Ok, finally sealed the deal on this. Thank you everyone who had helped me and held my hand throughout this entire process.

Here is what I purchased:

Camera
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi (a.k.a. 400D) 10.1 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera Body (Black)

Battery and other
Canon NB-2LH Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 720mAh)
Canon BG-E3 Vertical Grip/Battery Holder
Lexar 133 4GB Flash

Flash
Canon 580EX II Speedlite TTL Shoe Mount Flash (Guide No. 190'/58 m at 105mm) for E-TTL II

Lenses
Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens
Canon Normal EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens

What do you guys thinks of this now? Did I cover everythign or what?

looks good, though I like to use small CF cards. that way in case something happens to 1, not all the images are ruined.

looks good, though I like to use small CF cards. that way in case something happens to 1, not all the images are ruined.

I tend to transfer files immediately.

yeah i just meant if a card happens to get corrupted in the middle of shooting, or something else happens when you are shooting.

Congratulations! You've picked a great camera, and those lenses are some of the best with good reviews. I've read a lot about the 17-55 - seems like a great all around lens. The rest of your equipment seems to cover it all. Awesome. You'll have a LOT of fun with all these new toys coming your way. You should have no regrets. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I knew these packages were being delivered. :D

I have the XTi and absolutely love it! I have the 50mm/f1.4 lens, the 17-40L and the 24-105L IS lens. I have the 420EX flash. I sold the 70-300IS which is an excellent lens also, and am selling the 24-105 which is soooooo hard to let go of. However, I've had to compromise due to a back/neck problem from an accident, so am biting the bullet and getting an S5 (P&S) to compensate for the heavier and longer lenses. However, I would never give up the XTi - and I can carry around the 50mm/f1.4 on this camera with no problem.

Don't forget to let us know when you get it - and post some of those pics.

Liz

Ok, finally sealed the deal on this. Thank you everyone who had helped me and held my hand throughout this entire process.

Here is what I purchased:

Camera
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi (a.k.a. 400D) 10.1 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera Body (Black)

Battery and other
Canon NB-2LH Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 720mAh)
Canon BG-E3 Vertical Grip/Battery Holder
Lexar 133 4GB Flash

Flash
Canon 580EX II Speedlite TTL Shoe Mount Flash (Guide No. 190'/58 m at 105mm) for E-TTL II

Lenses
Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens
Canon Normal EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens

What do you guys thinks of this now? Did I cover everythign or what?

Ok, finally sealed the deal on this. Thank you everyone who had helped me and held my hand throughout this entire process.

Here is what I purchased:

Camera
Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi (a.k.a. 400D) 10.1 Megapixel, SLR, Digital Camera Body (Black)

Battery and other
Canon NB-2LH Lithium-Ion Battery (7.4v 720mAh)
Canon BG-E3 Vertical Grip/Battery Holder
Lexar 133 4GB Flash

Flash
Canon 580EX II Speedlite TTL Shoe Mount Flash (Guide No. 190'/58 m at 105mm) for E-TTL II

Lenses
Zoom Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Autofocus Lens for Select Digital Cameras
Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM Autofocus Lens
Canon Normal EF 50mm f/1.8 II Autofocus Lens

What do you guys thinks of this now? Did I cover everythign or what?

As any lens addict might say "Looks like a good start!" You've made some great choices! Have lots of fun!!!:D

looks good, though I like to use small CF cards. that way in case something happens to 1, not all the images are ruined.
I also have a healthy fear of image and card corruption...so I have a ton of CF/SD cards. On the Mark III, I dual-write.

I tend to transfer files immediately.

I try to as well, but with a critical difference: i rotate my cards and try not to remove them from the memory card unless I've backed them up to at least half of my backup system (which totals something like 8 hard drives and DVDs). The bare minimum for reusing is two copies: one on my internal hard drive and one on a portable bus-powered external just in case of drive failure. Even then, I rotate the CF/SD cards and reuse the most recent one last.

Like I said above, dual-writing lets me be a bit less paranoid, but even then there are situations where it can be a problem say sudden camera power loss during the write cycle.

Personally I do both things: I keep a ton of cards and have lots of space. I'm up to something like 30GB of CF and SD cards right now :eek:

What Harrison said is very good practice I do simmilar. Best to err on the side of caution than to loose the shots!

Unfortunately it often takes a very bad experience to force you to create- and stay with- such a system. I had one or two memory card incidents (corruption), one lost card, and a hard drive failure get me into that habit.

I was lucky I learned from someone elses HDD failure lol!

They where lucky also as I've trained on forensic recovery tools and got back all but three files for them from the trashed drive.

One thing I do when I get new cards is to format the cards on the PC then format on the Camera and just take loads of pics to fill it - dump it to the PC and check all the photos and then format again when it goes back in the Camera.

Then at least you know its okay to use on a shoot.

I have had a failure but spotted it using the above procedure before it was used for real.

Roger

Most manufacturers recommend you never format on the PC however.

Most manufacturers recommend you never format on the PC however.

Okay why not:idea: Is it because some cameras use a proprietary format and can't reformat the card at a physical level?

Strange.:confused:

Roger

Just think in a few days you will be out and about taking those great shots.

