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My Canon EOS 40D arrived today :D

Tanveer,

I read about a person buying it for 25k from smartshoppers.in for his canon camera on jjmehta forum. And, it has supposed to have arrived in 6 days without anything to complain about (as in the packing etc).

EDIT: I remember the part where he mentioned that someone called him after he placed the order to confirm the mount he wanted. The link,
jjmehta's Photography Forum - About Smartshoppers.in

Congrats once again, go on a shooting spree now ;)

Good to hear that! So this lens is cheaper in India than US. Well it went a few notches above in my want list... lets see is I win a lottery or something!

Just 1 word of caution to all those buying lenses online from online retailers where returning a lens with a complete refund is not an option: 3rd party lens makers such as Tokina/Tamron/Sigma all make excellent lenses as good or better than their OEM counterparts but surely they have a slightly worse quality control than the OEM manufacturers. So if buying online talk to the person selling you the lens about possibility of a return for a full refund in case of a less than a stellar sample. To give you an example, I had returned a tamron 17-35 back to KEH when i found that the LHS of the lens was a bit fuzzy than the RHS. The seller being KEH took the lens back and refunded me the amount minus shipping with out a word.

I have heard horror stories about Sigma and Tamron less so about Tokina. So buy from a store with a good return policy especially with the 3rd party lenses and especially expensive lenses.

Thank you it_inspector :)


Overall had a pleasant experience buying from US. Also the package reached one day ahead of schedule. It was supposed to be delivered on Dec 1st according to UPS tracker. Shipping was quick, the item was despatched on 24th Nov.

Was it delivered to India or you got it shipped it to someone in US? If India, could you share the shipping charges and customs duty if any.

Thanks,
Jag

Okay, this is a heads up for those thinking about getting into DSLR use from a PnS background.

The account is anecdoctal (applies to my personal experience) so it doesn’t count as empirical evidence for my case. But IT’s scenario of early jumping ship of amateur DSLR adopters shows it’s a common experience. But again, your mileage may vary.

I bought an Oly DSLR based on reports on JJMehta forum about its ability to overcome dust problems in Indian usage. Geek side of me is very happy with the cam: the Oly dust buster is excellent.

But DSLR usage has certain limitations, It requires a lot of resources in terms of time and energy (read weight) and I have often felt self conscious about going to weddings with it. (Don’t want to appear as a show off. Different thing though when I go for a sporting event, when the DSLR really shines, for its ability to zoom and catch fast action. I think if F1 comes to India, the sales of the “white” lenses will sky rocket!).

Next, I found that most of my photo opportunities turn up at unprepared moments. I decided to buy a good cellpnone cam, starting with a Sony k750 (now with my son) and then a Nokia N82 (autofocus, xenon flash goodness!)

One of my clients is an auto enthusiast and this is what I shot when my associates take their turn consulting with said client: (also brings a Merc 500 Sl, and an Audi A8 in rotation!) see image.

Another of my clients arrives for consultation at our downtown office and parks a Jag S class and a Merc gull wing SLK in the building basement!

The cell cams did not cut it inside the basement, so I sprang for a Fuji F11, the low light champ of the day, offering near DSLR quality at high ISO. Also shot a lot of piccies of the pets waitng in the cars: French hunting poodles, Weinmareiners, pugs, etc). One occasion, my piccies at a wedding saved the day: the pro's DSLR broke down!

Since I began to face limitations in zoom (shooting while driving!), I began to search for a compact, big sensor, solution and shortlisted the Oly e-p1:

Olympus E-P1 - Buy Olympus E-P1 online in India, best price n review

Prices are actually lower than Singapore now! Will wait for the e-p2 launch for prices to go even lower, because I never buy at the (b)leading edge of the technology trend.

I hope to get better quality shots than my compacts and also revive the use of my Zuiko glass, using the 43 to m43 adaptors which are SUPPLIED with the e-p1!

But if I find that the old Oly 43s are not cutting it, I will be retiring the set.

Readers: Please consider the choice of going for DSLR purchase, as IT has pointed out the general trend in amateur adoption of the same. Entry level DSLR sales are sluggish, leading to huge price slashes. Moral of the story: DSLRs are pro orientated.

At least if you pull the trigger on m43, you’ll get a competent PnS as well as a path for future growth. And it will always be a useful backup to your advanced gear should you upgrade to DSLR.

Shipping charge depends on the equipment you buy -its weight and also cost since shipping insurance depends on the value of your equipment. For my $699 item weighing around 5pounds the shipping rate was $83 (UPS Express) to India. Duty is 24%.

Congrats Sankar!!

Looking forward see the photos.

Thanks Shankar, I just wanted a ballpark figure of the shipping cost and customs duty.

I got my contact in Delhi to check out pricing for APO Sigma 70-300mm DG Macro and he told me its Rs.7.5K with bill and warranty:Shockked: ( in a pleasant way)

Because, non-APO one sells at that price here so i have my own doubts so i asked my contact to double check it

btw, livyodream, can you post a few pictures ( including macro) just to see the quality of images? TIA

Any particular reason why you want to go with 70-300 and not the Canon 55-250IS? IMO, the IS really helps at higher magnification. And the IQ is pretty much the same in both. Yes, it's 50mm lesser but its not that big a loss.

7.5 K ?? that sounds fishy. I dont think it will be so cheap. Cross verify before you buy mate.

Sure, right now im in office and do not have the dump of my pictures, will post once I go home. N i dont use macro as my area of interests lies in astro, so macro is of no use for me. Havent even tried take pictures of flower or something. Capturing the moon with this lens is fun (Not tried with any other costly lens though)

Avi's got a Nikon D40x and his budget for a tele is in the 10k range. In the Nikon mounts i think the options are 18-200 , 50-200 , 70-300 and some crazy 150-400/500 ones. Keeping his "budget" ( usage actually ) in mind , i think only the 70-300 Sigma and Tamron fit the bill.