Ripley

USD or AUD? I just paid AUD$820 + shipping ($AUD30) for a brand new 30D. Bought it from the States. I don't need a 40D, this one is great.

ruthless, you aren't bracketing every shot are you? I'm pretty slack with my photos. I have a portable drive - USB 2.0 - at home which holds all my holiday images. I haven't backed any up it's something I need to do (and sort out my European shots but I hate image editing). ATM I have no camera - great lenses but no camera. edited for typo - I'm typing on a 'borrowed from work' laptop.

That was exactly what my Canon was doing last year when I was screwing around with the settings and didn't know what/how they worked. I could use it on the manual mode, just not the auto modes. I thought it was a firmware problem but I had mirror lock up engaged - the guy at Canon, went away with it, came back 5 mins later and said, "Here's your camera" and all fixed.

A 5D doesn't have those auto settings like portrait, sports though does it? I thought it ony has the prof setings like AV, SV, M? If I were you, I'd stick with the 30D and spend your money on a better quality lens. The only reason I want to upgrade my 350D is because with an 'L' lens stuck to it (the 70-200mm I now have), it feels like the good quality lens is going to snap off as the 350D feels so light and plastic in comparison to this heavy lens. I took my camera into Canon at Ryde and there was nothing wrong with it - I just had mirror lock up engaged. Can you ring them and get it back? Are you in the city this week - I can take a look at it to see if you have any settings where they shouldn't be. The flash exposure compensation that ashanali mentioned is in the second menu, one down on my Canon - your's will be easy to find too. I didn't take the cap off it but you might want to give it a clean as it's old. The settings on that are similar to your Canon 30D in that it has the same AV, SV, M modes and the usual auto modes. I couldn't find the exposure lock button but didn't have a manual to find out. ETA: I HATE Paxtons. Went there to have a look at their wide angle lenses and got treated like the little woman. Overpriced to buggery too.

What is that course? If it's one run by the community college, it's all theory for the first day. Just take your camera's manual with you. Did you clear all settings like I asked you to that time you rang me? Remember that fixed the exposure compensation button you had up a few notches last time. Did they actually say it was stuffed? Because when I took my 'locked up' camera to Canon last year, they told me I had mirror lock up engaged. I felt like a dimwit.

I'm going to try our electronic work bulletin board first - a guy at work sold his 350D with 18-55mm lens for $500 very quickly. I'm seling both lenses with it. OH is a bit sad about it but today, with the new L 70-200mm attached to it, that 350D felit like it had a pvc pipe stuck to it.

It looked like this Review of it http://catalog.ebay.com/Delkin-eFilm-DND50...2116727QQ_tabZ3

Take it off Auto, that is why the flash is going off. Open the blinds to let natural light in, that will help and/or up the ISO. Do you have a fast lens you can use? I can use my 50mm 1.8 indoors without flash no probs and without having the ISO too high.

You can get them off ebay. OH got me one and it was extremely annoying and I ended up accidently snapping and breaking it whilst trying to close it.

Just bumping to let you know that the US dollar is now 95 cents and you can get some good prices at B&H New York, even with shipping and a warranty added. I got a 3 year int'l warranty on a lens honoured by Canon Australia and still saved a few hundred bucks compared to the cheapest price I would have found it here. I had boss get it for me when he was in NY. OK so on Friday I bought something else from B&H's site. Not too expensive - a Canon 1.4 teleconverter. I'm selling my cheaper lenses so lenses I will only have after flogging off kit lenses: Canon 50mm 1.8 Canon f/4 L 70-200mm Canon 1.4 L teleconverter Sigma 17-70mm My kit is complete! :D (I haven't tried out my 70-200mm yet, it's still wrapped in plastic).

I'm selling my 350D soon with 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses. It hasn't had that much use actually. I only take snaps when I go on hols.

Wow. Interesting. I know you can rent underwater cameras when you go diving ..

Saw a winning photo of just that in a mag recently. The photo was of an elderly gent smoking a cigar in Cuba - real cliche. Shot had a LOT of dodge and burn going on by the look of it.

