giptown

Personally, from having travelling photography experience myself i would recommend the one lens rather that trying to carry around multiple lenses whilst away. It may well be pointed out that in providing such a range the Sigma is perhaps a slower lens (its largest apature size is perhaps 5.4), but in Aus this will not be a problem most of the due to bright sunlight. During my travels round South America is used simply a Sigma 18-125mm zoom and i was perfectly happy with the results, and very rarely was i limited by the performance of the lens, whereas many a time i would have been limited by having the weight of several lenses to deal with. Just my opinion based around packing light for travel photography - often you cant afford to carry alot of gear with you.

While i am sure F-Stop Junkie has his reasons for his opinion, i must disagree. I have test driven a friends 20D, and whilst i will concede that the start up time is far superior, I have noticed no discernable difference in AF performance, even on moving objects using the AF SERVO function. As for Spot-metering, i dont believe it is truly necessary if you can use exposure lock effectively. As for lenses, sure if you can afford it, an array of prime lenses are always going to out perform zoom lenses, but on a budget i would still recommend the zoom in my previous post.

I have a 10D and love it - the build quality is superb, maybe look for one second hand and save some money that can be spent on better lenses. As for a cheap wide angle lens, i bought a 18-125mm Sigma lens to take with me around South America, i wanted something with a decent range of focal lengths, but cheap enough so that i wouldnt worry too much about damage. The results were pretty good considering it only cost about £150 on Ebay, but obviously not up the L-series quality. When im back at uni i will be posting some photos in the photo tread so you can see the quality for yourself, either that or look for the deviant art thread on here, there is a link to my profile in there. If you want any hi-res images to check out, let me know.

As a personal preference, i dislike the lens flare, as to me it smacks of imperfection, and as Mark says, draws the eye away from the rider. Also to me, an important aspect of a photograph is depth, although you have intentionally removed it - for abstract purposes i presume. I think that the third photograph posted on this page is the most pleasing, as it seems well balanced, isolates the rider in terms of focus, but still allows for some depth as the floor and shadow remain in tact.

My Devaint Art Gallery: here

I have a Gmail account. Could some kind person tell me how i see if i have any invitations. Cheers

True, but the padding in my rucksack will. :blink: Cheers for all your help guys. The idea behind the silica stuff is that i wont be able to keep my camera condensation free all the time (because i want to be taking pictures with it), but by using these packets i should be able to draw out most of the moisture once i put it back in my camera bag. Thats the plan anyway, i'll let you know hoe i get on when i return.

Cheers Danny, thats fantastic. I have just bought some. If you like this topic cna now be closed, or be used as a descussion about South America, if anyone else has been?

Basically as the title suggests, i am after some of those little silicon packet things that come with new shoes and similar items. You know what i mean, like little sugar packets filled with tiny balls, that say "silicon-somethingorother" on them. Does anyone know where i can get some from, or does anyone fancy sending me some that you might have lying around the house. :blink:" I need some because i am going to the Amazon rain forest, amongst other places, next week for 12 weeks, and i'm worried what the humidity might do to my camera (EOS 10D). I've read somewhere that keeping a couple of bags of this stuff in my camera bag, then drying them out with a hair-dryer every week will help prevent damage to my camera. So has anyone any ideas? A useful start would be if anyone could tell me their exact name so i can have a search on Google. Cheers in advance.

oh my god, you are now my favorite person ever. That is one of the greatest things i will ever see. *gasps for breath*

Gamma radiation is not made up of electrons. It is made up of photons.

^ Yeah, luckily enough, this guy understands what i'm on about. I am not saying that this proves their existence (as i don't believe in them either), but i am pointing about the fallibility of arguing something so vehemently from a scientific view point. Science is not infallible, as theories are proved, and disproved constantly. The conservation of energy theory is not a reason to discount other peoples view points out right; it's an rational assessment based on CURRENT knowledge. Don't put so much faith in what you see as the fundamentals of physics. Well no-one knows, as when observed the nature of quantum physics alters. However, it is suggested that electrons can pass across a space without ever being present in between.

MrMonkey. Read some quantum physics theories. It was been proved in electron tunnels that electrons, protons and neutrons can break up into their component parts, hence something as "solid" as a wall could be penetrable by these smaller "particles". Also, please remember that atoms are mainly empty space, and that successful teleportation of photons has been achieved. Both of these factors could form some scientific reasoning. The evolution of our knowledge of particle behavior is constantly throwing up new theories.

Rigital Rebel is the American name for the EOS 300D. Search Canon outlet on Ebay for refurbished cameras straight from Canon: good deals to be had.

Go DSLR, the quality is superb, and you have far more creative options open to you. I would have a look on Ebay for a secondhand Canon EOS 10D, as these have been updated by the 20D. Similarly, look at the 300D, again by canon, which has now been superseeded by the 350D, so again you should be able to save yourself some money. I have an EOS 10D, which i paid just over £500 for on Ebay 6 months ago, you should be able to pick it up for less than that now.