well if you are going to shoot only with studio lights outside, why would you take 4 IS over 2.8? IS doesent really do any good when using strobes. you could always use tripod or monopod, so IS wouldnt be necessary. you should check out manfrotto neotec 685B

I've seen used 70-200 f2.8 IS going for 1500 so it's not that much more. I believe the main reason most ppl prefer the f4 IS is because it weighs almost half as much as the f2.8 versions.

yeah go for it, i need the help

and for some purposes IS > extra stop, but with portraits you might want that extra stop for dof

I'd use a 100 mm L IS Macro for portraits. I did an actor's faceshots today and they came out insanely sharp. anything above 70mm takes care of face distortion.

its about fov, not really about distortion. different distance renders the facial structures in different proportion and fov sets up the distance you need to shoot from for the framing you want. you should use something closer to 200-300mm for head shots, 100mm is good for like half body shots. its not a huge difference after something like 70mm, so if you are an amateur it shouldnt matter, but if you do this for living, imo you should be aware of this because you are expected to produce professional quality in every aspect

I really don't agree with the 200-300mm as 'should' on face shots, but to each his own

merry Christmas to all that celebrate it

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Had a big dinner last night at my parents house and everyone was spoiled with gifts (now gotta pay the biils )
Woke up early still this morning and it was soooooo beautiful!!!
There was some fog overnight, and the humidity froze and covered everything with some frost! Awesome!
So I got dressed really warm.. well, I thought it was warm but still froze myself!
Not sure how cold cause I don't have a thermometer and dial-up would take forever to check on meteomedia.com for Montreal area...
Anyways... that image that Spencer posted about pro photographer, well the pro was me without the gear...
Kneeling and almost face down into the snow to be at a lower level to take what I hope to be the perfect shot!
About half an hour out in the siberian cold, some functions on my camera stopped working, like the live-view for adjusting the focus point and more...
Live view would show me the picture right after I took it, but nothing for the settings..
Now my camera is thawing in the house...
I'll wait about an hour or so before transfering the pics on my computer

Have I meantioned that I´m still waiting for the service to return my tokina 11-16mm? It´s gone for 2 months now. I´m so pissed.