davyjo

I have a generic hood for my 17-55mm that is lighter and more flexible than the Canon version. It does, however, do it's job perfectly it's lined with a felt like surface and attaches securely. I am very happy with it. Especially since it cost me <$13 as opposed to the $49 for the Canon.<P>

I did do a search on EBAY for a hoof for the 17-40 and didn't see any matches for one.

Do a simple test. shoot at 400mm w/ the 2X and then from the same position shoot the same subject at 200mm. Enlarge the 200mm subject to match the size of the 400mm and compare the results. They might surprise you. <P>

I think you'll find that the Canon 2X command a pretty good percentage of the new cost. It would be a nice down payment on a 100-400mm

Shop for a used ~100mm macro. I have a Sigma 105mm F/2.8 which is also a very useful lens on non-macro subjects. It gives more distance between the lens and the object so lighting is easier than a 50mm.

You have to be pretty steady to shoot handheld at 1/30 and the subject has to be motionless. IS would help the holding but you're not going to get anything that is as fast as a 1.8 with IS. I think flash is going to be you're best bet. <P>Do you shoot RAW? If so you can gain an extra stop of exposure. Just underexpose a bit to speed up the shutter. <P>The 50mm 1.4 would buy you a little more light and if you wanted to really spend some money there is always the 50mm 1.2L.<P>

Looking at the pictures the first one is going to be tough to improve on without a flash. The closer subject will be highly overexposed if the middle subject is properly exposed. Bouncing a flash off the left hand wall (if there is one nearby) would light her face pretty well. The second picture would be better with flash as well.

Cruise Ebay for a Bogen 3036 or 3236. The old version of the new 475. Heavy but it is solid. I bought one for $125 with a 3047 head. I have since bought a 3038 ballhead. No I'm not going to climb Everest with it but it is very stable.

Is iPhoto launching automatically when the 350D is attached? It may be interfering. Try having iPhoto not auto-launch.

Shoot RAW plus small JPEG. Or do what I do and shoot RAW and Best quality Jpeg. If the JPEG is good I trash the RAW. If it needs tweaking I adjust the raw and trash the JPEG.

Enlarge the upper left hand buttons. I also find the transitions between pictures to be annoying. Takes way to long to get to the next image and it's not clear when the image is done loading. Just a thought. Nice images though!

Really? I thought the pyramid shape of the tripod actually improved optics. I think I read that in a book about the Bermuda triangle. . .

17-55mm IS<P>

 

<P>

If I was only going to have one lens for my 30D this would be it.

If you're thinking you'd like primes buy a 50 f/1.8 and give it a try. It's inexpensive and very nice and sharp. <P>

Give that a try for a couple weeks, if you like shooting with a fixed focal length buy something else like a 20mm (I have the Sigma 20mm f/1.8 which I find quite nice but gets mixed reviews.) Then add the 85mm f/1.8 ?<P>

If you don't like the 50mm then try a better quality zoom.<p>

Good Luck!

Tim,

I don't know if it is in your budget, but the Canon EF-S 17-55mm is a superb lens for the XTi. I just got one last week and am in love with it. Very sharp and bright. Worth considering if $1000 isn't too much.

Was anything in the image in focus? My 50 f/1.8 is very sharp. Did you try using the center sensor?

I have just purchased a Canon EF-s 17-55mm IS for my 30D it will arrive

tomorrow. Being a little slow, it took me until this morning to realize that it

takes the same size filters as my Sigma 70-200mm. <P>

I will be using both lenses this summer extensively on board sailboats and

around the ocean/sun and am thinking a polarizer would be a good addition to the

camera bag. I am convinced that I should buy a good/better quality one,

especially since I can get one for use on both lenses. I am thinking a B+W would

be the most recommended but I can't figure out which one. Do I need the "slim"

version with the 17-50?<P>

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Andrew,

I'm in Thomaston. Right down the road from the site of the old prison. We lost power for an hour or so yesterday afternoon. My mother in Brunswick has been without power since yesterday morning.

Exactly what I thought!

Thanks guys! <P>I ordered the 17-55mm from Amazon and a generic hood from Hong Kong. I'll post some sort of follow up on both these purchases. I won't divulge my decision on a protective filter, it's amazing the variety of posts/opinions on that topic!<P>

Thanks Again!

I am waiting for the rain to stop and hoping the power will stay on for a while

here in Maine as a powerful storm moves by. I am also waiting for my new 17-55mm

EFS lens to arrive on Wednesday and am wondering if my Sigma 20mm f/1.8 will

ever get used again?

<P>

I sold my 28-135mm IS since I wasn't using it at all. I either grabbed the 20mm

or my 50mm f/1.8 II or my Sigma 70-200 f/2.8. I ordered the new Canon after

reading a million posts and reviews and can't wait to use it this weekend. <p>

I know that this is purely a personal decision but I'm just curious if others

have continued to use a prime like the 20mm and 50mm? I'm guessing that I'll

never sell the 50 but the 20mm could finance something else.<p>

Thanks for any thoughts.

If I had the chance to shoot the Northern lights with my 30D I'd reach for my Sigma 20mm 1.8. It's currently the widest and fastest in the bag. I did just order the 17-55mm 2.8 IS which would be worth trying. I would think the 10-22 might be a bit slow.

The 30D is a marvelous camera.

Mike Young, Do the flip around anda attach backwards for storage like the Canon ones?

Thanks for the response.

Dave

I've sold my 28-135mm IS to fund a 17-55mm IS and I'm wondering if anyone has

tried the non-Canon lens hoods sold on eBay? They are about one-third the cost

of the Canon EW-83j.

I would really like to see a digital sensor 35mm square. Let it use all that light that has been wasted inside 35mm cameras for years. Lots more cropping options and you'd never have to rotate the camera to vertical orientation!<p>

Chuck does have a point, why not a circular sensor?

I use the software that came with my 30D to instantly download pictures to my computer. Connect it to the computer with the USB cable (I also have a 10' USB extension cable) EOS Utility opens and I select Remote Shooting. I can almost instantly see the pictures. It does take a few moments if I'm shooting Raw/Large JPG but it's almost instantaneous while shooting just JPG.

30D