international

I would agree...a lot of people starting to jump into dSLR often are mislead by the conception that the body is the most important part of a nice setup, however I can assure you, it s combo of both body and lense and I would tend to lean on the lenses more. I would use the saved money buy getting a 400D instead of 40D and really go for some nice lenses. I cant be specific as to what lense to recommend you on the Canon side of the scale sinces Im a Nikon blooded addict but by the sounds of it, you do shoot quite a wide range of shots. The reason why not to get large focal lenses like 18-200mm is due to slightly longer AF times, more distrotion and a few others minor issues that put quality demanding people off...I just cant think up at this very moment. However there are some factors with larger lenses as it gives you more flexibility in what you can shoot with a single lense, save time and never miss a shot with a lense that covers all the focal lengths you need... Canon 17-85mm IS USM is one sure good piece of lense kit for your average walk about shots...gives good wide shots as well as a decent zoom.

The jump for Canon 400D and 40D is huge, a whole new body structure, new image processor and new sensors, call it a new camera if you like... 400D was always a top of the line "consumer" level dSLR, however 40D has stepped up the notch and really gone into something I would like to call Semi Professional... ...however if you are looking to get into some dSLR, I would recommend taking a look at the Nikon camp...espeically Nikon D300...its one serious piece of tool that will PWN 40D...however it only comes out at the end of this year...I suppose you are getting your 40D from Auckland Camera Centre? In my opinion, Canon seems to limit in the range of bodies that they can provide...where as Nikon seems to cater for all levels of photography. Canon 400D vs Nikon D40X Canon 400D vs Nikon D80 Canon 20D vs Nikon D200 Canon 40D vs Nikon D300 Canon 1D MarkII vs Nikon D2 Canon 1D MarkIII vs Nikon D3 (Nikon's first FullFrame Digital) But before I go anywhere...you better list out your budget and what you shoot...help us to help you!

I dont have moon close up but I do have this macro... Nikon D40X Nikkor 35-105mm Macro f/3.5-4.5 75% Crop

Love the Mini one...nice lense...oh and its good to see another Nikon user

Taking about HDRs...Im having issues trying to get a good image out of it...Tired CS2 and PhotoMatix...I guess I just really need to sit down and play with it for a few hours... Yea, its quite important if you want to shoot HDR, NZ has the perfect beaches and natural locations... Ive save a few bucks from the remote trigger by using self timer set on 2 seconds which is actually quite good...just remember to insert the viewfinder cover when you shoot remotely!

looks like its a good time to save up for your next BMW and get it just in time when you get your licence back...hope there wont be any jail time...

hmmm not bad...I see they have an Auckland brance at Eden Terrace...its a shame they dont stock up Nikon products...You shoot in a pretty wide style? I was looking for something that will let me shoot wide but they are all bloody expensive...10-20mm fish eyes for nearly the price of my dSLR is a joke!

I dont have quite the photo...but anyways... The above is one hell of an over blown image...as you can see there is absolutely no detail in the centre...What is dark is too dark and is bright is too bright... Now using selective adjustment using brushes, I only selected parts which I wanted the contrast or colour boost. A lot of contrast increase were made on the right hand side of the photo to try bring out the layers within the clouds and enchance the colour of the ocean reflection... Maybe you can try that and see if it improves your game... Sorry guys...Im not much a car photographer myself...mainly because I dont have much cars to shoot...

I also tend to have slightly over blown images on my edits which is a pain...since you shoot in RAW...everything to do with contrast and other settings should be very flexible...so rather than changing settings of the overall photo, use brush effects to do only the selective parts of the photo to reduce your chances of over blown lights... Ill upload a photo to show you later...

If I was to get a dSLR a few years back...the E300 was have been on my list...I would still regard it as a very good SLR today...Just out of interest...is it hard to souce lenses for your camera? If you are on the look out for new dSLR...wait for the Nikon D300...its a total beast with 51AF points!!! But of cause...E500 means you can still use same lense...

like you can talk...

OoO E300s a pretty good 4/3 SLR...I still reckon its better than E330....

Ill love to shoot film but digital is just so much easier...Ive got a Nikon FM2 film SLR just sitting around... Hybrid...looked like you had the awesome camera to match the awesome car...what camera is it? Ryan...your shots are pretty good...but some are slightly over blown~

Just wondering if there are any keen photographers in BS? Just throw in some of your works here and maybe talk about your tools of trade?

agreed~

Hate Labour...

Damn it...my dad deleted some I took last year...didnt see it this year....it wasnt that big under the media this time round...

done man...good luck!

I dont understand how we can get this kind of internet in New Zealand??? Its totally insame because its FIBRE OPTIC!!!

Sport mode?

I dont think New Zealand internet is expensive but damn slow it is...We think it is expensive because we aint getting the most out of what was promised to us by our ISPs on paper... The service of ADSL does vary depending on how far the connection is to the ADSL system servers. The recommended service range is 5,460 metre for ADSL. At further distances, ADSL users may find their internet speeds much lower than that promised by their ISPs while users closer to the ADSL system servers may find extremely fast internet connections. New Zealand being a pretty spread out country geographically so this slow ADSL problem seem to occur...

Its a simple question... Do you think you are getting ripped or not?

awesome contrast...

hahaha dont bother getting SLI as its so not value for money unless you were going to SLI a pair of 8800Ultra...$400 is alright but depends on the brand as some brands will offer pre-OCed version which cost slightly bit more as well as additional cooling therefore this all adds up to the ultimate price of the card...most importantly is if it was a custom PCB or Nvidia original PCB...

Get Seaagte drives for their 5 year warranty...or Western Digital which is also 5 years...Hitachi however is only 3 years if I remember correctly...these are the only 3 brands that I would recommend...Samsung are cheap however seen many returned for refunds and repairs I would not advise Samsung HDDs as well as their optical drives...As for cases, I would recommend you to find something strong and something with a good feel to it...sure the cases range up in prices but quite often especially with the 2.5" cases the contact points are very badly soldered and often come loose so be aware of that...choosing a strong case is to protect your actual drive...you may also want to consider more connects rather than just USB...e-SATA seems to be quite a popular choice as its much faster than USB...of cause all these features will cost more so once again, its all dependent on your budget.