Canon fodder 

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For the flash, Rayovac has a line of 15-minute rechargeable batteries that last a long time and are very convenient (and fast enough that you still have time to charge them before you leave the house when you forget to do so the night before).

Consider getting an additional lesser flash (430EX or equivalent) - the Canon wireless flash system is very flexible, and you can do some very interesting side lighting by turning off the main body flash (which would be your 580EX) and using it as just a wireless controller for a remote flash head. This is also very useful if you're doing any sort of macro photography and don't want to shell out for a ring flash (the lens obscures the flash on the main body when you're that close).

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And it's not *that* expensive.

And I can swap it for something else when I get back: an advantage of a relationship with a local store.

Noticed so far: some barrel distortion at full-wide. Close-ups of flowers and stuff -- okay, not great. There were many rejects among these:

But I love the range. And it's not big. The Canon zooms were mostly large.

Next lens is likely a macro.

As for rechargeable batteries, I noticed on the Nikon flash that they last much longer than alkalines.

Not sure what's up with the 1.2 volt thing, though, with rechargeale AAs. I bought some 1.5 AAs at the camera store on Saturday for my wife's little Olympus. HUGE difference. The 1.2s barely worked. The 1.5s were still fine after 150 shots.

As for the second flash, great idea. And something to condsider once my wife and I both get over the sticker shock on what I've bought so far.

As I said in one of those posts, I still need a small camera with a flip-out viewer and good zoom to carry around and shoot candids and stuff. Also for airplane window shots where I can't easily see out the window.

All these shots were made through a window only the camera could see out of. This was on a United 777 with a window seat that lacked a window. (Hate those.) So I poked the camera through the corner a window in front or behind me, using the flip and twist viewer to see what was outside. No way to do that with a big SLR like the 30D.

Hard to be sneaky with the 30D, too. Noticed that yesterday.

Interesting: I hadn't used an SLR since I retired my Minolta setup (two bodies, many lenses, many flashes) which replaced my Pentax setup, which replaced my Nikon F setup. I kept waiting for it to run out of film. You know that straining-motor stuff that happens when you get to the end of a roll? I was waiting for that. Old expectations die hard, even after years away from the environment.

BTW, all through the Pentax and Minolta phases I remained a "Nikon guy". I went with the Minoltas mostly because they were best at fast-focusing and letting the user override camera intelligence selectively. And because I was poor and couldn't afford the Nikon alternatives. (Wanted an 8008... saw used ones on sale at the store for $50 or so, I think.)

Now, even though I still covet the 5D, I know I'm back in a system that's good, and works, and will have lots of leveragable investments downstream. It's also clear that Canon has moved far ahead of the competition in sensor tech, and the whole image chain. And the UI is so much better that I wonder why other makers don't just copy it outright.

Olympus has some very interesting stuff too. And the prices are right. But they're a bit gimmicky, and the can't compete at the SLR end, image-wise. I could see that in my test shots. Automatic white balance was bad. Skin turned orange.

A guy at the store told me Canon makes all its own CMOS sensors, but that the CCD sensors used by everybody else are all Sony. True? No time to look it up right now.

Hey, thanks again for inspiring (and informing) me at the restaurant about Canon choices. Much appreciated.

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE my 100mm f2.8 macro lens.

Yes, hard to be sneaky. The best approximation is the 50mm 1.8 lens. It's tiny by comparison to the other lenses.

I think your assertion about the sensors is correct, but I don't have any backup for that.

Personally - I'd stay away from short backfocus lenses (EF-S on the Canon line, and that Tamron) unless you're convinced that you're not going to move to a full frame sensor in the near future. They'll only work with 1.6 crop sensors. I figure bodies are basically a 1.5-2.5 year investment before the desire to trade up kicks in, so the best money is spent on outstanding lenses that will carry forward with you. The exception might be the 10-22 EF-S if you want a superwide.

I think the I-C3 batteries (the 15-minute ones) are 1.2 volts, but I've never noticed a problem in the flash packs. They also recycle noticeably faster than alkalines. I think they're also supposed to be a more constant voltage across the life of the charge, rather than 1.5 at the outset and a drop as they deplete. I could be remembering wrong though.

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I shoot only with prime lenses and most of them are high end: Canon 35mm f/1.4 L, Canon 85mm f/1.2 L, Canon 135mm f/2.0 L and Canon 300mm f/4 IS L. I also have a Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro which is an excellent lens and a Canon 1.4x extender that works on both the 135 and the 300. I have a Canon 50mm f/1.4 which is also an excellent lens but once you start shooting with L glass the bokeh the 50 makes doesn't hold up. It's better than most Canon zooms but L bokeh is like buttah!

With the 1.6 crop of your new 30D I'd recommend two lenses that you might make good use of:

Canon 17-40 f/4 L, a very sharp zoom that will get you plenty wide without much distortion on the edges.

Canon 35mm f/1.4 L (my most used lens), very sharp, like a 50 on your 30D crop and the AF is spectacularly fast.

Before I got any of the high end stuff I shot mostly with the 50 and loved it. I prefer the sharpness of primes over zooms and since I shoot a lot of shallow depth of field I like fast lenses (not fast cars and women though) so I can create a lot of blur behind my subjects.

There is no single lens that does it all but having a few fast primes and if you're into zooms, one or two zooms to cover normal ranges is the way to go.

Don't forget to put filters on all of your lenses to protect your investments and if you get cheap filters, you'll be shooting with good glass through crap. So, get at least Hoya if not better. I have either Hoya or B & W UV or skylights on all of my lenses with backup filters for each in case one gets knocked. I also use lens hoods religiously and highly recommend using them. Again, once you knock the front of a good lens into a tree, you'll get the point fast.

I have a few other equipment recommendations at my other site, here.

Good luck with your new toy and let us see some images from time to time.

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The lenses I bought last Saturday were ones I needed immediately, and that kept me under a budget. I do drool over the L lenses. Since I've had these only a short time, I can probably also swap one or both of these at full value toward other lenses. One advantage of buying at a store.

By the way, I just identified one of your shots, in a comment here. :-)

Thanks again! Your work is terrific.

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