SLR-Camera Reviews

This camera was the best investment in my photography that I could have imagined. Without the cost and concern of film and processing, I was free to make as many photos as I wanted, and to adjust the settings to learn about the effect of such control. With my EOS lenses, my existing investment was prolonged. I have printed and posted much of my work, and the quality has met or exceeded local labs.

The D30 is a great camera and takes outstanding photos. I will put it up against my friend's Nikon any day and his camera cost much more. The battery life on the D30 is amazing as I expected the same life as that on the Nikon. Instead, the battery on the D30 just keeps shooting after the Nikon is dead. This is not to knock the Nikon as it is one of the premier cameras around and is a true professional camera, but the Canon will match it picture for picture for less money. Either camera will make you a very happy photographer. I regularly use a Canon EOS 35mm. camera so the transition to the digial is very easy as the controls are so similar. The fact that I can use my Canon image stabilized lenses makes it even better. The D30 does call for one of the EX flash units, so that will add to the cost; however, the on-camera flash also works well . Picture quality is outstanding. I have had no problem with the software, but I generally download all pictures to my computer and do any adjusting, etc. with Photoshop. Hookup to the computer by way of USB is a snap and downloading is fast.

If you want the ultimate in digital photography, the Canon D30 is the ticket as of December 2000 -- especially if you already own Canon EOS lenses, because they're completely compatible. Canon won't call this a "Pro" camera, because it's not as weather-tight as pro models, but the body is rugged and the output is first-rate.

The D30 has enough features for professional photographers, yet a novice can get great looking pictures from the start. As you learn more about the camera and its capabilities, your images really start to shine.

Want to experiment with long-exposure photography? Go right ahead! Feedback is instant. No more waiting for processing. No more developing costs. Want to blow up your photo to 8x12 inches? No problem. With a little massaging via Adobe Photoshop (tm) and/or Genuine Fractals (tm), even poster-sized prints look great, using photo paper and a photo-quality inkjet printer. Software to get you going, including Photoshop LE, is included.

The D30 accepts IBM Microdrives (1 gigabite of storage in the camera!) as well as compact flash. The included 16 meg flash card is enough to test the camera, but you'll really want to get something bigger, right away. The D30 offers a variety of image compression options -- including the Raw format, which allows the most flexibility and avoids jpeg artifacts. The wide variety of storage options means freedom to shoot at will and experiment. An included cable allows you to connect your camera to your computer's USB port and download images at will.

As I said, all Canon EOS lenses will work with the D30, but there is one difference to consider. Because the CMOS chip is smaller than a 35mm negative, the field of view is different. For example, a 100 mm lens on an EOS film camera works like a 160 mm lens on the D30. They call it a 1.6x multiplier effect, but what it means is that long-distance shooting is easier, and to get wide angle shots, you have to get a REALLY wide lens. For example, a 14mm aspherical wide angle results in a 22mm wide angle shot on the D30.

When the D30 was first released in the Fall of 2000, the demand was far beyond what Canon could produce... in the United States and around the World. As of this writing, the cameras are still in short supply, but well worth the effort and the investment. Kudos to Amazon for adding the D30 to their digital photography offerings.

Do you ever find your pictures boring? If you do, get this lens, and your pictures will have a whole new dramatic look, becuase of its super wide angle. Another advantage is that a wider angle allows you to take pictures at a slower speed, good for darker occasions, because the shaking of hands would have a smaller effect. The third advantage is compared with most of the other Canon professional lens, this is very small, which makes it easier to use at public places where bigger lens means more attentions, and more attentions means less oppotunities. I didn't say anything about the lens's actual picture quality, because Look, this is a Canon Professional lens(the red ring at the top of the lens indicates professional, instead of regular yellow), there is no question about the quality of the pictures! ( And of course, though wide-angle, the pictures are not twisted at the corners at all.) It's the best you can get out of an SLR! But of course, good equipments is only half of good pictures, you will never be able to take good pictures even with the best lens if you don't learn and don't experience. Good Luck. And by the way, ... send me the lens promptly, no taxes, good price.

This lens is for Canon EOS cameras. EF 28-70mm F2.8, EF 70-200mm F2.8, and this lens--EF 17-35mm F2.8, together is one series of professional zooming lens. They all have the same diameter, 77mm. 17-35 is wide angle, 28-70 is midzoom, 70-200 is long distance. I have all of them, and use them on different occations with my EOS 3. All three lens have the same superb quality, but have different uses. If you have all of these three lens, you will be able to take almost any pictures you want, and all the pictures that you take would have a very professional look even if you are an amature, since a good photographer is made up with half the equipment, and half the person.

This is not just my favorite lens, it is one of the nicest things I own.

I love wide-angle photography, and the extra field-of-view I get with a 17mm wide-angle (over a more conventional 28mm) is dramatic. I took this on an extended vacation in Japan and found it to be the only lens I really needed for the entire trip (I also brought my 28-135 IS and my 50 mm f/1.4 but really needn't have). There is something about Japan that really cries out for a super-wide angle (small interiors for one thing). On a more recent trip to Spain I admit there were times I wish I had my 28-135 with me for a little more reach, but this 17-35mm is still my primary lens.

I think the optics on my 50mm 1.4 are noticably better than this lens, but I have become so accustomed to the 17mm view that I find a "normal" focal length practically useless.

There is marvelously little distortion in this lens at 17mm.

It is worth noting however that you will undoubtedly get shadows from even the thinnest filters (I have a very very thing polarizer filter that I use with this lens and even it will crop the image, the lens is so wide.) Also, when I use the built-in flash on my A2E the lens will cast a shadow in the image, which is annoying (a little hard to explain, but the point is that you see so much at 17mm that the lens itself blocks the flash). Someday I will get an external flash to avoid this problem.