jeffreyfortuna

<p>I use my 7D everyday for work, also carry a P&S. I'm excited about the new s100 that should be available soon. I've had the s60, s70, s90 & s95 as well as bought handfuls of them for non-pros that I work with. I wish they had a hotshoe but I'm not willing to bump up to the bulky size of the g12 to get it. <br>

If I had to buy another HDSLR right now I'd ge the 60D, seems to do just about everything the 7D does (a little slower) but is less pricy. <br>

If a replacement for the 7D or 5DII came out with auto focus on video I'd pre-order it as a replacement without thinking. If Canon instead released a mini HDSLR that was mirrorless I'd be interested but not willing to fork any money over until I had a workflow to finished video worked out.</p>

<p>Jeffrey </p>

<p>My personal favorite flash shot is indoors while bouncing the flash up and behind with no reflector card or diffuser. If you bounce your flash off both a ceiling and wall behind you it makes for no light directly from your flash at all but only giant diffused light from all around. Your speedlite 430 is likely more powerful than you think, don't be afraid to crank up your flash exposure while indoors with very tall ceilings. I almost always shoot ttl unless I have a bunch of extra time to mess around with manual. </p>

<p>I own a 40D and both the 430EX I & the 580EX II. I owned the 430 first then bought the 580 about a year ago after reading how much better it is. <br>

I'm yet to rig up both flashes even though I do understand how to do it. I only use external flashes for mid-day fill or indoors where I bounce the flash off the wall or ceiling. I have no complaints about the 580EX II, the extra power has helped in rare cases but it's never really been a game changer for me. <br>

I'd suggest you buy the 580EX II then sell you 430 along with your 70-300. After using a 70-200 I'm pretty sure you'll never go back to using your 70-300..<br>

Jeffrey </p>

 

<p>I remember back when I was too scared to clean my own sensor, I too would mail my camera body to canon for 4-7 days and pay money. I first cleaned a dirty sensor myself on a very old 20D I have laying around for underwater housing use, it was sooo easy! I now clean the sensors on my 40D and 5D whenever needed, right there on the spot. I'm yet to need to wet clean, just dry wipes so far have done the trick. <br>

Jeffrey</p>

<p>Both lenses are great but for a crop sensor the 15 isn't very wide. I had a 10-22 a few years ago but sold it to fund a telephoto. The 10-22 isn't technically a fisheye but gives a very similar effect if you put your subjects close to the camera. I've wanted another one ever since I sold mine, also I noticed I shot most everything at 10mm or very close to is. The canon 10-22 is very well made and holds it value as well as any other lens out there. <br>

Jeffrey</p>

Normally I would vote for more aperture but I often shoot from a boat. Many times I have plenty of light while shooting

images of surfing, sailing, water skiing and wake sports but without IS I struggle to pick focus points and get them

aimed at what I want. I own the 70-200 f4 but have also used the f4 IS & f2.8 IS, I found that with IS focusing became

less of a struggle. Like everyone I would prefer to have it all but if I had to choose I would go with the f4 IS.

People that take a 70-200 hiking also prefer the smaller size and weight of the f4.

Jeffrey

Sorry my response is coming so late. I shot my sisters wedding this summer, I'm in a similar caliber of gear as yourself and was hesitant at first. The thing that made me change my mind was a few years back when my oldest sister was married. She didn't want to ask me to shoot but instead chose to have me in the wedding party and enjoy myself instead (I got wasted). The problem was the hired photographer was horrid. Most of the better photos were taken by friends with decent cameras as well as my step dad and his 20D.

This summer my sister was married outside on a lake front in the middle of the day (harsh shadows) I shot photos with my 20D and speedlight flash as a fill. Using a fill flash can be scary but isn't so hard once you start practicing, there are plenty of good places to find info on the technique. What put me most at ease was knowing my girlfriend would be there as well with here D70 as well as a neighbor friend with a 30D. When the party moves inside or under a tent (it ended up raining for part of the wedding) you can bounce a powerful flash off the ceiling to speed things up without the sketchy direct flash look.

Other than what I've already wrote the best advice I would give is to have a plan, let the wedding party know what you plan to shoot and when. Once you've taken all your wedding party photos you can relax a bit a start looking for candids.

 

Good luck.

I owned the 70-300 for about a year and replaced it with the 70-200 f4 non IS and have been very happy. I can get away with the f4 because most of the things I shoot are sailing and waterskiing with plenty of light. I've borrowed and rented both of the f2.8 versions of the 70-200 and can now tell you that any four of the 70-200 L lenses from canon have much better sharpness and contrast than the 70-300.

 

Jeffrey

I believe Alejandro has a Powerbook G4 and not a MacBook or MacBook Pro. Either way Lightroom does manage to function with much less system requirements than Aperture. Myself I use Aperture on a Mac at home but also have Lightroom on the Mac at home and on my PC at work. Although I prefer Aperture (slightly) I think it will be swallowed up by Lightroom in the future. Lightroom works with less requirements, works on both Mac and PC and is likely to be bundled with more Adobe software in the future and therefor become less expensive to buy for most people. I do hope they both survive and provide each other with some competition to keep things moving forward.

Jeffrey

Angel,

You can check my profile for photos I've taken in Costa Rica. I've been there 6 times in the last 10 years and my photos were all taken with a 20D with both my 17-85 EF-S & my 70-200 f4. If you have any questions about the place send me a email.

 

Have fun.

Jeffrey Fortuna

I have a 20D that is almost two years old and has never been cleaned. I've tested to see how much dust is one the sensor and it's filthy. The simple fact is that I never stop the camera down very far and when I do it's easier to fix the worst spots in PS than it is to be without my camera for a week while it's being sent in for cleaning.

I suggest you go on vacation with your camera and have fun.

Jeffrey

What better 'general purpose' lens is there for a crop sensor than the 17-85mm IS? I'd like to know because I have a 20D and I would buy it. I think the 17-85 has great range and a good copy of IS. The build quality isn't very good but for the money I just don't know of a better walk around lens.

I own the Canon 10-22mm and love it, it's great for what it is.

 

Have fun in Malaysia.

 

Jeffrey

I take it they both come with the same 18-55mm lens? If so, I'd also go with the 400D. If the 20D had the 17-85mm IS it would be a harder call to make.

 

Jeffrey

John,

 

I have the 430 and have had great luck bouncing it but I also have many friends that dislike flash photos and prefer high apertures. Also don't be afraid of turning up your ISO, with a camera like yours you will be able to get away with ISO high than you probably think.

 

Jeffrey

Here is a link that I believe does the best job of explaining the history of IS and most of the current changes:

http://www.juzaphoto.com/eng/articles/image_stabilization.htm