Originally Posted by seoulman' post='677192' date='Sep 25 2008, 01:10 AM

Bad News: On Monday, I lent my camera gear to my buddy who wanted to try Canon equipment (currently works for and uses Nikon) and earlier today he left the gear in the trunk of his locked car to go and have dinner. When he came back to his car after dinner, the car (including my camera gear) was gone! My friend calls the police to discover that his car was towed because he had parked illegally. My friend calls me and we both go to the holding lot to retrieve his car and my camera gear. At this point I could care less about his Hyundai Veracruz. I just worried about my gear. So... my friend pays the fine, towing and storage charges. We walk towards his car and notice that the bottom edge of the hatch lid is scratched and upon closer inspection, the lip bottom lip of the hatch lid is slightly bent. The hatch had been pried open... and of course, my camera gear is gone! After a short verbal tirade aimed at my friend, we called the police. Police show up and asks the tow yard to show pictures of the car prior to towing. Apparently, in Korea, they take pictures of the car prior to lifting the car on the hoist as evidence that whatever damage car owners try to pawn off on the tow truck driver was already there. So... the pictures prior to towing show that the hatch lid is perfectly intact. Meaning the break-in happened during the tow or after the car was placed in the lot.

Good News: Police tell the tow yard that they are liable and tell me that the tow yard insurance will cover my loss, but I must produce receipts of all the gear lost. No problem! I have all the receipts. Tow yard call their insurance company and I speak with them. The insurance agent asks me to fax all the receipts for my gear. I did that within 90 minutes of the call. The insurance agent calls me back 30 minutes after sending copies of the receipt through the fax. He informs me that the tow yard is liable and that I will be reimbursed fully for all my gear. Not at the prices I paid, but at the current MSRP prices for all the gear! The money will be deposited into my bank account by Monday afternoon!

Better News: This means I get to buy new gear! Starting all over from scratch because all my gear except the remote shutter control, tripod, monopod, and non-brand/model specific gear was in that equipment bag.

So... All the photographers on this thread get to help me choose a new camera. Won't that be fun?

It's either going to be Canon or Nikon... so don't anyone be ranting on about the merits of Sony, Olympus, Pentax, etc...

The finalists are.... Drum roll please!

1) Canon 50D (US$1300) - I know that most of you on this thread will be pushing this one!

2) Nikon D300 (US$1900) - Some of you will be pushing this one hard too, but the price is on the high side in Korea...

3) Nikon D90 (US$1000) - And this one will either be the dark horse or a complete loser~

All prices are body only.

I know more than a few of you are raising eyebrows about the inclusion of the D90, but judging from all the preview write-ups, it's quite a camera for an intermediate to advanced amateur, and I fall somewhere in between those two points. And for the amount of shooting and type of shooting that I do, this camera might fit the bill. Moreover, the savings over the other two contenders may allow me to squeeze in another lens purchase, which may be more useful than higher pixel count or faster continuous shooting. Here is a test of the Nikon D90 for those of you who haven't read anything on it.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/5548/nikon...amera-test.html

No full tests on the Canon 50D as yet. Just previews. As for the D300, I'm sure that all you camera enthusiasts already know about that.

So... let the Canon vs Nikon 'flaming'... errrmm... I mean voting begin!

Originally Posted by pinguhk' post='677495' date='Sep 25 2008, 09:26 AM

sorry to hear that.
O well look on the bright side.
Now you can get a new 5D

Originally Posted by seoulman' post='677705' date='Sep 25 2008, 01:02 PM

The 5D Mark II is a great camera, but a bit much for my needs.

Originally Posted by seoulman' post='677324' date='Sep 24 2008, 04:19 PM

How about if I replace the 24-70 f/2.8L for the 24-105 f/4L?

Originally Posted by pinguhk' post='677742' date='Sep 25 2008, 02:51 PM

just like a car there is alway room for more needs
If you dont use it, you never know what you can do.
For me I love trying new things out to ungrade my self

Originally Posted by UUronL' post='677787' date='Sep 25 2008, 04:50 PM

I absolutely love it - it's pretty much the only thing I shoot on my 5D. The IS is phenomenal and it's very sharp wide open at f4. That's one of the reasons I got it... you can easily use it wide open. By comparison, many faster lenses need to be stopped down at least that far to equal it's performance.

It is also known to have great color and contrast. All of these were taken with the 24-105.


Some users prefer the 24-70 f/2.8L though. YMMV.

Originally Posted by UUronL' post='677789' date='Sep 25 2008, 04:54 PM

Oh, and I forgot to mention...

Luckily the insurance took care of it, but it's good to keep your own policy for camera equipment. I don't know what is available for that in Asia, but in the US it's very cheap.

Originally Posted by seoulman' post='677803' date='Sep 25 2008, 04:40 PM

My opinion is that, just because your budget is large enough to buy a Ferrari, shouldn't mean you should buy. One~

Originally Posted by pinguhk' post='677830' date='Sep 25 2008, 07:04 PM

I know what you mean.
what I mean is there is always room for impoving and learning more stuff.
for me I have 350D right now and there is no point ungrading to 50D for me so I jump 2 step and get the 5Dmk2
and after that I will ungrade to Canon EOS-1Ds Mark IV when it comes out.