C'mon Aussies

RobP said:
CR has become part of my daily routine too. I've notice that on some day I check the front page several times, waiting for more news on the 5D III. I have a 5D II, 24-105mm, 50mm 1.4, 20mm 2.8 & a 70-200mm 2.8 bought second hand. Trying to decide between 16-35 II & 100mm 2.8 macro ...

Mostly into landscapes and am doing a few stitched panoramas using the 20mm on a Nodal Ninja 3 pano head.

Built my website in spare time, it's just a hobby - www.robpackerphotography.com

Am enjoying living in the beautiful Scenic Rim of SE Qld - panoramas, mountains & waterfalls all close by.


That's a toughie between the 16-35 and 100mm 2.8 macro

Seeing as you're into landscapes perhaps the 16-35 would open up some more vistas for you. I own the 100mm 2.8 IS macro and I will say this: You can find all sorts of interesting things to photograph in your yard where the 16-35 you might need to travel somewhere to get a good view. I've gotten incredible shots of butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, leaves, blades of grass, etc from the 100mm 2.8. Also it works great as a telephoto but seeing as you already have the 70-200 no big improvement there.

SamTheFish
 
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afira

Guest
samthefish said:
RobP said:
CR has become part of my daily routine too. I've notice that on some day I check the front page several times, waiting for more news on the 5D III. I have a 5D II, 24-105mm, 50mm 1.4, 20mm 2.8 & a 70-200mm 2.8 bought second hand. Trying to decide between 16-35 II & 100mm 2.8 macro ...

Mostly into landscapes and am doing a few stitched panoramas using the 20mm on a Nodal Ninja 3 pano head.

Built my website in spare time, it's just a hobby - www.robpackerphotography.com

Am enjoying living in the beautiful Scenic Rim of SE Qld - panoramas, mountains & waterfalls all close by.


That's a toughie between the 16-35 and 100mm 2.8 macro

Seeing as you're into landscapes perhaps the 16-35 would open up some more vistas for you. I own the 100mm 2.8 IS macro and I will say this: You can find all sorts of interesting things to photograph in your yard where the 16-35 you might need to travel somewhere to get a good view. I've gotten incredible shots of butterflies, dragonflies, flowers, leaves, blades of grass, etc from the 100mm 2.8. Also it works great as a telephoto but seeing as you already have the 70-200 no big improvement there.

SamTheFish

I would agree with SamTheFish on his recommendation of the 16-35mm. Landscapes and scenery will benefit from the wide angle and it would cover ground your current lens set up does not (16-24mm). If you find yourself using your 20mm a fair bit, this would just affirm this suggestion. The only issue I have in this suggestion is that you say you do panoramas with the 20mm. If this is the case, I highly doubt a slightly wider lens will be massively beneficial except to give you more skyline and cut area to work with. If you find that you prefer the 16-35, you could replace the 20mm in your everyday carry bag with ease. You could borrow or rent if absolutely needed, or wander down to your local camera shop to test it. If the investment cost wasn't so massively extreme, I might even suggest the 14mm f/2.8 L II...

I would not consider the 100mm f/2.8 Macro for use as a "telephoto". I think it is a good investment, but specifically for use as a portrait lens and obviously macro work. It "can" have a very narrow dof which can play tricks with your photos taken at range. However, if you like to play with bokeh and awesome dof pictures, this is a great lens. From the reviews, I would also spend the extra and invest in the L version of the lens.
 
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alchera75

Guest
G'Day all,

Another newbie. Melbourne based, working my way towards mediocrity (huge step in my photography!) :D.

Just pulling myself out of the entry level stuff and heading into uncharted, debt filled waters.

7D bought (from a 1000D ... and whilst it was a cheap cheap camera I think I got the most out of that and truly happy to start there).

Tomorrow the Sigma 50mm 1.4, in a couple of weeks the Sigma 30mm 1.4 then the 85mm 1.4 before I move into the L range of zooms etc.

Anyways always lurked here ... thought I might as well jump on board and have a say now and again!

You can find me here - http://hovey75.wordpress.com or straight to flickr - www.flickr.com/photos/mashtee/
 
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niccyboy

Guest
Hi there,

Long time visitor, decided to join the discussion.

I'm a Melbourne boy and owner/creative director of a Creative Agency called Maybe Tmrw. I often use external photographers and videographers, so flick me an email if you are chasing freelance work.

I also have my own photoblog at http://www.eneyesee.com

I'm hanging for the new 5dmk3 and new 1D.... would be very interested in the EF mount video camera too, as i currently have a few Sony Nex VG10s with Canon eos adapters as well as dslr rigs.... but still am not completely happy with these options.

Anyway... Hi
 
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scottsdaleriots

Guest
everything is SO damn expensive and there's no 'wear n' tear' warranty. it's pathetic. plus if you buy from amazon or something the shipping fees are outrageously expensive. and i hate the fact that we're ALWAYS late on getting something new. like months and months after a new canon camera/lens comes out only then we get it after the rest of the world.
 
