i went to ritz camera today myself and make an exciting purchase that i am sure you will all be envious of... (scroll down) 77mm uv filter for one of my lenses. woo-hoo! we are living now! (sarcasm VERY intended)
Wow. You all are making me want to go shopping myself. Still saving for a 5D though. And a 24-105 with a Circ-Polarizing filter. And a new tripod. And .... It's pretty sad, but when it comes to camera gear, it requires a great deal of time to decide what is "right" for you. I wanted to save some $$$ so I bought the Tamron 28-75 rather than the Canon 24-105. Needless to say, less than a year later, and I'm thinking about upgrading. I also bought a Rebel XT and wish I had gotten the 30D. On the other hand, I went large and got the 580EX flash and that's been great. Bottom line - spend as much as you can afford ... it's worth it. p.s. Maybe Tim needs to add a special button to the Quick Reply feature so it can just automatically plug in the Velbon plug. That's at least the 10th time I've seen it I think I'm actually getting ready to pick one up though. I just can't take it any more and I want to join the club !