I'm probably going to get the EOS 10D I've had my eye on next month. What do you guys that use it recommend? The MicroDrive or Smart Card...and which model?

Any other must-have accessories?

Eww, Microdrives <g>
Stick with CF type I cards. Mechanical storage can't compete with solid state. I would personally stick to Lexar or Sandisk media. I've tried a few other brands and I must have bad luck or something, I've always run into compatibility issues between cards and readers. The newer Sandisk cards that are out (1gb and some 512mb) are up there with the top Lexar cards for read/write speed. Though Sandisk has no mention of this, the cards dated 2003 are the faster ones.


I don't have the 10D, but I would say one accessory I couldn't see living without is the battery grip. I got mine the day I got my D100 and never taken it off. I assume you have a tripod. Stock up on Pecpads and Eclipse, the sensor isn't hard to clean at all.

I, too, use only CF cards. I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket either. So, I use several smaller CF cards as opposed to one large card. If I lose or damage one card, I still have images on another card. I use an assortment of 128, 256, and 512 MB cards.

I would agree on the grip, it's a must have. You'll need a total of four batteries, also. The grip takes two and you'll need a spare set. I use a Lenmar Mach 1 quicker charger (AC/DC) so I'm never without power.

I think the cleaning issues will depend on the humidity where you live. People in dryer climates seem to have more problems with dust on the sensor. I have virtually no problem with dust. The occasional dust spot I clone out in PS.

Get a decent strap, the Canon strap is pretty, but not very comfortable for all day use. Hoodman (http://www.hoodmanusa.com/) makes a hood and screen cover that I find useful at the beach. If you don't do real bright sunny shoots, it may not be necessary. The LCD screen cover I use, so my glasses don't scratch the LCD.

If you have a laptop, you might find a CF to PCMCIA adapter useful for transferring your files. Laptops are great for use on the road. If you don't have a laptop, you might want to look into the digital wallets that will store your images from your CF cards, until you get home.

Thanks, Matt and Jeff!

I got out of photography just before digital was introduced, so this is all new stuff to me.

With the CF cards, how many "RAW" exposures can you get on one 512MB card? (The CF Pro Series 40x WA - 512MB for $259.99 and the 40x WA - 1GB for $429.99 on the Lexar site look good based on your suggestions)

Also, with four batteries as Jeff suggested, how much shooting time/exposures will I get out of that?

I'd already spotted the Hoodman cover...I'll definitely grab one of those now that it's usefulness has been confirmed.

One last question...there are a jillion comfy-looking straps out there now...any one in particular you recommend?

Guitar straps are a good option Tex, they are wide and long and usually quite comfortable if you get a good one.

John, look for straps with a bold paisley, or a Disney character theme. That's what all the pro's are using, sure to get you into major events without a press pass. Kidding. I use a Tamrac (so it doesn't slip off the shoulder) leather, padded strap. My wife likes the neoprene, stretchy material. She says it makes the camera seem much lighter.

If you get the grip, you're good to go for about 1000 exposures, depending on flash usage (built in flash), temperature etc. At least that's what the book says. In practice, I get far fewer exposures, but none of my batteries are brand new.

The 10D embeds a JPEG file in the RAW file. You can select the size JPEG it embeds. I have little use for JPEG's so I set it to the smallest JPEG file size. The camera uses dynamic compression and I get about 80 files to a 512 MB file. If you up the JPEG file size, you'll get less total images.

The 10D has a built in 9 frame file buffer. In my usage, this buffer helps eliminate the need for the super fast CF cards. I don't shoot sports etc., where the faster read, write times could be an advantage. I also use my laptop to transfer images and the PCMCIA CF adapter transfer files much quicker than USB. The transfer time with USB and a 512 card is about 10 minutes, maybe longer. Lexar makes a FireWire CF card reader also.

I don't use a Hoodman hood, except in really, really bright sunlight. They get in the way the rest of the time. But I do use the LCD screen covers, I think they are sold in 2 packs.

Well, I looked for a guitar strap with Disney characters on a paisley background but didn't find one. ;) But I did find the KATA strap which is the bee's knees.

I ordered the Lenmar Mach I charger and four of their batteries for the camera, but I was wondering what kind of rechargeables you recommend for the 550EX flash? I see Lenmar has a recharger for AA size NiCds... one thing I haven't found yet is a cluster NiCd arrangement designed to pop in the 550 in one move rather than loading and unloading individual batteries each time. Know of one? Or do you guys prefer external battery packs?

I use NiMh 2000ma to 2200 ma AA. No particular brand. They last a couple of years and then I get new ones. They've really gotten cheap. The Lenmars are probably as good as the rest.

Thanks, Jeff. I see on the Lenmar site that they now have 2300 ma AA batteries.

They'll probably have dilithium crystals soon and I'll run my house and car off them.

By the way, Jeff...beautiful wildlife photos! The Tricolored Heron shot (2035.jpg) (http://www.pbase.com/image/21684384) is really striking.

Thank you John. All shot with a Canon 10D. Since I got the camera in June, I've shot about 6,000 images.

Ive had the digital rebel for about a week now, and i too agree that the extended battery grip for these cameras makes a lot of difference. not only does it allow for an extra battery, but it gives the camera a little better feel to it IMO. Ive already shot about 2000 pictures.

I have the Lexar Pro series 1 gb 32x C/F card, and I find it pretty quick. I got it for 260 from a local camera shop.

I too am looking at the 550MX flash, and I wanted to know where the cheepest place to get it is, and how long batteries last. Is it worth getting rechargables?

