I decided on upgrading my digital camera so I bought a 20d. I've been following this board for awhile and hopefully now I can contribute some pics later on. This hobby is almost as expensive as cars! :egads: Besides the body and lens I picked up a 1 gig ultra II card, a crumpler bag, hoya lens and some other misc items. This is my first slr so I'm reading the manual now...

Jeff


http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/16289153-5332_IMG.JPG

Very nice! I plan on getting one here in the next few months, but I'll probably end up getting the 18-55mm lens that comes with the kit.

But man! You dont mess around with your lenses.. an L series lens! Very nice! :bigok:

Yup...constant aperture...!!! Ching ching!! Congrats...it's a beautiful kit...I'm still in love with my F5 but someday I might be tempted to go digital :)

nice camera. now go snap some shots of your car :D

I decided on upgrading my digital camera so I bought a 20d. I've been following this board for awhile and hopefully now I can contribute some pics later on. This hobby is almost as expensive as cars! :egads: Besides the body and lens I picked up a 1 gig ultra II card, a crumpler bag, hoya lens and some other misc items. This is my first slr so I'm reading the manual now...

Jeff

Congrats Jeff! It's taken me months to get some confidence with my 20D and I'm still not fast at picking the right settings and don't always get it right but I'm getting better (I think!). One thing I change a fair bit is ISO. In lower light go for 800 or 1600 and it's amazing how well these settings work indoors without flash if you need it. I've also learned though that flash can be important to use even in GREAT light. If I have a reasonably bright background behind a subject I'll use flash to even out the exposure of foreground to background. I really think I'd like to get the 580EX flash next.

Purists tout the 'huge' benefits of shooting in 'raw' format, but I've yet to see much value vs. the hassle. While the format might allow more tweaking the starting point is generally worse because the camera hasn't done anything to the file.

Anyway, I love the speed and flexibility of the camera. My impression of images initially was like many 'noobs' - "they're soft!" but as I've learned more about aperture, focus, and USM after the fact, I'm getting much better results.

All I did in the computer to this pic is scale it to 29% and crop plain walls off the sides. No sharpening, nothing. This might show how the camera got the focus right on my puppy's nose and the back of his body is less focused. This is the kind of shot you don't get with a point and shoot and the 'nose focus' draws more attention I believe. This is at ISO 800 too!

http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/data/500/33IMG_2546-2.jpg

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Bitkahuna-Thanks for the tip. My previous camera wasn't able to switch the iso speed so this is something new to me. I was messing around with the camera yesterday and I really like it. Before I bought it I was torn between this and the rebel XT. The XT felt too small and not as solid as the 20d but i wasn't sure if I needed all the 20d's extra features. I'm glad I picked this one up though. Cute dog by the way.


Jeff

Can you post your experience with your camera so far.

I am trying to decide between a Rebel XT or a 20D.

Also, where did you buy your camera from?
If you got a great deal, let me know the store, and I'll shop there also.

I am in Northridge, Ca

Very nice! Also, great great lens choice!!