[JLS]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

OT: Sorry for going off topic but I am planning to buy a canon zoom lens. Please help me choose between EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L and EF 70-200 f/2.8 L.
The price is pretty much the same for both ( around 1600 USD). On one hand I get a wider focal length while on the other I have a super fast lens.
Now I want to go for the 100-400 but then if I put in a 1.4x extender I get a decent range in the 70-200 as well with marginal increase in the f-stop.

I think the price you have quoted are on higher side, in a standard store like BH Photo Video, these lenses would cost around 1100 USD.

I would like to ask you, what is your usage.
For birds and wild life photography, 100-400 is better, for poitrets from long distance 70-200 could be better, also for sports ( like basket ball) 70-200 can be better. So its entirely on your usage.

I believe you have already considered one thing though, 100-400 is push-pull zoom, while 70-200 is normal twist zoom.

To add more choices, there are three more varients for 70-200 from Canon.
- 70-200 f4 ( around 600 US$), one of the most economical L class zoom, excellent photo quality
- 70-200 f4 IS ( around 1200 US$), though only f4, but this lens has set bencchmarks in terms of image sharpness and also the IS is extremely useful ( last gen, much better than earlier versions)
- 70-200 F2.8 IS ( around 1600 US$) this is the glass used my many pros


in 100-400 range, Sigma has two offferings which you can consider if you are not keen on IS
- 50-500 f4.5 -5.6
- 100-300 f4
both are around 900 US$ and are quite popular.

If you are keen on IS, Sigma has one 80-400 OS ( not very popular though)

However, overall I believe that if you need 100-400 range, Canon offering is best, you may want to wait for sometimes and check Canon news etc, as 100-400 is very old design and may get replaced with better design.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

JLS

[JLS]

@clevermax

I can only say, whoa, what a job.

Congratulations.

I wish I had tis courage, patience and skills to open and repair lens.

I had, 70-300 USM 4-5.6 Canon lens, which was rendered useless due too fungus.

Regards,

JLS

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by JLS

In my opinion, filters, that too the cheap verity is best avoided.
With little care and presense of mind, you can avoid bumping/damaging your lens.
My finding is that filter degrades picture quality a lot. I was using UV filter on my 17-85 lens and PQ was ok, after I stopped using filter, both sharpness and colors improved a lot in my photos.

If you are prone to bumping, suggest to buy a proper hood and attach it in front of lens, less convinient but better photographically ( helps in avoiding stray light falling on lense and spoiling your photo also)

regards,

JLS

Filters are a necessary evil. One can spend hours or days in photoshop and its still not possible to create effects created by filters. Some examples are:-

- Nd filters
- Half Nd or Gnd filters
- Polarizer filter

Also no one bumps/drops/hits their lens intentionally. Accidents happen. And the thing is with filters like Hoya Pro1 D protector filter, its designed with someone dropping the lens in mind and when dropped it acts like a cars crunch zone and takes all the energy protecting the lens.

I have personally seen few broken lens because the owner skimped on a $50 protector filter, dropped the lens and lost $2000.

If these are not worth it then Nikon/Canon will stop adding protective glass in front of expensive super tele lenses.

Also hood stops only and only lights from different angles, which will bounce inside the lens and give flare, it serves no other purpose.

Cheers

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by aburagohain

Absolutely well done, thanks for sharing the photos and the fact that it can be done, I am happy for you and the results you got with the cleaned lens. Hope the infinity focus works out well too.

Originally Posted by JLS

@clevermax
I can only say, whoa, what a job.
Congratulations.
I wish I had tis courage, patience and skills to open and repair lens.
I had, 70-300 USM 4-5.6 Canon lens, which was rendered useless due too fungus.
Regards,
JLS

Thanks folks. Hey JLS, one of my friends also has a 70-300 Canon, and he is also planning to open it up after reading my story..!

You need to plan it well, read about it, and be very precise with your hands and patient. For me, I am happy that the preparation and the 5 hours of effort paid off.

I shall upload some more pics taken with it, in the non-auto image thread later.

[Sankar]

Does this mean 40D has a better sensor than 50D?

[JackSparrow]

Guys, there is an ex demo CANON EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) for $980(plus $20 shipping). It was on amazon.com but not advertised anymore. Contacted the seller and this is what he had to say:
"Hello,
the Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3-inch LCD (Body Only) is still available for $980.00 + $20.00 shipping. It is new (it's an ex demo therefore it has hardly been used and is as good as new it just had to be listed as 'used' as the box has been opened; the Camera is in New condition, only exposed, no problems), comes with 12 months Canon warranty, receipt, all manufacturer supplied accessories.
i am not on Amazon anymore, it is the last unit (i have a stock liquidation). let me know if you want to buy this unit.
we will deal trough Amazon. we will setup the order through Amazon, i would need your name and address so i can contact Amazon and ask them to setup an order for you, and for delivery purposes. i had to inform Amazon about who is my buyer. after that they will contact you for payment and delivery. my return policy is full money back in 30 days or replace the product if its faulty."

What do you guys think of it? Should I go for it.
If anyone is interested let me know, I'll give you the contact details(in case I decide to go with T1i).

