[amitk26]

Originally Posted by it_inspector

Well the way it looks, sony might just trump Pentax soon. Sony has the capacity to do it and are preparing to do it. Sony already produces and supplies Sensors to Pentax/canon/Nikon/Samsung/olympus and sony has made it clear about their intentions in DSLR world.


Cheers

I am leaning towards Canon now and checking if there is any option to buy a used one in India. So either a used 40D or new 500D.

A small correction Sony is not a semiconductor giant exactly and Samsung manufactures CMOS Sensors among others. Anyway Semiconductor discussion is not the topic here and it is a small portion in overall product design so please ignore this

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by navin

Samurai has an Olympus kit. So far he seems to have managed well. I dont know much about Pentax or it's service network in India.

Well, the only trouble with Olympus is in service network and resale value. Olympus as a system has served my need perfectly. I've used my dSLRs in rain, dust and extreme humid weather. I don't have to repeat how humid the coastal weather is in these parts. I don't use any dry box or silica gel or any other fungus or weather fighting techniques.

Zuiko lenses are excellent. All my lenses except for the 40-150mm are high grade lenses that have dust and splash proof construction. The E-3 is also totally weather proof. The anti-dust sensor works as expected.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Finally done the deed! I bought a refurbished 40D (body only) from Adorama. It comes with a 1 year store warranty but that's useless here anyways. I went with 40D instead of 30D since Canon is already into Digic 4 series of processors and didn't want to be two generations behind the latest.

Congratulations on your purchase this seems to be best option , May I know if you are getting it in USA or it is being shipped to India and what is the applicable duty etc in that case ?

PS : One tip in case you are interested in buying a high speed card ( 30Mb /sec) for your DSLR search for Silicon Power 16Gb 200X On ebay it is 32$ shipped free to India from Taiwan which is less then half of SandDisk Extreme III 16Gb 30MB/S version with same read / write speed.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Congratz! how much did it cost and what lenses are you picking up?

Will have to pick up the lenses locally I think i shall start with a 18-55 IS kit lens. Or something better if any used deals are available. PMed.

Originally Posted by amitk26

A small correction Sony is not a semiconductor giant exactly and Samsung manufactures CMOS Sensors among others. Anyway Semiconductor discussion is not the topic here and it is a small portion in overall product design so please ignore this

Sony supplies sensors to Nikon this i have read in dpreview. Also I have read that Canon manufactures their own sensor.

Originally Posted by amitk26

Congratulations on your purchase this seems to be best option , May I know if you are getting it in USA or it is being shipped to India and what is the applicable duty etc in that case ?

PS : One tip in case you are interested in buying a high speed card ( 30Mb /sec) for your DSLR search for Silicon Power 16Gb 200X On ebay it is 32$ shipped free to India from Taiwan which is less then half of SandDisk Extreme III 16Gb 30MB/S version with same read / write speed.

I have replied to your PM.
Thanks for the lead i do have to get a CF for the cam

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by amitk26

I am leaning towards Canon now and checking if there is any option to buy a used one in India. So either a used 40D or new

What would be the price difference between new and used cameras. I'm sorry if it's a dumb question but I never go to internet for checking this.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

I would love to know how many of us here carry their camera regularly with them? .....

I carry my camera almost everyday in my back-pack. But my camera is not a DSLR. Most of the time I carry Canon A610. Once in a while I carry Canonet QL19 with Nova 125 b&w film or Zenit k122 with Kodak 400 color film!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

What would be the price difference between new and used cameras. I'm sorry if it's a dumb question but I never go to internet for checking this.

well a new 500D and used 40D costs almost exactly same , 40D is discontinued and replaced by 50D which is priced much higher and does not make sense for a novice.

My assumpition is 40D should be better as it was for professionals but. In case 40D does not offer much advantage I am almost decided on 500D.

Specification wise 500D looks better to me ( in terms of processor and sensor) but I am not too sure about various features and metering modes.

