The auctioning of my Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens concluded today after, relative to other things I’ve previously sold on eBay, a huge amount of interest. Bidding started at just 99p in order to attract interest and minimise listing fees. Most of the time, my listing tend to stagnate for a while and only receive bids closer to the auction end, but this one received a few bids early on.

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My nearly new Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM zoom lens is being auctioned on eBay and starting at just 99 pence!

430EX II

Typical. Weeks after I buy myself a Canon Speedlite 430EX, Canon announce its replacement; the 430EX II. Still, from an initial read of the announcement, it doesn’t look like I’ve missed out on much. New features are said to be:

• 20% reduction in recycle times meaning it’s ready to fire quicker than the model it replaces.
• The high-pitched whine normally associated with a charging flash has been eliminated and it’s now silent to minimise distraction. Can’t say I ever found it distracting.
• The mounting foot is now metal constructed for a more robust connection with a camera body.
• A new quick release and locking mechanism has also been incorporated.
• In Manual mode, the Speedlite 430EX II allows the light output to be altered in 1/3 stop increments for increased precision of operation, bringing it into line with the 580EX.
• All on-flash settings can be controlled using the camera menu system.

I haven’t seen any prices yet, though.

EOS 1000D

Canon also announced a new entry level DSLR in the form of the EOS 1000D, this week. Supposedly pegged lower than the 450D, the 1000D is available at £499 (body only) and the 450D at £459 (body only). I can’t quite figure Canon’s logic on the price point since the 450D is better specified, cheaper and itself was only announced 5 months ago.

Many people are suggesting that the 1000D is aimed at those looking to replace their point and shoot cameras, but even Canon’s own fantastic G9 is a whole £200 cheaper than just the body so it’s not such an easy decision to fall into.

The weekend just gone was the first opportunity I’ve had to shoot a wedding with my new digital SLR gear and boy was it a lot of fun! I didn’t have the responsibility of being the couple’s main photographer. Instead, that role was filled by a couple who were friends of the couple getting married. However, since they were only asked to cover the formal shots in and around the ceremony I more or less fell into the role of reception photographer.

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Back when I was first thinking about buying my 40D, I thought about the first lens I wanted to go with it. I considered the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, but decided against it due to the relatively high cost. Then, after a couple of months with the EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM I settled upon, I decided I wanted, no, needed the 17-55mm!

The pull of the f/2.8 was just too strong and so last week I took delivery of the lens (and am now looking to re-home my 17-85mm) and it was just how I expected it to be; the fast aperture and IS resulted in an excellent low light performance and the autofocus is blazingly fast.

A couple of aspects which I’d read about, but weren’t expecting were:
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