Digital Dilemmas

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Update On Dr. P's EOS 40D
2007-11-15 06:19:00
One more thing...Last week I posted on Dr. P's in - store focus experiment with an off the shelf Canon Eos 40 D. His initial review of the images was a bit disconcerting, but might have been influenced by the lenses he used for testing, some of which had been re - calibrated by camera technicians for another of his Canon cameras. Hmmmm....UPDATE:Dr. Pimento finally decided to take the plunge! He put in his order for a Canon Eos 40 D and BG-E2N Battery Grip. Thankfully, he made his purchase from one of our trusted affiliates ( shameless plug! ) and if there should be any issues with the camera, he will have no problem receiving a replacement or refund.( ...end shameless plug ! )After testing the 40 D, it seems that focus accuracy isn't an issue with most of his professional Canon glass. Only one lens, an older zoom, has any problems with accurate focus. He seems to have found a work - around by using the Servo Focus mode. Either way, the images from the camera are fabulous and th...
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New Chip To Speed Video Compression...
2007-11-12 18:22:00
Need more speed!Intel will announce a new family of Microprocessor Chips to improve the compression and transmission speed of high - definition video across the Internet. Code named Penryn, the chips will be available in upcoming processors for desktops as early as the first quarter of 2008. You can expect to see the technology marketed as the Intel Core 2 Duo and Core Duo Extreme chips sometime next year. This could be a great leap forward for both video geeks and photographers who often use the same computing technology on a daily basis. Imagine high definition video blogging!Follow this link for a more in depth article by John Markoff at the New York Times .* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
More About: Video , Compression , Speed

One More Thing Before I Go To Bed....
2007-11-10 08:07:00
Too late to be blogging...Found this link to a really great article by DC Photographer John Harrington over at the STROBIST website. Just a little discussion on doing nothing, Arlo Guthrie, the value of your work and having a good contract.You can follow the link below:Photo Business News and ForumCheck it out...* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
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Apple's Leopard OS Also A Pain...
2007-11-09 22:14:00
Misery for everybody!After blowing off some steam in last nights post ( Rant! ) about my new Windows Vista enhanced (LOL) computer, I did a little googleing for some user opinions about Apples latest OS upgrade. I was pleased to see a lot of angry Mac Nuts getting their asses handed to them by Steve Jobs latest and greatest Mac OS X Leopard .Here is a scary little article by Rob Mead at Tech.CO.UKEnjoy....* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
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Still Struggling With Win Vista...
2007-11-09 06:10:00
I smell a Class Action Lawsuit comin...It's been several weeks since the death of my trusted workhorse 'Image Cruncher', an off the shelf 'Compaq Presario' desktop computer with 1GB of Ram and WinXP Pro. It wasn't a gamer's dream machine with dual channel Corsair memory and an overclocked CPU, but it got the job done, ran Photoshop like a dream and never gave me even one 'blue screen of death' in over two years! It would probably still be running today if I had bothered to blow out the dust gathering inside the case. Lesson learned on that one!The computer I purchased as a replacement came pre - loaded with Windows Vista Home Premium, which is appropriately named 'Premium' I speculate, because it is a premium pain in the ass, which will cost you a premium amount of money. The way I see it, Bill Gates or some other asshole at Microsoft owes me a month of my time, a few hundred dollars and a fresh copy of Win Xp Pro with service pack (3) ; not to mention the bucks they o...
More About: Win Vista , Bad Vista

