near 1000 images in small fine mode.

If you look around there are some pretty good deals to be had on the mirodrives...look into them, it is way worth it.

[wilsnsjr]

reddawn -

From my understanding the main reason to invest in the Canon system is for their autofocusing. Obviously they have comparable lens and body quality to Nikon, etc.

I decided to buy an A2 a couple years back and look forward to investing into Canon Digital. Over the past two years I have found that any time I use a non-Canon (non USM) lens I am very disappointed. I have yet to try using the EOS 1V/EOS 3/EOS D1 45 point autofocusing system, but I start slobbering when I think of it (45 point AF plus USM -> EUPHORIA). Why not utilize Canon's autofocusing system?

My advice is stay away from third party lenses at all costs.

-JR