Before buying my 70-200mm lens, I rented one for the weekend. It went with me to the park for a stick throwing game with Katy, to an agility trial and then finished up the weekend with me at a local horse event. A great trio of events to work out this lens and help me decide that it would be a valuable work horse lens for the type of photography that I do.

I shoot with a Canon 30D that I purchased back in July of 2006. There are times when I seriously consider upgrading to a full-frame camera like the Canon 5D, but I haven’t yet determined that it’s an absolute necessity. One benefit to the smaller sensor on the 30D is that my long lens is extended by 1.6, so I get more reach when at the park with the dogs or when shooting dog agility (see note one).

My lens collection has evolved over the last three years. After experimenting with a variety of lenses, I narrowed down my collection to a few solid performers:

- Canon 17-55mm EF-S IS USM
- Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L USM EF (the non-IS version)
- Canon EF 50mm F1.8

I also have a set of Kenko extension tubes. I didn’t really enjoy using the extension tubes on my zoom lenses. They weren’t practical with the wide-angle zoom and the 70-200 is just a bit too heavy for delicate macro work. Just for fun, my husband got me the 50mm F1.8 lens and not only is it a useful little lens for low-light shots, it also turns into a decent macro lens when used with the extension tubes. I’d highly recommend pairing this lens with the extension tubes as a relatively affordable and extremely usable macro solution.

As an example, I was playing around with the lens and the ext. tubes the other day. Here’s a close-up of a sweater that I knit about five years ago:

I also have a Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash that I’m learning how to use. When mounted on the camera, I’m able to bounce it off the ceiling to get acceptably lit photos. But, they don’t make my heart sing.

I took this photo during the first week that I had the flash. I never would have been able to get this photo before having the flash, but the flash is still my master.

This year I hope to learn how to use this flash effectively and get the lighting effects that I intend. Right now, if the flash works for me, it’s just a happy accident!

Does the equipment make the photographer? No way, but I figured that it’s better to get this big question out of the way. If I picked up your gear and started shooting, the results would be different than when you use the same gear. A photographer with a good eye and the ability to tell stories can use a point and shoot to capture a world that many of us would walk right by. I think that good gear helps get the job done like any tool. But it doesn’t create art. That’s the responsibility of the person behind the lens.

Note one: As it turns out, I misunderstood what “crop-factor” really means. I was assuming that somehow, magically, the focal lengths of my lenses were being magnified by the 1.6 crop factor. For example, I assumed that my 50mm lens was actually shooting as an 80mm. After discussing this with my husband, I learned that I had misunderstood the effects of a crop factor when I first learned about it. I plan to write a post explaining the misunderstanding, since I’m probably not the only person who is/was confused about this.

I was going to change this post so that I didn’t seem silly for not understanding this properly – but hey – photography is a life-long learning experience. So, my misunderstanding will stay published to attest to the learning process!