Canon Comes Clean To Our Buddies Down Under
2007-11-05 16:28:00
*Photo Courtesy Canon AUFrom the Canon Australia customer support web page:Support & Service AF Mirror Adjustment Issue To owners of the EOS-1D Mark III:We regret to inform that some units of the EOS-1D Mark III digital SLR camera (launched in May 2007) have been found to have an issue with the Auto Focus Mirror. This issue is limited to a specific range of units, and results in unstable focusing and AF tracking performance when using AI servo continuous shooting, particularly in high temperatures.Please check the serial number as indicated below to confirm whether this issue is relevant to your camera. We are preparing to offer a free service from late November to customers with affected cameras who are experiencing the issues described.We will announce additional details on our website as soon as they become available.We offer our most sincere apologies to all who have been inconvenienced by this issue.How to identify affected products:If the se...
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Radio Popper Updates Web Info...
2007-10-31 05:22:00
The Radio Popper Website has been updated with more info on the new "Radio based E - TTL flash triggers" with expanded content including details of the three models currently in the works.Check out the details about the Radio Popper Jr. :From their site..."We stripped the standard radio triggering feature off of our P1 model in an effort to further reduce size and cost - but we?re giving this feature back in the form of the RadioPopper Jr. The Jr. will be a standard no-frills studio strobe triggering device. It won?t sport the TTL or infrared bridging features offered by its older brothers, but it will fill the need in our industry for a simple device that plugs to the PC-synch plug on your camera and reliably triggers manual strobes. And we?re going to offer it at a ridiculously low price. Designed with the highest quality radio components, cutting no corners, real world range projected to 2000+ ft, legitimate FCC certified radio slaves, and we?re going to do our best to ...
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Canon 7D Confirmed By Elvis...In Beta Testing With Bigfoot!
2007-10-30 13:26:00
You can trust Elvis !The widespread rumors about a future release date for the not yet confirmed Canon Eos 7D are growing with every passing week. Spurred by falling prices and big manufacturer rebates available in the EU, the Canon faithful are holding their breath with giddy anticipation. Consumers in Europe were the first to receive price breaks on the 12.8 Megapixel Eos 5D in the form of cash rebates, with the option of having the cash direct deposited into their bank accounts or receiving a rebate check mailed after purchase. With Canon's first round of rebates cutting 200 Euros from the price of the 5D, the speculation that a new full frame DSLR was right around the corner has continued to grow. To add fuel to the fire, there are now some retailers in Germany that have knocked another 100 Euros off the rebate price. Yeee Haaaa!Even with all the price breaks, rebates and incentives, there are no guarantees that Canon will release any new professional level DSLRs anytime befo...
More About: Bigfoot , Beta , Testing

Using Canon SpeedLite Transmitter ST- E2 As Focus Aid?
2007-10-26 15:59:00
Just an idea...Recently, Dr. Pimento did some pseudo scientific field testing with a Canon EOS 40D at his local pro camera shop. Straight out of the box, using several of his own professional Canon prime lenses and zooms, he took a series of ambient light, high ISO images to evaluate the 40D's focus accuracy and consistency under normal room lighting. His goal, to test for the dreaded front focus / back focus problems experienced by some of Canons other high end cameras. Using the unevenly stacked inventory boxes high on the shelf behind the counter, he focused and refocused on the same spot ( the large typeface on a Canon lens box ) making exposures after each new framing and refocus. Dr. Pimento was careful to use the singular focus spot in the viewfinder, zeroing in on the exact letter in the type face on the package front for each exposure.Back at Dr. P's secret testing facility, the RAW images were processed and evaluated on his "state - of - the - art" imaging system, comp...
More About: Focus , Tran , Transmitter , Anon

Radio Popper Transmitters On Their Way...
2007-10-24 14:52:00
More photo goodies!If you've been looking for an alternative to the expensive Pocket Wizard radio flash triggers that currently rule the photo universe, you might just have a new 'expensive' option coming in the first weeks of January. Radio Poppers from Kevin King, Phoenix Arizona based wedding shooter, promises to be a revolutionary new transmitter / receiver flash trigger for working with E-TTL and Canon / Nikon cameras. His tiny Radio Popper receiver units promise more flexibility with shutter speed sync, increased transmitter working distance and flawless reliability in bright daylight. You can read more about his Radio Poppers on the STROBIST website, where you can follow links to an original article from September of this year.There still seem to be a lot of skeptics and Pocket Wizard true-believers out there who want to cast doubt on his invention and scheduled January 2008 release date. You can check out the Radio Popper Website and decide for yourself.* If you're re...
More About: Adio , Tran

