Hiya all I don't often post, I mainly lurk, but felt I should share my experience as it is very similar.
I use an EOS 3 with a booster and lenses from 17mm to 400mm and last year went to Santapod and Brands Hatch for the first time. At Brands hatch, very bright day, I shot 10 rolls of velvia (50) @ 125sec with the !00-400 IS at approx �4.00 per roll + processing (at approx �4.50 a roll.) Total cost was about �85.00 in film and as a lot of it was panning, my hit miss ratio should have been low, however I ended up with about a quarter to a half of each roll being keepers. anyway, I decided that I liked motorsport, but couldn't afford that sort of cost, even buying mail order film and cheaper processing, it was too much. After about an hours talking with a friend, I bought the following over the course of the next week-: EOS 10D - �1150.00 Battery Pack for 10D - �115.00 3 BP11 batteries from 7day shop - �45.00 IBM Thinkpad 600 with CDRW and big H/D from Ebay for image storage in the field �350.00 3x 1 gig CF and MD cards approx �350.00 2 card readers for desktop and laptop �20.00 Total �2030.00 (ouch, I didn't realise that I went that mad :) I am sure that I bought a bunch of other stuff but that would be unfair to include it here, as I would probably have bought it anyway. Doing the math's, I can go to 23 or so events, and shoot like a man possessed with the 10D and I would save money. There is the argument that it costs to print and so on, but as I am still in the process of learning Photoshop, I don't print too often as I am still getting my head around the learning curve of the camera, and all the other bits that I have bought. I still shoot motorsports, freestyle motorcross, freestyle BMX and stuff like last years urban games, BUT I have also found other invaluable uses for it as well. I have recently started shooting bands for a friend of a friend at various venues, and last Friday, a gig where 3 bands were playing, I took in excess of 350 photos ranging from 800 to 3200 ISO, with and without flash, and knew that I had the gig in the bag. The ability to check as I go, and adjust each shot in real time whilst shooting a live band and the audience is a one shot deal. Although I am not a PRO, I have been published, and 90% + of my published and paid work has been with the 10D. Its not a lot of money, and is along way from paying for the �2000 + worth of kit that I bought to go digital, but I reckon that between the motorsports, the bands and the other stuff, It will pay for itself by the end of this year, or sooner if I decide to trade in the EOS 3, although I'd rather not as it is a great camera. Also, if budget is an issue, there are some ways of keeping the costs down, you may already have a laptop and a card reader, or not need to shoot raw and can use less cards,. 4 batteries and a batery pack might also be unneeded, although I bought them for when I go away camping. As well as keeping the costs down for me, I also like the idea of being able to try new ideas and know instantly that it has either worked or not without it costing me, before i try it with film is great. BTW, I do love still shooting film :) email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Any input would be useful. * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
