Hey Brother, could you spare a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for Canon?

So I think I've finally decided what to replace the kit lens on my Canon.

I've picked up a few lenses here and there, (Canon 50 1.8 II, Sigma 28-80/70-300 kit), and they're pretty good for the price I paid for them. But, I mainly shoot with the stupid 18-55 kit lens, and I really need something in a comparable range that doesn't suck.

I think I've decided to hunt/search/obsess over the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 . I've read some pretty good reviews on it over at DPReview.com, and say it's actually a pretty good competitor to what Canon has in the 17-50 or 17-85 range. Given it's from a third-party, and it's no "L" glass, but distortion / CA / MTF stats look pretty good, (and spanks the crappy kit lens all up and down the charts).

Looks like it goes $430 - $450 new from B&H / Beach / Amazon, but that's almost as much as I spent on a boat-load of lighting stuff, (and that's with my wife going 50/50 from our Household budget). EBay looks like it can go down as much as $370 - $450, and most of those are new.

Any how, anyone know where I can get a good deal on this piece of glass? Anyone "bored" with their copy and want to pass it on to a poor soul? (I guy can hope, can't he?)

And until I can afford it, I guess it's back to the old plastic kit lens. . .

Provo was good to me

So there I was, minding my own business, when this Pawn Shop in Provo, UT came and threw this Manfrotto tripod at me.

I was so taken by surprise that I almost threw back a string of superlatives. I quickly realized that it was actually a pretty nice tripod, so instead I took pity on them and gave them $50 cash to ease the rough time they must be going through.

Upon closer inspection, it turns out it's an old 3001 tripod with a 3030 head. eBay looks like I got a pretty good deal, although nothing too special.

It's a good thing to, because the day before I had dropped my $13 Target special tripod. I was adjusting my camera bad, and it slipped out from under my arm and cracked the plastic head right off.

I've been looking for a decent tripod for a while, and it's one of those "right-Pawn-Shop-at-the-right-time" things. (I love those!)

I also picked up a copy of "The Photographer's Handbook" for $3. I didn't actually have any sort of handbook for photography, so I thought it would give me a good reference to start from, and to review some parts on composition, (which is my weakest part of snapping photos). Turns out it gets 4/5 stars on Amazon, so it should be a good starting point.

All in all, Provo was good to me. Too bad I'm back in South Carolina where I haven't seen much from the Pawn Shops around here. I guess I just have to keep looking and wait for that poor soul who's down on his luck to dump a nice Canon "L" lens the day before I walk in...

Welcome

Well, I finally did it. I put aside all my paranoia and decided to throw together a blog.

Really, I just needed a place to put my stuff for Photo Friday, and I figured I might as well try the whole "Blogging" thing while I'm at it.

As the title suggests, I'm not a real photographer, I just like to take pictures at family gatherings, parties, birthdays, etc. I'm not really great at it, it just gives me something to do with my hands.

Anywho, I might post stuff here and there, but nothing major.

Enjoy, and let me know if you like anything, or any constructive criticism as I'm working on not looking like a total noob with a trigger-happy shutter button.

- Noah