My first L lens

After shooting with my Canon 100mm macro lens, I almost stopped using my 28-135 IS. The sharpness of 28-135macro is not at all comparable with the 100mm macro!!!

So I thought of upgrading my 28-135. I started my research and finaly ended up buying a new lens. Its the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM!!!

Yes.. Now I am a proud owner of a canon famed "L" lens.

The options I had for a general purpose lens were 

1. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM (outdoor) + EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (indoor)
2. EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM 
3. EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM 

The decision was very hard to make - I would say one of the toughest 'photography' decisions I have made ever :D..

I have read so many reviews, which if I would have spent on my certification materials, I would have scored 200% :-)... Something I learned - (Don't read lot of reviews... You will end up shedding money.) :D

My new lens on my 40D.

--- Factors I considered --- 

1. Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0 L USM (outdoor) 

+  -> Color/Contrast, L, Build, Sharpness.

-  -> Less zoom range (40mm only), No IS, Low light (Am getting another lens for low light.. oh not now!!!)

2. EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM 

+ ->  zoom range, IS!!!, f/2.8, Sharp

- -> DUST!!!!, Not tt great colors, Very exp and not an L, EF-S.

3. EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM 

+ -> Dream Lens!, L , Build, Sharpness, Zoom Range, IS

- -> Price, 24 is not wide enough & there aren't much wide options.

Finally.. my new lens

Finally I got my second lens.

But its not a wide angle lens! Its a macro - Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM.

Wideangle - Decision Taken or Did I?

I thought I had made the decision on my wide angle lens. I thought the wide angle lens tt will join my 28-135 in my kit wud be Sigma 10-20mm.
Decided to go for Sigma coz of
* Slight price adv (~50$)
* Extra 2mm

Now the next step was to get it from a local store.
I called around 20 stores today including
Wolf Camera, San Jose Camera, Ritz Camera, Kamera Korner, Keeble & Shuchat.
Only in one Wolf Camera, the camera was available. But it was 570$!

Now the options are
* Buy the lens for 570 whose actual cost is 480$
* Get it online - This is the last thing I want to do.

So again I am rethinking of Tokina.

Advantages of Tokina are
* Fixed focal length
* Almost 'L' Quality

Tokina vs Sigma


Current decision is.
If I get Tokina for <500 in any local store, I will buy it.
I have to call all stores again. Oh.. Not today!

Gimp - A discovery!

I have been searching for a decent 'advanced' photo editor.
Photoshopz there.. but its not free :(. I have been using iPhoto, Graphic Converter and some 'simpler' image editors I got from Download.com. iPhoto is good, but not gr8 as a photo-editor. Graphic Converter has lot of functionalities, but I used to get lost in the middle.

Recently only I discovered Gimp.
Its great!
Its good for 'advanced' photo editing, its not that complicated and above all its FREE!!!

But not everything with Gimp I like.
Gimp is a X-Windows application and it launches X11. Not very happy about it as I want to keep my Mac clean n fast.
The UI and controls are not superior to Photoshop(But again photoshop isn't free..)

Still, I am very happy with my discovery!

Get Gimp here.

Search for wide angle..

My current lens is the kit lens(Canon 28-135mm IS USM) I got with 40D. Because of the cropped sensor, the widest I can get is ~45mm (28*1.6) :(.
I am looking for a wide angle lens... The shortlisted options are..
Canon 10-22mm
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6
Tokina 12-24mm f/4

I read good reviews about all three lens...
Canon is removed from the list because of its price (~700$).
Now I have to choose from Sigma and Tokina..
Sigma is wide(10mm) but Tokina has fixed focal length..

I am a bit towards Sigma as of now. But still undecided....

My Current Photography Equipments are -->

Primary Equipments
- Canon EOS 40D
- Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
- PlatinumPlus 6200DX
- Hoya Polarizer
- UV Filter
Alternate Equipments
- Canon S2IS
- Olympus Stylus 850 SW