affen_kot

careful that you don't open up a bag of mischief, alex. for some reason, p.net

threads about uv filters and/or hoods often end up with a sharks versus jets flame

war, with the hoodies on one side, and the filter users on the other side. in

this case, i'm <a href="http://www.switzerland.com/portal.html">switzerland</a>.

i use both.

<p>as to your question...i have a b+w filter, and i still get crispy sharp images

from my 70-200L. i would recommend b+w highly.</p>

possibly instead of a new xt, upgrade your glass. (hypothetically) sell off the Sigma 18-50, Canon 28-135, and 75-300. add that to your 800 bucks, and get yourself a 70-200L 2.8 and a 17-40L. keep the canon 50mm, and you'll have a complete set that will offer the highest quality, and won't have possible compatability problems with the next canon body you buy (outside of the 12-24, that is). happy shooting.

my question too. a wedding photographer who uses the kit lens?

i've been offloading my old camera gear on ebay for a while now, and i would recommend against selling off your equipment there. you could really take a bath on auctioning your primes off; and if you set a high reserve price (to assure that you don't get hosed), you have to pay a decent percentage on that reserve price, whether or not your gear sells. person to person is the way to go, in my humble opinion. less surprises.

take the least conspicuous setup you can. i live a couple of hours from venice, so having been around italy quite a bit, i'd say - given the cities you're visiting - leave the 70-200 at home. otherwise you're just going to make yourself a target, and your gear will get bumped around a lot more than you'd like. wear your wallet in your front pocket, avoid the subway in rome if you're planning on taking a clunky camera bag with you everywhere. happy shooting.

frauen lieben maenner, die diese kamera haben. hol sie dir.

<p>i've found my 70-200 F4 to be subjectively as sharp as an 85mm 1.8 prime -

and not quite as sharp as the 50mm 1.8 - at any given aperture (which is concurrent

with the photodo findings). that however, is just a testimonial, and the differences

in testimonials have more to do with the respective photographer than the glass.

with the exorbitantly-priced tripod collar, a tripod, cable release and some

practice, a good example will produce razor sharp pics.</p>

<p>i would refer you to <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com" target="_blank">bob

atkin's website</a> for some very helpful information on the 70-200 F4, as well

as information on the pitfalls of listening to people like myself for purchasing

information.</p>

under 8 hours till the premier here. please no jar jar. please no jar jar.

i am assuming - because you're referring to the d-rebel xt as the 350d - that you're from europe, even though your budget is quoted in dollars (going to the US for some photo gear shopping in the near future? you can save a ton of euros that way). cheers.

350d (869 euros)

17-40L (750 euros)

Slik tripod with quick release plate (25 euros)

RS-60E3 remote cable release for 350D (20 euros)

1664 euros total.

happy shooting.

dalsa also rents the 40 megapixel brownie now, i think.<div></div>

<p>bob atkins has a good deal of<a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/10d300dlenses.html" target="_blank">

info on canon lenses </a>that might help you <a href="http://bobatkins.com/" target="_blank">at

his web site</a>...</p>

<p>if you're looking for high quality images, i might suggest adding a <a href="http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/50.html" target="_blank">50mm

1.8 MkII</a> to your bag now (70USD new), the <a href="http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/ef702004l.html" target="_blank">70-200L

F4 </a>(575USD new) in the near future, and eventually replace the 18-55 with

a <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=3&sort=7&cat=27&page=1" target="_blank">17-40L</a>

(660USD new). the 17-40L, 50 1.8 and the 70-200L F4 is a trinity of lenses that's

pretty popular with serious enthusiasts. just my humble suggestion. </p>

as long as you're here, maury...i've been wanting a lens case for my 70-200L. which lowepro case(s) fit(s) the canon 70-200 series lenses? thanks for the info.

thanks so much for letting me know about the 'jimmy at corn' address change. ...that, i'm assuming, was a roommate prank (we use the same computer). anyway, everything is sorted out now, and i appreciate the help immensely.

 

you two have a good one, and thanks...adam

just buy a pack of AA's and try them out for yourself at a non-crucial outing. then you'll have a good idea of how long they last for your personal shooting style (do you always use fill flash, check the LCD a lot, hold the shutter release halfway down for 1 minute waiting for someone to smile, etc). the test will cost you 5 bucks, and you'll get to take pictures in the meantime.

david, awesome shot of "tamara." nice how her exposed left hip tempts the eye away from her face. great lighting.

