Yeah...what else is new? Equipment sucks shit.
I was at a retreat thing over the weekend, and I talked to a guy who brought his Nikon camera with a flash. I never realized what I was missing...even after just snapping a few quick shots and looking over what he'd taken himself. That thing totally fucked my mind up.
None of you have ANY idea (well...you probably do, actually) how much I struggled with and was frustrated by having to work with ambient lighting all the time; especially when I was on assignment for my school's paper back in the day...have you ever tried taking shots of people on a stupidly dimly lit stage in a lecture hall lit only by fluorescent lights 50 feet above you? Or god forbid, one of those poorly lit classrooms with a mish-mash of different kinds of bulbs...or even a fucking club or party, or omg...a concert...working only with the lighting available there?
A flash would have changed my life back then...lol...but I never knew. T_T
I've moved a flash to the top of my list of need-to-get items, along with a good general use zoom lens.
I love my 50mm prime, but 80mm is getting to be bothersome indoors and when taking group shots...or landscapes and whatnot. The IQ is absolutely mind-boggling, but as far as overall practicality/application goes, it lacks, as all prime lenses do, I suppose.
I would love to get something like a 17mm wide angle, but they're too expensive. I'm looking at Tamron's 17-50mm lens (or is it 18-50?). It's f/2.8, which is good enough I guess (I've been spoiled by my prime's f/1.4 madness), and I heard its IQ is, while still inferior to, is at least comparable to Canon's 24-70mm f/2.8. That lens is an absolute masterpiece, but I'm gonna wait 'til Canon finally decides to pull their heads out of their asses and release an IS version before I even think about cutting off a leg and purchasing one.
Back to flashes, though...I would love a 580exx speedlite or whatever the latest and greatest thing is, but at like ~$400, it'd cost more than the Tamron lens. I guess I'll have to settle for the 400-something whatever the number is for the slave one. As long as it tilts, rotates and has adjustable flash intensity, s'all good, right?
god, I need to win the fucking lottery...