mark cohran

If you look in your menu there should be a Communications Menu option. Check your manual for specifics, but if it's like the 20D, then it should have two settings - "Normal" and "PTP." To communicate with your computer it should be set to Normal. If you have the correct setting, then I would suggest a computer reboot and if it continues to be a problem, a reinstallation of software.

I always have a camera with me, but it might not be a DSLR in all cases.

No, legally you can't. What you're creating is called a "derivative" work and as such, runs afoul of the copyright of the original piece.

The only time I use UV filters is when shooting at the shore with there is a possibility of salt

spray. In that case, I do throw on a filter (and usually my Storm Covers) as I'd rather get the

spray on the filter than on the front element of the lens.

I think you'll get a hundred different answers on this. Personally, I look at it like this: The camera is "suggesting" an exposure to me. It's up to me to determine if that's the exposure I want to use for the shooting conditions. After all, what is "correct" exposure? I think the exposure is as much a part of the creative process as the choice of subject and composition. I think you have to learn your camera, how it reacts to certain lighting conditions, and then learn to compensate accordingly.

 

Mark

I love my 50mm f1.4. I've had it for three years and had not a bit of problem. I haven't noticed that the AF is significantly slower than any of my other non-L lenses, and one or two stops from full open, the sharpness is superb. Like Puppy, I've been buying Canon gear for over 30 years, and I've had very, very few problems, even with my most recent purchases, so I would say their QC is excellent.

 

Mark

Years ago, when I first started in photography and was on a tight budget, I bought and used

third party lenses with some sucess. As I became a better photographer and as I upgraded

my equipment, I found that for reliability, consistency and quality only Canon met my

expectations. I personally do not believe there are any 3rd party lenses that meet or exceed

Canon's quality for the same or lesser price.

Each system has its own strengths and weaknesses. If you have Nikon glass of any

substantial investment, you should go with Nikon. If you only have one or two consumer

lenses, it's a toss. Yes, the D200 has impressive looking specs, but the 20D is an extremely

capable camera as well, and it's successor will probably boast impressive new specs.

The 50mm f1.4 is mechanically superior to the 1.8 in almost all respects.

Well, despite what Roger Gailbraith or anyone else says, my 20D is much louder than my 1D MIIN. That's one of the first things I noticed about it during my first shoot.

 

Mark

I do this all the time my 550EX or my 580EX and White Lightning Strobes. It works great. A

pro photographer from the UK showed me this trick about 3 years ago with his strobes, and

I've used it ever since. Just set the flash to manual and dial down the power to 1/128th and

let is trigger your studio strobes.

Nope, never had that problem with mine. AF works like a champ.

This problem has been well documented. Canon recalled the grips and will do a fix for free. If you just bought yours a couple of weeks ago, I'm surprised your having the problem. You might want to contact the Canon Service Center and disucss this.

 

I bought the grip before the problem was extensively noted, but I've never had the problem on my grip, so I didn't send it in for repair.

The A2 has a way of making the shutter sound quieter? Mine doesn't seem to have that

feature......care to be more specific?

I shoot with studio strobes quite a lot (White Lightnings) with both the 20D and 1D Mark II

N. I always find that I get the most consistent results using a custom WB. For me the Flash

WB was a bit cold. Having said that though, it was always consistent and did not vary with

distance from the model or recycle time.

 

The questions I would ask are: Is there any ambient lighting over than than the modeling

lights from the strobes? Is so, what is the ratio of ambient lighting to strobe lighting? If

you have a significant amount of ambient lighting compared to your strobes (either due to

having your strobes set to a low power or using a long shutter speed), then your white

balance may be affected by that, especially if the ambient lighting is from fluorescent

tubes, or if it mixed lighting.

 

If either case above is true, you can reduce the ambient/flash lighting ratio and that

should solve your problem. In any event, I do recommend a custom WB.

 

Shooting under fluorescents is always a challenge, even with custom WB.

It's all about cost. The larger the sensor, the more money it takes to manufacture. There's a lot more detail to it than that, but it's primarily about cost and ease of manufacturing.

I've often used my 20D in lowlight conditions and have been able to produce consistently good results. It is, however, a matter of technique and a need to practice hand-holding at slow shutter speeds. Yes, the 20D shutter noise is relatively loud compared to other digital SLRs I have owned, but I haven't noticed any degradation of the ability to take photos in low light - in fact, I'm very impressed with the 20D's capacity to auto-focus in low light conditions, and achieve sharp focus at that!

No. Minimum ISO on the 20D is 100.

Perhaps your best bet would be to get a book on Basic Photography.

The camera is probably set to Continuous Numbering and the previous owner used a CF card that had been used in another camera (or the CF card you used had been used in a previous camera). So the 20D picked up the numbering from the last image number on the card (it doesn't matter if the card had been erased, the numbering data is still there). This question has been asked and answered at least a few dozen times before and if you'll search the archives you'll find several additional threads about the subject.

I'm not sure about CS2, but in CS you simply enter the pixel or other dimensions in the crop tool box located at just below the menu bar and those values will be retained for the duration of your Photoshop session. You can simple click on the arrow between the dimension to swap between horizontal and vertical values.

"Most of the people buying the 20D are first time DSLR users." On what do you base that

opinion? I seriously doubt "most" 20D purchasers are first time DSLR users. But whether I'm

right or you're right, there is a wealth of information in the manual and even more on the

web. I suspect most people who have problems with the camera don't read the manual,

research their purchase or have a poor understanding of photography.

The Canon 20D allows you to set a manual white balance by choosing a color temperature. This should allow you to give your photos a bluish tint, though it would require some experimentation to achieve the desired effect. I'm sure other cameras have a similar capability. You could also achieve a blueish tint by setting a normal white balance and then adding a lightly tinted filter, but I don't know that you would get a very realistic look. Sounds like you need to experiment a bit.

I own one. I use it continuously. No problems. I like a vertical grip because I shoot a lot in the portrait mode. I haven't had any of the issues mentioned above and I have one of the first grips. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe I'm just not as picky as a lot of others here.

Canon has not yet begun to produce full sized sensors at low cost. The only full size sensor camera produced by Canon is the 1Ds and 1Ds Mk II (the latter selling for $7999 USD. The 6.3 MP Digital Rebel probably went on sale due to the release of the new Rebel 350D or Rebel XT. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't want to take advantage of this sale as the Digital Rebel is a fine camera at an excellent price.