kja

Amazing sky!

+1 for not seeing too much value in ordering from a retailer here. Photo Continental is a camera seller in Queensland (I think). Yes, the bodies I have purchased in the US aren't officially covered by warranty by Canon here in Australia so I would have to ship them back to the US for service. I have only had to do this once and although I paid shipping, which wasn't that much surprisingly, it was still totally worth it with the cash I saved in the initial purchase. Canon in the US also had the camera winging it's way back to me lickety split so I had very very minimal time without the body. I have only had to send two bodies in - one back to the US and one that I bought here in Australia. The Canon service centre here in Australia also had about a three day turn around to me EXCEPT that their communications department dropped the ball and so it was a couple of weeks before they actually shipped it out (I was overseas so no biggie for me). As you can see, this is an issue for some and not for others. Only you can weigh up the pros & cons and decide what works best for you.

B&H Photo out of New York are always excellent to deal with. Adorama, Beach, Calumet, too. www.pricegrabber.com will help you see current prices across a range of US retailers. I have dealt with Photo Continental here in Australia and had very good service. I bought one body from them because the dollar was fluctuating and they had a bit of a deal happening just at the time I wanted to buy - the next week the same body was far far more expensive ;) Almost all the times I have been looking for gear Aussie retailers have never come close to what I can have it shipped from the US for. With the strong Aussie dollar and if you go over the magic $1000 limit, you may find buying onshore to be almost as good right now. The warranty on camera bodies (Canon) is valid in the country of purchase when you buy from an authorised Canon dealer. This has never been an issue for me. Some of the Aussie (and other) sellers may not be authorised dealers and will offer their own warranties instead of one straight from Canon. This is neither bad nor good, it just is and you'll need to have a think about if that will work for you.

PERFECT, I reckon!! I'm trying to be so much better about doing things like that instead of "it was there, I was there, my camera was there...I stayed on the couch and just thought hey, I should get off my butt and take a photo of that" oh, and I think you should do a panorama and a square of the cukes! I love fresh veggies!!

LOL and that's why art is subjective. I thought the pack was clutter in the background that simply didn't get moved - I didn't realise it was meant to show scale! So while we're talking about this shot, why do you (and this means everyone) think that this shot works or doesn't work as a square ... or why do you think it works BETTER as a square than as a more traditional rectangle? You can ask yourself these questions about any of the shots you take or see here in the thread...when I suggested the challenge I really hoped there would be some chatter about it as sometimes I think it help open ideas for everyone. Let me know if I'm too lame for words

Huga - love the baby in the bathtub with the duckie!! It gives us all the information we need and no extra bits in the frame. Well done! In this last week of the challenge, I'd love to see people really really pushing that square crop. Think essential information ... for instance in the tomato shot above, do we need to see the whole tomato? What if we cropped it down to its essential ingredients - the stem and some of the flesh, maybe? Even going back to shots you've posted already and reshooting them or recropping with a bit of severity in mind fun!!

For those struggling with panos - try a 3:1 or 4:1 crop instead of a 2:1 crop. I personally don't really dig the ol' 2:1 crop most of the time and find a more dramatic crop pleases my eye more often. Here's a 3:1 just for fun

Resize em to be 100kbs or so each. I email long edge 650 or 700ish and move my quality slider to make the file the size I want it. Usually I'm at about 60-66%. More than fine for viewing on the computer. Make sure you are saving in sRGB. Uploading to a gallery and then sending the link is a great idea - I'd still use the same settings.

Wohooo!!! That's great!

I sure as hell wouldn't be buying anything else from that retailer! Ever. Might be worth going to the retailer and asking if they will put something in writing about your conversation and forwarding that to Canon, too. Or at the very least, directly naming the employee and retailer that you dealt with. I've found that manufacturers often do care about their public face, even on small scales and it may give your claim a little more push for leniency. Crossing fingers for you!

Man, that really really sucks. I am still confused tho - you said it was the retailer who told you that Canon would honor a repair out of warranty. So to me it looks like it is the retailer who is at fault on the info, not Canon. Canon is saying, I think, that it's out of warranty and so you have to pay. I don't think it's right to be upset with Canon for upholding their policy when you were not acting on information from them, but rather from a retailer. I would seriously be hitting the retailer in this case as it is because of THEIR bad information that your hopes were up. Maybe I missed something? Did you have confirmation from Canon that they would, indeed, extend your coverage outside of warranty because you had reported the problem to Canon already? I don't know how much time passed between your retailer sending it off to Canon, Canon sending it back to you and this recent resend back to Canon but all of Canon's checks should be in writing and if there wasn't too much of a lag and it's the same exact problem, then for sure I'd hope Canon would come to the party somehow to make this less of a financial burden! What a total PITA for you - I feel your pain and hope you can get some less expensive solutions ASAP!

