My New Toy

Yesterday afternoon I finally went out and got a new Canon EOS 50D. I decided to go with the kit EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens as it was only an additional $200 (the lens sells on it’s own for around $450), and I could use an updated zoom. The lens is heavy, but the pictures so far have been decent, and the image stabilization is nice.

I don’t have much of a review for the 50D at this point, other than to say it dances circles around my SD1000 point and shoot. I’m still learning how to use it, and there’s a lot to learn. If you’d like to read a good technical review, Popular Photography has done a great write up in the November issue. If you’re more interested in my personal experience with it, post a question or check back here once I’ve gotten a few more shots under my belt.

So far I’ve played a bit with higher ISO and have gotten decent shots with relatively low noise up to ISO 1600. I’m gaining familiarity with the manual shooting settings and while the aperture adjustment seems a bit counter intuitive at first I’m adjusting to it. I’m really happy with the LCD screen – it’s amazingly crisp and clear. Tomorrow I’m going to shoot a bit more in bright light and take a look at some low ISO shots, and play a bit more with the settings. Maybe I’ll try out shooting in RAW. You can see the shots I’m taking in my flickrstream. I’m going to try to post a little something every day.