My Christmas wish list?

tonylong wrote in post #4264119
One thing that you want to include in your plans is storage. You say you are burning things to DVDs and you should continue that, but for $100 you can get a 500 gigabyte external hard drive to store your working pictures on, and for another $100 you can get a second one to back your pics up. This will in time be important, because DVDs can get very inconvenient as well as damaged just in the handling. They're great as part of your back-up system, but the more pics you take and the more important those pics are to you the more you'll need to invest in how you store and back them up.

It sounds like you are on the right track, go for it, and have fun!

My husband is big into music and has a 500 GB external for his stuff but we are considering an online backup service to back up our server and the 3 computers...

Anyone used this with good outcome?

mai_lin wrote in post #4264195
My husband is big into music and has a 500 GB external for his stuff but we are considering an online backup service to back up our server and the 3 computers...

Anyone used this with good outcome?

I'm very big on privacy-especially my privacy. I don't like on-line solutions since I never know how secure it really is and who has access to my files. If it's just music, that's no big deal. Photos are different. I don't have pictures of my kids floating around on the net. It's too difficult to track what type of metadata is attached to them that could contain personal information and there are way too many wackos out there.

Could be just a tad too paranoid but better safe than sorry. External storage is very cheap and getting cheaper. I'd be lining up those 500GB drives.

Does your husband really fill up a 500GB drive with music? Wow! I don't think I would manage more than 20GB even if we ripped all my wife's vinyl.

Alex

Thanks for the feedback Alex. I agree with the comments about privacy... if we get the back up service maybe I'll just take his 500 GB external

Storage is necessary but I can get by without for now - I'll add that to my 'stuff to buy with the christmas $$ list' cause its not something necessary for photo taking...

dubtdi wrote in post #4264412
Does your husband really fill up a 500GB drive with music? Wow! I don't think I would manage more than 20GB even if we ripped all my wife's vinyl.

My husband fills up for than 500 GB, unfortunately... his vice is music, mine is scrapbooking and now photography to augment that... a bit cheaper than the skydiving I was doing.

The worse part of his habit is that its all music he owns in tangible forms (vinyl and cds/dvds) and just digitizes for his ipod...so its like doing it twice.

I don't understand why he doesn't it and he doesn't understand why I've been taking so many pictures of the same thing, so we're even


Ok so far I've got on my list:
- 430 EX Flash
- 50mm f/1.8 II

And I think I'll add a 4gb cf card to that list too, that should do it I think, unless anyone can come up with other 'must haves'.

mai_lin, i'm in the same boat you are (just have a 400d kit lens and bag) I'm asking for a nifty fifty with circular polarizer and lens hood from my parents. and i'm saving up for a 28-135 and a nice tripod and eventually a speedlite 430.

also having a remote will be nice for the holidays for keeping you more hands free especially for family portrait shots where you want to be included.

whats the advantage of a polarizer and lens hood? I'm intrigued...

a polarizer increases the saturation of colors in the picture and the lens hood helps prevent lens/ sunlight flare (you know those annoying sun spots that show up on your pictures on sunny days)

i found this web page that talks about many different kinds of polarizers and filters
http://www.tiffen.com/​filters.htm

mai_lin wrote in post #4264471
Ok so far I've got on my list:
- 430 EX Flash
- 50mm f/1.8 II

Once you get your flash (430EX is terrific, btw), do a search for "a better bounce card." For a few pennies, you get a flash diffuser which yields amazing results.

dubtdi wrote in post #4265150
Once you get your flash (430EX is terrific, btw), do a search for "a better bounce card." For a few pennies, you get a flash diffuser which yields amazing results.

Oh ya, the complaining begins...

Hubby says "That thing costs over $200?!"...

Considering I just bought the camera I may be pushing my luck with the flash just a month later

But when I do get it (hopefully after christmas) I'll looking into a flash diffuser - thanks for all the feedback folks, its been amazingly helpful!

mai_lin wrote in post #4265166
Oh ya, the complaining begins...

Hubby says "That thing costs over $200?!"...

Considering I just bought the camera I may be pushing my luck with the flash just a month later

But when I do get it (hopefully after christmas) I'll looking into a flash diffuser - thanks for all the feedback folks, its been amazingly helpful!

see, there's your problem. you should've asked for the 580EXII flash first ($410, or $360 now with the rebate) and then agreed to "settle" for the 430EX.

mai_lin wrote in post #4265166
Oh ya, the complaining begins...
Hubby says "That thing costs over $200?!"...

And worth every penny, too. It's only money and not a lot of it. Skip a few meals out, combine several errands to save on gas costs, unload unneeded stuff on ebay. There are many ways to save money.

IMO, capturing a few more candid shots in low light is a lot more important than a few dollars here and there. Having hundreds more pictures of my girls growing up is priceless. Don't give up! Men are easily worn down...I know...

Had a Halloween party the other weekend...at night. Low ambient light and a bunch of 9 yr olds running around the hous. A picture taking nightmare. Music got turned on and the girls broke into the cha cha slide. I had my xti with the 430EX and the bounce card. Got stop action shots with kids in mid air and the whole room was lit up. Amazing results and I was thrilled.

I'd rather have the 35 F2 or the 50 1.8 than a flash for taking family pics, but that's just personal taste. photoshop and the software the camera came with should be fine for now.
Good idea to get another memory card, have fun with your camera.

Get a flash...the 580 EX II is dirt cheap right now...

My christmas list right now consists of ABR800 and the Vagabond II

breathless_moments wrote in post #4264725
a polarizer increases the saturation of colors in the picture

That's the least of what it does.

A polarizer minimizes light from reflective surfaces (glare off a car, hot spots on water, etc.), but the circular type will work to any degree you choose.