Thanks man, that was useful.

but the shipping cost is sky high !.. i dont think anyway it make sense to get the stuff from here.

B&H ships from US only.making costs high..my friend bought raynox from adoroma and it came straight from hong kong saving precious money.

ie what i was saying no1..for flowers and other "static" stuff the weight can be adjusted.but when it comes to actual moving things then that weight can be a little pain.

Mod Message: Post moved.

Thanks a lot ken . . I have become highly dependent on my good friends

@no1, @bprags , @experts - Can u pls share some tips and guidelines for making best use of a polarizer?

Unhappy Ever made an impulse purchase of new lens out of frustration? I just did!!

Hi!

I'm just back from a 20day vacation!!

Since this was a semi-business semi-pleasure trip, I didn't want to lug around too much gear..just the camera with a single mounted lens. So, from my existing kit, (Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC # Canon 28-105mm USM II # Canon 50mm f/1.8 # Canon 70-300mm IS USM ) I chose the 28-105mm. It seemed the perfect choice.. small, lightweight, USM for fast focus and when mounted on the 400D without the Battery Grip, the setup was almost the size of some Ultrazooms.

But, I realized my mistake as soon as I reached the destination. At an effective 45mm on the wide side(1.6xcrop), it was too long for most landscapes or cityscapes... and at just around 170mm effective on the tele side, it was too short for the tele shots Also, since I wasn't carrying a tripod, I really missed IS during the night shots. I was missing too many shots and getting really frustrated.. Then one day while shopping around in some mall, I came upon this camera store and just entered to check out some filters,etc.. no real intent to buy anything else... 15mis later i walked out with this



This is one lens that I laughed at when it was launched...even called it a 'bundle of compromises'.. And here I had this in my hand

I did get a great deal on it though. Paid USD 410 for the lens + 72mm Hoya Pro 1 Digital UV Filter. I've seen this filter sell in the range of $60-75 alone, so it cost my only about 350 for the lens

I did use the lens for the remainder of the trip though. The range is awesome and so is the build quality, even the IS is great.. I've shot 1/25s hand held for a 200mm shot and the images were crisp & sharp...however the AF is noisy and hunts in low light situations. There is too much barrel distortion around the 18- 28mm mm mark...so much that you can even notice it in the viewfinder. Also, its not really 'compact size'. At 600gm+ its on the boarder line of compact walk-around.

Took a total of around 700+ shots in the trip.... maybe the last 100 with this one. Haven't downloaded them into the Notebook yet...

I'm not too sure whether I should keep this lens.. I could easily sell it here for 450+

Lets wait and see

Some shots I clicked with the 18-200 this Sunday...

The Clouds

1/160, f/8, ISO 100, 21mm, CLP, Semi HDR

At the Park

1/30, f/6.3, ISO 200, 18mm

Portrait @ 200mm

1/250, f/6.3, ISO 200, 200mm

I like this last shot, specially considering it was shot wide open(its max aperture) at 200mm which is supposed to be its weakest point

Other than that, I'm still coming to terms with it... optically, all my other lenses seem to be superior than this in their respective FL range, but singularly, none can provide the huge range that this one can

I don't see the point of using this lens when I have my other lenses with me, however, when I can carry only one, then this has to be the one! So, for the moment, I'm keeping it....

Another thing I noticed is that it gets pretty uncomfortable to use this on the 400D without the BG. The setup doesn't have proper balance and gets very front heavy.

Hi Aryan!

When i see your enthusiasm and confusion, I remember my first few months in the DSLR World I had little 'practical' knowledge or experience about gear & stuff, but tons of 'theoretical' gyan that I had picked up online.. and I had nobody to guide me...

So i learned everything the hard way ..in the DSLR world, the biggest mistake is to buy the cheaper stuff.. coz doing that, you end up spending and loosing even more. Weigh your purchases and space them out as budgets would allow, but, always, always buy the best possible stuff...

Just my 2cents

@Vicky: Have you got the Canon 18-200?? How much does it cost, because I am also thinking of getting one. Do you recommend it? A detailed overview would be really helpful.

I totally got your point sir!

I picked up the Sigma 18-200 OS... and that too in a totally unplanned way... checkout the post#50 in this thread.

