EOS Discovery

Signed up for the EOS Discovery event as Alan just got his 30D and keen to see more on the Canon products.

Before the event, I went to the Sony Centre at Tottenham Court Road and finally get a touch on the GBP1,000 Sony A700, with the GBP250 tagged vertical grip. No way I am going to get it in the UK for that price but just to get a feel of it to decide whether or not to upgrade when I go back to M'sia this December.

First impression, it's solid and looks great with the function packed VG, the AF is much faster than the A100 and the 3" LCD Bravia like screen is absolutely amazing. Although the noise at high ISO seems much improved now but at the same time it becomes my worry that it could be over processed for the on-chip noise reduction.

Come back to the event, To be honest I don't have plan to switch brand yet at the moment but no doubt Canon is the major player in the DSLR market and I don't mind to have a look on the system. I did owned a EOS 50 many years ago and do have some product knowledge on Canon range.

The event is hosted by professional photographers, Drew Gardner is one of them which has some amazing works (found his website online, ehhh... how come he's the Nikon featured photographer of the Year???). I am quite attracted by his philosophy that don't set a limit in photography and try to catch as much in the camera rather than post processing (more than agree as myself is taking ages to process the photos...).

Photographs submitted by participants online were presented and discussed and it was really interactive. Alan got his baby's photo shown on the projector screen at last. The event is mainly promoting the new EOS 40D, and now I realised how useful the 'live view' function is especially for macro photography when they demonstrate it on stage. The event also covered portrait photography using wireless Speedlite flashguns. All done professionally.

After the seminar was the Product Touch and Try, with coffee and cookies provided! Initially I thought it's only for the new 40D but apparently it's the whole range of Canon products, with models and objects for participants to shoot, freely! I was happy enough playing with the top 1Ds MKIII, 5D, macro ring flash, top lenses like 600mm/F4, 300mm/F2.8, 85mm/F1.2 etc etc. You won't be treated this way if you're going to a camera shop! We even got a goodies bag before we left.

I was quite impressed indeed. How I wish Sony UK will spend some money organising this sort of events.

So... after touching both on the same night, 40D or A700? If I can afford those top glass I'll definitely go for Canon. But if it's 40D vs A700, the answer is obvious - A700 is still my choice, even though it's without live view but it just gives me the right feel ;-)