Canon 40D

[George Farmer]

i saw the same skys this morning. nice pic mate.

you wait until you start discovering the benefits of RAW processing 😉

you got more MP than me now!

Thanks mate.

I've just been processing some RAW files. 16-bit TIFFs are over 80Mb each!

What I am also impressed with is how powerful my iMac must be. Everything still runs super quick.

Liking the dramatic sky, George! It reminds me of the opening titles to Doctor Who.

Did you bracket at all, because a HDR of this could look pretty tasty? Or is it already a subtle HDR? I really must calibrate my monitor. :?

Dave.

Cheers mate.

I didn't bracket or using any HDR technique. This was captured in jpeg then straight into PS Elements with some minor Levels adjustment. What a Philistine eh?!

very nice pic george and im uber jealous of your 50d! re the FPS increasing with the grip its only a nikon thing so it doesnt happen with the canon gear 🙁

by the way have you checked out the reviews for the Sigma 50mm f1.4? seems to be getting a bit of good press as the canon 1.4 is an old old lens (but still good)

Cheers mate.

The 50mm Sigma looks tasty and worth considering over the Canon.

I'm a big fan of Sigma, especially their performance vs. cost. I do hear about the odd AF reliability issue but I tend to manually focus most of the time anyway.

Anyway, there's a sexy sunset right now so I'm off to the fields with my Manfrotto and Lowepro... 😀 😀

 

[LondonDragon]

Looking great George, nice snap there of the sunrise 🙂 Boys and their new toys hehe
I am in need of a new camera! Still suprised mine is still going, but it will have to do for now hehe
Looking forward to seeing more photos and what the camera can do 🙂
Also curious to see how it performs taking photos of the tank.

 

[Joecoral]

I'm a big fan of Sigma, especially their performance vs. cost.

Sigma 50mm 1.4 is generally about £20-30 more expensive than the Canon 50mm 1.4 tho...

 

[Joecoral]

How you getting on with this badboy now you've had a few months to play with it, George?

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Joe,

I'm lovin' it! It's just a pity I don't have much time as I'd like to use it...

You can see some of my shots on my Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/35185334@N02/

I'm shooting my first wedding this summer with it, so will be investing in a fast 50mm prime, battery grip and 2x decent 16Gb CF cards soon.

I've just treated myself to Lightroom 2.3 too which is very cool.

 

[Mark Evans]

2x decent 16Gb

a word of advice mate, get smaller versions. say 4 x 8.0 GB

so if you happen to corrupt a card by accident or it just break/loose it you only loose a quarter of your images as opposed to half. after all memory is cheap these days
you can borrow my epson p2000 if you like too, to download the cards to the hard drive

 

[George Farmer]

2x decent 16Gb

a word of advice mate, get smaller versions. say 4 x 8.0 GB

so if you happen to corrupt a card by accident or it just break/loose it you only loose a quarter of your images as opposed to half. after all memory is cheap these days
you can borrow my epson p2000 if you like too, to download the cards to the hard drive

Top tips there mate. Thanks. I've already ordered 1x 16Gb, but will get 2x 8Gb too. I was considering 1x 32Gb, but didn't for the reasons you explain.

Thanks for the offer of the P2000. I may take you up on that. A friend is lending me his 450D as a back up body too.

I'm off to the church and reception with the couple soon to practice.

 

[Mark Evans]

I'm off to the church and reception with the couple soon to practice.

very wise mate, very wise indeed.

after using the p2000. you'll want to keep it! the screen is to die for.

 

[George Farmer]

I'm off to the church and reception with the couple soon to practice.

very wise mate, very wise indeed.

after using the p2000. you'll want to keep it! the screen is to die for.

Yes, I figured it's my first so I need to! It will make the couple more at ease with me, as well as give me more confidence and figure out a few settings. The vicar is cool with flash too, not that I really need it with my ISO....

P2000 sounds ace! Cheers mate.

 

[Joecoral]

I know what you mean about not having the time, hard to squeeze in any photography at the moment!

so will be investing in a fast 50mm prime

I'd go with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 if it were my money (depending on budget of course)

Some nice captures on your Flickr too 😀 , gotta love 'picking a winner' !

 

[taylsimon]

Nice 50D Camera Goeorge, just happens to be the same as mine

If you can stretch to it there are some lovely image stabalised L class lenses from canon that just take it to a new level, even on my older 20D the results were astounding, when i get around to getting my Mac back from my brother i will upload some pictures i took with the 20D on the Li River in Guilin China.

Simon.

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks, Simon.

I love my camera. The jump from my old 10D was unreal.

I'd like some L-glass (who wouldn't?!) The nearest I have is the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro that's uber-sharp.

I replaced the crappy kit lens with a Sigma 17-70mm that's sharp too, and the classic nifty fifty.

That's all bases covered for most stuff I shoot but I'm getting more into weddings so could do with some faster and longer glass.

My wish list -

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

What glass do you have?

I look forward to seeing your shots.

One of UKAPS best photographers (IMHO) is Stu Worrall who gets fantastic results from his 30D that's not much more spec than a 20D.

As you know, it's more about the lenses than the body. And even more about the person pressing the shutter release...!

 

[taylsimon]

Hi George,

I have the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens and the same macro lens as you the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro.

I will be getting the photos from my old mac in 2 weeks when my brother is coming to visit.

My trip to China was last year and i went on 6 internal flights staying with my friends in Bejing as a base then we went to Yangshou and took a restaraunt boat along the Li River to Guilin which is in the south and is Semi tropical with orchids in the trees and 30 degree heat and humidity mountain biking in the mountains there. Then onto Xian to see the Teracotta army and back to bejing to climb a non-tourist part of the great wall on my birthday with a friend who is a guide.

If you ever get the chance to go to China take the boat from Yanshou to Guilin its amazing and is the place where they filmed the latest HSBC advert with the old guy cormorant [sp?] fishing on a raft, which i was lucky enough to try for myself.

The mountains along the river just seem to go on forever, one range behind another as far as you can see.

The unfortunate part of the trip was arriving in yanshou/guilin in the last few days of of a typhoon so the water and sky instead of being azure blue was washed out a little.

Simon.

Just out of interest Amazon are currently doing the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens for £493.98 which although is a f/4.0 is still a great price for an L glass.