ericpetersonphoto

Greetings Scott. I have owned the Canon 2.5 macro and I currently own the 100 2.8 macro. The canon 50 .25 macro is one of the sharpest lenses ever, its a very good macro at 1/2 without the tube unless you really need the 1/1. The 100 2.8 is a truly awsome lens great for macro work and portraits. If you have the money I would invest in it, if you are desperat for a 50 mm get the Canon 1.4 you can get them pretty cheap now....

I sold my 22-55 with my 10D and I regret it. It was much better than the kit lens. Tiny and nice to have as a walk around lens. I would buy one again in a minute. I would never buy the kit lens again. I really disliked mine(kit). maybe I had a bad copy?

I forgot a couple things, have you made plans with the bride when and where you will do the formals or what other shots they want? Got your contract back yet. And do you know how to pose people?? Scouted for good locations. Whew your in for an amazing ride. Good luck. Start cramming.

I have the Efs 10-22, 17-40L 24-105L, 70-300DOIS, Sigma 20 1.8, Canon 24 2.8, 35 2.0, 50 1.8, 85 1.8, 100 2.8 macro and I use them all. I use a canon 30D and Rebel xt with a 10D back up. I have at least 20GB of flash cards and shoot only Raw.(they are cheap now, believe me you dont want to run out) I have a 550ex, 430ex and 220ex. I ve learned thru experience when to use any of these combinations. Ideally your first several weddings would be as an assistant. It might seem like I have a lot of overlap but I always hire an assistant and give them lenses and assignments to do at certain times and events during the wedding. Flash is a big issue, even outdoors in bright sunshine. If you have a heavly backlit scene you will NEED fill flash. Canon has a tricky flash system, it can give you big troubles at the reception with underexposure. You really need to do some reading and get some test shots before you show up at the wedding. Good Luck. When the wedding is over your work has just begun. Processing all those files is not fun. Editing is you 2nd most important task after getting good images. You better have good software. Have you considered who will print your work and how to put it together? For a normal wedding I put in at least minumium 40 hours of work, pre during and post make sure you charge enough to cover your time and costs and be ready to give it all back if you blow it. May the force be with you.

Adorama sells a flash sock that fits over most any flash and works reasonably well. I had one for a couple years and it fell out of my bag.

 

http://www.adorama.com/FASS.html

Can I take a single raw image save several tiffs with differnt exposure levels

that would cover all values adjusted in ACR and blend them using HDR instead

of using 3 or more shots on a tripod?

I sould have just posted this. Yes, I am a canon shooter. But I do like his site and wit. His oakland Airport essay was classic. I live in oakland.

 

 

http://kenrockwell.com/sony/a100.htm

If I had lots of money to spend on off beat items, this system is much more interesting.

 

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/parts/image_for_link/56449-4049-2-1.html

Don't have to test it, already done. Same sensor as the sony 10 mp digi cam. I ve read the reviews and I would only take it if you gave it to me. Doesnt sony make most of the current noisy 6MP sensors for most cameras? Why should the millions of people who own a new system switch to Sony? I would place them something like this. Canon , Nikon, Pentax, olympus, everyone else. I dont see this changing at all in the next couple years. Unless the 100mp ring cam with 5mm to 1200 mm 1.0 camera without noise comes out. Keep dreaming Sony. More like zeta.

I sure hope so. I am counting on every Canon user selling off their equipment for an inferior product with a tiny choice of lenses flashes etc. I am sure every person who hasnﾒt bought a DSLR (both of them) will buy 2 Alphas. The L1 niche camera, Canon is surly shaking in their IS shoes. I can see it now at the super bowl, ALL Alphas and L1's. Canon finally has the #1 spot in Digital and now itﾒs all lost.

Tigers! Must be a Mac User.

I just bought mine a few weeks ago, I put the 24-105 L lens on it out of the box and havent taken it off. I shot a test shot at f22 and blue sky and guess what? Drum roll please. Looks like Sanford and Sons dumped the kitchen drawer on my sensor. Nice work Canon. Guess its time for spit and my tee shirt again.

I have never noticed the problem on the 10-22 and I just shot 1300 photos at a wedding, many using that combo. However, I do believe you. I will keep it in mind when using the combo in the future or I will just use my 17-40 Hood. I am not about to shell out 30 bucks for a third hood! If its really critical I use my a tripod, lens hood and my hand! Good luck!

The Microsoft Raw viewer does not support the 30D yet. Its nice for the other cameras. Microsoft has some other cool powertoys for photograpy.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

I use it with the 17-40 L 10-22 and 24-105 without any problems. All on a 10D 350XT and 30D.

SAA What Alex said. Slingshot 200! Great bag.

