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Here is a nother shot I really like with Sigma 70-200 F2.8EX.<div></div>

I use both and love them. I have the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 and the Sigma 70-200 F2.8EX. both are better than the Canon lens I started with the 18-55 and the 55-200. Everyone tells me these lens are not as good as Canon L-series but I disagree. I am much happier with a F2.8 Sigma than I was with the 70-200 F4L and 17-40 F4L combo. Those where the only L lens in my price range.<div></div>

I have purchased new digital camera about every other year from Sony f505V TO Sony F707,to Canon Digital Rebal and was getting ready to upgrade to Canon 20D. Then I started really learning photography and stop thinking that if I buy a better camera I will get even better pictures, Wrong... So I put the money that was burning a hole in my pocket into better lighting and better lenses and now my Digital Rebel takes great shots and I have no need for 20D. Matter of fact I now get better images than many who have 20D and kit lens with built-in flash.

 

Choose a brand Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax then focus on getting good assesories L-series lenses and good flashes / lights don't change as often as camera bodies.

I can not speak for Nikon, but I recently upgraded the entry level Canon kit lenses that came with my camera to a high end Sigma lens and love it. You just have to do your research on everything you buy there is no one answer to this. I bought my Canon Digital Rebel with the 18-55 kit lens and the 55-200 USM lens both of which are O.K. entry level lenses. However, I just upgraded them both one to the Tamron 28-75 F2.8 the other to the Sigma 70-200 EX F2.8. I am very happy with both of my new lenses even though most people who have not truely researched will say the Canon L-series lenses are better. That may be true, but at double or tripple the price they are not that much better when me or my customers can not SEE the difference in the final results. In other words pros will say the Canon lens are faster and are made better, So what. The cheapest plastic lens I have has lasted over two years and looks and works exactly the same as the day I purchased it....

 

Check the lens your interested in against this list.

http://www.photozone.de/2Equipment/easytxt.htm#Ztelef

Look into getting the Sigma 500 DG Super. It is a cheap alternative to the 550EX and better than 420EX for leass money. It is an E-ttl compatiable flash and works excellent with the Canon 10D 20D or 300D.

 

I have both the 420EX and the 580EX. Love the 580EX but if I had it to do over again I would have gotten the manual capable Sigma over the auto only 420EX.

I shoot with a Canon Digital Rebel and both the 580Ex and the 420EX flash. The 580EX is much better than 420EX. I get the best results when I set my camera on manual and the Flash on E-ttl. I set my focusing to center dot only rather than all seven.

 

If I need to guarantee flash exposure I point the camera directly at the object I want to set flash to i.e the face and press and hold the FEL button. Works great with Stofen at 45 degree angle. I would recommend the exteranl power pack at a wedding. This flash is really powerfull and will heat batteries up a drain them fast, espeacially if you always bounce flash which I recommend.

Its ALL about skill and technique. I can print an image any size I want as sharp as I want with a Digital Rebel and oh Photoshop CS and uh Photo-Stich....

 

I recently did a huge panaramic print of the bay bridge shot in about 5 different sections and then stiched together. The RAW file size was 5X bigger than a singe shot but able to be printed large with no proble. Yeah if you get close enough you might be able to see where the photos where stiched to getter but who is checking that close?

As a Computer Science Engineer I haev to agree Analog is really not an electrical term. To me analog as it pertains to a film camera is pretty acurate. Film cameras capture everything it sees and everything in between just like an analog clock passes through every possible moment of time represesnted by the second hand. Digital only represents a change or no change we call them bianry 1 or 0.

 

Film camers by the definition of the work are indeed analog devices....

Why do you say Canon will never have a 17-55 F2.8? I agree this would be a nice lens better that 17-40 F4.0 as standard lens..

 

I believe for the Sigma Lenses you can change the mounts to a Canon mount if you decide to change. But personally I think haveing both a film and a digital camera with lenses that can interchange between both is great.

 

Canon is now starting to make some of their lenes EF-S lenses which ONLY work on their digital camera's. This could be a problem for someone who wants to still have their film camera as a standby or speacial purposes.

obviously an 8 mp camera is going to give you sharper 11x14 prints than a 6 MP. Plus the 10D is obsoulete and will probably be in the same price range as the 20D. The 10D also can not accept EF-S lenses, this is pretty important and will save you lots of money when you start looking into wide angle lenses.

 

I don't know if there is a "standard" lens for a 20D. It totally depends on what you are shooting, football, wildlife, people close up, etc.

I have a Canon Digital Rebel which has a plastic body at first this didn't cause me any problems and it was fine. Until I put a big 70-200 f2.8 lens. now it feels like the whole camera flexes from the weight of the lens.

I agree the Sony has the market on this. I will never sell my Sony F707 because it can take perfect IR photos in color or IR green with 0 thats right 0 as in NO light. It actually crates it own light we just can't see it.

 

Great camera's for night shooting.

I recently did a shot just like this. I used my Canon 580EX flash and Sigma 70-200 2.8 EX. I found if you use only a slow shutter speed eveything will look kind of blurry soft. The lights will be really bright compared to the rest of the truck. So I used a combination of flash and ambient light. I set the lens to F2.8 the shutter speed 15-30 and set the flash to E-ttl althogh the camer was set manual. I think this technique is know as a slow sync. It makes the dark object bright and crisp but still shows the lights with out making a huge contrast between lights and darker truck.

Would need to know which lenses you are using. With a Digital SLR the lens makes a big difference. The Canon 18-55 is a pretty good lens for the money. But try increasing shutter speed, you may be moving the camera just a hair as you press the shutter button. Also, try tuning off multi-point focusing and set it to just center focusing. Focus on something dead center until red light beeps, hold steady take the shot. If this is clear you may need more practice seeing what objects are in focus with multi point.

