New-to-me 10D arrived Saturday...

Well, I did it. After posting a "why go digital" question a few weeks back and sharing your well-reasoned responses with my wife, I got the go-ahead from The Boss to see what I could find. I have some extra money coming in a few weeks from a patent proposal, so this would be a treat to myself.

I waffled between the 20D (a bit high on the $ scale) and the 350D (uncomfortably small), then started looking at alternatives. After spending waaay too many hours scouring the forums here and reading all the reviews I could find, I decided to start watching for a 10D. Last week a fellow posted one on eBay with box and docs and software, a Big Ed grip, twin batteries with dual-pack charger, and a 512MB Lexar 40x card and reader, for what looked like a fair price (he'd recently gotten a 20D to replace it). As someone recommended, I watched for a listing where the seller described every teensy mark on the thing, as that should show he cared about his gear. I did the "buy it now" thing.

The camera got here Saturday, and the only thing I could find "wrong" with the whole kit was that the upper inch of the back cover of the owner's manual was dog-eared, and there are tiny scuffs on the battery charger from having the packs inserted and removed. Other than that, it's apparently pristine. The neck strap hasn't ever been used. The seller said he'd recently had it "professionally cleaned", whatever that may mean.

Initial impressions - dang, it's a heavy beast! I have an A2E with grip, and the 10D is substantially beefier. I like the size and balance, and since I've used an EOS SLR (Elan IIe (now the wife's camera) and the A2E) for the last eight years I expect the basic camera-function learning curve should be fairly gentle. I have no naive expectations about the what-happens-after-the-shot stuff, though - I know there's lots to learn (goodie goodie!)

So far, I've read the manual twice (yeah, I'm a geek, thank you) and topped off the batteries. I plan to format the card and maybe even (gasp!) put a lens on it and take a picture with it this evening. I expect I'll have a few questions in the next while!

Welcome to the club - you will be very happy. You know the crack, you will spend much more money on lenses, but the 50 is a corker.

Buy yourself a card reader (firewire if you have that socket, or usb2, or usb at a pinch). Shoot everything and get a feel for it - you'll love it!

Finally, scour the posts that catch your eye - we've all been there before. you will find just about everything you could think to ask.

Graham

Congrats!!!!!! Have a great time and great pics!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well....where's the pictures?

Lets see some and Congrats on the new camera! Enjoy it.

You are gonna love what you can do with that camera! I surely like mine. So much to learn, so much fun. Congratulations and welcome to the "I'm going to spend all my extra money on lenses" club.

The 10D finally saw "first light" at lunchtime yesterday. Here's a shrunk-to-fit-the-forum version of the first snapshot, our Pharaoh Hound.

This was shot with my EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, camera in P mode, large-fine JPEG, ISO 100, from a distance of around 12 feet. Would have had different results if I'd set the ISO higher (duh) - the aperture was f/1.4, 1/45 second exposure. I think it chose his hip as the focus point, so his head is a bit fuzzy (though that fits his personality!) I was pretty danged pleased with the results of the near-full-auto shot, though.

I also did a minimum-aperture clear-blue-sky shot to check for ickies on the sensor. There were a total of five tiny, tiny flecks - three at about 8 o'clock, one at about 1 o'clock and one at about 3 o'clock, all quite near the periphery of the sensor. Not anywhere near enough to be concerned about.

I discovered yesterday that the camera arrived without the basic software CD, so I've ordered it from Canon. That'll allow me to change the owner's name to my own, which will be nice! The camera has apparently had around 9900 shots run through it, as the first shot was numbered 9902.

Anyway, so far so good. I expect I'll spend a while in large-fine JPEG mode just to get used to the camera and basic post-processing, then venture into diddling with RAW at some point.

Thanks again to the forum for your input, and I look forward to your comments and continuing particpation.

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wow! congratulations on your new toy! and i can see you have a fair collection of lenses already! i'm sure you will end up spending a lot more! hehe...you have that 50! i'm jealous!

Just a quick tip - always focus on the eyes. Forget the nackers! You will be sorry if you get this wrong if you shoot pretty girls!

Great dog - aptly named.

I always shoot in aperture priority - low f-stop for blurry backgrounds, high for groups. Watch for the shutter speed being too slow and up the iso if necessary (max 400).

Enjoy.

Graham

LOL!!! that made me laugh!!! damn good advice!!! lol

Thanks for the feedback, y'all. Yes, I usually focus on the eyes - if this had been more than a "does the danged camera work" shot, I would have been a bit more careful. I just turned it on, set it to P, tagged the auto-focus on the overall dog, and shot - lo and behold, there was a purty pitcher on the itty-bitty TV on back of the new-fangled camera! I didn't even think to see what the ISO was set to until I noticed the aperture and exposure were so wonky. This shot does, however, highlight parts of the dog that aren't going to be there in a month, so maybe the auto-focus point would be different then...

This is what I like about the Canon's they don't seem to show Moire like others. Look at the screen behind the dog.

BTW, I'm sure your hooked now. Now turning back. Your going to love it.

Looks like the Dog's trying to hatch a couple of eggs ... oooops

congrats... enjoy your new beast
send us some more photos, with or without 'the eggs' no problemo

yeah that dog looks like he is showing some of his family jewels.. Nice, get him a girfriend it looks like he is backed up...lOL