Sigma 55-200mm F4 for Digital Rebel XT

Story likes these DR XT lenses:

The Digital Story: Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 DC Lens Perfect Complement for Canon Rebel

One of the best deals in the world of lenses is the Canon 18-55mm lens that's available in a kit with the Digital Rebel XT (350D)..... Sigma has designed what I consider to be the perfect complement to this lens. Their 55-200mm DC Zoom...

You can buy the Sigma 55-200mm on Amazon for $125, and that includes a lens hood. The only other lens that I would include in my "basic on-the-go DSLR kit" would be the Canon 50mm f-1.8 optic...

Many reviewers dislike Canon's stock zoom. I have it and the 50mm. Now I'm thinking I want the 55-200. Sigma also sells a 35mm f1.4 $300 higher end lens that would be sweet. I might be done for a while after those two ...

In fact I'd favor the Sigma 35mm over the Canon 50mm, except the Canon is only about $75 -- very cheap. Still, one could make the case that the base Canon zoom, the Sigma zoom and the Sigma 35 f1.4 are a great kit for the cheap amateur.

Cheap Speaker Wire connectors

The Digital Story: Speaker Wire Salvation

I think this is the 8th posting I've had on Story's web site. Amazing. He's much better here than on his old O'Reilly site.

Story's favorite photo gifts

I want these.

The Digital Story: "12 Photo Gadgets for Gifts" - Podcast #9

Direct Printers

I don't do much with my very nice Canon Ink Jet printers. I think the next time I run out of ink I may put it in the attic (or donate it if anyone wants it) and buy a dye sublimation 4x6 Canon photo printer. That would get used. For anything bigger, I'd go online.

Story again: The Digital Story: Direct Printers Provide Immediate Results

Minnesota tip: bag the camera outside

More from Story's great site:

The Digital Story: Ziploc Bags for Cold Weather

Bringing a camera in from the cold weather to a warm house promotes condensation forming on the outside of its body, possibly migrating to the inside of the camera where it can confound electrical components. To prevent this mishap, place your camera in a Ziploc bag before coming inside. Leave the camera in the sealed bag until it reaches room temperature. The condensation will collect on the bag, not your camera, thereby protecting your investment.

Better bounce flash with a business card

Wow. I need to try this:

The Digital Story: "The Holiday Photographer" - Podcast #12

One drawback to bouncing light is that the subject's eyes can go dark because the illumination is from above. A great trick to fix that is to attach a plain white business card to the flash head with a rubber band as shown in this illustration. It "kicks" just enough light toward the eyes to brighten them up while still getting the benefits of bounce flash.

Generally speaking, I increase the ISO to 400 for bouncing because you do lose some light from the added distance and the surface of the ceiling. Otherwise, you should be able to use Program mode and auto flash.

Digital photography: Learning the Histogram

I'm browsing all the old posts in Derrick Story's new site. This one is excellent: The Digital Story: "Learning the Histogram" - Podcast 13.

The tendency when joining a new blog is to only look at the new stuff. If the volume is not huge, I prefer to find the best of the archives.

This article also told me what "gamma" means. Who would have guessed? Gamma refers to the midpoint of a tonal range.

Huh?

What's hard about that?

I wonder if 'monitor gamma' refers to how a particular display deals with middle tonal ranges. Mac vs. Windows gamma is a big and insoluble problem in digital imaging -- I don't think color profiles adjust for differential gamma management (I could be wrong). I set my Mac displays to mid-way between Mac and Windows gamma -- it muddies the UI but my images are more viewable on Windows.