Impulse buys & buyers remorse

I've never really suffered from buyers remorse to any great degree. I did a little recently when I bought my Canon 5D, the problem was the weather was awful and I just didn't get to use it as much as I would have liked. This led to the feeling that I'd wasted my money, when I started to use it I lost the remorse.

Now I impulse buy a lot so you would think it would hit me a lot too, until recently I've been lucky and this weekend was a nice save. I decided to pop into PC World to check out the 15.4" MacBook Pro I would be ordering from Apple on Monday, I'm glad I did! The thing is I just didn't like it, the screen size, the layout or all the dead space around the whole thing!

I decided against buying one there and then and this got me to thinking about the fact it wouldn't actually have been a good purchase for me anyway. The questions I got to asking myself are:

Would it help me take a better photograph?
Would it make me get out there more often?
Would it make me a better photographer generally?

And ultimately the answer to them was *no*. Whilst I was wandering round Slimbridge though getting the 5D wet in the rain it dawned on me that a weather sealed body might tick all the boxes for me [or at least most of them]. Whilst it wouldn't directly make me a better photog it would help me become one. It would let me get out there more often as I wouldn't have to worry about the elements.

So the search is on, I'm not about to blow £5k [Canon 1Ds Mk III] on something which is basically hobby kit so I'm looking at the older Canon 1Ds Mk II which is still a respectable standard. The 1D Mk III with it's 1.3x crop factor would affect my lense selection too badly so has been dropped off the radar.

I'm in the process of saving some cash to grab a 1D Mk II in the coming three months. In the meantime I've upgraded my 430 EX to a spanking new 580 EX II as I've been hankering after one of these for a while ;) Also grabbed an off-camera cord and a couple of sets of NiMh batteries to power the beast :)

Happy days!



H4rri
~~

www.randomphotos.net

Macro work

Since selling my Canon 350D to replace it with a Canon 5D I found myself lacking alot of lenses. Most relevant to this particular topic was my macro lense, I previously had the Canon 60mm Macro but as this is an EF-S lense and not compatible with the 5D it had to go. I replaced it with the Canon 100mm Macro and expected the same quality from it as the 60mm. Sadly this isn't the case, it just doesn't seem to have the same quality as the 60mm in terms of build or image.

I have taken a few shots with it and persisted despite my reservations but this is mainly due to the fact that it will cost me in excess of £800 for the only other Canon alternative, the 180mm f/3.5 L Macro. Whilst I would love this lense it's just more expense and more weight, neither of which I can justify right now.

I did pop the 100mm on this weekend and used it as my only lense when wandering back toward the car at the river Parrett. Here are a few shots, see what you think:



















H4rri
www.randomphotos.net

Filters et al

Just ordered a 77mm R72 Infrared filter, looked at both the Hoya and the Kood versions, the Kood being half the price of the Hoya took it. If I use the filter alot then I might replace it but to be honest I've used Kood filters before and find them to be very good.

Should get some interesting shots from it. Haven't used my other filters much though, I have ND's, ND Grads, Sunset and a polariser which haven't seen much use yet. I also bought a red filter after seeing how gorgeous the sky was through my red sunglasses, unfortunately the filter just doesn't work the same LOL.

Not long now before I get the Freelander, then can head out and get some shots. Just got to find the charger for the 5D and charge the batteries ;)



H4rri
~~
www.randomphotos.net