Camera Labs

Ok, so in total i have £650.

I want to spend it before prices on everything goes up AGAIN

The hard part is WHAT!?

As most of you probably dont know, I'm creating a make-shift studio in what is currently my uncles storage place for his computer shops stock - he doesnt need as much since deliveries are in 2 days and most of the stuff is only ordered as needed for BTO options, and most of it can be stored just fine in his current shop.

I have just bought 3 x 500W bowens studio lights which is where the majority of my 18th went. I still have £650 left over.

Here are my current options:

[1] Buy a Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM for landscapes n stuff, and have a little left over for a filter or two.

[2] Build a Core i7 System, 920, Asus Workstation Board, 6 GB DDR3-1333 CL7.0 [plus some donated 10,000rpm SAS drives ]

[3] Buy a 50mm f/1.4 (sigma or canon) and plenty camera related bits n bobs & a really good backpack.

[4] Buy a 360 with Guitar Hero World Tour Band Set


There are problems with each

[1] PRICE! its so friggen expensive even used now!

[2] The end goal is to have one pc in the studio and one at home.

[3] Both 50mm arnt good enough. I want a PERFECT 50mm. The sigma is better wide open but the canon is better at f/8-11 where i'll use it in the studio since it out resolves my 5DmkII

[4] Well..i cant help but think i'll be mad at myself haha!



So yes, I need to know tonight, and if i can get my hands on some 10,000 (or 15,000!!) RPM SAS drives, the PC will be a definate.


or if anyone else has other ideas as to what i should buy (a brain perhaps?) then please do tell. Else select 1 2 3 or 4.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

A secondHand 24mmL

or the 50mm either model....

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Mark Osborne
My life through an iPhone

You have £650 left over from your 18th?
I remember being pleased with a tankard and cake

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EOS 40D / Ixus 500 / S95, Canon 24-105 F4L, 50 F1.8, Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS, Canon 10-22 IS, Speedlite 430EX II, 580 EXII
My flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/hairyfrog/

Ditch the plans for an i7 system, just go for a fast quadcore. i7 is so expensive now, and you also need a new motherboard + DDR3 RAM. You can't justify the price-performance ratio.


As for the 360 with GH world tour. I have it and can highly recommend it. Playing this with friends is awesome, and it's very accessible. Hell, even my mom can play the guitar or sing

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Orsan - ahh i dunno my geeky roots are getting the better of me!!

the Money - eh I have lots of family =) whom are very generious, and i am VERY grateful, hence wanting to put the money to good use and invest it in something i'll use....rather than Guitar Hero LOL!

The i7 920 clocked at 3.4 or 3.6Ghz tanks the 965 and every other CPU out there.

Besides, I want SAS drives, and i want a damn good board with upgradeability for 8+ Core CPU's in the future.

Only thing faster is some insane multi CPU setup, and at that - its only faster using programs that support multiple CPU's.

I'm swapping out the E6600 for a Q6600 (G0 Stepping) tonight, and if i dont get any larger performance increase - im going all out.

Core i7 920 @ 3.2Ghz (at least!, i'll see how far it goes
ASUS P6T WS PRO
6 GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL7 (CL6 is just to expensive)

2 x 10,000RPM SAS drives (Mirror MAWAHHAA) for OS
2 x 1TB drives (striped) for Photos
2 x 500GB drives (mirror) for Old Data
1 x 250 GB Drive (External) Backup of Photos (will be replaced by a TB drive when I can afford it)
1 x 250 GB Drive (External) Backup of OS Drive

Lot of "Drivage" huh.

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

I did the E6600 to Q6600 swap in my main system not that long ago. I can't say it really made any noticeable difference in terms of application actions. Maybe it did help but without getting a stopwatch out I can't say I feel it. I guess stuff I run doesn't scale well beyond two cores or otherwise limited. I want some SSDs!

The quad did make a boost in my crunching output... but that's another story.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

strike that, they are getting swapped tomorrow, but before 12.

I got offered 70GB SAS drives 10,000RPM - Was hoping for the larger ones but my "contact" can't liberate them just now

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Let us know how you get on with your SAS drives Daniel - and if you're using a special controller. I'm quite interested in a striped SAS array for my video projects...

I'll be using the Asus P6T WS PRO (WorkStation) Board with 2 on board SAS drives.
.
ASUS SKT-1366 P6T WS PRO S/L 6.4GT/S

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Good choice on the Q6600 with G0 stepping, I have the same. Any plans on overclocking it? If you're lucky you can get it to 3 GHZ, stable, and without raising voltages or switching the cooling.

If so, don't hestitate to ask.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Id say go for the computer

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||Nikon D60|| ||18-55 Lens||Sigma 70-300mm||
[PnS] Olympus Fe-100 4MP


*Formally D80Freak
Flickr!

How about sending like 50 or 100 pounds my way. and Donating the rest to Gordon and the site?

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Jake O'Connell, 40D Crew
Canon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hv
My Flickr
my Blog
"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

I've gotten 3.6 on my E6600 on stock

Granted it didnt last 24 hours but still LOL

I should be fine, I've up'd the voltages majorly on my ram and cpu before.

My e6600 at one point was drawing almost DOUBLE its normal power consumption!!!!! LOL


I still want this new pc for the SAS support, and besides, free SAS drives, haha!

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Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

And from the sensible world, how about saving it for a rainy day?

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Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

I have a little money saved for a rainy day =)

Once i start working more again, i'll save more.

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!