Giving Microsoft's Sync Toy A Spin!
2007-10-24 05:48:00
Here we go again...Sync Toy: the smart way to copy files ?From Microsoft 's site...'Sync Toy v1.4 is available as a free download on the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.'Now that I have officially kicked Win Vista's butt and given myself over to the 'dark side', I figured I would go one step further and give the Sync Toy Utility a test drive. It appears to have quite a following on the Microsoft Pro Photo Website, with much praise from digital shooters as a simple and effective file copying / backup program. I plan to use the small file utility do a twice daily scheduled backup of my current image files from my 'DC' hard drive ( Main storage ) to an external mass storage device, possibly even a DROBO hot swappable drive storage system. Setting up Sync Toy to manage file backups, file changes and renames, appears to be a fairly simple procedure. During the initial...
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Win Vista Is My B#*tch!
2007-10-20 16:10:00
Geek Time!After more than a week of boots, re - boots, hard drive installs and removals, disk formatting and software updating, I might just have a usable system for my imaging workflow. With a clean system and a dependable color balance thanks to the Gretag Macbeth - eye one profiling, I can hopefully get back to some work in Photoshop. The problem with Win Vista overriding my video look - up tables was resolved with a 512 MB, DDR 2 Evga Graphics card added in my PCI Express slot. Take that Bill Gates! ..........try and turn off my ICC Profile now Jerk!Other upgrades include a 160 GB SATA drive in addition to the 320 GB Main HDD running my Operating System. The 160 SATA is expressly reserved and labeled as a Photoshop scratch disk set with 'write caching' and 'advanced performance' ( Scary! ) enabled. All image files are saved to a third 500 GB SATA disk labeled as DC Storage ( ?..... I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you! ) with no other data allowed. Using each...
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Great New Portable Strobe Mods From David Honl!
2007-10-17 00:30:00
Check this out!I've been so busy getting my new Win Vista computer up to speed that I neglected to mention the great new products I just received from David Honl at HonlPhoto .Com. I was so excited when I received the package that I tore into the box like a kid at Christmas and unlike socks from grandma, these products did not disappoint! David sent me 4 items total, including his 8"regular speed snoot, the 5 inch "shorty" snoot, 1 speed gobo and the heart of the system, a rubberized Velcro speed strap that all the modifiers mount to. From the look of things, David has invested a lot of time and money into the craftsmanship and materials that go into each unit. Don't confuse these portable strobe mods for the cheap imported stuff you get at your local camera store, these babies are made to last! Pricing from $9.95 US ( Speed Strap) to $22.95 US for the 8 Inch Regular Snoot, puts these in the 'crazy affordable' price range. You might as well buy a set for each portable flash in y...
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VLUT In A Rut..." Windows Vista Is Killing My Calibration!"
2007-10-15 14:43:00
Quick update:Still in the death struggle with my Win Vista Home Premium OS. I have loaded, booted, rebooted, registry tweaked, downloaded and safe moded till my brain hurts. The good news is that I am winning the battle with my new operating system and I expect to be running at full steam by the middle of this week. With even more upgrades since my last post "Vista is a pain", such as a PCI Express raid controller for E - Sata and 2 new external Sata drives, I should have uber speed and storage to spare. It's possible that I might have to consult with Dr. Pimento to get the damn raid setup working properly, but when I do, the externals should access data as fast as my internal hard drives. Ain't that awesome!Warning : Windows Vista will force unload your VLUT ( Video Look-up Table ) during boot up. This will generally happen after your color calibration has loaded and when the last start up program has come on line. Your screen will go from no color balance to proper color balanc...
More About: Windows Vista , Libra , Killing