The canon 18-200 is not yet in the market and is expected to cost in the region of 33-33k here when it comes. At this price, I would certainly advise you to stay away from it. I think you have the 400D + 18-55 IS now, so If i were you, my priorities would be something like this:

#1. 18-50mm f2.8
#2. 60mm Canon macro
#3. 430ex / 580ex (depending on budget)
#4. 70-200 Canon (f4, f2.8, IS - depending on budget)
#5. Decent tripod with ballhead (nothing below 6-7k)

At this point, now, that you already have the 'essential' stuff, you can opt for a 'convenient' walk around like the 18-200 types or you could buy other stuff as you taste develops... maybe a UWA canon 10-22 or a Super telephoto like the canon 400mm f/5.6, etc...

Man, one thing i can guarantee, there will NEVER be a shortage of stuff that you would want to buy

Some of my wrong purchases till date - kit lens, cost me nearly 4k in the kit, used for 3months and then - sold for 1.5k, vivitar 3200 tripod bought for 2k - sold for half price, Simpex tripod (bought for 3.5k) - not good enough..will replace soon, canon 28-105 - bought for 10k, average lens, no real use on a crop camera, hardly used since purchased, canon 50mm 1.8 - bought for 5k - slow and unreliable AF, hardly use, will replace with 85mm 1.8, Digitex 72mm & 58mm CPLs paid 3.5k for both as the Hoya HMCs were costing 7k, total crap... bought the Hoya HMCs two months later for 7k and the Digitex are gathering dust... bought iball card reader for 500/- as the Sandisk Extre USB 2.0 reader i wanted was 4times expensive at 2k....then realised that my 40mbps capable 4GB Sandisk Extreme 4 CF card was transfering data at 5mbps to the PC. Went ahead and bought the Sandisk Extre USB 2.0 reader....

Thats 26k that i could have spent much better elsewhere

could not agree more..
do your research before getting gear, make sure you know the specs of what ya want. If possible, get a hands on if the same stuff is available with someone. and more important than all, be patient to be able to save up the dough to go that extra mile for the top notch thing. for example, I am pretty sure that if I do buy SLR and gear, I will go for the 70-200 f2.8 IS instead of the f2.8 non IS or the f4 IS, or the 100-400 IS instead of the 70-300 IS, even if it means that I do not get to buy the 100 macro, or a speedlight (though with a 5D mark II, a speedlight would be foolishness ) now. Will save up more sometime later and then buy the next item on the shopping/priority list.

BTW, love those 18-200 shots, the first and the third especially. what I am going to say next sorta negates my above statements, but it is the eye behind the viewfinder that matters more than all the gear (as long as the gear is not getting into the way of or ruining what the eye sees - as is the case with some of the lesser gear)

This is one statement that I couldn't be more in disagreement with. If you are referring to the high ISO capabilities of the 5D MkII, then let me remind you that high ISO can definitely give you great 'available light' shooting ability, but it can never be a substitute for flash!

When is flash needed most? When there is low light? No! Its needed the most when there is too much light!

How would you get this shot with the 5D Mk II without a speed light?

1/800, f/2.8, ISO 100, 430EX HSS Fill Flash

love the portrait.cute expression captured.


a video of the new fuji super ccd EXR.
FinePix Portal site - FinePix Town Map

a glimpse at what fuji is now working on.they are making and breaking grounds in digital photography.the images that are shown in the video are actual images shot by that sensor.they were published in their brochure also during the photo exhibition 08.many claim those are actual images.

if this goes mainstream later,compacts will enter a new stage.probably DSLRs also.

enjoy it.

makes 120% sense ! .. My personal experience has been bad while using flash in extreme low light,, the foto looks plasticy.. a tripod with slow shutter and bigger av is the ONLY compromise in low light ..

BTW vicky, how is ur experience with sigma EX lenses till date? I mean as compared to proprietary Canon lenses.. I have to do some 'investements' on lenses and I feel it makes more sense to go for Nikkor than any third party lens with same spec..

wat do u suggest?

@Vicky: Why do you despise the 50mm f1.8? I have got the same lens, and yes, although I would agree that the auto-focus is slow, but the pictures are very sharp, once you get to set the aperture at f2.8 and above.