As always, Jeff’s advise is good. Buy only name brand flash cards. The only two cards I ever purchased that were not Lexar or Sandisk both crashed with pictures on them. Be careful about the Lexar cards you buy. Their fastest cards are labeled WA for Write Accelerated. This looks good at first until you find out that the extra speed only works with a few cameras with WA compatibility built in. There are no Canon cameras on that list. You are paying a lot of extra money for nothing.

With that said, I do not know what is the fastest speed card the 10D’s buffer can utilize without waiting for the card. Does anyone know?

Batteries – I shoot a lot of sports and cover corporate events as well as many other things. I will never try an external battery pack again, I hated mine. Having a camera tethered to me by a cable does not work for my style of shooting, two bodies around my neck and a 40 pound pack on my back.

Steve

Rechargable batteries are a good investment for flashes. No way to estimate the number of flashes, because the power output (battery consumption) varies with each shot. I would suspect 50 to 75 full power, manual flashes.

I second Compact Flash. I find that having a bunch of 512mb cards the best way to go. Reason for this is because 512mb is close to the capacity of a CD-R so you can go strait from card to CD for archiving. Also if one card gets damaged there are less images lost.

Happy Shooting
Alex

hmm...good point, alex! :D

After posting here that I buy AA batteries at price club and do not use rechargeables my conscious began bothering me. I am an environmentally friendly consumer. Even though I like the convenience of a bag full of fresh batteries I stopped and thought about how many of those I was using and throwing away. I started shopping for rechargeable batteries and was about to buy one of the $50.00 chargers (it seemed like $40.00 to $50.00 was the average price) when I found the brand new Ray-O-Vac 15 minute charger at Wall-Mart for $19.00 (with 2 batteries). It charges their NiMH 2000 batteries in 15 minutes and all other standard rechargables overnight. The 15 minute AA are $12.99 per 4 pack.

Jeff, you gave me food for thought and now I will save a few bucks and continue to respect the earth we live on.

Steve

I'm glad to here that Steve. I may be off in the number of flashes also. A read a post on another forum the other day and several people say they are getting close to 200 full power flashes off the hot (2000+ ma) rechargeables. I've never counted my flashes, but they do seem to last a long time.

Hey, I must be an odd ball, but
I have the IBM 1 Gig micro drive and have had no problems
with it at all. I also don't have the hand grip, but I do have
4 batteries. Never ran out of power at a critical time . . . so far ;)

Now, if they would just come out with a 2 gig CF card for $250.

Where do you find 2000 mah batteries? I commonly find the 16's on the shelf, have not found 18's yet, and now you're telling me we have 2000's. ( I have not looked anywhere except stores around town) Where are you getting your batteries?

Wal-Mart

Costco has a good deal on Everready(?) 2100mah batteries. Sam's has Panasonic and Ray-O-Vac chargers and batteries. All are pretty cheap.

Okay. . . I'm gonna go look, first thing tomorrow. Thanks

I've seen ads for a new AA charger/battery set that will recharge in 15 minutes! Don't know the maH though.

Now, if they would just come out with a 2 gig CF card for $250.

How about 2.2GB for $250? :)

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=GS1022C-N

Wow! I went to the site and looks good, but they don't mention
10D compatability. The D60 is on the list, so maybe the 10D will work.

The D60 is on the list, as well as the Digital Rebel/300D so I'm sure the 10D works also.

lol...i know this is somewhat off topic, but I have one 1 GB Lexar 32x Professional CompactFlash Card and I wanted to know if anyone wanted to trade my 1 gig for 2 512 mb cards!?

:D let me know! thanks! :D

No problems at all using a Viking 512 CF in my 10D. And a Viking 256. (my Mac reads them as Toshiba cards, BTW) And I shoot nearly every day lately. Usually do file transfer thru a 6-way card reader.

Have only really put the 9-shot buffer to the test a few times, but it sure is nice. Great for events, not too sure it would be fast enough for sports. Of course, for flash work I'd need to upgrade my speedlight to keep up, recovery time-wise.

As for AA battery usage, my wife was complaining about her GPS (Garmin e-trex Legend) eating batteries, as they are known for, so she went out and got some NiMH AA's and a rapid charger, and there's no looking back.

This looks like a good deal for a 1gig CF card?
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000083DY0/102-9609077-3976159

Jeffmeister, whaddya think?

- don

Don, that's one of the best prices I've seen lately, as long as you do rebates. Here (http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=6007) is a fairly comprehensive CF card data base.

Just be careful to save the anti-static bag with the bar code sticker when you get it. It's required for Viking rebates along with proof of purchase. Or at least it was when I tried. I missed out on a rebate because I had thrown the bag away when unpacking the card. I was told absolutely no exceptions, even though the jerk at Macmall had said "oh, no problem." Fortunately, it was only a $20 rebate.

I've seen the 2.2GB MicroDrive now go for right around $200.

www.pricewatch.com

Which would you guys rather have?

A 2.2GB MicroDrive or a 1GB CompactFlash?

Who's faster and who uses more battery?

The micro drive is slower, both read and write and uses more battery power. Not all cameras support FAT 32 so you may only get 1.9GB of space. The non-IBM micro drives seem to have a higher failure rate, but that is really just hearsay.

The reliability of the MicroDrive does concern me. I was given a 340MB version as a gift and it had the "click of death" right out of the box. It was somewhat humorours to hear the mini version of the all too familiar "clunk clunk".

I think I'll go with the 1GB CompactFlash.

I'd go with the CF card every time. The MicroDrive is too scary. And I'd take Jeff's advice about slower and using morte battery power.