I've bought a Canon 30d!

[Hamish Gill]

Well I've done it...
Or at least nearly!
Hopefully getting it tomorrow off Alistair the macro man
One downfal that I must overcome is the fact that it has a scratch on it's low pass filter!
Quite a serious downfall, but this is reflected in what I'm paying for it ...
I have a canon 18-55 lens to play with to get me started

Alistair tells me the scratch on the filter isn't a major issue unless well stopped down so I'm going to see how I get on with it for a while then think about getting the filter replaced!
Or I might just remove the filter and see what that does to the sharpness of the photos ...
Or I might get it ir converted with a clear filter ... Who knows? Not even me yet

All fun and games this lark!

You can save your mockery until I've got it in my hands Chris
I'll keep you posted on my progress

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Oh no no no, I'm starting riiiiight now Hamish - welcome to the light side!

A suggestion for some easy listening

Congrats on the 30D

 

[Pete Askew]

Are they praying for help?!!

 

[Hamish Gill]

Heh, I'm gonna need some help, last time I picked up a canon I could work out how to switch it to raw!
I'm going Switzerland Chris, I won't need armour...
Or maybe this will be my biggest weapon ...
It's the same as my dislike for the scotish! I can get away with saying I don't like them because I have Scottish in me and I have a Scottish name

Anyway, nonsense aside
30d is a pretty decent camera isn't it? Slight later than but sort of equal to a nikon d200 if my memory serves? Advanced amateur spec?
I really want to brush up on my canon knowledge! I have already been able to give better advice on a lens choice to a customer from reading stuff on here!

Do canon make, or have they made a suitable 28 or 35mm? Can someone explain the situation with lenses and how some of them fit and work on full frame canons but some only work on aps-c? I don't want to buy anything for it that won't go on a 5d at a later date!

 

[Thomas brookes]

Judas

 

[Darren Turner]

Welcome to the dark side........i will give to 6 months before you sell the Nikon to fund canon new gear

2 types of canon lens fitment Hamish

EF will fit full frame like 5D and crop sensors like 30D
EFS is designed for crop sensors so will NOT fit full frame like the 5D

looking forward to see what you can do with it

Daz

 

[Mark Grant]

I will visit with my Canon tilt shift lens soon, you will want to buy one

 

[Hamish Gill]

Cheers Darren ... sell my Nikon gear?? ... ... ... Im not even going to respond to that!

So EF is what i need ... noted!

Buy one Mark? why would i need to buy one when your gonna lend me yours hehe ... you gotta give me credit for trying

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Hamish, joking aside...

The 30D is an advanced amateur spec as you say - it's a generation or so back, but clearly will still do what it was designed for.

The most comprehensive review is probably DPR - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos30d/

We have to consider every camera as a whole, the sum of its parts. Compare it to the competition and it's clear that the 30D really can hold its own. The primary competition coming from Nikon's excellent D200, a camera which in many ways betters the EOS 30D, user interface, features and flexibility are all a step up. However as we have noted there's no significant difference between eight and ten megapixels (especially considering the EOS 30D's "crisper" per-pixel sharpness) and that the D200's sensor just isn't as good as the Canon CMOS at higher sensitivities (ISO 1600 / 3200).

Nobody should then be too surprised that the EOS 30D, despite its relatively minor range of updates still deserves our Highly Recommended rating. It's a great camera to shoot with, image quality is excellent and the high sensitivity performance is still notably better than the competition, the EOS 30D inspires confidence and delivers shot after shot.

Despite the label of the consumer Canons being plasticy - it does have a Magnesium alloy body - light weight but strong.

1.6 crop and 8.2 MP - 9 Point AF

You can find a run-down of all the Canon lenses here:

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup

28mm, you have a choice of f1.8 or f2.8

35mm, you have the choice of f2, or f1.4L

 

[Hamish Gill]

cheers chris...

Hows this lens? any good?
http://usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/ef_lens_lineup/ef_28mm_f_2_8

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Can't fault it for the money - slightly older design, but physics haven't changed so it is reported to deliver good sharpness even wide open.

Should out perform the non-L wide-zooms at this focal length, and would be a great walk around standard on the crop sensor body.

Should find one used for under £195 - worth getting the lens hood if you're a lens hood sort of guy

Good lens-hood copy for 8 quid on Amazon UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fotodiox-Canon-Replacing-EW-75II-EW-75/dp/B003G88HWG

Flickr samples below:

 

[Mark Grant]

I often look here for opinions

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/156-canon-ef-28mm-f28-test-report--review

That's a good score !

As Chris says it will be good, old design but it's a lens.
Remember that's the equivalent of about 44.8mm with the 1.6 multiplier of the canon crop sensor. Not very wide angle when it started as a 28mm.

look for a used one or go wild and look for a 24mm 1.4 L

http://www.photozone.de/canon-eos/152-canon-ef-24mm-f14-usm-l-test-report--review

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Fixed-Focal-Length-24mm/dp/B001E97GJ4

 

[Hamish Gill]

They seem to go for about £120 ish s/h if im looking at the same thing?
I have a 24mm sigma i can buy from the shop but i hear that older sigmas can be a bit funny with digital canons?

im looking for a normal prime Mark, 44mm is pretty much bang on "normal" on 35mm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_lens

135, 35mm 24 × 36 mm 43.3 mm 45 mm, 50 mm

 

[Mark Grant]

£120 looks to be about the going rate on ebay

there is one at the moment:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EF-28mm...=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item45fb99f41b

I generally set up an ebay saved search so I know when they are listed, sometimes a buy it now is available at a good price and a saved search finds them as soon as they are listed so you can grab them

 

[Chris Dodkin]

At that price I don't think you're going to be disappointed Hamish

RE Sigma - had a bad experience in the past so don't touch 'em these days - so can't really comment past that.

The 24mm 1.4 L would indeed be a fabulous purchase, and would probably give you L lens fever

And an empty bank account!

 

[Hamish Gill]

£120 looks to be about the going rate on ebay

there is one at the moment:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-EF-28mm...=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item45fb99f41b

I generally set up an ebay saved search so I know when they are listed, sometimes a buy it now is available at a good price and a saved search finds them as soon as they are listed so you can grab them

Good idea, done!

 

[Hamish Gill]

At that price I don't think you're going to be disappointed Hamish

RE Sigma - had a bad experience in the past so don't touch 'em these days - so can't really comment past that.

The 24mm 1.4 L would indeed be a fabulous purchase, and would probably give you L lens fever

And an empty bank account!

Yeah, that sort of kit is a no go for me at the mo, by any stretch! TSE would cone well before anything like that! And besides, if I wanted something like thy I'd just buy the nikon version!!
I'll try the 24mm sigma as it's in the shop and not selling, if it works ... if not ... No loss