After much deliberation, I made the leap. My starter kit is a Cannon Rebel XT (350D) with the 17-85 USM IS lens, a Sandisk 2 GB II card, and a UV filter for protection. I wanted to buy at a local shop, but at a price difference of 15% on the body and almost 20% on the lens (+taxes), I simply couldn’t justify it. I guess they will be my accessory shops.
I should receive my shiny new toys the middle of next week. I will have a week or two to play before making a decision to keep them or not. I’ll need to figure out a way to pack them around as well. It looks like something like the Lowepro Rezo TLZ 20 will be my best bet. Protected and relatively discrete (once de-labeled), I think I can even rig it up to fit attached to, or inside, my messenger bag.
Spending money always gets my mind wandering. Reading this post from Philip really hit close to home. If I’ve got money to make my pictures better, I’ve got money to make someone’s sight better. I made a donation to Sight Savers. I value my sight above all other senses, so it feels right in a number of ways.
On a side note, I had one of my poster sized prints mounted at Giant Photo a couple days back. I can’t recommend them enough. They aren’t going to be as cheap as other spots, but the quality and service are second to none.
Looking forward to seeing your SE Asia photos. Are you gonna buy a flash? I’ve already told myself no more toys, but that’s the one thing I want. (there’s always just “one thing.”)
I thought about an external flash for a long time, but ultimately decided to try to do without. There is no doubt an external flash would be useful for fill-in or portrait stuff. But for most of the photos I do they end up being more disruptive than I would want to be. I’m also trying to keep extras to a bare minimum (goal is 1 lens & body, couple batteries, couple mem cards).
I’m hoping I can get around the flash issue by with:
1) IS lens – trying to shoot with just natural light.
2) For fill-in/high contrast situations, will try to take multiple exposures and blend them in post processing.
3) There are times I will have to use the built-in flash, but I really hate the harshness of not being able to bounce it. I might try find some semi translucent plastic (or even just tape some paper over it) to diffuse it.