Well I got something.. almost!

[jrome]

I'm waiting on my new toy to be shipped to me! I went shopping on eBay and got an XSi with the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, all the stuff that comes in the box plus a 4GB 60x speed SDHC card, Canon IR remote, wired remote, Hoya Cir-polarizing 58mm filter, mini-tripod, Sigma EF-500 DG ST flash, and a Canon Digital Gadget 200DG. All this for $476. Not a terribly great deal but not bad either. Add in a 1-year warranty for $35 and it's a pretty good deal I think.

[JohnB]

Excellent!

Sometimes I wish I had bought the XSi instead of the XTi. It has a few features the XTi doesn't have, such as spot metering and interval timer control.

[jrome]

I can't wait to get it. I've already got a couple more lenses that I want to go with it. I'm thinking of going with the "nifty fifty" Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus lens. Can anybody tell me the difference between imported and USA on this lens? I'm guessing that USA has more stringent guidelines before they let something go through? Or would I even tell a difference?

[JohnB]

I wasn't aware this lens was manufactured in two different countries. If I remember, I'll check when I get home and let you know where mine was made. I do know one thing, though... I love my 50 mm f/1.8 lens. I should mount it more frequently.

[jrome]

I was looking at B&H and they've got the two different ones. There's only a $10 difference from there.

[JohnB]

The difference isn't where they are made, but how they are supported. Some are imported direct from the manufacture others are imported through other channels. According to the link below, B&H will support the product for up to one year or the length of the manufacturers warranty, whichever is shorter.


Items marked "USA" are imported and/or distributed by the manufacturer or the manufacturer's official licensed importer/distributor and are warranted by them. Items marked "IMP" are imported and/or distributed by other entities and are warranted by B&H Photo-Video. "IMP" products do not qualify for manufacturer's rebate programs. There is no difference in the item itself.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/USGrey.jsp

[jrome]

Well I finally got it in the mail today! Would've gotten it yesterday except my car broke down at my girlfriend's house about an hour away and there was nobody home to sign for the package. But I went to the post office today and picked it up! I've got to say, I wasn't looking forward to the Canon bag since I had picked out a different bag in my mind, but this thing is pretty sweet. Seems like it was very well thought out and made pretty durable as well.

I've found that I love messing with the camera. I've only had it about 20 minutes now that I've been able to use it and have been taking pictures of random stuff.. like a vase with rocks in it, and bananas on a plate next to the vase. It's just so easy to use and fast! I don't think I can ever go back to a P&S after this. I've already hooked the Sigma flash to it and used it with the e-TTL II and that's a lot better than dialing it in (I think anyways..). I'm so excited about this! I'm about to go do some star shooting in a little bit, too bad there's a lot of light pollution where I live.

[JohnB]

Sweet! Have you enabled RAW+JPEG yet?

When I started with my dSLR, I enabled RAW+JPEG right away as it gives the most flexibility in processing. It gives you the JPEG file while also allowing you to experiment with the RAW until you're comfortable doing the conversion yourself.

[jrome]

After shooting random pictures and playing around in settings, I switched to RAW+JPEG. I'm pretty confident in my ability to do RAW but sometimes it just isn't convenient. :lol:

[JohnB]

It can be a bit daunting at times to have to go through and process all the RAW files from a session, but Lightroom does a great job at minimizing the effort.

I'm really liking my Lightroom+Photoshop CS4 and Windows 7 combination.