<p><a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/" target="_blank">bob atkins</a> wrote an

<a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/readme.html">article</a>

that relates to sheldon's advice. as an aside, i have the <a href="http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/ef702004l.html">70-200L

F4</a> (tons of reviews <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=14&sort=7&cat=27&page=1">here</a>

too) and the <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=30&sort=7&cat=2&page=1">50

1.8</a>, and they both make very sharp images when i do things right on my side

of the camera. cheers!</p>

the kit lens seems to fit your requirements; but as another option, what about the sigma 18-50mm? in the bh catalog, it's 109USD, which would leave 190 clams over for either a 420EX (175USD) + sto-fen omnibounce (16USD), or a BG-E3 battery grip (140USD)+ extra battery (40USD) and 10 bucks left over for gallon of gas.

thanks, steve and jean-baptiste, for the extensive answers and all the food for thought.

 

i wonder if any sites will 'take up the torch' so to speak, and start filling those gaps in testing methodology/comprehensiveness which you both mentioned.

this question is concerning lens MTF data from photodo.com. i have

noticed that the photodo MTF ratings/charts are still constantly

used in forums threads to more or less prove the worth of a lens or

to compare one to another - despite the fact that the actual photodo

site seems to have been defunct for some time now. is this data

really that reliable as a general determinant of a lens' optical

quality? more specifically, when lens A and lens B get identical MTF

ratings, can one reasonably assume that the two lens' are equal in

terms of potential image quality? additionally, are there any other

MTF resource pages that one can compare to the photodo data to, just

for diversity's sake? thanks in advance.

larger/longer lenses aren't a problem with the 350D. it has a metal frame and lens mount, so attaching any lens which is small enough not to have a tripod collar will not be a problem structurally. when handholding with larger lenses on a camera (one's big enough for tripod collars, like the 70-200L 4.0 for example), you support the weight by holding the lens, not the camera; when using a tripod with longer lenses and the 350D, the tripod collar supports the weight of the lens...so either way, inordinate stress isn't on the metal frame of the 350D body because it's only supporting its own weight more or less. if the problem lies with the balance of the body-lens combo, then the BG-E3 battery grip will fix that. it adds substantial weight to the camera (loaded with 2 batteries, it almost doubles the 350D's original body weight). this has been my experience with the 350D body, battery grip and larger L zooms. cheers!

quite a plucky cheap little lens, that 50mm.<div></div>

i bought a 350d a couple of weeks ago, and the combination of custom function 2 (noise reduction on/off) and some primes has produced very pleasing night-time results. i didn't like the size at all, but with the BG-E3 battery grip, it's a completely different-feeling camera, i.e., it's much more substantial and sits well in the hands. if you already have a 10d, though, you might think about waiting another 15 months or so until the 20d price drops into the arena where the 350d is now (w/ battery pack). the 350d/digi rebel xt might not be enough of a leap forward. cheers!<div></div>

thanks for the thoughts; i've given it a few tries, all beyond what i think is appropriate force for this lower end lens. may this be a warning to those contemplating a hood for their 350d/xt kit lens. i may have gotten a bad hood specimen, but then again caveat emptor.

i just acquired a 350d/18-55 EFS set, and had some questions about

the hood that fits on this kit lens. after looking around the

internet (bhphotovideo, several online stores over here in europe,

etc.) it appeared that one of the lens hoods that would fit this

lens is the EW-60c; i ordered it here in vienna, whisked it back to

my flat...and was disappointed in the fit.

 

this hood fits nicely/squarely to the dimensions of the lens, but

when you try to gently screw it into place, the threads will not

allow this. it appears that there isn't enough clearance and the two

sets of threading just hit each other head on, instead of sliding by

each other like swans on a summer pond. as a result, the hood's

attachment threads sort of just hang onto the very end of the lens'

attachment threads, by what looks to be a millimeter or less (and

rather loosely). this would not be a huge deal, but a gentle breeze

could uncouple the hood from it's perch, which makes the hood

useless outside of sterile studio conditions.

 

until the digital switch i only shot nikons, so the canon

designations are totally foreign to me. can someone with actual

knowledge of these two parts (the 18-55 ef-s and accompanying EW-60c

lens hood) shed some light on a possible fix/solution/explanation?

this kit lens isn't exactly robust enough to withstand me wrenching

the hood into place.

 

thanks for the thoughts in advance...