[THoey]

Did some more web searching and I am thinking about making her one. She can buy some mulsum and do the material dying to get the colors she wants. I can follow the ideas mentioned in the following two pages:

http://www.lifeisaprayer.com/articles/photography/diy-greenscreen
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGallDetail.asp?photoID=82382

[THoey]

After looking at my local Mom & Pop’s PC store and deciding that they were slightly out of date, I used the following sites for building my latest PC:

Purchase Parts – NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com) You might be able to find a better place if you search harder, but this is where my friends suggested I start. I bought a bundled kit and then upgraded from there. More memory, disk space, video, etc. I have dual ATI Radeon HD 5850 video cards, but I did that more for gaming than photography. Not really sure I am getting my money’s worth yet.

Build the PC – http://www.mysuperpc.com/build/pc_windows_performance_index.shtml – I had built one previous computer, but that was a little while ago (10 years +). Found this place on the web that asisted me in putting together my PC. Not exactly the same as mine, but close enough that I felt safe putting it together.

Installing Win 7 – http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/install7.html – Software should be easier to install, this page made it simple.

Monitor – 36″ LG flat panel from Best Buy. Probably find better / cheaper online, but I found this one on sale when I was looking for something else.

The external ports are usually built into your motherboard and case.

[THoey]

I am back. Wife has been using the setup I bought listed higher up on this page. We have not bought any additional lenses yet, but with the holidays coming and a friends wedding in a couple weeks, I am looking to add to her equipment. The lense she currently has is:

Canon 17-55 f2.8 EFS IS USM

As mentioned above, this is a decent general purpose lense, but limited. I am looking to get her a couple other lenses to cover the zoom and macro end of the spectrum. Quality is the first priority, but as mentioned in this thread it must be Canon, and I would like to keep the total for both less than 1k, with a max 1.5k.

Looking for suggestions for lenses and online stores. I don’t mind doing the Google leg work to find something, but with all the companies and different lenses, I don’t know where to start.

[THoey]

Thanks Elsinore. When we bought the lense it came with some filters as you mention. Too bad we didn’t at least try a couple shots with them to see if they would have helped. Going to take a while before we figure out all the intricacies of this new toy… 🙂

[THoey]

Ok, we will have to play with the RAW and white balance settings for future shoots. For now, I want to try and fix these photo’s using Photoshop. Image menu –> Adjustments –> Auto levels appears to help some. Is that how you would change the image?

[THoey]

Okay… So, in the future, should we change to RAW photo’s and then create a custom setting for indoor shots so the white balance might be a little more neutral?

I should have taken a photography class. What I learned to get that merit badge was too long ago and far away…

[THoey]

Oh, and I did get a chance to try a Sigma lense, I think it was the 105mm macro, but even I was not happy with the way the auto focus worked with it. Maybe it was just the demo pictures I was trying to take, but her Canon lense focused much faster and easier then it did. Maybe it was me or what I was shooting, but based off that, Mama is back to her original Canon only self.

[THoey]

Thanks for the input. We went to the local Wolf Camera today to “look” and took the body with us. Unfortunately, due to holiday sales, their lense selection was quite limited. Out of the list the only thing they had on hand was the 60mm. Got to play with it for a bit, but with nothing else to compare it to it was kind of purposeless. I think the 15-55 is going to be great for what she mainly does, but we will need other lenses for special purposes (macro, zoom). I think she has decided that she will keep it, especially since we dropped by a friends place and she took some more pictures using it. I think it will end up being an every day lense and we will just need to buy some special purpose lenses for macro or zoom.

Sorry if it seems like I am waffling. I trust the opinions of those here as they know WAY more than I do. Just trying to make mama happy.

[THoey]

Okay, now I just made a call to Canon, and the following are what they are recommending:

EF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

and either:

Canon 60mm f/2.8 EF-S USM Macro
Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

Too many choices and different opinions.

[THoey]

Okay, this is what we ended up buying:

Canon EOS 40D 10.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body
Canon 17-55 f2.8 EFS IS USM With Canon 1-Year USA Warranty
Kingston Elite Pro 4GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model CF/4GB-S2 X 2
77mm Professional Three Piece Filter Kit
Canon Speedlite 580EX II, Shoe Mount Flash with Canon 1 Year USA Warranty
AA Rapid Multivoltage AC/DC Charger (110-220v) w/4 AA 2500mAh
Canon BG-E2N BATTERY GRIP f/EOS 40D
Canon BP-511 Lithium Ion Battery X 2
BP-511 Rapid Travel Charger

We purchased that lense on the advice of a photographer friend of hers as a good general purpose starter lense. But, already she is not quite happy with it. As I said, it is a general purpose lense, so while it is good at doing a little of everything, it is limited when taking macro or zoom shots. (Part of the reason I was looking to buy her two lenses in the first place.) So, we are already thinking of returning the lense and getting two lenses. We have been looking at the following:

Canon 60mm f/2.8 EF-S USM Macro Autofocus
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L EF IS USM

All total, about twice as much as the original lense we bought, but my understanding is that it should cover the complete range of anything she will want to take pictures of, from a single flower up close to a bride and groom walking down the aisle. Is that a good understanding? Any better suggestions?

The company I made the original purchase through ( http://www.us1photo.com ) has been very good at understanding, explaining, etc. No restocking fee since I would be returning for an exchange.

[THoey]

Cool. Thanks for the explanations…

[THoey]

That’s a good price. Thanks for the link.

[THoey]

Thanks for the responses all. Couple comments I have based on your input.

1. Wife is a die hard Canon person, so she only wanted to look at Canon cameras and lenses. I have heard that some of the third party lenses can be as good or sometimes better, but I think it is name brand recognition more than anything else. You know what they say, if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy… 😉

2. I know this seems like above and beyond a starter kit. But she has been an avid photographer for longer than I have known her. She understands more about what you guys are saying about the cropping, etc than I do. I’ll take my Olympus C4000 any day. Her on the other hand, needs all the bells, whistles, and gadgets (still haven’t priced the trick filters she already wants). She would rather have too much battery and memory then not enough. But this will probably last her for the next 5 – 10 years so I am okay with a little extra expense. Hey, she started talking about the Canon EOS-1D Mark III.

3. As to those trick filters I mentioned (Star filters, etc). She has those already for her old camera with a 52mm lense. Can they be used on the 77mm lenses with an adapter? Or would that be like cropping the image again?

4. I am a little vague on the understanding between the f/4 and f/2.8. Sounds like it is the speed of the shutter? Schnee mentioned getting the bigger flash to assist with the f/4 lenses. Am I understanding that right? Another $100 to upgrade that flash, but the prices on the same lense at f/2.8 is about 3 times f/4. For what she is going to be doing, does she need the faster lense or just the better flash?

5. As to the 5D… Ouch… Please don’t mention that to her…

Thanks very much for the comments. I hope it doesn’t sound like I ask your opinion and then shot down every comment. She is a very picky woman. I am lucky to have her. (she made me type that)

[THoey]

Well, looks like we have narrowed it down to the following shopping list:

Canon EOS 40D 10.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body
Canon 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM Lens
Canon 17-40mm f/4.0L Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
77mm Professional Three Piece Filter Kit
Canon 430EX EOS Speedlite Flash w/ 1 Year Canon USA Warranty
Canon BG-E2N BATTERY GRIP f/EOS 40D
Canon BP-511 Lithium Ion Battery X2
BP-511 Rapid Travel Charger
4GB CompactFlash (CF) Card X2

Questions or comments? Should be a good start?

[THoey]

Thanks for all the opinions folks. As someone mentioned above I will be wanting the CF cards for the Canon EOS 40D. Other than that, for the shots she’ll be taking, it sounds like the standard speed will be fast enough. Well, unless a fight breaks out at the wedding…

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