johnpclevenger

sorry..didn't realize you tried them already. My bad.

www.mpix.net

Give them a call. They can pretty much print anything.

Excellent quality, fast shipping, and reasonably priced.

I also want to add that I agree with Geoff Francis above. The F4.0 was a real drag. If you're not using the 17-40 for long exposures then it's really not that great of a lens. You definately can't shoot weddings or decent portraits without studio strobes. I always had lighting issues to overcome and it just made it more of a problem than what its worth. I always found myself thumbing around in my camera bag for my 50mm 1.8 Indeed it looked good on my camera body but that's about it. I finally sold the canon L and bought the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 for half the cost. The Tamron totally Rocks if you can get a sharp copy. My next buy will be the Canon 16-35 L 2.8 ot Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 All depends on how much money i have at that time. With all my buying and selling, I've learned to stick with 2.8 aperture or better. I will never buy a 3.5 or 4.0 again.

Sigma makes two different model EF-500 flashes. There is the EF-500 DG Super and the EF-500 DG ST. The EF-500 DG Super can act as a slave unit and can be triggered by an IR Flash Transmitter. I am not sure how to set the flash for slave, but this link may help. Just copy and past into your internet browser.

 

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/flashes/flashes_flashes_details.asp?id=3257&navigator=1

I have to put in my 2 cents for others who are interested in buying an L lens. I just bought the 17-40 F4L and to be honest, I am not very happy with the results for potrait use. It may be a great lens for lanscapes but NOT portraits. I took about 10 shots with this lens and immediately took it off my camera and went back to my cheap 50mm 1.8 The 50mm yields much greater results. Clarity is much better. The extra speed allows me not only to blur out the background but also whiten the back drops better. My 17-40 f4L is just a little to soft. I stopped down to 5.6 and it didn't help. With that said, it is very very possible that I just got a bad pick out of the bunch. I will never buy an F4L lens again. I highly recommend saving up for a 2.8 L if at all possible.

I have owned the 35-135 USM lens and returned it after 3 days.

It is horrible if you are a serious photographer. 1 of 10 shots come out decent using the 300D. Edges are very soft. You will not be happy with the results.

I bought my Digital Rebel this past summer and have yet to revert back to my film camera. Even with film, the largest print I made was an 8 x 10. Results of the prints may be similar, but transferring the images to the PC has never been easier. I get more work done in less time. It's almost like comparing dial-up to broadband. You can get the same thing on your PC screen, but how fast does it get there?

Thanks for your responses. I have decided to save up for a 1200 ws system to start. I;m sure I will end up using the power in the future.

Needing help in understanding sufficient Watt Seconds needed

for a single portrait. I know the higher the WS the better.

Will a single 110 ws strobe w/ softbox be enough light for a single

portrait?