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by JackSparrow

Guys, there is an ex demo CANON EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) for $980(plus $20 shipping). It was on amazon.com but not advertised anymore. Contacted the seller and this is what he had to say:
....
What do you guys think of it? Should I go for it.
If anyone is interested let me know, I'll give you the contact details(in case I decide to go with T1i).

Don't you think the offer is too good to be true? The official price of the 7D is around Rs. 107k and a friend is getting one through a Canon employee for 87k. Heard the official price in Thailand is around 85k.
I know these prices cause my friend is on a vacation to Thailand and he was doing research for the past couple of weeks to see where to get the best prices.

I would suggest you to stay away since the seller is no longer with amazon.

[JackSparrow]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Don't you think the offer is too good to be true? The official price of the 7D is around Rs. 107k and a friend is getting one through a Canon employee for 87k. Heard the official price in Thailand is around 85k.
I know these prices cause my friend is on a vacation to Thailand and he was doing research for the past couple of weeks to see where to get the best prices.

I would suggest you to stay away since the seller is no longer with amazon.

Yeah I know the offer is too good to be true but the point is that the seller is going to process it through amazon and he had 95% positive reviews. Just wanted to know what you guys think of it before I went ahead with the deal.
Anyways, just got a mail again from the seller saying that it has been sold.

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Does this mean 40D has a better sensor than 50D?

As pixel count and size increases, sensors become more difficult to produce and become less efficient. And the difference is almost negligible between 40D and 50D.

Cheers

[SunnyBoi]

Woah didn't know a DSLR thread existed here!

I have two Canon 450D bodies and a Canon 7D. Have the Kit lens 18-55IS, 55-250 IS, 50mm f/1.8 II, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 VC and a Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Macro.

Dont get much time to shoot, work tends to extend all the way after midnight everyday.

Originally Posted by robimahanta

OT: Sorry for going off topic but I am planning to buy a canon zoom lens. Please help me choose between EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L and EF 70-200 f/2.8 L.
The price is pretty much the same for both ( around 1600 USD). On one hand I get a wider focal length while on the other I have a super fast lens.
Now I want to go for the 100-400 but then if I put in a 1.4x extender I get a decent range in the 70-200 as well with marginal increase in the f-stop.

I have used the 100-400 L during the Singapore GP. I have to say its a very good lens! However the slow aperture would hurt in taking pics in the night. Took 2000+ Pics with the 450D, never bothered to check each and just left them lol. Sample Pics : Free Image Hosting - imgX

Now i'm looking to get the 70-200 f/2.8L IS. Just love the bokeh it produces, thats matters to me more since I took portrait style photos nowadays.

If anyone asks me why I have so many bodies, We had an office party and having 2 bodies with 2 awesome prime lens helped. A pic of both below

[jkdas]

Update; price check. My colleague bought D3000 kit from the Jap site mentioned by rkbharat. Cost him 23,200 INR all inclusive ( bought from their Jap shop).

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by it_inspector

As pixel count and size increases, sensors become more difficult to produce and become less efficient. And the difference is almost negligible between 40D and 50D.

Cheers

I like the Nikon way of keeping the pixel count in check due to this

Originally Posted by jkdas

Update; price check. My colleague bought D3000 kit from the Jap site mentioned by rkbharat. Cost him 23,200 INR all inclusive ( bought from their Jap shop).

Will you ever take a plunge or keep on giving us the price updates?
Isn't this the friend who were supposed to get you the DSLR from Japland? So is it yours?

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

If anyone asks me why I have so many bodies, We had an office party and having 2 bodies with 2 awesome prime lens helped. A pic of both below

Attachment 245289

I know that you've got a camera fetish

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by jkdas

Update; price check. My colleague bought D3000 kit from the Jap site mentioned by rkbharat. Cost him 23,200 INR all inclusive ( bought from their Jap shop).

Jap warranty is not applicable here right? In that case this is a better deal for 4k more buyer get 2 years Nikon warranty.

Nikon D3000 10MP DSLR Camera -18-55 VR Lens with 2 Years Manufacturer Warranty ? Smart Shoppers - Digital Cameras, Camera Lenses | Buy Latest Laptops, MP3 Players, Ipods in India

[RufRoc]

Originally Posted by JLS

in 100-400 range, Sigma has two offferings which you can consider if you are not keen on IS
- 50-500 f4.5 -5.6
- 100-300 f4
both are around 900 US$ and are quite popular.
If you are keen on IS, Sigma has one 80-400 OS ( not very popular though)

Sigma has a newer 150-500 OS lens too, right? How does it stack up against the Bigma?

[JLS]

Originally Posted by RufRoc

Sigma has a newer 150-500 OS lens too, right? How does it stack up against the Bigma?

Sigma has two more new lens, just checked on Sigma site,
1) 120-400 4.5-5.6 OS
2) 150-500 5.0-6.3 OS

Both are new and I have not read many reviews, but looking at the specs, they can be good alternative to bigma or canon 100-400.

All three are HSM ( sigma, alternative to Canon's USM), Bigma and 150-500 are with Ex finish, 120-400 is without.

You can find detailed specs at sigma site,
Sigma - Lenses

Regards,

JLS