Recent content by angusb1

+1 that 50mm on a crop frame is slightly too long. I get much more use out of my 29mm 2.8 although its nothing like as good quality as my 50mm 1.8, because you can always crop from a wider lens but you can't do the opposite with a lens too long.

I have an M42 Pentacon 29/2.8, Pentax K SMC Takumar 100/4 macro, and OM Vivitar 19/3.8. They are all towards the cheaper end and the 29/2.8 and 19/3.8 are a bit soft in the corners wide open but still a lot better than the 18-55 kit lens I got with my 20D. Stopped down past f5.6 they are...

My requirements were pretty much the same as yours, I ended up with an old Slik from ebay. Sturdy and light.

^^ This is good advice, also bear in mind that rather than trying to move nearer to your subject with the 50mm to frame the shot, you could just shoot from where you are and then crop the image afterwards to frame it how you want it. You might find there is plenty of detail still.

Agree with this, after buying a cheap one and borrowing one for a while I think I know what I want now - borrowing one or buying a second hand one to see how you want to use it is a good idea before stumping up the money if you can. A tripod bought second hand from ebay or similar can be resold...

I've always had good service from Bristol Cameras too.

Too right! Thanks Yardbent.

I put that badly - I didn't mean it wasn't useful, its very light weight and I've used mine a lot, but it's made me decide to get a much more sturdy one. For £12 its good value.

I have the same one. Its most useful feature was making me realise I wanted a tripod and that I wanted a much more stable and sturdy one. Its just not steady enough for a 20D and 200/2.8. Would be fine for a point and shoot but not a dslr IMO.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

You might be surprised at how good the 20D is with a fast lens. I have a 200/2.8 and have had good low light results with it. For £1k you could get a 135mm F2 L and have some change left over. It might be worth hiring one and trying it out to see if you can get results with it. If not you...

I traded down from a 30D to a 20D and I'm very happy with the 20D. I picked one up for £200 with a 50/1.8 and got back the £300 I paid for the 30D and 18-55 kit lens. The screen is smaller but the functionality is otherwise pretty much the same, I think the only other real difference between...

On the older Sigma lenses that I have which were made before the Canon digitals came out I have found that I can use them fine as long as I don't have my 20D set to a mode which will try to adjust the aperture. If you want to use it stopped down, you could use an aperture mask. It's much more...

Is your budget just for the body or do you need a kit lens as well?

The in body IS on my friend's Sony would have swung it for me if I didn't already have some Canon lenses but otherwise I'm very happy with my 20D - the build quality on it is excellent. HTH