Teaser

From the secret device.

EOS 20D arrived

Lots of things happend since my last postin my life. photographically speaking the most important is the arrival of the 20D i got via ebay. i am pretty happy about my purchase. the camera feels so much more responsive and faster in my hands than my Canon Eos 5D or any of my medium format cameras. it is great fun to shoot with 5 frames per second and the larger depth of field the smaller sensor yields make it a lot easier to handle the camera.

there is also a second addition to my arsenal which i am even more thrilled about but i don´t want to reveal what it is just yet. have to use it more and make my mind up on it.

ebay: DSLR on the cheap

today i won an ebay auction on a Canon EOS 20D. i bought this camera to take it on my upcomming trip to Cuba. i wanted to have a second camera with me because of various reasons:

• to have a backup-body in case one camera fails 
• to minimize lens swapping and to always have the right lens on the camera (no lens swapping means i can remove the camera straps as i alwasy hung the camera from my neck while changing lenses.
• the 20D comes with two additional batteries so i will have more batteries with me (maybe i can leave the charger at home too), it shares the same type of batteries as my workhorse, the Canon EOS 5D, same goes for the memory cards. this was the deciding factor over the other models i looked at like the 350d, 400D and 450D. the 20D also has the same control layout, larger viewfinder, better autofocus and is sturdier at the expense of higher weight.
• the higher pixel-density of the 20D lends itself for use with longer lenses which turn into higher magnification or more pixels per duck.
  

But actually i wanted to tell you something else instead. the Canon EOS 20D was one of the first really mature digital single lens reflex cameras back then. today the price for used 20Ds is very low, the camera still offers the same magnificent image quality and will do so for the comming years. this makes it a real bargain today. the one i bought from a commercial seller via ebay is in good condition, comes with 2 batteries, charger, cables and the box, and this all for only 226€. many point&shoots cost more and can´t deliver the same image quality. the economic crisis makes ebay a great place to buy photogear, for example  last week i got a polaroid back for my Mamiya RZ67 (more about this baby later) for only 10,50€! 

Book Review: Annie Leibovitz At Work

I just finished reading the book "At Work" by Annie Leibovitz. In this book the world famous photographer she is speaks about her career in the photoindustry. it is a very nice read and it contains lots of little stories that keep the book entertaining ( i read it within a week). All those who expect how-to instructions on how every image was constructed will be disapointed, better look elsewhere. The images shown in the book are of fantastic print quality but rather small, why can´t they be larger ??? To see them larger i recommend to look at the book "Photographs Annie Leibovitz 1970-1990".

Featured in the Visual Lyric Exhibition

November was 2008´s month of photography. So lots of special photography-exhibitions were showing great stuff. I was featured in the Visual Lyric Exhibition at the Graphische Wien with this photo.

3rd in the "Light & Architecture" Photo-Contest

I participated in the "Light & Architecture" Photo-Contest hosted by the Vienna Photographic Society. I came in third and was awarded with a €1000 voucher by CANON Austria. Now i have to decide how to spend the money, this definitly is most difficult.

About me

It might be a good idea to introduce myself at the beginning. I am a 27 year old photographer living in good old Vienna, Austria. In earlier times i graduated from law-school, but i am now studying photography at the Graphische in Vienna where i am about to graduate in september this year. So there is still a bit of learning to do.

My New Blog

A close friend of mine suggested starting a blog to share my view on photography with the world and everybody interested out there. I will talk about all aspects of photography, there will be my thoughts about gear, artistic matters and finds on the internet that are worth sharing.

This blog will replace the "news" section on my website ( www.philippderganz.com ). Be sure to check out my website in a couple of weeks again, it´s due for an update soon. There will be some minor changes in the layout and it will feature some new content a.k.a. photos. Choosing what to show is the difficult part.