I used the *istD to shoot a toy train show for the first time this last weekend. I took only my new Sigma 18-50, a monopod, and used only the built-in flash. This was supposed to work much better than my P&S and be so much easier than film (the objective is web photos).
Unfortunately almost everything turned out underexposed. I previewed every shot on the screen and they looked fine there. Grrrr. Maybe I need to take a laptop to check the images. I can fix the exposure with acceptable results in PS. I shot everything RAW. Another problem I had was the aperture kept getting bumped. I never did figure out what I was doing to cause this. Obviously it was happening while I moved the camera, but even being aware of this and being careful didn't help. This was the first time I've used a monopod. That part did work well. I no longer have to fit the model photography into the time before the show opens. The monopod allows me to shoot from within the crowd. Very cool. The Sigma also worked well for this purpose. It's small, covers the range I need, though I sometimes wished it was longer, and its slowness didn't hurt. Next time I'm bringing a flash and some more memory. Amy