Its in one of the current magaizines. 100 is native. I think its British. They measured all the ISO's and the actual ISO Ill try and find it and post it later.

Canon XT body. 17-85 IS, 70-300 IS- New version. 35 mm 2.0 Prime. 2- 2GB high speed CF cards. extra battery. Lowepro Trekker backpack. Hoya HMC UV filters. 420 Ex flash. Tripod. Good computer. PhotoShop Elements 4.0. Your set up.

Mark I respect your opinion. I donﾒt think I am going to change your mind. But this is a holiday shooter. One lens One camera would be perfect. I have read the review. I am a little compulsive and I read just about every review on every body and lens. I ve found that sites like photozone and their review tend to be very lab oriented and not that real world. It you read the reviews you may never buy anything but L glass and primes. I like Atkins reviews much more but I doubt he will review this lens.

 

Verdict

Regarding some glowing reviews available on the web the expectation were rather high. Unfortunately the (tested sample of the) Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G IF-ED VR II DX wasn't able to convince completely. Weak points are rather hefty distortions and high vignetting (@ f/3.5) at 18mm. Apart from a few weak spots the resolution figures are quite good though and it is possible to get very decent images from this lens under field conditions. The VR can surely help to safe the day in situations where similar zooms must fail utterly. The build quality is a little soso for a lens in this price class and probably the biggest disappointment. All in all the Nikkor is a highly interesting lens but not without flaws (hardly surprising for a 11x zoom).

 

Maybe it was a bad copy? I always send back lenses until I find one I am happy with.

 

Read this.

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm

I love canon as much or more than the next person but, in the case we are talking about, holiday/casual shooters. The Nikon setup wins. Like I said earlier, it kills me to say it but most holiday shooters will be better off with the 18-200 VR. One big reason. I gave my rebel 300D and the 18-55 and 70-210 to my brother. He called and asked why the big smudges. I spent an hour on the phone walking him thru the sensor cleaning process, several fainting spells (on his part) later it was done. I dread the next smudge phone call. A holiday shooter will not care about distortion or softness wide open because the results they will be seeing from the new camera will be 1000 times better than the 3MP point and shoot they switched from. Not everyone one need pro equipment. Nikon has hit a home run with this lens. I also have the 17-40 L, 10-22 Efs, Tamron 28-75 2.8 and a bagful of primes, but there are times when I really wish I had 18-200 IS. When I am out shooting my son at the part etc. The sigma and tamron 18-200 are �good� but the VR lens would kick there butt I am sure, plus it has VR , holiday shooters would get a great deal more good shots with VR than without it. I ve read a number of glowing reviews on this lens. Go visit Ken Rockwell site. He also had some interesting Canon stuff.<div></div>

I hate to say this. Being a long time canon shooter. Maybe you should get the nikon D50 and 18-200 VR. You would never have to change lenses agian given your needs. I sure wish canon would make the 18-200 IS. It doesnt sound like you need a tele converter.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/d30/d30_vs_film.shtml

 

Please read above. I ve gotten better results out of my 10D and XT than any of my 35 mm film when making enlargements. My Mamiya 6 is still better than my current digital much less convenient. * I never intended to impune anypersons backside. So, Sorry ;*

LOL. Pretty funny stuff. If I told you all 5 years ago you could buy an 8MP 5 FPS camera with really low noise at 1600 under 1400.00 you would have all stoned me and called me a wack job moron. Now the same camera isn�t good enough? How many people that own a 20D really print dozens of photos over 13*19? Or use 5FPS all the time? I print photos with my 10D at 24*36 all the time and they look great. If you the 20D, XT or 10d doesn�t meet your needs and desperately need more than 8mp you really need to upgrade to the 5d not the 30d. I just find this all very amusing. Now all the red asses can call me a wack job moron. Cheers.

To get to the other side.

More info. I have a 20mm, 24mm, 50mm, 100mm. 10-22 Ef-s, 17-40 L, 28-75 2.8 Tamron, 70-300 DO. I have tried the Fuji F7000, Panasonic FZ 20, Canon Pro-1 and sold them all. I currently have the Minolta A200. When I shoot for a job I use my best glass, when I go out and shoot landscapes etc I bring my good glass. When I am shooting my family and misc "stuff" I have tried the bridge cameras with the minolta giving me the best experience. However, It's still not good enough. Focus is to slugging etc. If I could have "decent" 18-150 or 200 zoom with IS that is not huge like the 35-350 L or 28-300 L is I would buy it in a second for all the misc. shooting I do day to day. I ve tried the sigma and tamron 28-200 didnt like them to noisy and image quality was just below OK. The best I ve tried is the Tokina 24-200, if Canon does not answer my plea, I will just go out and but it. Blah.