When I bought my 350D in Sept 2006 from Hardly Normal, I also bought the 70-300mm lens too, and then got him to give me a HUGE discount on the Panasonic Lumix compact - it's a great little compact with a Leica lens and has IS which I needed in a compact. We ended up taking both cameras to Europe - my husband using the 350D more than me and me using my Panasonic Lumix compact most of the time - we did swap, but OH wanted the bigger camera around his neck as he said nobody would try and rob him like they would me (OH is over 6 foot and built like a rugby player). Now I know much, much more about taking photos than my OH, I take the 350D everywhere and he takes another camera.

Well at least I know what I can get if I chuck in my 18-55mm and 70-300mm with the 350D. I asked OH if I could do that as he was dashing to work and he waved his hand at me and said "do whatever"

Had a few on watch on ebay out of interest. Here is what a few Canons went for: The 350D and its 70-300mm lens - same kit one as I have - went for $710. That didn't include the 18-55mm with it. A second hand 20D, body only, went for $699.

That can't beat my blonde moment. I took my compact Panasonic to our big work Christmas party last year and couldn't understand why the photos came out crap - the camera has IS and I wasn't THAT drunk. All the photos had a gritty look to them, kind of like fast film grain combined with an old fashioned, soft focus filter over them. Then I used it again at another work Christmas function during the day and the photos still had that 'dreamy' filter effect. I got home, looked at the lens and it was covered in a big smear of lip gloss. So I cleaned it and camera is as good as new. I must have shoved it in my bag when the lens wasn't retracted. So we all have that 1970s style soft focus look in the photos.

Never been to New York but it's probably the only city in the US I'd like to go to. I think the PA of the guy accompanying my boss gave him a list of things to get for her, so he probably just added my lens to the long list. :rolleyes:

Update: I have this lens! Well it's still in New York but it's as good as mine now. My boss just emailed me from NY saying B&H didn't have it in stock so the other Exec he is in NY with went trooping around New York on the weekend and found it in another camera store for me, haggled and got a discount too. What a nice man - I have sent him a personal email as thanks. They are so busy over there but took time out to do that for me.

Speaking of which, how's the slide film going, chezzyr?

I love this little forum of DOL. If I post the same question in a photographic forum I'm on (I've posted an entire 2 posts and probably won't post anymore as it's all middle aged blokes trying to outdo each other) I get them arguing amongst themselves about the Nikon and the Canon and they don't answer my question . You guys have been very helpful with what I was tossing up. Thanks.

The only thing that really annoys me on the 350D is the small screen - I have to zoom in to see if the shot is sharp. I've also noticed in low light photographs, if you use ISO 200 and not 100 there is obvious noise. Now I've learned in low light (and darkness) to use ISO 100 and the long exposure noise reduction that solves that problem but just wondering what other Canons are like noise wise. My husband's Olympus 400 he was given through work is a lot noisier than the Canon at ISO 400, I've noticed. Have only noticed this when viewing the photos on my computer monitor at home, full screen. eta: I cannot wait to get this new lens in a week. Don't know what to practise on but feel the fairly tame lorikeets and their 2 babies I feed will be the first subjects.

I do know how everything works on my 350D now. I've used everything on it from its long exposure noise reduction to exposure compensation. I've been doing a lot of reading this year to teach myself. Maybe I don't need to upgrade, but I've bought some good lenses - sigma 17-70mm and now, the Canon L 70-200mm f/4 I'm getting in a week. I know it's better to spend the money on the lenses and stick with the body but if I can afford to upgrade then I will. Currently have a 20D and 30D on 'watch' on ebay atm (even a 350D to see what they are going for) to see what the market is paying.

Nope. I don't. If I did I'd be getting the IS L lens. Cannot afford it atm.

Have you heard anything about the 30D, kja? I know it's getting old but BH NY still sell them new for USD800. My boss is on a plane to NY as I type this and he's getting me that 200mm Canon L f/4 lens from B&H. I plan on selling the 350D, its 18-55 and 70-300mm lenses and buying the 30D. I can always get a 300mm Sigma later on if I think I need it.