Harry's Blog

Canon EOS 50D Canon's latest 1.6x prosumer crop camera certainly has been controversial, partly due to early reviews which used Adobe Camera RAW to develop the files. That version of ACR gave a poor impression of the 50D's RAW files when in fact the camera is much more capable as users of better RAW software such as Digital Photo Professional and DXO Optics Pro have discovered. I'll be writing a full review of the camera over the next week or so. Lenses

Sigma AF18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Optical Stabilizer This Sigma lens is a good walk-around piece of glass for when you may be on vacation or not able to carry much equipment around with you. It's certainly not the best lens for optical quality, but what it lacks in quality at times it makes up in versatility. The optical stabilisation works brilliantly to help you get hand-held shots in low light and at long focal lengths. If you're making the step up from a basic kit lens and want just one good all-round lens this is a good place to start.

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Known by many photographers as the "nifty fifty" this is one lens every Canon SLR owner should have in their kit bag. The cheap and cheerful plastic-cased lens is very fast - making it ideal for low light - and the f1.8 aperture also makes for great creative use of depth of field. You really can't go wrong with this lens as it packs more punch that its price would have you believe.

Sigma 105mm f2.8 EX DG Macro The Sigma 105mm is an excellent Macro camera offering a 1:1 magnification ratio, but it's also a great fast indoor portrait lens. The f2.8 aperture means you can get great shots in lower light without using a flash and the reach of 105mm on a crop camera such as a 400D or 50D means you can grab candid shots from across a room. The focus limit switch can be a pain until you get used to it, as is the push-pull focus ring, but the results of the great optics more than make up from a few usability issues.

Tamron AF 17-50mm F2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) The Tamron 17-50mm is a real unsung hero of a lens. The optical quality is on a par with many lenses that cost twice as much and the fast f2.8 aperture makes it very useful indoors without a flash as well as out and about. 17mm is pretty wide even on a crop camera and this makes the lens and ideal walk-around when snapping landscape images. Flash Canon EOS Speedlite 430EX flash unit Accessories Canon BG-E2N Battery Grip For EOS 20D, 30D, 40D & 50D