stevepamp

I have a Vivitar 285 and it doesn't have a built in slave sensor, so you will need the Peanut. I have optically slaved my 285 using the peanut and it works pretty well. The peanut slave will simply trigger when it detects any flash of light so you should be able to trigger that with your 30D's built in flash

As long as you're shooting the flashes manually you can optically trigger your slaves from any master flash. Once you start trying to bring ETTL into the mix, the preflash will make optical triggering impossible. So you could trigger the Vivitar / peanut combo with the 580EX, as long as the 580EX was on camera and in Manual mode. Otherwise, your options are either PC cables, the Canon infrared trigger (ok indoors, not so much outdoors) or a radio trigger such as PocketWizards. I personally use the CyberSynch. A good radio trigger with decent range and cheaper than the PWs.

I use the CyberSyncs as well and they're great. I've used the ST-E2 and 550EX as a master in the past and both work well indoors (albeit with limited range and largely limited to Line of Sight triggering), but outdoors where there is a significant IR component from the big light source in the sky I have not had success.

Mine works great. Excellent cheap manual flash IMO.

I second (third?) the SterlingTek recommendation. The batteries I have gotten from them for my 5D/20D have been stellar. Much better than the Canon batteries.

I'm in the same boat as you - hard to justify the expense for a couple of trips a year. I shoot underwater with an (old) Canon S-45 in the Canon housing and a Sea & Sea YS-27 DX strobe. I think the strobe was in the neighborhood of $500 with tray and arm. It synchs via a fibre optic cable so theoretically it should be able to synch with any P&S camera I choose when I update my system eventually. You can see some of the shots taken with this setup <a href="http://stevepamp.zenfolio.com/p134237496/">here</a>.

I agree with the answer above. I've created tons of panoramas both handheld and on a tripod using a normal head. So long as you overlap each frame by 25% or so, and use a lens/focal length that limits or eliminates distortion (in the relative-normal range) any stitching software should do fine

I shoot & stitch panoramas in RAW all the time. The trick is to process one raw image and apply the settings to all of them in the series so that you avoid differences in exposure, color balance, etc. Also stitch using Hugin or some other dedicated pano software as it does a better job of blending the seams than PS.

Or... spend a little time learning about exposure and do it yourself. I never trust the computer in the camera with any decisions. Only you (as opposed to some programmer over at Canon) know what you want the photo to look like.

I love the tripod collar with this lens, however there is one thing to consider. With my particular tripod head, I cannot mount the camera / lens on the tripod via the tripod collar while using either a 20D or 5D with the battery grip attached. The grip gets in the way. YMMV, depending on your particular brand of tripod and how it's quick release attaches.

The 430EX is relatively small, relatively inexpensive and quite full-featured. It supports the 5D's ETTL-II algorithms and can also be used manually, with power settings in 1 stop increments down to 1/64th. It can also work as a wireless slave to either the ST-E2 or one of the 5XX series flashes should you ever want to take it off camera.

Everything Ken said. I did the 5 day version in Tanzania last year. 90% of my shots were with a 100-400mm racked out all the way to 400 on a 1.6 crop camera and I still found myself wishing for more length at times. If I were you I would take the longest lens you can get your hands on, a wide-short tele zoom for atmospheric and candid shots, and more memory than you think you'll ever need.

The exposure from your flash is determined solely by aperture; as Mr. Atkins stated earlier the duration of the burst from the flashgun is far to short to be affected by shutter speed. The shutter speed will, however affect the ambient portion of the exposure equation. This can be easily demonstrated. Place a static subject in the middle of the room. Set your camera to it's max synch speed and a middle aperture (say, f8) and take some test shots with the flash in normal (not bounce) position, varying the power of the manual flash, until <b>the subject</b> is properly exposed. You will probably notice that the rest of the room is nearly completely dark. Now take a series of exposures , keeping the aperture constant, but progressively increase the shutter speed in 1-stop increments (i.e. 1/200, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, etc.) You will see the subject exposure remain unchanged (due to the unchanged aperture) but the ambient room light will become lighter and lighter due to the slower shutter speeds.

If you're planning on taking wildlife photos on safari, take as much reach as you can get. While better than nothing, 135mm will likely be totally inadequate for most of the photo ops you will get on safari. I used the 100-400mm on a 20D for a safari in Tanzania. It was barely enough.

"B+W and Heliopan promote the use of brass on the basis it reduces filter sticking. There does not seem to be any materials science quoted to justify this on B+W's or and Heliopan's web sites or generally within the community although many photographers seem to feel the effect is real."

<p>I have a 10-22 that has had a B+W UV filter stuck hard on it for a couple of years. Tried filter wrenches, rubber bands, Jar lid openers, everything. Still stuck.

I used an outfit called <a href="http://www.tanzania-adventure.com/">Tanzania Adventures</a> for both my Kilimanjaro climb and Tanzanian safari. I would highly recommend them. Very good, and they are local in Arusha so the money you spend stays in Tanzania.<p>Steve

I have to echo some of the earlier comments -- I've been thrown out of a couple of events or asked to put my camera away because of the "professional" setup of a 20D and 70-200. This when numerous point-and-shooters with hyperzoom cameras happily snap away. And don't bother trying to explain how the little camera that grandma is using next to you actually has a higher pixel count and a longer zoom than your setup. It doesn't matter, that camera is not "professional" and yours is. Security guys can be a little snitty if you argue with them. And I don't know about you, but I'm uncomfortable leaving a $1200 lens in the car while I'm at the game should they not allow me to bring it in.<p>Frankly, I'd leave the 70-200 at home and enjoy the game. You're not going to get any shots that will end up in Sports Illustrated from the stands anyway.