Vista Is A Pain... But Not A Lost Cause...Yet!
2007-10-14 01:24:00
Frustration!My attempt at making Windows Vista run with the reliability of Win XP Pro is as of today an unfinished and not too certain experiment. I'll have to say, Bill Gates is kicking my ass at this point! With nearly every unneeded service and resource hogging application disabled or removed, I am still finding new bloat and processes that require battling on an hourly basis. Adding the long list of programs that won't yet work with Win Vista, Apples Quicktime as one example and the problem of installing software that hasn't yet passed the Microsuck seal of approval and you get a frustrating experience. If I thought that XP Pro SP2 had all the drivers to run my internal hardware, I would be burning the hardrive and performing a ritual curse on microsoft as we speak.I've got to get this thing up to speed by the end of this weekend, Installing 2 extra Hard Drives, one 250 GB SATA as a scratch Disk for Photoshop, a 500 GB SATA Monster to hold the photoshop finals and a 3rd Gig ...
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New Canons Trigger Expected Price Drop...5D Looking More Affordable!
2007-10-10 05:07:00
Canon USA...where are those rebates?Canon Europe is offering rebates on three of their top selling DSLR's, anywhere from 70 Euros for the 40D and 400D to a whopping 200 Euros for the EOS 5D. Purchasers can get a rebate check mailed to them from Canon or have their refund directly deposited into their bank accounts. For those of us not living in the land of wine and cheese, fish and chips, goulash etc... we'll just have to wait and see if Canon USA is going to give our bank accounts some love too.Rumor has it that rebates are the first step in clearing out the inventory to make way for newer camera models. We've just seen the introduction of two great new Canon DSLR's, the EOS 1Ds Mark III and the very affordable EOS 40D. Speculation is growing on the possibility of an upgrade ( replacement ) for the full frame 12.8 Megapixel 5D, coming as soon as early February 2008! With the significant improvements implemented in the recently released Mark III and 40D, I can't imagine what d...
More About: Price , Drop , Anon

Windows Vista...Stud or Dud?
2007-10-09 03:29:00
No time like the present!Windows Vista ...Stud or Dud? I still don't know the answer to that question, but I'm about to find out. My dependable Compaq, 2.8 GHz, 1 GB Ram enabled file muncher, has given up the ghost. After tens of thousands of raw files converted and countless hours of flawless photoshop actions, my CPU has taken an early retirement! I have been forced into one of the hardest purchase decisions in recent history, to Vista or not to Vista.I have been dreading the moment that I would have to make the choice to give up my beloved Win XP Pro Corporate, which has been the most dependable operating system I have ever used. Not one blue screen of death or error message in nearly 2 1/2 years. It booted quickly, didn't fight with my Photoshop ram settings and raced through the Internet like a bullet. Win Xp never asked me any questions that I didn't know the answer too and pretty much kept to itself. I'm afraid that Windows Vista Home Premium isn't going to be so well b...

Sony's OLED's To Replace LCD Technology?
2007-10-03 19:58:00
Coming soon!Sony Electronics will be offering television purchasing consumers a new technology this Christmas to compete with the LCD flat screen display. Organic light emitting diodes (OLED) are billed as having superior levels of contrast and brightness and an expanded range of color reproduction. Without the need for backlighting, the electroluminescent organic materials can be used to make thinner and lighter televisions and computer monitors. Manufacturing with OLEDs is said to be easier and less expensive than the competing process used to produce LCD displays, utilizing a technique similar to inkjet or screen printing to lay down the screen surface. With a touted contrast ratio in the 1,000,000 : 1 range and color reproduction unparalleled by LCD or even plasma display technology, the OLED option promises to be a big hit with consumers. Displays for graphic artists and photographers are rumored to be in the works!* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from...
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Monitor Calibration Helper and Guide
2007-10-02 03:39:00
Continuing from the "Monitor Calibration and Gamma" post on Sept 19th:Part Two:Now that you've manually adjusted your screen to an acceptable brightness / contrast level for your work environment, its time to dim the room lights, or better yet, turn them off completely. This will insure that the only light transmitted to your eyes and the calibration hardware, is the light produced by the screen, guaranteeing a much more accurate color calibration.You are now ready to attach the sensor of the colorimeter to the front and center spot of your LCD or CRT screen. Make sure you have turned off your screensaver or any other programs that might interfere with the test. Secure the colorimeter, start the calibration software and be careful to follow all the onscreen instructions. The rest of the fine tuning will be done by the colorimeter in conjunction with your computers processor and the software driver that runs your monitor. Without the combination of software and colorimeter hardware ...
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Watching Chase Jarvis' NYC Photoshelter Talk
2007-09-28 14:21:00
I'm Watching Chase Jarvis' NYC Photoshelter Talk on the Strobist Website as I make this post. He's addressing a crowd of 600 + photographers, complete with a video, slide show and DJ! Chase is a young guy, outdoorsman, commercial advertising / editorial photographer and photo- creating- dynamo and he's sharing the inside scoop on his methods and work ethic.For those of you who dream of shooting at this level commercially, this video is definitely worth your time.Here is a Direct Link to the video.* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
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Rebates on Sandisk Extreme III at Calumet
2007-09-26 15:30:00
Deal Alert!Until Sept 30th, Calumet Photo is offering rebates on the Sandisk Extreme III 2 GB CF card. It's a steal at $47.99 and with an instant $10 dollar rebate, it's even better at $37.99. I use the 1 GB version of this card and it's plenty fast! It might be time to buy a few.You can follow the link above.
More About: Rebates , Trem , Rebate

