the the

The difference is the read and write speed. The Ultra II is 60x I believe, while the Extreme III is 133x. Your needs depend on what sort of photography you do. Do you use the motor drive a lot and fill the buffer? Or are you a one-shot-at-a-time sort of person? If you download a lot of images from a card reader, I believe a faster card speeds that up as well.

 

The motor drive on the XTi might not be fast enough to fully utilise the faster CF cards, so you might just be happy with the Ultra 2.

Considering that the 400D in the U.K. from Jessops is selling for 499 pounds with the 18-55mm lens attached, I'd say getting that kit plus all the other associated junk for the equivalent of 405 pounds is a good deal.

 

Is it a good deal in Hong Kong compared to other dealers? Who knows. But compared to U.K. prices, you seem to have come out ahead. I doubt Jessops would offer you a better price.

They generally...don't work well with SLRs. At all.

 

Your best bet is to put the money into a good quality tripod that is is sturdy yet light enough to carry on a hike. Many camera bags come with straps for tripods. Might as well invest in the equipment rather than make do with stuff that will frustrate you.

Here's a second recommendation for Image Capture. It works. The Canon camera won't show up on your desktop as a removable volume. Not sure why this is the case, but it is what it is.

If Canon's EOS Utility won't work, try the "Image Capture" program in Mac OS X. Type it into the spotlight search box and it will come up. It works with my 30D on a Power Mac tower and my white MacBook. This seems to work with dozens of camera brands and models with no problems at all.

 

You might also want to download the latest verson of EOS Utility and the 20D firmware.

 

Another option is to use Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop. It works for me.

If you are considering the Tamron 17-35mm, why not consider the Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 as well? Perhaps you don't need that range, but it can't do much harm to have a more versatile lens. I don't know how its image quality compares to the others, but it sounds quite acceptable.

Nope, no trigger ability. You need the 550/580 flashes or the STE-2 transmitter.

My Elan7 is very quiet, quite a bit more discreet than my 30D. I imagine an Elan from years gone by can be had for very cheap. The film rewind function is also silent, for reasons I don't quite understand, though I suppose at a quiet event this makes the photographer less obvious.

With my 30D the manual says the charge takes about 100min to get to 90 per cent, but to reach full charge you must leave it in the charger for another hour. There is no need to leave the battery on the charger any longer than that because the circuitry will prevent an overcharge once the battery gets to 100 per cent.

I bought a 30D in mid-November after going into the shop set on buying the 400D. The cheaper camera's price and feature set was tempting. I saw no practical reason why I needed the more expensive camera when I was only just rekindling my interest in photography after a two-year dry spell. Except for one small thing.

 

The 400D is small. Some people love that. I used to shoot with a Pentax ME and MX. They're tiny by today's standards and I didn't mind them, but I've become used to shooting with the Canon Elan 7 and it's vertical grip. It's a bulky combination, sort of like carrying around a shoebox. So when I picked up the 400D in the shop it nearly fell out of my hand. I just didn't like it. No. Not good. The 30D, by comparison, fit in my hand perfectly--even better than my old Elan 7. And the 30D was what I really wanted anyway. I like its solid feel, its excellent grip, its fast motor drive for sports photos. Everything is there. The pixel count may be slightly lower, but chasing technology is a tiring endeavour.

Brent:

 

Sales tax in B.C. is 13 per cent, not 15 per cent.

 

Or did you mean 15 per cent with import duties included? (Although I've never paid import duties on the camera equipment I've bought from the U.S.A.)

Everyone complains about high taxes and expensive products in Canada, but since moving to the UK I have discovered that taxes are not only high -- perhaps higher than in Canada -- but goods and services are expensive too. When I lived in Canada I always moaned about camera supplies being cheaper in the USA. Now that I live in the UK, I'm moaning about camera equipment and supplies being cheaper back home in Canada.

Check out the review on the frontpage.

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/70-300do/

"Depending on the camera, it may be possible to move AF function to the * button. If you can, do it. It'll take a bit of getting used to, but it's worth it. "

 

I used to use this function on my camera. It is a good option depending on the sort of photos being taken. I found that it wasn't a helpful function for street/documentary photography, where speed is essential.

You'll do fine using the 420EX speedlight. When I'm shooting outdoors on a sunny day I like to use FEC and bump the flash down by 1 stop to avoid washing out faces. You should probably do a trial run to see which results you prefer.

 

It's also a good idea to refer to the links posted above.

The 100mm f/2 is a nice fast lens that is excellent for portraits. The 85mm f/1.8 is also superb. There are also many other options. The 50mm f/1.8 is a very good deal and will be acceptable for portraits on the 10D. Your choice in focal length will depend on your preference, of course.

"Incapacity of explaining why it'd be silly is so silly that it begins to be called "stupid" :)"

 

Oh please. I am sure you know exactly what I meant, but no matter:

 

Your statement regarding Sigma *possibly* making a digital-specific lens incompatible with certain Canon cameras -- due to the suspected use of similar construction techniques to the 18-55mm -- is a proposal that I am willing to call silly. Sigma wouldn't intentionally make its lenses incompatible with a Canon body, especially not physically imcompatible, as the EF-S lens is with anything other than the Digital Rebel.

"I wonder if the Sigma lens works on the D30. If Canon people are stupid and assholes enough to divide their own EOS/EF system by making the quite reasonable 18-55 compatible only with the DRebel and not with other DSLRs, chances are Sigma has done the same with their DSLR-specific lens."

 

 

That is just silly.

Yes. One day they might. Will it be happening soon? How good is your crystal ball? Mine hasn't got any insiders at Canon.

The previous model has a "Made in Taiwan" stamp on the bottom...

"I don't think its a huge issue. Crippling like this has been found in computer components for years. Its a lot cheaper for a company to produce a hundred of the same chips and cripple 50 than it is to R&D 50 and 50 chips"

 

 

It's a similar practice to car manufacturers using the same engine block/crankshaft, et al, in a variety of different car models, but with different ECUs, heads, horsepower ratings, etc.

I hear the new one will be full frame too.

 

 

 

HA-HA-HA-HA-HA.

You can hack the DRebel's firmware all you want, but it's not going to change the fact that it's a plastic-bodied camera that lacks many of the pro-oriented features one will find on the 10D. You cannot hack the interface and proclaim that you have added "all the 10D features to the Rebel," since the 10D is physically different.

 

Then again, techno-geeks who don't know a heck of a lot about cameras wouldn't know the difference anyway...

They're trying to fleece you.

I hate to sound like a smartass, but sometimes it can't be remedied...

 

Why bother trying to use k-mount lenses on a Canon when a newer Pentax body would be the ideal candidate? They can be had for fairly cheap...