Okay why not:idea: Is it because some cameras use a proprietary format and can't reformat the card at a physical level?
Strange.:confused:

Windows XP and presumably Vista tend to want to format in NTFS format.
But most cameras and external storage devices expect FAT16 or FAT32.
So formatting in camera is most likely to work.

On the other hand I've seen some internet articles about formatting Sony memory sticks that require arcane settings in the format command to use specific storage block sizes within the FAT format, so sometimes you have to use the computer to reformat an unusable card.

yeah i just meant if a card happens to get corrupted in the middle of shooting, or something else happens when you are shooting.


Yeah happend to me once...I lost all the data on the card...I was so mad. But luckily, it was a 2 gig card...so it was half what I would have lost on a 4 gig.

P.S. I transfered the files an hour after I was done taking the photos, somehow the card got corrupted along the line.

Ouch, I'm thinking of getting that one portable HD where you can just stick the memory card in. Might be a good investment.

I use an Epson P-2000 for HDD backup of cards while on a job. Usually when I am doing things I couldn't recover from if memory cards failed. I modified P-2000 with 160Gb HDD instead of a 40Gb one at a grand cost of £40. Does this make it a P-8000?

Usually the problem with formating camera cards in a PC not camera is not something proprietry but the file/folder system instead (In case of CF all are formatted as FAT16 under 2Gb and Fat32 over 2Gb none are NTFS). The manufacturers of cameras tend to put folders with small hidden files on or small partitions containing specialist info. But always file sys is FAT16 or FAT32. Figure the folder structure and you can usualy manually recreate this on a PC and it works fine.

Ouch, I'm thinking of getting that one portable HD where you can just stick the memory card in. Might be a good investment.

Using an external h.d. is great IMO. I have one for my pc - and one smaller one for the laptop. The prices have gone done this past year and aren't that expensive anymore. It's worth the money IMO.

Maria

Using an external h.d. is great IMO. I have one for my pc - and one smaller one for the laptop. The prices have gone done this past year and aren't that expensive anymore. It's worth the money IMO.

Maria

The one I'm talking about is the one that DeViant is talking about. Unfortunately, the price for these are a bit more expensive than any external HD. There are some comparable price...but are usually the less quality one.

You can get image tanks that you put your own HDD in they are really cheap. Check eBay for them. You can build your own then for about £70 ($140)

I heard the hyperdrives are also similar by sanho. They are a bit expensive though but are also buildable or let's say, upgradeable using HD's which are relatively inexpensive. Although you'd still spend about 250+ to complete the device (Hyperdrive + HD).

Something like this.

CLICK HERE (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/440553-REG/Sanho_SAHD8080_HyperDrive_HD80_80GB_Portable.html)

nutsnbolts, great choice for gear. Should give much satisfaction in your pursuit of the digital image.

I would suggest you think about Brent's idea of having two (or more) memory cards. He is quite right about having more than one. If you are a hundred miles, or more, out in the boonies, as I often am, and the memory card gets full (can happen, particularly if you shoot RAW), or corrupted (does happen), then having a backup will really pay off, and they are quite a lot cheaper today than they were even a year ago.

If you browse through the forum, or search for memory cards, you will find too many stories of corrupted, or failed cards. After reading about the problems people have had on this and other forums, I went out and bought a second one. Now I rest easy knowing that I have backup...just in case.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

I run a couple of dozen 2Gb Extreme III CF cards in rotation. Never lost one yet (They are worth the little bit extra!) They are very reasonable price now though. Around $40.

nutsnbolts, great choice for gear. Should give much satisfaction in your pursuit of the digital image.

I would suggest you think about Brent's idea of having two (or more) memory cards. He is quite right about having more than one. If you are a hundred miles, or more, out in the boonies, as I often am, and the memory card gets full (can happen, particularly if you shoot RAW), or corrupted (does happen), then having a backup will really pay off, and they are quite a lot cheaper today than they were even a year ago.

If you browse through the forum, or search for memory cards, you will find too many stories of corrupted, or failed cards. After reading about the problems people have had on this and other forums, I went out and bought a second one. Now I rest easy knowing that I have backup...just in case.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

I actually have two 4gb CF cards. One Lexar x133 and another Sandisk Extreme III. I wanted to try at least one or the other, of course, both are good cards from what I have heard. I even heard that the Sandisk are silicone sealed. Better protection from damp/wet weather. We'll see.

On the other hand, I was about to purchase the hyperdrive 40gb but decided to go with an Epson P-3000 instead 40gb. This will prove helpful for me due to the fact that I travel often and while overseas, even while carrying a laptop and before having a DSLR, just a regular Sony TC-133 P/S camera, on a 2GB card, I'm always transferring the files into my laptop every night.

Here, I know I'm going to be going through these easily and need something a bit more portable while adventuring.

I'd add a macro and fisheye to that list. Then you'd have my dream setup.

About the memory cards getting corrupted, can someone please explain to me how this happens. Does it just stop working while you're out taking photos? Because I had only once experienced having one of my photos get corrupted, but that was by rotating the picture right off the memory card.. (anyone know how to fix that?)