Greetings & Salutations

[hart]

G'day,

Another newbie on the block, referred here by Moz via Whirlpool (my day Job has me browsing there every so often).

I'm just starting out in the wonderful world of DSLR (I'm 4 weeks away from buying and I'm already obsessing on a daily basis).

I have been an on-and-off-again hobbyist for about 13 years, using a Canon S45 digital (4 years) and a Canon 500N film (~13 years). Current SLR lenses include an EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 and an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6.

Planning to move up to a new 30D body with the following accessories circa mid-march (following any PMA announcements, just in case) so I can get some practice in before heading off to Europe in August for 6 months:

• EF 17-40mm /4 L USM
• EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• BG-E2 + 3 extra batteries
• A selection of 4Gb CFs
• Manfrotto 055ProB / RC4 head
• Wired remote
• 580ex Speedlight
• Gary Fong's Lightsphere II
• Rolling Computrekker Plus AW (once I've seen one in RL)
• ExpressCard/34 CF reader (works a treat on my MacBook Pro)

Cheers

Leigh
(wishing it was mid-march already *sigh*)

[Big V]

Leigh, welcome, you will love the 30D..

[hart]

Thanks Big V - so desperately looking forward to it - I've been researching this for almost three months now.

I just went through some of my European holiday photos from 2003 to pick out some favourites and boy, throughout the progression of the holiday, I could see my pictures getting better, but towards the end I was really pushing the limits of the S45's abilities (especially at night) - so looking forward to having more flexibility and better gear!

Some randomly selected favourites from various parts of the 2003 Euro trip:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allandrick ... 539064404/

[fozzie]

Leigh - welcome to the forum.

Big V was so exicited with his new Canon 30D with battery grip, that he was shooting in Rundle Mall within the hour. He was like a kid with a new toy.

fozzie

[gstark]

He was like a kid with a new toy.

Like ???



Leigh,

Welcome. The 30D is an excellent camera, and with the list of toys to go with it, you're sure to have a really ood time learning, experimenting, and making images.

Mind you, the 580 may be problematic - the word I have heard is that it's just been discontinued (and it's in short supply, at least in HK) ... which probably means that its replacement will be a pre-PMA announcement.

[moz]

Mind you, the 580 may be problematic - the word I have heard is that it's just been discontinued (and it's in short supply, at least in HK) ... which probably means that its replacement will be a pre-PMA announcement.

Canon encouraging people to "wait for the new one that will be announced at PMA"

Mind you, at least Canon have a reputation for making stuff available shortly after the announcement, so it's not as if this presages a six month wait for stock to become available. I bought my 30D within a month of the release announcement... from a bricks'n'mortar shop in Sydney (because it was cheaper than the 20D!) You may also find yourself torn between the "old stock" 30D and its successor. Which would be just terrible!

[gstark]

Mind you, at least Canon have a reputation for making stuff available shortly after the announcement

I see this as being a management issue, and one the Nikon seems to be learning ... slowly.

In this case, they pulled the 580 from production about three weeks ago. Let's presume that they need to spend a week or so retooling the line, and then they can use the line to start manufacturing its sucessor. That gives them a few weeks of production time prior to the release to build up some stocks and have the product ready to ship from the day the announcement is made.

Sounds feasible to me.

In Nikon's case, we have certainly not seen the initial shortages in he D80 or D40 lines, that we saw when the D70, D2X, and D200 bodies were released. I don't see those newer bodies as having to satisfy any substantial demand either though, and I think that the initial demand on those latter three bodies way outstripped what Nikon's accountants had dared to hope for.

The real test for Nikon will be in their upcoming full frame body that willhopefullybe announced at PMA.

[Yi-P]

Im waiting for a D200S upgrade on the PMA so I can grab the older D200 off a go, and once again a happy camper me will be...

Still waiting with patience while the evil lust burning and eating me from the inside...

[hart]

Still waiting with patience while the evil lust burning and eating me from the inside...

Amen!

[tbgphoto]

I noticed you have added a little to your original list

These things are addictive, I'm scared that before the end of the year I will probaly spend another $10-15k on gear and still not have everything I want.

[hart]

Heh, yeah - I guess I knew the hobby would do that to me

I didn't end up getting a Rolling Computrekker Plus AW because it's just too huge, even for the EU trip. I got a toploader 70 AW instead with an LC3 for the 70-200mm f/4L IS USM that wasn't on my list either

Still to get: wired remote & a lightsphehere.

I settled on the Sandisk Extreme III 4Gb (2x) and a 2Gb Extreme IV for sh!ts and giggles.

Cheers

Leigh