15. May 2009 - Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM
got myself the classic wedding photography lens. Not planning to start a big career in this field - we are invited to a wedding this summer and took it for a reason to finally fill that gap between ...[read more]

09. January 2009 - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Yes !! I did it !! The camera was announced to be released at the end of November 2008. Problem was that only a few shops (mainly the CPS "Canon Proffessional Services") got the first deliveries. Nevertheless in one of those quick decisions I ordered one Kit and hoped for it to be delivered in January. This year it seemed I was a good boy as it was actually unexpectedly delivered already on the 23rd of December...[read more]

13. June 2008 - Canon Prime lense 50mm 1,8 II
For quite some time I was considering getting myself the 50mm 1,4. But then again I was not sure whether I would really use it...Then the temptation with this 1,8 alternative for very little money was simply too big :-) And I must say it is very good.....[read more]

02. January 2008 - Fasstone Viewer
Usually I use ACDsee (in version 7) as my allround picture viewer. I have used it the last couple of years and I am quite happy with it. Only downside is that it does not support the CR2 raw files from my Canon 30D.....[read more]

24. August 2007 - Monopod and 90° Manfrotto 234 MONOPOD TILT HEAD
Some while ago I actually got a nice light Monopod as a present. A good alternative to a full blown tripod which is simply too heavy for carrying it with you on every trip. So the Monopd seemed perfect for it.....[read more]

12. August 2006 - Test: Standard Zoom lenses
For a long time I wanted to get myself a new Standard Zoom lense. But which one to buy? Sigma brought out their highly praised 17-70mm. Tamron had released the 17-50mm Di F/2.8 and then there was still the Canon 17-40mm L lense.
Finally I decided to get myself the new Sigma 17-70mm....[read more]

11. August 2006 - Another comment on Dust and remedies on the market.
This is actually long overdue....bough that stuff long ago already.
As once described in April already one method of getting rid of the dust is with fluid and special cloth. However I thought things can still be improved and got myself the "Sensor Brush" and Giotto Air-rocket....[read more]

29. April 2006 - Test: Compact Flash, how fast are these cards really - ?
Memory cards have become a lot cheaper and bigger in memory size over the last years. Compact Flash is still one of the most common, stable type amogst all Memory cards with a good ration Memory/Euro. Writing speed is claimed to be one of the biggest criteria .....[read more]

23. April 2006 - Test: Chromatic Aberrations and what F number works best
Chromatic Aberrations, also called "colour fringing" is a problem one faces with almost every lens given the circumstances. Low F-number, wide angle and high contrast will most of the times lead to the problem. So how bad is in fact with my lenses and interesting to know especially, how does the 1,4 x converter (Sigma APO tele converter 1,4x EX DG) affect the tele "Sigma 100-300mm F4 EX DG APO HSM IF" ? .....[read more]

12. April 2006 - Dust on the Sensor
...and there it was. DUST !!
Funny little dark spots on my pictures.Already last year I had the same problem on my old Canon 300D.....[read more]

02. April 2006 - Introduction & Equipment
Photography in the days of Digital Cameras is great. It gives everybody the possibility to experiment and to explore the unlimited ways of capturing everydays subjects, scenes and persons and transform them into a piece of art.

Having started off with a Digital compact camera many years ago I was thrilled about having a new toy which only combined with a PC shows its great power, giving me also an excuse to spend more time and money on the Computer-front.

Soon enough the first Digital SLRs became somewhat affordable so it was only a matter of time when I got my first Canon300D. At the time the choice was between the Nikon D70 and the slightly smaller (and cheaper) Canon 300D - I went for the latter. During the last two years having acquired a few lenses and accessories for the 300D, there is no turning back.

So recently I upgraded to the brilliant Canon 30d which indeed will keep me busy for the next few years to come. Being realistically enough I know that my pictures will not improve drastically over night. The absolute superb noise level (ISO 800 still looks great) and its overall high quality will help a bit but in the end the lense and foremost the idea behind the picture is decisive. Having said this, the Canon 30d is simply such a motivation boost and its new features give enough room for experimenting that this is reason enough for me clicking away through a few rainy weekends...

Currently in my Photobackpack:
Canon 30D
Sigma 18-50mm 3.5-5.6 DC
Hoya Polarisationfilter
Sigma 100-300mm F4 EX DG APO HSM IF
Sigma APO TELE CONVERTER 1,4x EX DG
Tokina AT-X AF 100mm / 2,8 Makro Pro D
Macrolense +4 (this combined with the Tokina Macro brings you very close :-))
Speedlite 420EX
Tripod Velbon Sherpa 450R (Head: PH-167Q)
Remote Control Cable Canon RS-80N3
Beanbag (great flexibility when placed on the tripod or fencepole, etc...)

Looking at the list it is obvious that the weak spot is the wideangle/standard zoom...on the other side this is not an easy choice. The Canon 17-40mm is very expensive and has only limited range (lens hood not even included). The Tamron SP AF 17-35mm has an even worse range but therefore is a bit cheaper. Then there is also the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC. But this one seems to have big CA and Autofucs problems...

Will see what the new Tamron lenses bring....:
http://www.tamron.co.jp/en/news/release_2006/news0215_a16.html

...stay tuned

Peter

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