Kit Update

Well, I just scrolled down and read my kit description from last August. It's a little out of date so here's a quick update to clarify..

I bought the Sigma 105mm EX DG f/2.8 Macro lens in the end, which is my first prime lens and responsible for all the macro shots dotted around my blog. It's a great lens and I'm very pleased with the ease of handling and results (can't really comment on the auto-focus as I've always used manual focusing so far).

I also replaced my kit 18-55mm Canon starter lens with a Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. Again, I am really pleased with the quality on the lens, the image stabiliser comes in handy when I don't have my tripod handy and it suffers a lot less lens flare than my starter lens when shooting into the Sun.

I bought some cheap extension tubes, that I haven't really played with much yet and my most recent purchase is my Manfrotto 055 pro-B tripod with a 804RC2 head. A fairly hefty lump of kit, a massive improvement on my cheap old one, my only down points are: the center column is clumsy to remove and attach, and the screw-in handles can fall out too easily when not tightened (I learnt this the hard way and lost one already).

I still would like to get some Lee ND grad filters to cut down on the photoshop editing I do, and a circular polariser for my 17-85mm lens, but I am very happy with my current package which (excluding lens hoods) just about fits into my Crumpler Stunner bag.

ps. Thanks to all those who posted comments, very appreciated! (I turned on anonymous comments so hopefully it should be a bit easier to post now).

pps. Due to spam comments being posting I removed anonymous comments - damn people.