I never was one to be into photography, but I thought I needed a new hobby so I acquired some equipment. From reading the various reviews of lenses and such, I thought the kit lenses might give me some trouble. However, all the photos I have taken so far seem ok to me. I am glad I started with the kit lenses because I can imagine dropping one of these things. So I'm ok with what I have for now.

When I bought the 50mm, I experimented with it in my bedroom at home and concluded this one might not be as useful as I thought. However, its the best lens for taking out at night on the street. Its very compact and seems to deal with the night well.

I still have a ways to go into getting the best shots out of the camera, but this is so much better then my old Canon G10. I thought the G10 took good pictures, but the T1i seems to do everything better.

The 580EXII flash seems to work a lot better then the 430EX. I had the 430EX with my G10 which seemed to work alright, but the 580EXII will throw light a lot further and does a little better in the room. The 430EX can be slaved to the 580EXII. Im not sure how much light you will need, but the 580EXII seems to throw enough of it.

The ZING bags seem like the best option to carrying lenses around. You can mount them on your belt and look like batman. Well, carrying around the camera rig is not going to make you look stylish anyway. However, it will get you some shots you could not get otherwise with other cameras. I heard a commercial that seemed to make sense to me where they said "Are you going to tell your kids in 10 years the reason why you couldnt take pictures of them is because you couldnt afford the camera?" That made sense to me. Its important to get good pictures so you can have better memories later on rather then just a crappy bunch of photos taken with inferior equipment.

I agree 100% with that statement. I have a crappy camera and live to regret it each day of my trip.
PB

i shop a lot on this hong kong based website that has a bunch of value priced camera gear(flashes,cases,filters,tripods) if anyone's interested. I usually just buy flash lights and knives from them, but i got a tripod for like 5 bucks, shipping world wide free.

www.focalprice.com

quality is sometimes low , and instructions are chinglish , but thought i would share that.

but with anything i buy , i always double check ebay before for a lower price, a lot of the hong kong shops sell cheaper on ebay sometimes. downside is 2-3 week transit times.

great report so far

smuckin



(Message edited by smuckin on December 03, 2009)

I have noticed the greatest challenge is keeping the gear from being stolen or destroyed. If any of the lenses were to slip from your hand and hit a cement sidewalk then they would probably be destroyed.

The more expensive lenses are more rugged then the less expensive ones, but they all will be destroyed with one good slip.

I like the cheapskate lenses from Canon because I would not be out too much money if one of them should be damaged. When I waded through the water and got into the boat, I could see a few scenarios where the lenses would be destroyed. For example, slipping and having them submerged into salt water or while I was changing the lenses having them slip onto the deck and then into the ocean.

I practiced quite a bit changing the lenses and doing all types of shots before I left.

Basically, when you have your camera and lenses on you then you have to constantly hold them and the strap must go around your neck. A lens is either in a camera or a padded case. It can never be left alone on top of a desk or other object.

I am going to keep my cheapskate lenses for a year until I get better at handling them and then move up into the better ones.

I am also a canon fan and it seems we have the same attitude to wallet friendly lenses. I would also recommend carrying a small pocket camera, for those times and places that an DSLR isn't practical or safe.

I also bought a Cosina 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 MC AF Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Canon EOS it was less then US$100 and works great.