My uncle's asking me what he should get for christmas, camera-wise.

At present he has:

• EOS 400D
• 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO Lens
• 17-40 f/4L lens
• 24-105 f/4L
• Big Expensive HP A3 Inkjet

All of the above he's more than happy with, and probably isn't limited by the equipment, so I don't think upgrades/replacements are called for. As far as I'm aware he takes mostly travel-holiday-y photographs, with rugby matches thrown in as well. I was thinking maybe a tripod, but I'm not convinced he'd use it that much. I guess maybe a slightly more fun/unusual lens (macro, fisheye, ...), or maybe a flash. But then flash is a bit of a dark art (no pun intended) and I think he prefers to just get decent-ish photos as an end result and not have to mess about tinkerring with settings to get everything perfect. Budget isn't really an issue.

What about a LensBaby system? They seem to be raved over as a fun thing to play with.

He seems to be lacking in the faster lens arena, so how about a nifty-fifty at f/1.2?

Mark

A nice bag? A good tripod? I'll second Mark's choice of a good prime lens as well. I have an early model LensBaby, it doesn't come out to play very often I have to admit - but who knows, it's a bit of a Marmite piece of kit really, he might love it!

I've discussed this with him before, but can't really rememeber the outcome. I know we debated whether he should get the 24-105 f/4L IS or the 24-70 f/2.8L non-IS. He seems to prefer the flexibility of extra-reach and generally likes zoom-y-ness, especially with IS, of the slower lens, where as I've said from the off I want the f/2.8L for a near-identical price.

I think I definitely need to discuss things more, but thought I'd get an opinion here too.

A camera he can fit in his pocket? A DSLR is great - but at times, they are too cumbersome to take some places. You can get some very good compacts which speak DSLR, but fit in your pocket.

Also - how about a battery grip? Well worth the investment.

Good thinking, Paul. Sorry - forgot that he has a little camera too. Battery Grip added to the list of possibilities.

You're not very good at providing all the details to start with, are you Edd?

Mark

In which case why not suggest he get a Sigma 50-500 f/4-6.3?
Suggest he also gets a 2x converter for a 100-1,000mm lens.
(8+)

Mark

EDIT - There's always the Sigma 400-1,000mm f/5.6 lens.
What about a full frame camera?

He could buy Mark and I a Leica M9 if he want’s a warm glowing feeling inside

I’d suggest a monopod as well. If he’s doing sport photography, something like that may be work having if he has long heavy lenses to hold up.

Lens converters tend to drop an f-stop, so those f4.5 lenses start to get very dark. May I suggest the 70-200 f2.8 zoom lens?
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-can ... ens/p12847

Expensive, heavy, but fast and well worth having if sports photography is his bag. The image stabiliser (which is built into the lens) is worth paying the extra for.

You can whack a x2 converter (http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-can ... der/p12859) on it . You’d lose 2 f stops, which will turn your f2.8 into an f5.6.

I know. That's the lens I want, but I think he likes the compact-ness of the 70-300. I think he treats his DSLR as a step-up from a bridge camera, and uses it largely for snap-type photos.

And me!

What about me? At least I'm related!