WOW!!! What an expensive month...!!!

twebster · Post by **twebster** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:52 am

Hi y'all,

What follows is a story on how to make a Canon 30D and a Canon 300mm f. 2.8L IS lens turn into...something entirely different

When my father pased away he left some inheritance money for me and my brother. Dad always knew how to surprise us in ways we least suspected. I was going to treat myself to a Canon 30D and a Canon 300mm f. 2.8L IS lens, (with Canon teleconverters, of course) to do some bird photography, which I've always wanted to do. At least, those were my original plans.

About 3 weeks ago my main digital imaging workstation took a dive on me. OK, no problem. I had a new computer built and I bought a nice 20" LCD monitor. Well, with what I spent on the computer and monitor I decided to settle on a 3rd party 300mm lens rather than the Canon 300mm lens. I could live with that.

Two days after I got the new digital imaging workstation up and running my wife's and daughter's computer died

Crap

Now I'm looking at a Canon 20D and the 300mm f. 4.0 lens instead. I can still live with that.

Right after the wife's and daughter's computer died, so did their color printer. Sheesh

I bought them a new HP color printer that they can stick in their memory cards from their point 'n shoot cameras and print out prints without having to turn on the computer. Now I'm down to maybe ordering a Canon 20D and Sigma 150mm macro lens. Forget the birds

Finally, last week my Canon i9900 color printer died

I replaced it with an Epson R1800, 13" x 19" archival printer so that I can print big prints from my new...

Canon Rebel XT and 70-300mm IS zoom lens.

I'm going to give the new outfit its "shake-down" outing today. Hopefully I'll have some new images to post this week.

Best regards to all as always,

S. Alden · Post by **S. Alden** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:19 am

Tom, you have been working your computer systems past their life span anyway, so it was good they lasted that long. It seems like I am always replacing something on my computer systems and it can get expensive.

Hey, I hear the Rebel is a good camera, and I know it will do you proud.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:43 am

I have read some good reviews on the Rebel and the Rebel XT both are top rated cameras!!

As a matter of fact I have read nothing negative on them anywhere so far, so I am sure you will enjoy the camera. I am thinking of picking one up for a spare from B&H.

Carl_Constantine · Post by **Carl_Constantine** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:06 am

boy talk about snowball effect. As a computer tech, I've seen stuff like this happen to people. After I worked on the computer to get something fixed, something entirely different goes awry.

I'm sure you'll be happy with your XT. I'm thinking about usiing a 3rd party firmware hack on my Rebel (not XT) to make it like a 20D. There's at least one feature I think I'm going to use a lot, the focus adjustment.

At any rate, hope all is well now.

MikeBinOKlahoma · Post by **MikeBinOKlahoma** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:35 am

The Rebel XT is a fine camera. And I hear many good things about the 70-300. I think you'll REALLY like the IS! Congratulations! Interesting that you decided on the 70-300 instead of the 150mm macro. Those bird songs must be calling you!

Sven Bernert · Post by **Sven Bernert** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 11:24 pm

Hehe, congrats Tom to the new gear! Reading your post above I'm not sure I understand you choosing that zoom completely (in your shoes I'd probably have bought a used 300 f/4 (without IS) off from FM or so) but one thing for sure: this will make you a very happy camper

A close friend of mine bought this lens as a travel lens and loves it big time. Good choice on that R1800, too.

Enjoy your new equipment!
Sven

S. Alden · Post by **S. Alden** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:50 am

Now I know how you feel. My savings for camera equipment just turned into a John Deere Riding Tractor. My old Murray final bit the dust.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 12:27 pm

Oh boy a new tractor!

I just love power equipment. That's what I liked about my old 35mm equipment, "MOTOR DRIVES!"

MikeBinOKlahoma · Post by **MikeBinOKlahoma** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:56 pm

I had a repair bill with Canon last month, and will have another one in June, as I managed to drop my beloved 90mm TSE lens (with 2x tc attached). The rear mount of the TSE lens is literally broken, and I'm going to have the tc checked out also. I've got a 300/4 lens that had a screw come loose (literally) a couple of months after I bought it used that I've kept on using, but it's time to get that fixed--And a loose connection in my macro flash makes one of the two flash heads fire irregularly. Time to pack all those up and send 'em in. So Canon will be sticking it to me for a bit of repair work, both from the 90 catastrophe and accumulated maintenance.