My equipment

For those into the technical details of my photography, here is my current equipment:

Canon EOS 60D - just upgraded this month, after rigorous testing of the alternatives. I knew I wanted a flip-out screen, and that fortunately limited my options. The 60D won out by having much superior controls, which by now is the more distinguishing factor.

Canon EOS 350D - my first DSLR. It's old and has crufty AF, so it plays backup camera.
Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro - my most beloved lens, it renders beautifully but is not long enough for photo walks. I use this for portraits as well as macros.
Canon EF-S 55-250 f/3.5-5.6 IS - my walk-about lens. Long enough to capture details, barely wide enough to get context shots.
Sigma 18-125 f/3.5-5.6 - my "vacation lens". I end up regretting whenever I only bring this, but I have nothing else that's this wide. It renders flatly and with smushed colors.
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 - for low light.
Induro AX-214 tripod - very flexible, good sturdy design, comes with a nice carrying bag and a little bag with extra spiked feet. It's nice.
White foldable bounce, 60cm wide - portable yet useful.
Strobist flash - somewhat less automatic than Canon or even Promaster, but very flexible powerful for the price.
Canon remove release - best $25 I ever spent on camera equipment. Lives unobtrusively on my strap and allows immediate or 2-second delay shots. Nothing else, and that's what I need.
Lightroom 4 - my favorite photo program. It slices, it dices, it even uploads to this blog.
CarrySpeed shoulder strap - solves the problem of the strap having to slide around your shoulder when bringing up the camera. Well worth the €50.

I have a penchant for the odd combinations (as evidenced here and here), and they're fun to play around with, but I will eventually need something better than what I have now. An ultra-wide, a better mid-range, perhaps, and a body with good AF, swivel screen, better ISO and per-lens micoradjustment are all pretty high on my list.

Fixing a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens

For future reference (once I have another lens so that I can afford to risk losing the cheapo one):

The parts list for assorted Canon products is available at http://www.f20c.com/stuff/canon/partslist/ (for now -- probably should download them while they are there).