Basically, "professional" is just a word that anyone can use. I don't make the majority of my income from photography but I do consider myself a professional. "Professional" to me encompasses far more than making an income (though that is a part of it, too): conduct, ability to meet & exceed client needs/expectations, ability to be consistent, holding appropriate insurances, documentation etc, continuing education in the field, continuing to grow & excel and a whole lot else.

:D :D Awesome!!

And head to strobist - it's a web site with a TON of lighting info to get you started. A lot of it is one light, too. Really good way to start getting into things. www.strobist.com I think (I've lost my bookmark) Also, check out POTN's small flash area. Tons of great info in the stickies at the top and there's a creative one light thread that has some inspiring stuff in it.

Firestone - yes, that looks like a square to me Each side in a square is the same length, so it has a 1:1 ratio.

Make it a brush or an action in Photoshop You can then make the action a droplet in Lightroom. Lots of tutorials online and I think there's one around here somewhere, too.

I'd love to know, too, coz I've never found a suitable way to remove the green eyes of demondom :D

How about taking beautiful pup and setting him/her up on a table outside (or somewhere) with a clearer background? Pretty doggie :D

Hehee! This is a tough thing to get in your head while you're shooting and that's precisely why I suggested it to Ash I'm loving seeing everyone's photos. I've been tremendously slack on taking photos for fun lately. Doing my one a day and not much more...must find some energy (in fact, I just made a dr appt coz this malaise has been going on too long - thanks to our awesome medical care the next available is 6th April so I guess I have to suck it up for a few more weeks with no help...)

FWIW most people believe that the ability to obtain shallower depth of field is more desirable than greater depth of field. One can always stop down a lens to achieve greater depth of field and even the cheapest of lenses do a pretty good job on that end of the spectrum but being able to open it up to get razor thin & sharp goodness is what you pay the big bucks on fast lenses for.

dupe...

OK, before everyone gets completely lost, a nitpicky thing... it is not FOD, it's DOF for Depth of Field. It is important to get terms correct or that in itself can lead to all sorts of confusion. Also, the 1000D (450d, 40D, 50D, 7D) is a 1.6, not a 1.4 crop sensor. My 1DIII is a 1.3 crop. The Canon 5D is a full frame. I'm not sure where you got 1.4 from coz afaik Canon don't offer a 1.4. As for the rest, hhmmmK - I don't even see an equation and don't really follow your explanation. BUT it is completely OT so we perhaps might want to make a whole other thread because imho it's not at all relevant to the OPs question really :D Hmmm, or are you talking about FOV which is field of view?? That's a totally different thing and kinda makes more sense to me with your explanation...

Holy frijoles, Batman - $650 for a compact camera??? The very reason I find it very hard to shop for camera gear onshore.

I don't understand this...can you explain please? OP - don't forget to consider lenses when making your purchase because eventually you are going to want more lenses and you really don't want to start over with a new system. Just have a look through prices and some of what's available - certain lenses are only offered for certain mounts (ie Canon or Nikon or Pentax etc) while some mounts (in particular, Nikon & Canon) have a massive number of options both of their own brand and in third party lenses. Third party lenses can not only offer some things that the manufacturer brands can't, but you can also find excellent options for less cash A great place to start is here on the forum or over at POTN's lens archive - the archive has each lens listed and then tons of photo examples and comments from real world users inside the individual thread. Most lenses that are listed for Canon there are also available for Nikon, more or less. Don't worry about understanding it all or about choosing right now so much as just clicking a few random threads with different focal lengths so you can get an idea of what is available. Look at something really wide like 10-22, 11-16 - then something in the middle like 30, 50, 85 - a couple of zooms like 70-200 (there are about five different ones at all price points) and 18-55 ... that will help you get a feel for what you'll see through the viewfinder when you use different lenses. I know it seems overwhelming, but seriously you can't go too far wrong choosing an slr body from any of the big guys - they all do a good job and will give you at least a couple of years before you begin to outgrow them, if you even do.

Yup, the Lumix cams are really nice!