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<p><a href="http://www.glazerscamera.com/rentals.html" target="_top">I would suggest the EOS kit lens 18-55mm which is extremely sharp as a walk-around lens. You definitely need a good tripod with you for water falls, sunset and sunrise. You can also go to Glazer's in Seattle to rent lenses you may want to try. The service there is very good and price is very reasonable.<br /> </a></p>

<p>I do not think 5D Mark II is the right camera for sports action photography. Based on measured AF speed value from Popular Photography, 5D Mark II is the worst camera. Its AF is much slower than 40D, 50D, even Xsi and Xti. I do not know why Canon designs a high-end camera with such a slow AF. </p>

<p>An alternative to aovid the problem is to use a sighltly larger polarizer with a up-ring adapter, for example, 82mm. That works well with my lenses.</p>

<p>I have an iPod Classic (120 GB) and always use it as a temporary backup media when I traveling. It is very handy and shortens my data tranfering time significantly. When I am traveling, I bring my notebook PC, a card reader and ipod with me. I connect the card reader and iPod to my PC every night to transfer RAW files from the cards to my iPod as backup. I also make a copy of all RAW files on the PC. Once I get home, I then transfer the files on iPod to my desktop PC and edit them with Lightroom and Photoshop.<br>

I figured out this is a very efficient way to get my data transfering smoothly. However, to enable harddisk function of iPod, you have to choose "enable disk use" in iTune.</p>

<p>I predict that the involving digital camera technologies will change the requirements to camera lenses. With super high ISO from 5D mark II and other coming models, you may not need fast lenses any more. The high ISO cameras allow you to shoot at low light withou compromising photo quality using a lens with f# around 5.6 or even 8. Based on that my list lenses are 18-55mm IS and 70-300mm IS which are priced reasonably and well suited for digital cameras.</p>

<p>There are a number of non-L lenses that can get similar performance in terms of IQ. My favorite lenses in this list are Canon 18-55mm IS and 70-300mm IS. I have read a lot of reviews about the two lenses and found that they produce wonderful photos with great resolution. However, that does not mean you do not need L-lenses. There are many other factors, such as focus speed, O-ring sealing, and durability, which have to be considered when you compare different lenses. When you factor all these into your comparison chart, I am not sure whether you can find a non-L lens performing better.</p>

<p>If you want to compare optical performance of L lenses with non-L lenses, visit slrgear.com. The website shows their performance using quantative numbers. I found the charts measured by the company are very helpful for my decision making.</p>