Just to say thanks to this forum for alerting me to TalkPhotography, what a brilliant place that is and, as you can see from the thread title it's led to me rejoining the ranks of DSLR ownership.

I've just ordered an EOS 40D, Tamron SP 17-50mm f 2.8 XR Di-II VC EF fit, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM and a BG-E2.

Now to go and find a good CF card (Sandisk are properly expensive what others do people recommend and what speed should I be looking to get), tripod (manfrotto and red snapper have been recommended but if there are others feel free to shout them out), filters (again recommendations for where to get a circular polarizing filter and others are welcome) and a bag.

Gotta have love for TP!

The speed of the card shouldnt be too much of a problem. Even if you are looking to machine gun off a few shots now and then, the buffer will fill before the card has speed issues, quicker cards are really just for PC transfer rate and clearing the buffer once full, Id be looking 40mb/s?

Again, I have just recently replaced my last tripod and had the same issue, redsnapper vs manfrotto. In the end i went for a manfrotto mainly for the 10year warranty, and i have been through quite a few cheap tripods in the past.

For a CPL you really need to spend as best as you can afford here. Any extra glass in front of the lens is bad news, never mind if it is crap! Hoya come well reccommended and shouldnt break the bank.

For your bag, it is mainly down to how accessible you want the camera, what do you mostly shoot?

I have a couple of bags, depending on where I am going.

Anyway, congrats on the new kit, sounds like you will be having fun with it!

Where's the camera kit from?

Gotta have love for TP!

The speed of the card shouldnt be too much of a problem. Even if you are looking to machine gun off a few shots now and then, the buffer will fill before the card has speed issues, quicker cards are really just for PC transfer rate and clearing the buffer once full, Id be looking 40mb/s?

Again, I have just recently replaced my last tripod and had the same issue, redsnapper vs manfrotto. In the end i went for a manfrotto mainly for the 10year warranty, and i have been through quite a few cheap tripods in the past.

For a CPL you really need to spend as best as you can afford here. Any extra glass in front of the lens is bad news, never mind if it is crap! Hoya come well reccommended and shouldnt break the bank.

For your bag, it is mainly down to how accessible you want the camera, what do you mostly shoot?

I have a couple of bags, depending on where I am going.

Anyway, congrats on the new kit, sounds like you will be having fun with it!

Cheers, I can't wait and I think I've got a couple of cracking lenses with a well respected body and as both lenses are EF spec I can use them when I work my way up to a 1 Mk IV

It's taken me some time to decide between Canon and Nikon but my heart was always with Canon and my head has digested enough information to know that I've made the right decision for me.

My previous DSLR was a Pentax K10D and, after many, many Pentax SLRs which I loved the DSLR was a massive disappointment, it was noisy which for the wildlife photography that I do was a problem, there wasn't that much support about for them and there was and still is a distinct lack of users and secondhand stuff. I ended up selling at quite a loss and getting a Canon compact followed by a better Canon compact. I also shoot motorports, scenery, landscapes etc.

Hoya are cheap compared to Lee, I've learned that much already

CF cards; I can get a 32Gb 600x Duracell (which I've read good reports about) for £53 delivered what do you think? Or should I look at Lexmark etc or indeed should I not scrimp and go for a Sandisc.

The bag isn't a problem, I've already seen a couple of day bags that I fancy and will take cases on board once I am firmly ensconced back in the world of amateur photography.

Where's the camera kit from?

I got today's lot from MPB.

Cheers! I'll have a looksie!

For the card have a look at 7dayshop very good prices or have a look at camerapricebuster they have a price comparison section for cards and hoya filters

one quick though on memory cards which I was told and I have stuck with is.

it is better to have 3 or 4 small capacity cards that one large one becuase if one goes faulty then you have not lost everything.

I have not actully had a card go faulty on me it's just worth thinking about

Thanks folks I have 7day shop in my favourites but not camerapricebuster.

Good tip re: A few smaller cards rather than 1 large, cheers.

Well sadly, with arthritis playing havok with my hands, not to mention my knees and hips (too many bike crashes) I've decided to sell this lot plus the extras that I bought like bag, tripod, filters etc. I'll put an ad on here as well as TP but won't be getting around to 'creating the ad' until weekend so anyone interested shout now - you never know you could save me some typing

7 day shop own brand cards are good as are Kingston etc, I use them, I also bought my 24-105 L off 7 day and my 60mm Macro (Canon).

I am wanting to sell my 50D and will advertise it before xmas.

Now off to read the rules in for sale bit on here.

I started with a 400D and Tamron lenses, however over the last couple of years I upgraded to the 50D and scanned the for sale areas on forums and the likes of 7 day shop to find "L" lenses at reasonable prices, I got the 24-105 for £650 and I have 100-400 for £550 second hand. I am looking to replace the 50D with the 7D soon.

TP is great until u upset a mod or do anything that could be considered an infringement of the rules.....

TP is great until u upset a mod or do anything that could be considered an infringement of the rules.....

I have to agree with you on that. We started our own forum for photography, all based around meets and sharing the knowledge, the next meet is Brands Hatch for truck racing first weekend of November