Well, I managed to catch up over here. Next door is a whole 'nother matter...
I'm feeling better today, but still not fully recovered. This was some nasty stuff. My appetite is beginning to come back a little.
Permagrin wrote in post #6718620
Scott...oh I wouldn't have waited....I was just thinking aloud at my own scenario. At the time that we bought the camera gear we could have afforded to do it right the first time.
Instead we bought 2 xt's w/18-55 lenses and the 75-300III.
Bad move...all it did was make us hungry for better.
We sold the 75-300 right away and bought the 70-200 F2.8 and the 28-105.
We didn't keep the 70-200 though because having not been long from the P&S crowd, it was incredibly heavy and always felt like it was going to snap off the front of the xt.
so we bought the 200 2.8
the 85 1.8
the 50 1.4
and the 24-105L
Then we sold the xt's bought 2 30D's.
and then it just went downhill. I never liked the colors from the 30D and went almost immediately into the M2N. But wasn't prepared for the weight and stopped using it. Finally sold it for the 5D/30D combo...which I was relatively happy with (at least the 5D part). But the 30D left me wanting the 2n's fps and I was never happy with how it tracked. We acquired a BUNCH of lenses during this time...and sold a bunch. Then I made one of my biggest mistakes (not by upgrading to the M3 but by selling the 5D to do it). The M3's initial (year long) problems nearly soured me on photography for good.
On another note though, it stopped that gear lust I had. No longer was newer better.
Right now I'm very content with what I've got. The ds2 has noise issues (the M3 is the best camera ever, so far, for dealing with noise and I got spoiled quickly by it) but other than that, it's a dream camera. The 40D works great and while it doesn't shoot as fast as the M3 and I do miss that, it is nice to have a smaller camera when I want one.
The list of things I would not have bought, had I known what I know now:
the xt's and the 30D's.
the tokina 80-400 and the tokina 400
the tamron 14mmthe m2n
the 50 1.4 (never used it...maybe a dozen times)
the 85 1.2 (loved the photo quality, hated the slowness...if this lens focused faster I'd still own it)
the 100-400 (but we all know I hate that lens)
the 70-300 dois (bought this because I didn't want to spend the money on the 100-400...it's nice but never quite fast enough for birding)
I would have put the M3 here IF it had not got fixed properly.
things I wish I had not got rid of:
the 24-105
the 17-40 (while I need the 2.8, the 17-40 has better IQ)
the 200 2.8 (stellar prime for a steal of a price)
and the 5D
You had the Tamron 14mm and sold it? I have one and I love it. Granted it loses a bit on a crop camera, but I'm keeping it because I plan to get a FF camera eventually.
I have a tendency not to sell gear once I've acquired it, although there have been a couple of things I really wished I'd kept. My first slr and my first car, to mention a couple.
After I bought my 20D, I decided it was time to divest myself of some of the film gear, so I sold my 2 Canon A2's on consignment at the local camera store and I gave my two Minolta X-700's, along with all the lenses and accessories, to the photography department of one of the local high schools.
Woolburr wrote in post #6719494And the execs from the big 3....flying to DC on private jets at a cost of 10s of thousands of dollars....begging for money from the government. No scruples. no morals. A sad commentary on our society.
I think the government would be stupid to bail out the auto industry. When did the governement get into the business of rewarding bad management? Any bailout should include the ouster of the current CEOs and major concessions by the UAW. They've been getting a free ride for way too long. It was interesting to watch the UAW representative categorically state the union would not make any more concessions.
I was a member of the aerospace branch of the UAW for 15 years and they did nothing for us. I wish I had the pension and retiree health benefits the auto workers get...
puddlepirate44 wrote in post #6722532Welcome, CaliGirl. This is a good place to start. Regulars on this thread range from newbies, to those just starting to "get it" to weathered pros to, well, T.D. who defies clarification.
T.D. isn't the only one here who defies classification. Just ask my wife...
CaliGirl, with a username like that am I correct you are in California somewhere? If so, where are you located?
puddlepirate44 wrote in post #6723985That's what I was thinking. Like rapid slaps to the face. Storm fronts over here just sort of mosey along....
We haven't had a major storm front in months... The last one through gave us a measly 1/4 inch...
Helpful Dad that I am, I gave him a list of tongue twisters to practice with. 
He's actually very excited to have it. Now we'll just have to wait and see how long until he loses it for the first time. 
