Canon 1D Mark II

personaly i would stay away from tamron but thats just personal preffrence i only use stigam ex lenses and canon L but thats just personal prefrence

For $500 more, get the 1D...

you will NEVER get one for that price again...can you learn a 1D? Sure. It has more features, but if you "eat the elephant one bit at a time" you will figure it all out in time...

Zilly wrote in post #2262037
personaly i would stay away from tamron but thats just personal preffrence i only use stigam ex lenses and canon L but thats just personal prefrence

well atleast you have a good reason

the optics of the Tamron are much better than the equivalent Sigma, and teh Canon L is 3x the price.

Zilly wrote in post #2262037
personaly i would stay away from tamron but thats just personal preffrence i only use stigam ex lenses and canon L but thats just personal prefrence

Are you talking from personnel experience?

I'd say 30D, BG-E2, 17-40 f/4L and 70-200f/4L...

blonde wrote in post #2261733
wow, that is the cheapest 1D price i have ever seen... and it is also the most expensive 5D price i have seen to date..

Really? A 5D body in Argentina sells for 5000U$D new, a 350D with 18-55mm sells for 1400U$D new, and a 30D with 18-55mm sells for 2335U$D new...

yea ive used tamron before and never been greatly impressed with it altho saying that i do shoot sports and i find that its not as responsive as the sigma or canon the auto focus in it felt slow and it weighed a ton didnt like the feel of it ither but again thats just personal prefrence if your woking with something for 4 5 hours a day i for me it needs to feel right

Went to another shop today and looked at some Sigma lenses. Was told Sigma lenses have improved in quality over the years and would be a good substitute for the Canon brand. They are also a lot cheaper to buy

sigma makes some good lenses and some very bad ones (just like canon). i think that it is safe to say that most of sigma EX line is pretty darn good.

angiep wrote in post #2261943
Does anybody have any suggestions for an all purpose lens besides the 17-40. The lady in the camera shop suggested a 28-135 lens if I wanted to keep the cost down.

The 28-135IS is a far better lens than the Tamron. It has great range for a zoom and works very well on a 1D series body. I have a fairly good collection of L glass and I still use my 28-135IS on a regular basis. The Canon lens features USM and Image Stabilization. The Tamron features a cheap price tag.

And lest we forget the original question....go for the 1 Series....can't beat the price and it is no harder to learn to use than any other DSLR.

Think of it like this. If you owned both I'll bet you that the 30D would sit on your shelf gathering dust. I wish I could have paid that price for my 1DMK2!

The 17-40 on a MK2 is great for landscapes and the quality is top notch. Its a bit short for portraits and way too short for sports and animals. I have a 28 - 135 and its not bad, but my 24-70 f2.8 L is better. Its a lot more money, but the last 10% quality costs 90% of the money as always. The 28-135 is a lot lighter but on a MK2 thats like taking the bumper stickers off a Mack truck to save weight! Its also cheaper but you did say that your budget wasn't a problem. It seems a bit innapropriate buying a top spec pro camera and putting budget glass on it. If you have the cash buy Canon L glass as you can afford it and feel you need it. If they sell MK2s that cheap maybe they can get secondhand L lenses for good money too?

Hi Again
All done now.
Ended up buying the D1 this morning but ended up getting a lens from a different shop.

My purchase ended up like this.

Shop 1
Canon 1D Mark II with box and all accessories ( 3 Months warranty )
1 extra battery
512mb card
Tamrac Adventure 74 camera bag
Total $ 2606.00

Shop 2
Sigma EX 24-70 F2.8 DG Macro
Price $750.00

I wanted to keep the cost down a bit and did some more enquiries on lenses so ended up buying this lens from this shop. The sales person was very good and also knew his stuff. He asked to have a look at the D1 which I just bought and was blown away to se how good a condition it was in and not to mention the price tag.

Spend about 1 hour in the shop where he checked the camera out for me. Only thing he could find was some small dust participles which I was told is normal.

Once used to the camera I will add to the lens collection.

Anyone had any experience with this lens.

Regards,
PC

Sorry
Forgot to convert to US dollars
AUS $ 2606.00 = US $1997.00
AUS $750.00 = US $575.00

Regards,
PC

yes i have the lense its a realy nice lense for the price

I think you made the right choice.
Although the 1D is a bit harder to learn on than the 30D, the main controls are very easy to learn and you will like the way things are very hard to adjust unintentionally.