www.craigbattle.com

thanx. I was thinking about using a zoom as well, to flatten the image out, but I think they want the building to be in the shot as well. I figured I'd use the 24mm for a few reasons 1)since I'm shooting digital its actually like a 39mm 2) the outside of the frame, where the distortion is more noticable, will be cropped out by the smaller than film digital sensor. In addition its fast (f/2.8) But I guess I could just a few different setups and like you said get about 10-15 images. Thanks for your help.

I've been asked by my girlfriend to take a portrait of her young

adult church group. I am no professional to say the least, however I

think I might take her up on the offer. Its an outdoor shoot, on the

steps of the church. It'll be about 20 people. I'll probably rent

additional equipment if need be; flashes, lens, bracket etc.

However, what SHOULD I use? I shoot digital. I have a rebel 300d. I

was thining about going wide with my Sigma 24mm 2.8, and using 2

550ex's; one on a braket and the other off to the right side. I'm

extremely inexperienced compared to many of you so I ask, is all of

this necessary? Please help me.

Thanks for eveyone's contribution. I guess its safe to assume that there is no right answer to this question. That is except be very careful with the focusing screen. The rubber blower I have just makes things worse. On top of blowing dust from side to side it also leaves little pieces of fibers from the little brush attachment. I think I'll go get a nice quality brush and a better blower and live with the inevitably less than spectacular results. Any blower and brush recommendations?

what kind of vaccuum do you use?

Thanks for your response, I assumed that the compressed air might force air into the sensor. So am I correct in assuming that there is no recourse for dust on the focusing screen. Its not on the sensor, so it really doesn't matter, but what would you do, just leave it?

I received this error when using a grey market discontinued 24mm 2.8 Sigma lens and my digital rebel. Whenever I set the f-stop to anything other then 2.8 I get the error. Apparently the d-rebel cannot control the lens totally.

I have a digital rebel. I have been shooting alot recently and I

have noticed little dust bunnies in my viewfinder. The dust is not

showing up on the pictures which is cool, but I tried to use a blower

but that made it worse. Can I use compressed air to get rid of the

dust on the mirror and viewfinder without getting dust on the sensor?

-cb

I posted the question before I left work, and you guys answer before I get home. AWESOME! Thanks you so much.

Does anybody know where I can find a downloadable PDF manual of the

550EX. I'm renting one this weekend and I wanted to famiiliarize

myself. Thanx.

THANX!

I just got a lexar card that comes with the Image Rescue software and

a jumpshot cable. I have a few questions. First, can the jumpshot

cable be used with other cards aside from Lexar? Also the image

rescue software featres, erase, secure erase and card test; has

anyone actually used these features and how well do they work. I had

really bad luck with two Transcend cards and my digital rebel (they

just locked up and gave me the famous error 02; I was heated!) As a

result, I do not use the delete function on my camera; instead I just

format the entire card when I'm done shooting. Is this a good idea?

In addition I'm wondering wheather using the software and the PC will

cause problems with the card being compatible with my camera.

Any answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated, thanx

-cb

I couch this post by saying I know I should get a real flash unit and

not rely on the built in flash; However. . .

I am a novice photographer and last night I had the distinct pleasure

of shooting a party in an almost completely darkend hall. I was not

completly satisfied with the results. I learned that I do not

completely understand how the built in flash works in manual mode.

To my understanding in the built in flash uses E-TTL to meter flash

output. Is this in both basic AND creative exposure modes? Because

when I shot in manual mode it didn't seem like the meter on the

viewfinder status bar and LCD panel reflected the calculated or ideal

exposure. OR maybe I 'm just asking for tips shooting in darkened

rooms with a digital rebel using the built in flash.

Thanks for your comments but I have a follow up. Aren't Compact flash cards supposed to be rock solid bullet proof solid state memory? I got a coolpix for my girl last year and her 128mb card is rock solid. We write, erase, whatever, never a problem, However due to the nature of the larger files on my digital rebel and the larger capacity of the compact flash card is there a greater chance of an error? Also, do most people delete the files on their card from the camera or from their PC via a card reader? Do you reformat the compact flash card or just delete the images? This just really seems odd to me. I think I'll get a refund and get a different brand. Lastly, are there any utilities or applications that people use for their compact flash cards? thanks for all of your help.

Can someone please help me. I just jumped to digital, and purchased

a digitial rebel. It worked great for a week. After than I got some

corrupted data on the memory card a 30x 512mb Transcend compact

flash card. Then I got the ubiquitous 'error 02' SO, I took the card

out tried to delete, reformat; but nothing worked. SO, I returned

the card to the store I purches it from. They provided me with the

same make and model card. After using the card for the first day

(today) and uploading the images to my PC and then the PC locked up,

wouldn't read the card. I put the card in the camera; and got 'error

2' again. SO NOW I'M STUCK! Does it make that much of a differnce

if you get a 'name brand' top of the line compact flash card or

what? Am I doing something wrong PLEASE HELP ME. thanx.