goldwyn_t

From a canadian's perspective, i think you should go for the L glass, because they are big and heavy and hard to carry.

Hey Hansley,

 

Well met! I'm a biochemist from UBC haha.

Currently 4th year, still got a bit to go.

As for your conern about the 50mm1.8 speed, i've just ordered one from newyork, it should get here in about a week or so. I think it would be a great help. First of all, the zoom's 50mm is only so so sharpness. Secondly, the prime is much faster. With 2 stops of aperture translating into 4x amount of light to the film, that means you can handhold the camera in environments 4x dimmer. That's a huge difference! 1/30 second ---> 1/125

 

What kind of photos do you shoot? Scenic-wise, i think your best investment right now would be some filters. Polarizer (the hoya moose is pretty damn good). Graduated neutral densities. Check out another biochemist's work with these filters www.kennethkwan.com, he's also a photo.net patron with very inspiring shots! If you shoot mainly indoors and portraits, get a flash. You can be very creative with different flash settings (+/- EVs) and you can even change the flash's colours with a *free* Roscolux swatch booklet that you can request here www.rosco.com.

 

Hope this helps! From one biochemist to another, best wishes!

Thanks for the insight!

I think it's best to stick with the hitechs (2 and 3 stop hard) with a cokin holder.

I was gonna buy them right away from BnH, but it seems that someone has gotten ahead of me and they are sold out! Oh well, this lets me sleep on the subject a bit more before purchasing =)

 

p.s. Your photos on your profiles are very inspiring, thanks!

NEVER buy from Canadian Canon dealers. They charge almost twice the price as their american counter parts. With the exchange rate so low right now, you can seriously consider buying from online retailers in New York.

 

Have you looked at the EF 50mm 1.8? It's less than 100cad mail order. Zoom wise, you're pretty much set with your 28-105.

 

Also, ask some authorised canon repair depots if they have old EF lenses. I know one across from my work and they sell me their old lenses for 60% off! haha.

 

You made a good choice with Canon. If you went with Nikon you'll have to pay a much higher premium!

Hello,

 

After reading through many threads regarding different brands of

gradND's, it seems that one can't avoid spending >$100us to start a

pursuit in filters. The cheapest glass gradND start around 70us...

 

From experience, can you guys recommend a good start up "kit" that

goes for under 100us? i'm considering a cokin holder with 2 hitech

gradNDs (2stop and 3stop).

 

Thanks

So i was reading about the two 50mm's Canon has to offer (i don't

count the f1.0 as an option because it's too damn expensive). There

seems to be a devout following for the 50mm 1.8 yet some people are

bashing it and swearing that the 1.4 is optically better. To me, the

half stop makes no difference.

 

Can you guys give me some details on the 50mm 1.8? For example, are

the lense elements glass or plastic? Do you find that you have to

stop down to get better photos?

 

Thank you very much!

Found this link while googling the net for EOS reviews

 

http://www.camera.canon.com.my/archive/photography/art.htm

 

It's apparently the canon malaysia site where a man named Philip

Chong have, over a period of 2+ years, written dozens of articles

regarding use of EOS cameras and review of MANY lenses. Great place

to start if new to EOS system and great place to stop for a third

opinion on lenses.

If you can afford L glass, why consider anything else?

would that 100mm really make your pictures better?

Thanks guys for all your contributions. It's obvious that the Elan is a better body than the Rebel Ti, but from your opinions i definitely agree that better lenses and a good flash are the priorities here.

 

Christopher brought up the fact that almost all lenses are several times more than the camera body. It's easy to see that some L glasses would easily be worth more than the Elan, the EOS3 and an EOS1v combined. Technology wise, the Rebel is easily the leader to many (older) SLR bodies out there. The fact remains, it's still a film box.

 

So it's decided! Haha...

Hold off on the body.

Oh yeah, Aaron and Puppy Face brings up a good point, the viewfinder in the Elan (from what i tried out at the camera shop) does look brighter and larger than the Rebel's. Canon's website lists very similar specs for the view finder in both Rebel and Elan though. Does anyone know if the Elan's viewfinder is in fact superior to the Rebel's?

Hey Mark, thanks for the tip on the X-sync. i checked out the website and yeah, it's really not that big of a difference... and to really get the max out of X-sync one would require a body like D1s, which is waaay out of my price range.

 

What about the speed of AF? The guys at the camera shop told me that in order to realise the full potential of ring USM lenses a higher end body (like the Elan) is needed. i feel comfortable with the Rebel's AF speed right now, but this brings the issue back to Canon's lens system. If i'm to invest in higher end lenses, the Rebel body will not bring out the best from those lenses.

 

And hey... 4fps sounds really cool. *SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP*!

Chris, similar to your concern about lens price to body price ratio, i posted in a thread earlier to this and expressed my exact dilemma.

 

It's certainly true that we can expect better pictures with better optics but it's still hard to justify purchasing middle/high end lenses for a relatively low end camera (i own a rebel too).

Johnny and Steven, WOW... response times are fast!

lol

 

Anyways, Steven your point is well taken. I have sat down and thought about the Elan's technical superiority to the Rebel. The primary difference i can really use is the 1/250 X-sync speed, this fact however goes in direct conflict with your suggestion that sooner i buy a new body, later i get a new flash. (haha... life's foibles) What you said about the heavier body drops harder is also well taken. Although i really don't take into account dropping the camera as one of the ways it can be damaged - i feel that if the camera is dropped, any salvageable remains is a blessing. At present with the Rebel body, i feel that simply holding the camera too much might damage it! lol

 

Currently i have a middle end 28-105mm/3.5-4.5 USM II lens. It feels very sturdy and the picture quality seems adequate. i have thought of going all out for an IS zoom lense, but the issue of price of lens/flash to camera body creeps up. i'm left wondering "Is this body worth all those gear?" Primarily that is my concern. Is the Rebel worth upgrading (interms of lens, flash, filters)? Or am i better off getting a good middle end body like the Elan and get some middle end add ons? It really would feel weird if one day i put an L lens to this body...

Hi guys,

 

First time posting... so go easy on me here. I have read many

threads about Rebel vs. Elan, and this is not what i'm trying to

start here.

 

Purchased a Rebel Ti earlier this year, but feel that i want an Elan

or EOS3 now...

 

Besides the technical differences between the Rebel and the Elan (X-

sync speed, frames/second, mirror lock up, etc.) the latter just

feels more durable. Is this just my bias towards pricier black

cameras? Furthermore, i wanted to add an external flash to my camera

and found it hard to justify purchasing a good flash (420EX for

example) that costs just 25% less than the camera body! I feel so

lost... is this a delayed syndrome of buyer's remorse?

 

Can you guys/gals give me an experience based opinion to merit (or

not merit) a trade-in of the Rebel for the Elan.

 

p.s. Does the eye control really work? i heard mixed stories about

this.