Finally.

[schuylercat]

Yesterday afternoon DHL rolled up with my new camera. After one failed attempt to get a good deal on ebay (there's a story I'll relate later...) I got a good dealer and a bunch of accessories that aren't worthy of my trash can - you know, the tripod, mini tripod thingie with flexible legs (that cannot hold a Canon 40D even without a lens) and a cleaning kit, like I need another one...

Oh, and an el-cheap-O 2gb CF card.

So I danced and hopped up and down and drooled and got right to business.

The camera arrived at 2:45. I put the battery in, slapped the memory in, mounted my lens (28-70 f/2.8L), flipped the little "on" switch, set the camera to aperture priority, cranked it up to 2.8, called my son, pressed the button, and...

Comment is invited here...

So now I am taking shots of dead leaves, my dog, my wife's toes...you know.

A few observations:
1 - This thing is WAY fast. Makes me think I can keep shooting, and that's a bad habit I've always had: I fail to properly frame follow-up shots.
2 - Heavy? I mean, my 1N was a ton of camera, but somhow I thought this would be lighter. Still - much easier to hold onto than a xti - the rebels are tiny, and the grip is too small, even for my itty bitty hands.
3 - Familiarity. All the buttons work just like they always have (sorta), and having owned Canons before, it's easy. I haven't bothered opening the book yet.
4 - Battry life. My image counter says 435 pics yesterday, about half with flash. Still shows a full battery indicator, and I haven't even charged the battery yet - this is the charge from the factory.
5 - I am very, very happy.

So: I have offered to help a wedding photographer for free to catch his tricks, but meanwhile I will be doing lots of portraiture - mainly my kids (they're free talent, and cute, too!) Feedback is encouraged.

The cat just passed a hairball. Photo op? Hmmm...

Cheers!

 

[schuylercat]

All right, dangit: how do I get the pic in the post?

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

To post an image you need to host it somewhere and post a link to the jpg using the square yellow icon button.

Anyway - you haven't said what camera you've had delivered! Is it the Canon 40d?

 

[schuylercat]

Hi Ben,

Yep - it's a Eos 40D. Long story short: I used to shoot Indycars years back (got a lot of exposure, but never made much money) and I sold or mothballed my cameras about 8-9 years ago. My stepson is getting married next year, and he asked me to shoot the event. Like an idiot, I said yes.

Meanwhile - I hosted the image at Flickr. Link won't work. What'd I do wrong?

 

[schuylercat]

Didn't get the whole link.

 

[Sideburns]

just so you know. It's against flickr's rules to post images hosted by them no forums.