Even the cheapest digitl cameras today are 3.3 - 4.0 megapixals which will easily print a 2x2 photo with no problem. However, a point and shoot camera may not have as much detail as a 2x2 photo shot with a Digital SLR with a really sharp lens. Also, a telephoto 2.8 lens will give a differnt look than a camera with a short lens at a smaller aperture.

 

The other thing I would think about is how are you lighting product? Does, the camera need to have strobe sync capabilies or will use natual light?

I amy be out of my leauge here becaus eI have never used a medium format camera. But, I have shot with many types of Digital Cameras and believe with proper techniques you can easily get realy nice large prints from a 20D.

 

Here is one trick that works great if you can master Photoshop.

 

Shoot RAW convert to 16-bit Tiff, JPG compression ruins big prints.

Use Photo stiching. This only works for Fine Art photos where the subject is not moving. But take four shots with 20D one for each quaudrant with just a little over lap of frames. In Photoshop or with other photo stiching tools reasemble the photo the four quadrants back into one large photo. Your file size will be really large but you will be able to create very large high definition prints.

 

OH, one last thing You have to increase the quality of your lens. When you enlarger photos a bad lens will become more apparent. Recommend fast L-series lenses. Stay away from hig ISO or wide open apertures, this will cause more distortion at large prints.

I would NOT get a DSLR based on not being able to find 1 lens. The 50 1.8 is a great little inexpensive lens, but the 50 1.4 is even better. My next lens for my Digital SLR will either be the Canon 17-40 F4L or the Sigma 12-24 2.8 EX. I have the 50 1.8 and just don't get a chance to use it that much because it doesn't have zoom. I finf my self using the 18-55 kit lens more with simular end results. Low light the 50 is great, but I would opt for a low light capable zoom lens.

I would not even consider the 420EX for a Canon 20D. I have purchased the 420EX flash with my Canon Digital Rebel, but recently upgraded it to the 580EX. The 580EX is SOOOOO much better.

Reason why:

manual controls

head tilts and swivels with ony one button can be done with one hand.

Swings both directions

has built in bounce panel

support FEC, 2nd curtain sync, macros,etc.

Jog dial is easier to use.

lights on panel let you see settings at night.

External Hi voltage capable for external batter pack, pack is only $125 and allow resync from 4 sec to 1.5.

Almost the same size as 420EX but much more powerful.

Is master to 420ex.

 

ETC. I will bet that with a 20D over the lifetime of your camera you will eveuntually end up with the 580EX it would be a real shame if you didn't the 20D and 580EX are perfectly matched for each other.

You probably don't want flash to draw power from the camera. If your flash kills the batteries you will not be able to shoot at all. When doing events or weddings my camrea batteries can go all days, but I may run through several sets of rechargeables in flash. You may want to upgrade to the 550EX or 580EX which have HiVoltage plug and can take external powerpacks. There are power packs that can run both your camera and flash. Check out Quantum....

I don't know much about stok photography what ever exactly that means, but I am a little confused as to why they would require a medium format. I have had isues when trying to print really large images, something medium format cameras are often used for. However, I found a simple remedy to this with my 6 MP Digital Rebel.

I use image stiching. Basically, I take 4 pictures of an object zooming in on each quadrant and then lace them together later to make really large files for big prints.

 

In any case, I don't think quality is based on the size of the file, but the skills of the photographer.

 

The 1DS MArk II is a great camera if your skills require that much camera.

I like the idea of these devices that allow you to dump your CF straight to a CD or DVD. I often do photoshoots where people are willing to pay me $10.00 each for CD's of my photos. I use my laptop to create these CD's or DVD'd depending on how many 1 gig cards I filled up. I only shoot RAW when in the Studio when I know I will be printing photos, otherwise I use .JPG especially for event photograpy where I need the extra speed.

 

When I do events I usally reduce .jpg size, but with a portable device like this I could shoot full size photos all day long. Provided my batteries don't die...

I have been thinking about selling my F707 with accessories. for 375-400. The F717 is a newer camera and is still available for about 650-700. I would think depending on accesories, flash, memory cards, carrying bag, filters, etc. that 450-550 is a good deal. The new F828 is down to 799.

I have been through this myself with my 6MP Canon Digital Rebel. I have found the best way for me to get large prints is to shoot RAW. When I convert from RAW I convert to 16-bit Tiff with no compression. Yes, these files are much larger than .jpg, but that is because they have more information in the file. Actually, al of the information that was captured when the lens opened. This has allowed me to get much more detail in large prints.

 

PS

Lens quality also makes more of a difference here. I upgrade my 55-200 mm lens to the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX with noticable difference.

It is all about L-series glass. Don't get caught up with this and that, just get the best glass and figure everything else out from there.

 

I also plan on purchasing th e17-40 F4L for my digital Rebel. I recently picked up the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 EX which has the same 77mm filter as the 17-40 F4L. This will save me money having one set of filters for multiple lenses.

 

PS

I always stack filters I keep a ND filter on all the time for lens protection and will add a polorizer when outdoors on sunny day. I have never have a problem even when I was using my old Sony F707.

I am not sure there is enough information to completely answer this. My first thought is if you are buying a 20D you should probably already know this. The 20D is a pretty high-end camera for a beginner. I shot with a Digital Rebel and the Sigma 70-200 2.8 EX. I am able to shoot at 200mm as low as 1/60 to 1/80 But I am using either the 580EX flash or ab800 studio strobes. I may be shooting a headshot here I am filling th ewhole frame but I am only 15ft from subject. If I were focusing in ambient light at something far away I would use different settings.