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samueljay

5D Mk III
Oct 21, 2011
126
0
Hey all!
Long time visitor of this site too, and thought I should actually join and participate in the great community going on here. I'm from Melbourne, and work in advertising. Currently I only do photography as a hobby and I'm still using a couple film SLR's (all early Minolta's and mostly Minolta and Sigma glass). I'm just waiting for the 5D Mk iii (like everyone else here it seems :p haha!) so that I can enter the digital realm, and enhance my skills in photography (film is just too expensive to get a lot of solid practise, although I cherish the discipline of shooting film). I studied film for two years, and my heart lies in photography whether it be still or motion, which is why I think the next iteration of the 5D will be the perfect camera for me. That being said, I've never owned a Canon camera before, so I'm not partial to any brand, however it seems Canon are onto a winning formula with the 5D :) So nice to meet you all I guess! :) Bring on the next generation of cameras :)

I should also add, I have been toying with the idea of getting a 550D due to their stupidly low price to get into digital early, and to keep as a crop body once I do get the 5D, but we'll see what happens in the next month :)
 
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Nothing wrong with Minolta. My X-700 and SRT101 are still working perfectly.

Recently picked up an Olympus micro 4/3 camera to give the lenses a new lease of digital life. Most work surprisingly well. Plus my 135mm becomes an image stablilized 270mm f2.8. And my 400mm becomes an 800mm f5.6 IS. How cool is that! Now, if I could only get them to autofocus....
 
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samueljay

5D Mk III
Oct 21, 2011
126
0
Hillsilly said:
Nothing wrong with Minolta. My X-700 and SRT101 are still working perfectly.

Recently picked up an Olympus micro 4/3 camera to give the lenses a new lease of digital life. Most work surprisingly well. Plus my 135mm becomes an image stablilized 270mm f2.8. And my 400mm becomes an 800mm f5.6 IS. How cool is that! Now, if I could only get them to autofocus....
God yeah! Never said there was anything wrong with them, I love my Minolta's, I just don't like the cost factor of film... how funny though, I have the same two camera's (I adore the X-700) and a couple XG-1's.

Haha nice! That's pretty neat! I'm more excited to start a new lens collection of L-series canon glass though since my Minolta lens range isn't anything too exciting (mainly a bunch of 50mm & 24mm primes).
 
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I've got a 24mm or 50mm on my camera most of the time, too. I only really started to expand my Minolta collection over the last three to four years when I noticed that the second hand prices on eBay crashed. Everything was so cheap - why not snap up a few bargains?

Overall my Canon gear is better. But I still like my X700 and 24mm a lot.
 
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noxious_nasties

Guest
Hello all fellow aussies!

Like many others out there I'm waiting for a 5diii. Have been since the 5dii was released and wanted abit more without moving to a 1d or 1ds.
Haven't owned a dslr but have used and borrowed them for quite awhile. Did some film with a canon ae1 program which was fun too.

Personally I reckon if the 5dii killed the 1ds model then it could be classed as a potential new pro-line. So I wouldn't be surprised if canon
made this their new high resolution camera by upgrading it significantly. If that is the case I can't see the cost being very cheap which isn't
going to be fun when I want to build up a lens collection from scratch. Just gotta keep saving those nasty 5c pieces :p
 
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scottsdaleriots

Guest
having a photography business is about sales and profit, yada yada yada, i get it. BUT(!) why NOT cater to the comsumers, prosumers and advanced amatuers as well as the pros? (They do that already but I feel like they focus and cater for the pros mainly.) Cut out the middle man or decrease prices a bit offer more variety on products (e.g at JB HIFI, harvey norman, etc.).

we seriously NEED an aussie equivalent to amazon/B&H/adorama!!!! free shipping be amazing (if it's an online store) and hell to the australian government and their greediness. STupid VAT taxes and GST. It's not like we don't waste our money on delivery insurance and shipping/P&H already!
 
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niccyboy

Guest
I have no problems buying gear within Australia and from overseas. I think with our exchange rate it's excellent.

There are plenty of Aus camera sites like BH etc...

Vanbar Imaging
DD photographics
DWI
Borges

Often they can't compete price wise, but that is the nature of imports and exports. Try buying a Renault/BMW in Europe.

But you would be suprised... DWI has a 24-70 for $AUD1325... BH is $US1385 .

I've bought 5dmk2 from BH, a 5dmk2 from Digital Rev and 7d and 550D's on Elizabeth St in Melb.. I buy lenses from all over the world. Just shop around. Google is your friend.

If you STILL think it is too expensive you need to pick a cheaper hobby haha.
 
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scottsdaleriots

Guest
^ Lol, well I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment and it's not helping that christmas is around the corner :( Photography I think, overall, is an expensive hobby, even if it's mostly digital these days. I mean price for lenses and camera bodies are crazy. Especially from Canon and Nikon. I'm afraid of imports/grey markets malfunctioning or something and screwing up my camera. That's why I don't buy Sigma/Tamron lenses (even though they're cheaper and seem ok) for my camera. I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to that kind of thing :-\

I've had a very bad experience with my first and only purchase from B&H with a lengthy 3 week delay. Result was that my L lens' paint got chipped off - as extremely careful and protective as I was, it still happened (not to mention it was less than 3 weeks old) :'(

I can't remember the name but there's another camera store in ringwood in melbourne.
 
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