Anyway I have never purchased any used item before.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

Once in a while I carry Canonet QL19 with Nova 125 b&w film..

That's fantastic. It's one of those total trouble free cameras those days. I liked their 45 mm 1.9 lens. It's slightly wider than regular 55 mm and gave punchy (Kodak Plus-X) results.

Henri Cartier-Bresson would have loved this camera but he was a Leica man.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

What would be the price difference between new and used cameras. I'm sorry if it's a dumb question but I never go to internet for checking this.

Used 40D with E rating (excellent as per adorama rating system) can be had starting from $649. Some go even lower like $599.

New Xt1i/500D with 18-55 IS kit lens costs $699 from Amazon.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Yes you are right , I just asked to do a small dipstick survey in this community of photo gurus and no responses indicate Pentax will not find much support in India. So now Olympus and Pentax are ruled out due to pretty much same reasons and I am back to Nikon / Canon.

Most importantly as you are still deciding or maybe have decided on Canon, it is always wise to do a comparison of the lenses that you will need and the relative price difference between similar lenses across systems. Lenses will usually outlast most camera bodies especially in today's digital age and most of the cameras today can pretty much produce good shots in the hands of right people, irrespective of brands.
So the choice of a system should be decided mainly on the lens and the flash system that a manufacturer offers and the sensor, metering etc should not really be a deciding factor to choose a system. All brands today have a pretty good sensor and a metering system in place and should not be deal breaker at all.

If you are looking for longer reach at a minimum cost Olympus will be a good option as the same lenses on Olympus will give you a lot more reach than an equivalent Nikon/Canon. Also Oly is officially available in India with pretty good support unlike Pentax. Apart from the better reach they do offer some delicious wide angle zooms which are amongst the best in business.

On a Different note if it helps any body, I have purchased used equipment from KEH and I would rate them higher that B&H and Adorama in used equipment purchases. Their ratings of the condition of used equipment is very very conservative and their EX and higher rated lenses cant be distinguised from new.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Well, the only trouble with Olympus is in service network and resale value.

Oh, I forgot to mention one more flaw. When you talk about Olympus system in any photography forum or thread, nobody gives a damn.

[Torqueguru]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Oh, I forgot to mention one more flaw. When you talk about Olympus system in any photography forum or thread, nobody gives a damn.

Hilarious comment there! But I have a lot of respect for the auto focusing system used in the E3, its probably the best in the world. I had the chance to try them out a couple of times as 2 of my instructors at the university own them and i was really impressed with the responsiveness of the camera! I was shooting action and with a shutter speed of upto 8000, I was able to freeze pretty much anything, that too with lightning fast AF. The only thing i didnt like was that I had to go to preview mode each time i wanted to delete an image( i am a voracious image deleter, as part of quality check, so I would like to delete the image as soon as i click if its not good.) I do not know about the ISO capabilities of the camera..Samurai, how is the noise levels at high ISOs?

[Sankar]

I'm not an expert but in reviews i have read where the Oly lacks is during high ISO shooting compared to its larger sensor equipped peers.
Oly E620 is a really nice kit to have with features list and build quality scoring higher over other entry level cams. Very nice cam for the $, i wish they had a wider presence in the SLR market here.

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by amitk26

A small correction Sony is not a semiconductor giant exactly and Samsung manufactures CMOS Sensors among others. Anyway Semiconductor discussion is not the topic here and it is a small portion in overall product design so please ignore this

Are you sure?

I can give a list of things sony does but you can open up pretty much any electronic item and chances are you will find sony stamped inside it.

Remember, Sony does more OEM work than retail and to top it off sony rents out manufacturing plants just like IBM rents out mainframe's.

Originally Posted by Sankar

Thanks for your valuable input guys!
Finally done the deed! I bought a refurbished 40D (body only) from Adorama. It comes with a 1 year store warranty but that's useless here anyways. I went with 40D instead of 30D since Canon is already into Digic 4 series of processors and didn't want to be two generations behind the latest.

