I've been given the advance Christmas present of choosing my own new
photography gear, and because I've already budgeted and planned for
some other things (increasing my L lenses, and moving up to a 1DS Mark
II [or whatever is current] by next summer), I've decided that I want

The gear heads have run their course here because the latest DSLRs are now
so close that the spec. wars are becoming dreadfully boring.
I'll propose "rec.photo.digital.slr-systems.techniques"
Humbly submitted and earnestly wishing you all happy holidays!

I have just returned my second Canon Rebel XTi/400D to the vendor.
Both failures were the inability to read a compact flash card.  This
was after many different cf cards.
Just wondering if this is a design problem.

My Nikon D50 will autofocus reputedly using one of three foci (left,
center, right) but in practice, it always uses the left to autofocus upon.
I'd like to switch it to the center since my use model is to focus and then
compose before shooting. It's a pain in the butt always ...

Any output yet, comparisions to other cameras that would show a
difference?
And please....no F----- high-end audio analogies.

Sharpest most detailed images:  Sony Alpha
Best Body:  Tie Nikon D80 and the Pentax K10D
Least Noise:  No suprise, Canon Rebel XTi
Worst build:  Canon Rebel XTi

I have a 30-year-old Vivitar 283 flash, complete system with all the
attachments which I used for many years with my Canon film cameras.
Still works great. I don't dare use the flash with my 300D because I
understand the high trigger voltage on these old flash heads could fry

A Nikon D80 body is nearly $900.00.  The Canon 20D body is now less
than $800.00.  Why (apart from owning Nikon glass) would someone go for
the D80?  This isn't really a plastic-metal thing (though that is part
of it) but comparing them with each other, what is the major feature

Bit of an odd question here, but...
I bought a Canon 75-300 IS lens some time ago. It's the only IS lens I
own, and the only one I've ever used. When I got it, the first thing I
did, naturally, was take some test shots with and without IS to see

Photographs of Bathing Girl
Bathing is invigorating and it is a form of relaxation.The photographs
of a bathing girl will tell you more :
http://www.bathing-woman.blogspot.com

Now that Nikon has come out with the very compact and very affordable
Nikon D40 Digital SLR, there are a lot of EVF camera users who are
contemplating the move to the Nikon D40 Digital SLR. The base package
price is of course very reasonable and the lens being offered in the

Being on Long Island, many of us gain Internet access through
Cablevisions Optimum Online.  I've been noticing that various
newsgroups have been falling off.
About a year ago, I was going to switch to the fiber optic FIOS, by

I  need some advice on what dslr camera I should buy.
I have an old Pentax SLR with quite a few lenses. I also have another
film slr with a number of screw mounted lenses and filters.
What I've been looking at is the Pentax k100d and the Pentax k10d.

Terrible (well, bad) JPEG images.  The internal processor is not doing
it's job.  But, shoot Raw and process outside the camera and it all
changes, the images are excellent.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk10d/page21.asp