jan_thomas1

Or during the day focus on something thats really far away, switch the lens to MF, then either tape the ring to the barrel or use some kind of silver/gold marker pen to draw two lines on the barrel/ring, so you can manually set it later.

Well I thought that my focusing skills were total crap, and after doing Bob's test I find that all 5 of my lenses are backfocusing by 1-2cm on my 10D. This leads me to think thats its actually the 10D rather than the lenses.

 

Seeing as my 10D is probably 3 years old, and I am now living and working in the Czech Republic, what do you think my chances are of having this fixed by Canon? Maybe it's time to ebay the 10D and replace it with a new 30D...

I bet Canon charge $599 for them 'wellies' but they are 549 UKP here in the UK... :-)

Corey, are you doing the focus/lock/recompose dance?

Lack of support in the US?

 

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/pg_dealer_locate.asp

I flew with eclipse fluid about 8 times in the last year. My camera backpack got searched and they were only interested in the wirey things inside (like the battery charger and a USB lead). I think thats what prompted the search. They never looked twice at the eclipse. Anyway, if its in a compartment with some other cleaning stuff (mine was next to the pec pads) it just looks natural anyway... shouldn't raise any suspicion. Just fly, and if the worst happens and they ask you about it, just tell them its cleaning fluid, act all shy and niave and you'll have no problem.

 

Don't bother asking airport security about such things. They do the job because of the power rush they get when they bark orders at you. I have no respect for these people anymore.

I also agree. I gave up on PC's 9 months ago. I now run CS2 on a Mac mini (G4 @ 1.42ghz with 1GB ram), and although its not as snappy as my last PC (2ghz Athlon) its still good. Im actually looking at moving to an intel based imac later this year.

Thanks for the tip on the Delkin Bridge, I just found one on ebay for 4.99 UKP. This is do what I need just nicely!

Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 or Canon 70-200 F/4L. Both are excellent. Try to find a shop that has both, and try them.

I agree with the others, that the glass is more important than the body, but...

 

Your ability to take great photos will be hampered if you buy a body that does not suit you, and the 350D is very small and light, and has awkward controls that some do not like.

 

I would try both cameras in hand and see if you can get by with the 350D. If not, then get the 20D/30D with the 24-70 anyway and eat bread and water for a month! :-)

You have the switch on the lens set to MF. If not then take the lens off, clean the contacts on the lens mount and try again.

Ian Travell: you don't know what you are talking about. Are you sure you didn't try to put a

CF card in a film Rebel? :p

 

The FAT32 filesystem is the

replacement for the previous FAT16 format which allowed a maximum partition size of

2GB. The RebelXT as previously stated can address cards over 2GB so it MUST be using the

FAT32 filesystem (or it would be creating 2x 2GB partitions). The card can be partitioned

and formatted in camera (recommended) or via Windows/Mac OS X (not recommended). In

fact, the CF upper limit with FAT32 aware digital cameras is likely to be 32GB. For some

strange reason that is the largest partition size you can format in later versions of

Windows, even though you can technically have much bigger FAT32 partitions (I had

160GB hard drive that was 1x FAT32 partition as my backup drive) and Windows/OS X can

read/write these no problem.

That linked website in Lester's post must have the most annoying background I have ever

seen. I swear if I look at it too long I will not be able to take another photo ever again...

This is what the 20Da was designed (re-designed) for. Otherwise, I think the best digital

camera for astro aside from the 20Da is probably the D60 because of the surprising low

noise on long exposures, and for film the old EOS 650 (If you can find one now without

gummy shutters) because of the unlimited bulb time (power not needed to keep shutter

open).

I actually surprised the 5D didn't have it, and im disappointed that the 30D doesn't, as thats

most likely my next purchase... :-(

I used to do the focus-lock-recompose dance. Then I got an EOS 5 (A2E) and I had eye

control focus, and it worked so well for me that I used it all the time, and I didn't do the

dance anymore. OK, everythings great. Several years later and I switch to digital (10D). What?

