Now that I am free of the fear of losing money (already lost it all), I can attack photography with a renewed passion and vigor. I realize that my cameras aren't exactly the latest and greatest but they work well and to be brutally honest there's not much difference between them and the latest cameras.
My XT has a maximum ISO of 1600 which yields very good photos. My 30D has an extended maximum ISO of 3200 which has not been tested yet due to the fact when I took my last night sky photos, I didn't know how to extend the range. I do now - it's in Canon's crazy menu system, hidden away where nobody sane would ever look. Really, seriously, Canon - do camera users look like children that want to play hide and seek? I will have to test that 3200 ISO this weekend.
Meanwhile, once I have sold the 17-35 Tamron then I shall feel freer to hunt eBay for a secondhand Rokinon 14mm since my passion is now night sky photography. Years ago, my passion was high-speed photography and I was so passionate about it that I commenced a book. Sadly somebody got in my way and decided that I should not be writing a book. I remember the words used now "You can't spell. You can't put two words together grammatically. Nobody will buy your book because nobody is interested in anything you have to write about". I am so glad that I found the incomplete parts of the manuscript a few years later and published because although its not a great seller, it does sell, proving the point that people are interested. As far as spelling and grammar are concerned - that was laughable as in the dim and distant past I was an English grammar and vocabulary instructor.
Maybe when my passion for night skies fades, I will take up high speed photography again. Maybe even go further and go into Schlieren photography or high-speed Schlieren photography. I know I sold my flashes that I used for high-speed photography but that doesn't particularly worry me. I believe we are at a crossroads for photographic lighting. LED flash units seem to be being experimented with currently. Most cellphones have LED flashes. They work well. Already somebody is attempting that which I predicted and which some idiots on a Flickr High-Speed photography group dismissed as impossible, namely building an LED powered high-speed flash unit. I suspect the same individual/s is/are responsible for the 2 bad reviews, which if you read the books will be seen as the nonsensical reviews they are. I have a feeling that I might be building my next flash unit from LEDs rather than buying a commercial unit.
The future is bright. At 1600 ISO I can't get the colors of the interstellar gas clouds to be visible. I suspect with 3200 ISO albeit extended (whatever in God's name that means, Canon) then they might become visible. It will also be interesting if I get a 14mm lens, to see what difference that makes. See - now that I am not held back, I can go forward. It's a lovely feeling!
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