New camera!

[cazmanian_minx]

...is on its way, courtesy of eBay and someone in Aberdeen who's selling their nearly new (200 shutter releases) Canon EOS 50D because they've just bought themselves a 5D Mk II :D

Given I've got an absolutely horrendous tax bill to pay at the end of January, I'm holding off on a new lens for now and hoping that Ffordes still has one of the three second-hand 100-400mm L lenses they've currently got in stock in a couple of months' time! It'll give me a chance to see what differences the body makes and then what difference better glass makes on top of that anyway.

And OH got me new walking boots for Christmas too - there's no stopping me now :lol:

[Mystical Potato Head]

Thats a big step up from your 300d,i'm sure you'll have oodles of fun and enjoyment with it.
I'm also after a "glass upgrade" too.
Enjoy the new toy.

[cazmanian_minx]

Thanks :D I shall be mugging Billy the Postman daily until it arrives!

[psyberyeti]

Not if I get there first ...:lol:



Thanks :D I shall be mugging Billy the Postman daily until it arrives!

[North Light]

cazmanian_minx,

Congratulations, I look forward to seeing the photographs.

Camera Club, 5th Jan, Winter Competition?

[cazmanian_minx]

Not if I get there first ...:lol:

LOL! He does Bettyhill before Armadale as well, because he lives here so does us on his way home! I'd better start hanging round Melvich post office...

[cazmanian_minx]

cazmanian_minx,

Congratulations, I look forward to seeing the photographs.

Camera Club, 5th Jan, Winter Competition?

No time to get anything printed unfortunately :~( I don't think prints done on a mono laser printer are quite going to cut it...!

[North Light]

Oh, I don't know, how about a grainy black and white?

[Deemac]

Well done on the new camera. I'll be sticking to the 40D for a while, then onto the 5DMkII later in the year (but first some serious glass upgrades ;-)))

[Mystical Potato Head]

On the subject of upgrades,i've been looking at the specs for the 450d,40d&50d.
I had planned getting a 450 because of its light weight to use coupled to my telescope,
however i'm starting to get the "daylight photography" bug big time but i cant really see any reason to get the 40d instead of the 450d,bearing in mind that i wander around aimlessly,point and click at something i think might look good.I've no interest whatsoever in
portrait/studio type stuff so am i missing something regarding the 40d?

Now the 50d...that is a serious camera without going into the pro price range.
A quote from a magazine i read said if you want good pictures,get a good lens.
all the camera does is record what it gets from the lens,but i would assume the better
the camera and lens,the better your chances are of getting better quility images.
I know it doesnt make you a better photographer,you still need to have an idea of what makes a good composition...a bit like some of the high handicap golfers who spend a fortune on professional clubs only to find out they cant use them,because they're made for
people who know what they're doing.

Enough of the waffle..i'm currently upgrading my lenses but the camera upgrade is becoming a bit of a dilema.Advice from you good guys'n'galls greatly recieved.

[North Light]

MPH,

The 50D looks to be a good camera, but be aware that the high pixel density and small individual sensor site size do bring some problems, lens quality is obviously critical and diffraction can be a problem. Have a look at this article for more info.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/50d.shtml

Why not keep your present camera for telescope work and look for a good secondhand 5D for daylight work, the MK 1 5D is a great camera and very good value now, the 5D also needs a good lens.

[Kevin Milkins]

Well done on the new camera. I'll be sticking to the 40D for a while, then onto the 5DMkII later in the year (but first some serious glass upgrades ;-)))

Hi Deemac
Do let me know when you upgrade as I would be moe than interested in your 40D.

Or I could hang about around Melvich post office. I have always fancied being a highway man .lol

Good luck with your new bit of kit.

[Deemac]

Kevin,
No probs. I'll post something when its up for sale (it also has a battery grip - fabulous for portrait format shooting).

[Raven]

I am sure you will have good fun with your new toy :-))

[cazmanian_minx]

Oh, the frustration (there isn't a headbanging against the wall smiley or I'd use it here!)!

The camera has arrived and is fantastic. As good as brand new and the seller had kindly printed me off an English manual (it was originally bought in Japan) and thrown in two spare batteries and a power converter for the charger.

So because it's grotty outside and I'm still lurgied, I took some test shots of the shells on the kitchen windowsill and scampered upstairs to see how they came out.

"Sorry," said Photoshop Elements 5.0. "Can't read that file format."

No problem, off we go to Adobe, find the latest RAW update for Elements 5.0, load it in, hit the button...

"Sorry," said Photoshop Elements 5.0. "Can't read that file format."

Eh? So I read the website a bit more closely and it seems that the last Elements 5.0 RAW update was 4.3.1 (which is what I installed) and the Canon 50D file was first included in 4.6.0.

So I grumbled a bit and started looking at the other options. There's Elements 7.0, which is the cheapest bit of software, but neither my computer or laptop has a processor capable of running it and neither meets the memory requirements. I like the look of Lightroom 2.0 a lot, but the laptop can't run it (in fact, count the laptop out of everything - it's on Windows 2000 Professional!) and the PC would need its memory doubling on top of the £220-ish the software costs. Then there's CS4. Astonishingly, the PC could actually run this (though it's skating very close on memory and would probably be snail-slow) but the software's £560.

Yes, Canon does have its own RAW conversion software included, but I'm not 100% certain this PC will run it (I don't think it has enough space on the hard drive to install it, for starters!!) and so I'm now edging towards getting out my creaking credit card and surfing over to Dell Outlet for a new laptop and Lightroom 2.0.

And I thought I was saving money by buying the new camera on eBay!!!!!

[cazmanian_minx]

OK, I've stopped sulking(!) and got Canon's DPP running - it's slow, but it does what I need it to - so here's the first picture ever taken on my new camera:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/3174195566_2894c36716_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22544094@N00/3174195566/in/photostream)

(Probably would have come out better if I'd bothered getting the tripod in from the car...!)

[North Light]

Glad to hear you have stopped sulking, from my memory Canon's DPP is not a bad bit of software.
Enjoy the camera.

[Deemac]

You could of course just shoot in JPEG format (or both RAW & JPEG at the same time) until finances are more forthcoming.

[cazmanian_minx]

You could of course just shoot in JPEG format (or both RAW & JPEG at the same time) until finances are more forthcoming.

<fx: slaps forehead>

Now why didn't I think of that??! Thank you :D

[cazmanian_minx]

Starting to get to grips with it now - I've been having problems focussing, so went out for some target practice on the gulls this afternoon...


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3203492971_c6440d8bc7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22544094@N00/3203492971/in/photostream)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/3204343928_108a873321.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22544094@N00/3204343928/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3513/3203496131_2b5247b33a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/22544094@N00/3203496131/in/photostream/)

[Deemac]

Looking good - nice shots indeed.