I use both DPP and PTLens and find that both work very well. Generally if I convert using DPP I'll use it for lens aberrations, and if I convert with C1 I'll use the PTLens photoshop plugin. I can't tell the difference quality-wise, but the PTLens plugin is more configurable.

Leszek-- I use Canon speedlights wirelessly all the time. I always use them in manual mode, so I can't comment on wireless ETTL and the ratios, groups, etc. and I've also never used the MT-24 (not even sure what that is...) but triggered with the ST-E2 or 580EX in Master mode using 580EXs and 430EX's as slaves in Manual I have never had any problems at all. The ST-E2's range is fairly limited however, especially so outdoors. If you need longer range or non-line-of-sight capabilities, then I think PocketWizards are the way to go, although some cheaper (not better) alternatives can be found on the big auction site.<br>Feel free to contact me via email if you would like more info.<p>Steve

I second Keith's HD80 recommendation -- screaming fast data transfer and great battery life (with good rechargeable AAs). Plus you can use "regular" AA's in a pinch. It has served me well on my travels throughout the world.<br>I replaced an older Wolverine with it -- my main issues with the Wolverine were slow slow slow data transfer (both from the card and to the computer -- USB1) and I had difficulty getting it to reliably connect to my PC. Also, the internal rechargeable battery was terrible. I needed a solution for extended backpacking trips where I wouldn't be able to recharge for a while, and the HD80's battery life is phenomenal. I haven't seen or heard anything about their new one, but I highly recommend the HD80.<p>Steve

<p>I climbed Kili and took a Safari in Tanzania last February. I took my normal travel tripod, which is a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/287754-REG/Slik_611_800_Sprint_Mini_Tripod_with.html">Slik Sprint mini </a>. It's small and light which is great for travel, not so great for stability. But like everything else in photography, it's a compromise and I have found for travel use it works great for me. For a camera case, I took a <a href="http://www.lowepro.com/Products/Toploading/allWeather/Toploader_75_AW.aspx">Lowepro Toploader 75 AW</a>. It has a waterproof cover which was necessary because of the daily rains on Kili. It is a toploader and I was able to carry it like a sling bag in front for easy camera access during the climb. I'd stay away from camera backpacks since they don't offer easy camera access while on the move. In addition, most of them aren't really made for backpacking. I don't know how experienced of a climber / backpacker you are, but let me tell you when you are carrying heavy loads in backpack for long periods of time, you want one that will be as comfortable and spacious as possible.

I went to Tanzania (Serengeti, Ngorongoro) in February. Took the 100-400, 17-40, 10-22 on a 20D. I climbed Kilimanjaro prior to the Safari, so weight was a consideration. I took along 6 batteries, and used 2 of them on Kili and 2 on the Safari. Contrary to yours and many other's opinions, I have never found the 100-400 to be a "Dust Trombone", at least no more than any other zoom lens. I took along an Arctic Butterfly sensor cleaning brush, cleaned my sensor every night, and had no dust problems. In fact, I found more dust on the sensor on Kili (where I didn't carry the 100-400) than I did on the Safari (where it was pretty much all I used). My biggest complaint about the 100-400 is that it's slow and was barely adequate length-wise, even with the 1.6 20D crop. IMHO you're far more likely to have dust problems when changing lenses than from using the 100-400. I would, however recommend taking along a few plastic trash bags to wrap your equipment in while driving around between animal sightings -- there is a lot of dust while on the move. I took along a small travel tripod for landscape shots, etc. I'd also recommend a storage device. I took along an 80g Hyperdrive which was perfect. <p>The guides are really friendly & helpful and will do anything they can to help you get the shots you're looking for. Your biggest problem will be if you are in a vehicle with non-photographers, as they will most likely not be attuned to the photographer's needs.

I climbed Kili last February, followed by a 1 week safari in Tanzania (Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Serengeti). I took a 20D with battery grip and 4 spare batteries (total of 6). I used 2 on Kili and 2 on the safari; 2 went unused.<p>I also took a Hyperdrive 80g mass storage device that ran on rechargeable AA's. I charged it before the climb and in between the climb and safari. I downloaded daily.<p>I would also recommend some sort of dust mitigation strategy. I took along an Arctic Butterfly system which kept my sensor dust-free with daily use.<p>Also, unless you intend to not shoot any pictures during your climb, I would invest in a waterproof camera bag (it WILL rain) that allows you easy access to your camera.<p>For the safari, take the longest lens you have; I had a 100-400mm on a crop sensor camera and it was still only marginally long enough. You get close to the animals, but not that close. Also, 3 weeks on safari is going to be way long I think. I was tired of sitting in the land rover after one week.<p>Feel free to email me at the address listed on my member page if you have any more specific questions.

In my opinion this is mostly a myth. Unless I'm mistaken and have forgotten my high-school physics lessons, any lens that changes length while zooming has to move air in and out somewhere (otherwise it wouldn't be able to move at all...) so I don't see any reason for this lens to be any better or worse than any other zoom with a comparable amount of "zooming extension".

<p>I've owned this lens for a couple of years and have never seen any more dust when using it than any other lens. Earlier this year I spent a week in the Serengeti in Africa with this lens on a 20D and didn't see any more sensor dust than I did with the 17-40 on it the previous week.

<p>Of course, YMMV

<p>Steve

above answers are correct -- you should hear a faint humming noise and the viewfinder image should become noticibly more stable. However a couple of points:

First, the IS on this lens is an older generation. It won't provide the 2-4 stops advertised by the current generation of IS.

Second, this lens is slow, fairly heavy and also quite long, especially racked out to 400 mm. Maybe it's my caffiene addiction and resultant shaky hands, but I have not been able to reliably get much more than 1 stop of assistance from the IS on this lens. I have found I get better results by upping the ISO and using a higher shutter speed than by relying on the IS for this particular lens.