Congrats!!! Go nuts taking pictures. I have to say, very good thinking, 50D is not a big upgrade and it makes sense to buy 40D and upgrade when 60D comes out.

Originally Posted by navin

You mean to say you take your DSLR kit everywhere? Wow! You must have a huge collection of fantastic photos (your camera kit is impressive too). Do you have a website (pbase, flicker, etc..)?

Yes i do take my DSLR with me everywhere and yes i do have a huge collection but its PRIVATE and only few (7-8) images are available on-line and that too are over 2 years old. I would be releasing some of my work when i get the chance to travel across india next year.

You don`t know about my kit and i don`t carry complete kit everywhere otherwise i would need to start driving a van. I only carry Nikon D90, 24-70, 70-200, 50mm f1.4, Shutter remote with Invalanometer and few sb900`s with me everywhere, these all fit nicely in a Lowepro Trekker (its fairly old and painted up to look like $2 chinese crap). Rest of the gear has their own Pelican type cases. Except the Backdrop system.

I use an iphone 3gs, so camera quality on it is crap and so far in 4months, i have taken about 2 pics with it.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

You're probably one those very few. I'm talking about most of us and our daily life.
I find lowepro trekker cumbersome to lug around everyday. I take it for my long trips outside city. For everyday use I carry lowepro Stealth Reporter. Find it much more compact to move around.

I used to carry D90 and tried using G10 but wasn`t satisfied. So went back to D90 but then got sick and needed to drive.

Now i drive car pretty much everywhere i go, since i got very weak immune system (cancer), i cannot travel use public transport, so have to use my car. So its no biggie, otherwise i would also be carrying a stealth reporter. Actually i have one, i got it from SBS as a DAT kit, but I havn`t used it much.

Originally Posted by livyodream

hmm. so u can click using the trigger is it ??? how is that connected ?

With Photosniper, one needed to use mechanical shutter cable tied to the trigger. With bushhawk, trigger is electronic and comes with right cable adapter for customer`s DSLR and it is a 2stage trigger, much like a normal shutter button.

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

I carry my camera almost everyday in my back-pack. But my camera is not a DSLR. Most of the time I carry Canon A610. Once in a while I carry Canonet QL19 with Nova 125 b&w film or Zenit k122 with Kodak 400 color film!

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

That's fantastic. It's one of those total trouble free cameras those days. I liked their 45 mm 1.9 lens. It's slightly wider than regular 55 mm and gave punchy (Kodak Plus-X) results.

Henri Cartier-Bresson would have loved this camera but he was a Leica man.

Now i feel guilty for my using my 6x17 more often :(

[Samurai]

Hey TG, thanks for giving a damn!

Originally Posted by Torqueguru

and i was really impressed with the responsiveness of the camera! I was shooting action and with a shutter speed of upto 8000, I was able to freeze pretty much anything, that too with lightning fast AF.

Yeah, that is blazing fast especially with 12-60mm lens.

Originally Posted by Torqueguru

I do not know about the ISO capabilities of the camera..Samurai, how is the noise levels at high ISOs?

It ain't that bad anymore.

The following pic was shot handheld at ISO2000, at 1/6 sec.



More shots at ISO2000 can be seen here. It is not noise free, but it isn't too bad.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...-art-form.html (Yakshagana - A coastal Karnataka art form)

The following is mostly ISO1600.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...pictorial.html (Bhoota Kola: A pictorial)

Originally Posted by Sankar

I'm not an expert but in reviews i have read where the Oly lacks is during high ISO shooting compared to its larger sensor equipped peers.
Oly E620 is a really nice kit to have with features list and build quality scoring higher over other entry level cams.

The E-620 doesn't suffer high ISO noise like the earlier entry level cameras. Now dpreview puts E-620 high ISO performance in the pros instead of cons list.

Olympus E-620 Review: 31. Conclusion: Digital Photography Review