No eye control? Now, I'm back to the dance, except I use CF4, so I press * to focus, then I

recompose. Frankly my pictures are not as sharp as they could be, and I guess its not

because of my equiptment.

I'm going to get slated for this, but never mind...

 

Forget the film body. Buy a used DSLR. It will enable you to learn photography at a much quicker rate, and you will be able to take so many pictures without spending a penny/cent.

 

Think of the cost of an EOS3, but then add development and printing costs for say 1000 shots...

I also bought the Tokina, and I love it too.

When I said wet I meant the pad, not the sensor, and I didn't clarify that what I was actually trying to say was no part of the pad that touches the sensor must be dry.

 

Plus, there was never enough eclipse on my pad to drip onto the sensor, nor could you squeeze any out with your fingers. The recommendation IIRC is two droplets, which is what I used.

Another thing... check the bottom plate of the battery charger (its different to my 10D's) for the input voltage. I think they are universal 120-240v or something like that.

I have a modest level of equiptment, I shoot mostly outdoor, and mostly trips around cities, landscapes and buildings. This is the same that I would recommend to you, as it sounds like you're interest is similar (oh i'm not rich either and everything I buy gets vetted by the wife - so no Canon L glass for me :-))

 

I can't remember exactly but on large jpeg on my 10D (6mp) I can take about 270. 8mp and 20% raw, a guess at about 150? I have a 1gb and 2x 512mb cards. 1gb cards are not expensive anymore, maybe you can stretch to a couple of them, or get a single 2gb. If you think that you will take a lot of pictures in the week a portable flash reader may be a more useful purchase. This will save you having to negotiate an unfamiliar city to find a photo shop that can sell you a CF card at an inflated price, when you'd rather be doing something else...

 

I have junked my kit lens, and replaced it with the excellent Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC (approx $400?). This is now my walkaround lens. I also have a Tokina 12-24 f/4 for interiors, city and landscapes. I have a fairly expensive UV filter on the Sigma (its a 72mm dia), mostly to protect the front element. Oh both of these lenses came with hoods, which IMHO should be the norm with any lens purchase.

 

Also, I would get at least one spare battery, as you can get a higher capacity non-canon brand for about $15. Obviously take your charger and an adapter (most countries here use the plugs with 2 round pins with an optional earth, except us Brits who like to be different).

My 10D was very bad, all my landscape shots had large spots in the sky. I could not shift the dust on the sensor at all with a blower. However I bought some pec-pads and eclipse fluid and created my own tool from a plastic knife, and then followed the instructions that are all over the net, similar to the ones here:

 

http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/sensorcleaning/

 

It took me about 15 pec pads and about 2 hours of work (the sensor was very dirty, like the dirt was welded on) but eventually I managed to completely clean it. BTW, in my opinion the sensor surface is not as fragile as some people would suggest, each time I used a new pec pad I used a little more pressure while cleaning. My sensor is not scratched or damaged at all. I think the key is to make sure that the pad is actually wet...

 

Of course this takes some nerve to do, and I was not naive about the risks.

 

Good luck.

Maybe you want to use a soft flash to get a catchlite in the puple (sic)?

This can be quite subjective, and depends on the criteria that are important to you, or for the type of work you do.

 

Max aperture, resolution, contrast, focusing accuracy/speed, chromatic aberations, susceptibility to flare... you could make an almost endless list.

You'll love the 10D. I bought a used one too, about 9 months ago, and I have already taken nearly 5000 shots with it.

 

The only problem I have with the 10D is getting the horizons level in landscape shots. I didnt have this with my previous film cameras (EOS 5/10/650). Maybe its related to the size of the viewfinder...

 

What lens(es) do you have? I have and am very pleased with: Tokina 12-24 f/4, Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 (3 days old!), Canon 50mm f/1.8 (mkII), and a reasonable Sigma 70-300 f/4-5.6 macro super (not APO).