Images From The Canon EOS-1 Ds Mark III
2007-09-23 07:04:00
My response is wow!Canon USA has posted 3 new sample pics from the EOS 1Ds Mark III, for a total of 4 images. One night scene, a landscape, a very colorful culinary image and a portrait of a lovely young lady. Download the high res versions of each to see the incredible detail and to really appreciate the skin tones on that portrait!Wow!* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
More About: Images , Anon , Ages

Kodak Winds of Change Video!
2007-09-21 20:25:00
Check this out...My friend Steve just sent me a link to a new marketing piece by the folks at Kodak . It's pretty funny and it addresses some of their failures in the digital age. Looks like Kodak might have some fight left in them after all! Follow the link and see it for yourself.Kodak's "Winds of Change " Video , released on YOUTUBE.* If you're reading this article, I would love to hear from you! Please take a second to respond by clicking the POST A COMMENT Link below.
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USB 3.0 With Fiber Optics!
2007-09-20 06:27:00
Intel, along with Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments and several other technology giants plan the release of USB 3.0 specifications as early as mid 2008. With a lag time of 1.5 to 2 years, it may be 2009 or later before we might see the 10X increase in data transfer promised by the new technology.A more detailed NewsBlog article written by Stephen Shankland is just a click away!
More About: Fiber , Fiber Optics , Usb 3

