Seems every time I make a journal entry it's due to new hardware and this time is no different.

Last Jan I got myself a Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS lens. My first impressions are:1 IS is worth the money, though I really wish someone would build a body with sensor based IS which would disable itself if an IS lens is attached. 2 Fast lenses rock, which I already knew from my prime lenses. 3 Stop down a bit and this lens is plenty sharp, combined with the IS to prevent camera shake from ruining that sharpness and my photos have seen improvement.

I've also purchased a second flash, an umbrella and wireless triggers.... that's right folks, expect to see portraits again!

I've sold my trusty Digital Rebel (300D). I know, I know I should have kept it as a second body, but here me out. Truth is, the Reb was doing a great job, there were really only two irritations with it. 1 Speed, between slow FPS and very slow CF write time, I often missed photos while watching the CF flight flicker, hardly a deal breaker but it bugged me. 2 Hot pixels, something every digital photographer has to deal with, but as the camera aged (to about 3.5 years) the number of, and brightness of my hot pixels increased.

And so, these two small reasons combined where enough for me to justify and upgrade to the 40D (currently a $200 instant rebate is being offered, which I assume is to help clear out 40D inventory in anticipation of the 50D).

My 40D arrived 6 days ago, and I'm pretty impressed.

As far as my two issues with the Reb, it is much faster, both in max FPS and in CF write (esp combined with a Sandisk 200X 8GB CF)

There is, however, a problem. The 40D has a hot pixel, located just above and left of center the pixel appears when it fall on a dark subject area in shots 1/4sec or longer at any ISO. At ISO 800 it's a soft orange glowing pixel, as ISO increases it becomes more saturated and more red, until at ISO 500 and higher where it is devil red.

I've arranged an RMA with the place I ordered it from (In NJ). I'll be sending the camera back tomorrow, but since they are currently out of stock (no surprise considering the rebate). It will be a min of 3 weeks without an SLR body (and maybe as much as 7 weeks).

Since I've already sold the Reb, that leaves me with just my Ricoh GX100 ("Point-And-Shoot with SLR features"), which shoots raw (though write it is ridiculous to say the least) and it has sensor based IS and no hot pixels (although general noise becomes very noticeable at ISO 400 and unusable above that).

So children, this i what's new with me. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Lew AKA 'M37'