Digital SLR discussion thread...

[Tom]

sigma are releasing a 10-20mm for around £350

@ person who said it feels huge coming from a point and shoot, i compared it in store to the Fuji S5500 and it was pretty much the same size when I smacked my 50mm F1.8 on it the body is silly small, especially if you try to use it with a decent size lens. Great as a holiday camera though as it has the fantastic quality.

Stoo the 60mm macro is nice but you'd probably be better with the 100mm macro as its around the same price and you gain a lot of working distance and if you decide to upgrade to a better camera (ie non 1.6x) it'll still work

Tom.

[Tom]

how about the tamron lenses. there's the one thats as good as the 24-70 L from canon, think its a 28-75mm. can't go too wrong with that range I hear.
similarly for wide angle try out (if you can stretch to it) any lens around 17-35mm range.
canon do a 16-35 and a 17-40, sigma do a 17-35 (the one I have, its nice )
the smaller sensor on the dslr's at the moment is a little bit of a niggle to me, I have a nice range of lenses from wide to telephoto but if I were to want the same 'reach' as my film body with a digital one I would have to get 'even wider angle' lenses. that said i really see the value of dslr's...as a film user myself I can't wait for a larger sensor to trickle down the scale, otherwise I'm in for an expensive time!

yep the 28-75 by tamron is good but on the 1.6x its a bit long at the wide end, I'd look at the Sigma 24-70EX Macro by sigma for the same price, just as good by all reports if not better..make sure it says "macro" as its a new, far superior version to the none macro.

A must have lens if you want to do low light work is the 85mm F1.8 USM. The colours, contrast, sharpness and focus speed are nothing but amazing, it's my work horse and available for under £300



Tom.

[noah]

Great as a holiday camera though as it has the fantastic quality

did you mean its good as a holiday cam just cos of the size? as i would use it as my main camera.

i will use a 300mm tamron lens on this that is very heavy, but surely like with any slr and a big telephoto lens you have to support the lens, or even use a monopod on it? or am i missing the point.

i look forward to the cheaper 10mm lenses as my 17mm is my fav on my 35mm slr.

[Tom]

300mm isnt long enough for a monopod really unless you are going to be using an F2.8 lens for extended periods of time. I'd say you'd almost definitely need the battery grip on the 350D for it to be comfortably usable with anything bigger than the kit lens though.

If they made it with a body the same as the 300D it would have absolutely stormed the market! The features and quality are great, but the size has put a LOT of people off.

Tom.

[McMav]

its fine with a sigma 70-300 APO on it hand held but then the APO is a lighter lens.

[shiato storm]

i would go for the 100mm macro lens not the 60mm ef-s. with the ef-s format you are limited in your coice of camera bodies it can be used on. the 100mm macro [make sure its the USM version] is meant to be sharper and it also increases the working distance from subject.
ALSO the 100mm allows you to manually focus the lens as autofocus is still on [much like L lenses can] and this is a great advantage.

I'm not a fan of EF-s...not certain how long it will last. prove me wrong but the majority of lenses available are designed around the 35mm frame...and we all know the debate about 1.6 crop/1.3 crop/full frame sensors

[shiato storm]

300mm isnt long enough for a monopod really unless you are going to be using an F2.8 lens for extended periods of time.

i would agree only partially there, with the 300mm IS f/4 canon do a monopod would be fine on the lens-tripod mount. in fact I saw a guy down at the river the other day doing this! and given that its f/4 means it would need that bit longer [comparitively] shutter speeds, so the support would help.
I of course was hand-holding my 100-400 L all day (tripods are for whimps! no, can't blame anyone, its a big old lens), pictures are SUPERB though!!! nothing like seeing you pics projected onto a 12foot wall space either. even better when they're sharp as nails! - maing great use of uni lecture theatres that

[noah]

well......i'm upset. its seems it was all too good to be true and the compacts are cheap in hong kong but the dslrs arent as cheap as i'd like.

the eos 350d is around £420 for the body at best and the lens kit is more like £500. which i suppose is still about £100 off.

so i have a couple of choices: stick with the existing slr and bide my time for a few years, buy an eos 350d body and use my cosina 19-35mm (along with other longer lenses i have) until i can afford a new lens, buy an eos300d from 7dayshop or similar for £409 or even the kit for around that if i wait for a good deal, or bite the bullet an buy the 350d kit for £625 from a uk dealer.

im really considering getting the 350d body only from HK and using my existing stuff for now as im sure my cosina - even tho its not brilliant will be on a par with the basic kit lens as far as quality. unfortuanely the 300d is tempting as i could get it from a uk dealer. what are your opinions on the difference between the 2 (excluding size as i had a play with the 350d and find it ok)

thanks

[shiato storm]

350D over 300 any day. far better processor and you have more control over the thing...

[bsodmike]

Lo dudes,

Well, while here in S'pore I picked up a 24-70mm L lens f/2.8 USM for about £800 (new) and will probably pickup a 75AW lowepro case tomorrow with a 77mm Hoya lens, can't wait to test this puppy out tho

[tim_n]

Having already done the research into my Digital SLR, I've found amazon does it cheapest @ £595 with the lens kit (350D). I spoke to a guy in Southend Jessops about 5 months ago and he was happy to match it back then, he might do so now too...

If only I could justify £595 out of my pocket. A digi SLR is something I've wanted for a long time now.

[shiato storm]

yup, they should price match since its in the Uk...good luck

mike - you will like that lens, I have one and its great! I think its amoung the best canon do along with the 70-200 2.8 IS L ...thats on my wish list but is more than i earn in a month so dooubt I'll be getting it too soon

[tim_n]

ah, didn't notice the message three above was from 06-05, oops :- )

[shiato storm]

na its ok, keep all the info in one place

[bsodmike]

Hey there ****ao, btw would like to chat with you about photography on MSN if you ever use it (bsodmike@hotmail.com << is my MSN chat addy, not email)...

Yea, my next lens is tho 70-200 f/2.8 USM IS, but that'll be a year from now I think hehe! Today I picked up a Lowepro Toploader 70AW and a Hoya Super HMC UV filter and a 1800mAh battery for the 20D...

Got to go as I got a flight to catch home in a few hours, good thing flying time from S'pore to Colombo is only 3 hrs or so

[Tifosi]

Picked up the EF-S 17-85mm couple of days ago in Bangkok and grabbing the 70-300 DO IS tomorrow in Hongkong.

Saved a fair bit on the 17-85, was 345gbp incl filter, jessops have it at 599 iirc.

Hoping to get the DO IS for 1100USD in HK we shall see..