Hi, I'm currently in the process of switching over my gear to digital. I shoot mostly in four areas: 1) Family kid stuff (my duaghter is 6, so I have many more years of hauling around stuff besides camera gear); 2) 1:1 Macro of terrestrial lizards (for my wife's work, she a herpetologist. I used to be her sherpa, somehow I worked my way up to staff photographer now); 3) Mammals (my wife's work takes me out to some remote areas, so I do the whole long telephoto thing) plus I live in Hawaii so Marine mammals are also frequent subjects; 4) Abstracts (I worked as a graphic designer for over 15 years, so I find myself taking abstract photos every now and again).
My old film kit (which I have/will sell off): Elan 7nE (never could get that eye focus thing to work) EF 28-135mm USM IS EF 100mm 2.8 USM macro EF 100-400 L IS USM 550 EX Speedlite You'll notice the IS zooms and lack of primes and the lack of a true wide angle. I just could not handle carrying around a bag of primes (I tried it, I really did, even owned the old 50mm f/1.0 at one time) and eventually whittled my kit down to those zooms, plus the macro. Plus, I hardly ever use a tripod. I have a monopod but use it only rarely. I had the EF 300mm f/4 L IS USM. I loved that lens and sold it to buy the 100-400 zoom. Big mistake. I'm thinking about getting: 40D 580EX Speedlite EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS USM (Keeping the) 100mm f/2.8 USM macro I'm wondering about the long end though. I like the 300mm distance, I found the extra 100mm on the 400mm zoom only marginally useful (maybe because I was too picky of the quality at 400 for a zoom?). Anyway, should I go back to my first love the EF 3000mm f/4 L IS? Or try the new 200mm f/2.8 L II USM even though it doesn't have the IS? Or any other ideas? My budget will probably be about $3,500 for the above. My wife thinks I should just keep all my lenses and just buy a 5D instead. She thinks the lens conversions and the small sensor is not worth the money because "it will get obsolete quicker". Anyway, any thoughts for a slightly better than average photographer? Thanks, Jeff * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
