horst_santihanser

John,

don´t forget the 2,5/50 macro. Very good optical quality. If you

don´t need the fast 1,4 get the macro. If you buy it used at ebay

you will get a very good lens for low money. Cons are af-speed

and af is a little noisy.

Regards

Horst

I am with Yakim, in general.

To use an UV-filter against UV-light is a joke. In nowadays, the

lenses themselves have a very good multicoating against UV.

And normally I take care of my equipement in a much better way,

a filter would do. For the case of demolition I have a special

insurance for my bodies an all the lenses. An insurance would

protect not only against demolition but also against thiefs.

Every aditional pice of glass would reduce the quality of your

lenses.

Regards Horst

Peter,

thanks a lot for posting the link to Russel Brown.

I know, there are some more methods to get better bw-quality tin

PS than with the "set to grayscale"-command.

Could anyone give me some detailed information or links related

to that topic?

Regards,

Horst

Hi Patrik,

I agree with what Charles said. Go for Canon gear. In former

days I used a Metz MZ 3i with the new 3102 SCA- connector (the

one you have to use to use E-TTL). Then I tried a 550 EX for a

day from a friend and got to ebay the other day get one (her in

Germany sometimes they pay more for a used 550 EX at ebay

than they would have to for a new one from mailorder, but that´s

an other story but will show you, how photographers love the 550

EX). Now I own a 550 EX, a ST-E2 and since two weeks a 420

EX.

Normally I use the 550 as master and the 420 as a slave, but

some times I am happy to be able to have the ST-E2 and have 2

slaves.

With two units you would be able to do quite good portrait work.

ANd you can easily get some colour effects using smal lee filters

in front of the flashes.

Both, the 420 and the 550 will give you the chance to take good

pictures. And if you use the original Canon flashes, the electronic

supports you very well to find the right exposure.

Kind regards

Horst

Tim,

try C.Fn 13. There is a possibility to switch the funktion of the

back side wheel.

Good luck!

C.G.,

the ST-E2 would work fine up to about 135 mm. With longer

lenses I had problems.

But if the lightning conditions allow you to shoot without a tripot,

normaly the 10D will do the af-job fine without any support.

Dear Jason, there are already many good answers and thoug

there´s not much I can tell you more. If you are a beginner first

you have to realize your own kind of seeing. But how to know

without trying? In my very early days I startet takinging photos

with an 50mm lens for more than 2 years. I was forced to

because in the age of 16 I always was short of money. Then I

bought a 70-200. Nice, but I used it al the time at about 100mm.

This was at the time of manual focus. Nowadays I use a 100mm

as my standard lens, even at the D30 or, I hope in a few days,

with the 10D. Thats my kind of seeing. I use a wideangel lens

only if there isn´t enough place to use the 100. And in my eyes,

even a 50mm is a wide angel lens.

To try out several lenses an to do this "cheap" would be the best

way to buy them at ebay. If you buy a used quality lens, there

would be a good chance to sell it without much loss. To try out

which lens angl is the right for you there´s no need to buy the

lenses with a big apperture. Ok, these lenses normaly gives you

the chance of sharper pictures and more room to do some

experiments with selected unsharpnes. So start with 28, 50 and

100 or 85 mm and find your way of seeing. If you cannot afford all

that lenses, start with a 50 - if you can afford with the 1,4/50. But

don´t worry if not: The 1,8/50 I will do a good job.

Just one more word related to the discussion about your first

question. Some guys talked about the 28-70 L or 24-70 L. There

is a special reason why Canon replaced the 28-70L. The reason

is called Canon 1Ds an all the following full fram DSLR´s. Chip

is different to film. The light should reach the chip in parallel light

beams. That isn´t a problem with not-wide-angle-lenses. That´s

the same reason why they replaced the 17-35 by the 16-35. The

new construction makes it possible, that light leaves the lens in

parallel beams.

But Jason, you have a lot of technical questions and I

understand, that like to avoid mistakes. Just go out and take

some photos. You can make pictures with each of the

numerless mentioned lenses. And go to the luminous

landscape to read an very interesting article about picture quality.

"Most lenses are better than the most photographer are!!!"

I hope, my English was good enough to give you some ideas.

You have to decide on your own.

Regards

Horst

Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany