Finally got off the dime and ordered a DSLR

arroyoshark · May 8, 2006

After following threads on this site for far too long, as well as reading many road tests elsewhere....and, as well, getting increasingly tired of cloning out chromatic aberrations from my landscape images made with a Canon A80...I ordered a DSLR and lens.

I was fairly certain I would get a Canon camera, and I really liked the 5d after handling it. However,I like to take motorcycle trips and used to leave my 35mm SLR home because it was too much to pack. So, following the same constraints, I decided on the Rebel XT, because of its smallness. I have handled the camera and I like its size and I am not troubled... at least at the moment...with its controls relative to the 5d.

Not so long ago, I commented in the backpacking with cameras thread that the new Sigma 17-70mm zoom lens might potentially be an ideal one lens setup, I decided to go ahead and order one and give it a good try.

I ordered this all through B&H. First time I ordered anything from this place, so I hope they are as good as everyone says.

Can't wait to set it up and get some new images. I have signed up for a summer course at our community college on photoshop RAW, which starts in early June.

Needless to say, I am rather stoked! :clap

Now, will need to sit down and determine what other details need to be addressed relative to the xt and lens...filters, batteries, etc.

Jeffro · May 8, 2006

I'm sure you'll love the XT, especially when compared to the A80. Canon gives you some great on-line "classes" on how-to...with the XT.

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html should get you there, if you haven't been there yet.

Welcome to the world of D-SLR

arroyoshark · May 8, 2006

Jeffro wrote:

I'm sure you'll love the XT, especially when compared to the A80. Canon gives you some great on-line "classes" on how-to...with the XT.

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html should get you there, if you haven't been there yet.

Welcome to the world of D-SLR

Thanks!

I am sure I can get some good info from this link. Looks easier than reading a book.

pathfinder · May 8, 2006

I am very interested in your results with the 17-70 Sigma.

I carried a 10D with a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 Di in my tank bag on my GS for thousands of miles and dozens of mountains passes.

I must have crossed the continental divide dozens of times in New Mexico alone with that combination. Great fun. I will be going back agina this fall - probably with a 5D and a 24-105 this time.

arroyoshark · May 8, 2006

pathfinder wrote:

I am very interested in your results with the 17-70 Sigma.

I carried a 10D with a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 Di in my tank bag on my GS for thousands of miles and dozens of mountains passes.

I must have crossed the continental divide dozens of times in New Mexico alone with that combination. Great fun. I will be going back agina this fall - probably with a 5D and a 24-105 this time.

The Land of Enchantment BMW club in Alb. holds an annual rally at Sipapu ski area about 60 miles north of Fanta Se in Mid-september.

Why don't you plan to look me up when you come out to the Land of enchantment. I can take you to some way cool places here. Looks like you have an ideal set up for high res landscapes.

DoctorIt · May 9, 2006

I'm also curious to hear about the Sigma. And I also once had an XT in my GS luggage - great camera, but since shooting on motorcycle trips was only a secondary function, I got tired of the tiny XT body really fast when doing other shoots. Man its small! If I could have afforded a second body at the time, you would have had to pry the XT ouf of my riding-gloved hands. There's nothing closer to "pocket-dslr" out there.

ian408 · May 9, 2006

That'll be a nice combination for the bike. Have you thought about a
TC to go with?

Ian

ScottMcLeod · May 9, 2006

DoctorIt wrote:

I'm also curious to hear about the Sigma. And I also once had an XT in my GS luggage - great camera, but since shooting on motorcycle trips was only a secondary function, I got tired of the tiny XT body really fast when doing other shoots. Man its small! If I could have afforded a second body at the time, you would have had to pry the XT ouf of my riding-gloved hands. There's nothing closer to "pocket-dslr" out there.

I wonder what the shortest lens (other than the 50mm) is that you can get for the Rebel XT?

Either canon, or non-standard (tamron/sigma/quanta/etc...)

ian408 · May 9, 2006

ScottMcLeod wrote:

I wonder what the shortest lens (other than the 50mm) is that you can get for the Rebel XT?

Either canon, or non-standard (tamron/sigma/quanta/etc...)

I routinely use the 10-22 on mine. Any of the fisheyes would work too.

DoctorIt · May 9, 2006

ScottMcLeod wrote:

I wonder what the shortest lens (other than the 50mm) is that you can get for the Rebel XT?

Either canon, or non-standard (tamron/sigma/quanta/etc...)

in canon-mount, is there an equivalent for the mf Nikkor "pancake" lense? those make for a hot pocket dslr setup on a d70.

arroyoshark · May 9, 2006

ian408 wrote:

I routinely use the 10-22 on mine. Any of the fisheyes would work too.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!

Ian, I wonder if he was referring to the physically shortest, or most compact, lens. I think Sigma makes a 30 or 35mm lens that is pretty compact, which would represent a near normal lenes on the xt.

I had earlier intended to get the canon 17-40 mm L lens, but this new Sigma 17-70 intrigued me and the limited road tests were also encouraging.

ian408 · May 9, 2006

arroyoshark wrote:

Ian, I wonder if he was referring to the physically shortest, or most compact, lens. I think Sigma makes a 30 or 35mm lens that is pretty compact, which would represent a near normal lenes on the xt.

I had earlier intended to get the canon 17-40 mm L lens, but this new Sigma 17-70 intrigued me and the limited road tests were also encouraging.

After re-reading Scott's comments, I do think he meant most compact.
Especially given the context of a tank bag--well, except if you have a
Wolfman

pathfinder · May 9, 2006

arroyoshark wrote:

The Land of Enchantment BMW club in Alb. holds an annual rally at Sipapu ski area about 60 miles north of Fanta Se in Mid-september.

Why don't you plan to look me up when you come out to the Land of enchantment. I can take you to some way cool places here. Looks like you have an ideal set up for high res landscapes.

I found the website for the Land of Enchantment BMW Riders in Sipapu - http://www.nmbmwmc.org/sipapu.htm but it is Sept 8,9, and 10 and I am thinking about the third week in September as I want to ride on through to Monument Valley again this fall.

I'll keep your offer in mind and let you know our plans as they evolve. I'd love to ride with local knowledge - I love riding New Mexico.

arroyoshark · May 9, 2006

pathfinder wrote:

I found the website for the Land of Enchantment BMW Riders in Sipapu - http://www.nmbmwmc.org/sipapu.htm but it is Sept 8,9, and 10 and I am thinking about the third week in September as I want to ride on through to Monument Valley again this fall.

I'll keep your offer in mind and let you know our plans as they evolve. I'd love to ride with local knowledge - I love riding New Mexico.

I was just at Monument Valley in early April. Was driving someone to Salt Lake City and weather and time did not fully cooperate. Got a few workable images. Would love to go back, especially with a better camera setup.

arroyoshark · May 9, 2006

ian408 wrote:

That'll be a nice combination for the bike. Have you thought about a
TC to go with?

Ian

I used a TC with my old 35mm system years ago. I used to double an 85mm/1.8 prime lens.

I'll need to know that the Sigma is fully compatible first. I do not have any experience using a teleconverter with an autofocus zoom lens. Are TC's commonly matched up with zooms?

pathfinder · May 9, 2006

Some foks do use TCs with zooms, but they do much better with good prime lenses.

arroyoshark · May 9, 2006

I imagine you'd just use the teleconverter at the long end of a zoom, but does it render the zoom lens to manual focus/manual exposure?

Also, it halves the amount light, so does this create anything tricky with teh camera control?

mereimage · May 10, 2006

arroyoshark wrote:

I imagine you'd just use the teleconverter at the long end of a zoom, but does it render the zoom lens to manual focus/manual exposure?

Also, it halves the amount light, so does this create anything tricky with teh camera control?

It depends on the max aperture of the lens- most Canon dslr's won't auto focus a lens with less tha f5.6---So with a 2x TC you would need a zoom with f2.8 throughout. These work best only on highend zooms such as Canon 70-200 @2.8L and are best on primes

arroyoshark · May 11, 2006

mereimage wrote:

It depends on the max aperture of the lens- most Canon dslr's won't auto focus a lens with less tha f5.6---So with a 2x TC you would need a zoom with f2.8 throughout. These work best only on highend zooms such as Canon 70-200 @2.8L and are best on primes

Thanks, that's good to know. A zoom with an f-stop of 4 - 5.6 at max. zoom with a 2x TC would look like an f8 -f11 to the camera.

Finally got off the dime and ordered a DSLR

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