"Monitor Calibration and Gamma"
2007-09-19 16:48:00
Part One:Before you load that digital media and take the first picture with your fancy new digital camera, you might want to set aside some time to test and make adjustments to your monitor and it's calibration. With most high- end ( professional photo quality) LCD screens coming direct from the factory pre - set to gamma 2.2 and with somewhat accurate color balance, you might be tempted to leave well enough alone. But the difference between 'close enough' and proper calibration of your screen's color balance and gamma can lead to hours of frustration and final images printed with color shifts, contrast or muddiness that you didn't intend. Matching what you see on your monitor with the real world output from your inkjet printer is also no easy task and without a baseline of definitive color and gamma, you can't begin to produce accurate, repeatable results. Establishing what your everyday screen viewing environment will be and setting the proper screen resolution ( true co...
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Hands On With A 40D...
2007-09-16 07:55:00
I've been working on an update of the site this week ( HTML....aaaarrrggghh! ) along with assignment work and some digital retouching, there hasn't been much time to actually Blog about anything. But there sure has been a lot going on, both with my business and with the new website that I am building! I'll be putting up links for EdwinMorgan Photographer .Com just as soon as it goes live. It will be a more streamlined website for my Photography Business and also connected in some fashion to this blog. From this point on, all my Photography and Stock Licensing will be intertwined with Digital Dilemmas. I figure I'm here every day, so why not!Also....I got to play with a Canon Eos 40 D today at the Best Buy Store. Sweeeeet! Built like a tank.....and I wonder if you can watch DVD's on that huge screen?P.S. Check out the cool new BlogRush Widget in the right sidebar. The folks at BlogRush have created what can only be described as Blog Syndication, with the goal of delivering ta...
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Digital Solutions...Digital Dilemmas
2007-09-13 05:39:00
"For every problem there is a solution...and for every solution, a new problem is created!" If you don't know exactly what I mean, give it some time.Back in the day, I remember working for many successful Ad Shooters, all of them with their large production staffs and doting assistants, fancy name brand camera gear and super fast Workstation Computers, complete with screaming fast 120 megahertz processors. Some of these guys even had their computers maxed out with 64 or even 96 megabytes of RAM. ZOWEEE BATMAN! At the time , I couldn't imagine ever being able to compete on a level playing field with most of these guys, they had all the right stuff and a staff of artisans to massage and manipulate every pixel of there drum scanned celluloid masterpieces. No image ever left their studio without the magic touch of Photoshop Manipulation by a highly paid Digital Retoucher. Nowadays those same computers wouldn't even have the processing power to check my e-mail, let alone run Photosh...
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Canon EF-S 17 - 55 f /2.8 IS USM ... Versus The Tamron SP AF 17 - 50 f /2.8
2007-09-10 05:14:00
Now that I've chosen a medium telephoto zoomage (Sigma 50mm - 150mm F /2.8) for my new gear bag, it's time to pick that wide to medium tele - zoom to round out the package. With no shortage of opinions as to which lens is the best for the money, I culled thru the regular Internet sources, DP Review, Fred Miranda, Flickr etc... and pulled together some general consensus.The general consensus is that there are a lot of Dumb Ass's on the Internet! I guess the opinion of enough Dumb Ass's added together will produce a reasonable picture of the truth.Once you learn to ignore the complaining Camera Dweebs, " This lens won't focus...I shot the big game at f /2.8 at 1/60th of a second and the prints from Wolf Camera were all Blurry! " you can find enough info to form a reasonable opinion. So, having suffered thru hours of Forum Posts about this lens and that lens, I have narrowed it down to two candidates. One choice, probably out of my budget, but clearly the overall point leader a...
More About: Canon , Versus , Tamron , Anon

Photographic Inspiration From A Master Painter...
2007-09-06 15:47:00
Where does your inspiration come from?For me, a trip to the local Barnes and Noble News Stand is more than enough to fire me up about photography! With all the great US and European Photography Magazines to peruse, I am reminded that Edwin Morgan is not the only Photographer in the world ( Shocking, I Know! ) and that new ideas are not in short supply. There are more than enough people, places and things to point my camera at and it's up to me to find the inspiration and motivation to make that next great image! If Bjorn in Finland can make an entire portfolio out of artfully Blurred Holga Close-ups of his pet chicken, well then, I guess I should be able to come up with something too. And with High Speed Internet connections in most of our homes, a Photographer / Artist doesn't even have to leave their home to get a fix of Inspiration al Imagery. There are more than enough Photo Blogs, Photographers Websites and Online Magazines to fill those empty hours when you're not saving th...
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Sigma 50 - 150 f/2.8 EX DC APO
2007-09-03 20:30:00
And the winner is....In my August 7Th Blog Post " Canon Zoom or Sigma ? " I asked my friends and readers to help me decide which one of 7 very different zoom lenses would, should or could give me the most bang for my buck! The contenders were as listed:Sigma Zoom Telephoto 70-200mm f /2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM ( that's a mouth full!)Sigma Zoom Normal -Telephoto 50-150mm f /2.8 EX DC APO HSMSigma Zoom Telephoto 100 - 300mm f /4.0 EX DG IF HSMSigma Zoom Telephoto 80 - 400mm f /4.5 -5.6 EX DG APO OS ( More letters mean more money and more fun! )Sigma Telephoto 105mm f /2.8 EX DG MacroCanon Zoom Telephoto EF 70 -200mm f /2.8L ( No image Stabilization )Canon Zoom Telephoto EF 70 -200mm f /2.8L IS ( Image Stabilization )Each of these lenses is an exceptional, highly rated and worthwhile piece of glass and none of them would be a bad lens to have in your camera bag, but not all of them would get used frequently enough to warrant me spending the big bucks. My work style is down and dir...