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GD Sir, how much would a D90 be? Probably out of budget but curious.

[quote=abhijitaparadh;1118078I was assuming Singapore will be a lot cheaper than US for all electronic goods, but doesnt seem so anymore.
[/quote]

You're right about Singapore - it isn't the best place to shop for camera equipment. The U.S. is still by far the best.

Well, I would think that is not entirely true. Legal India prices are outrageous - at least for Nikon. I would assume in places like the Middle East you get stuff with b&w at decent prices.

Didn't check. Don't you have the number of that contact in Ch. Chowk? Check with him..

As a lot of others I also have decided to enter into the DSLR range of cameras. My budget is around 30k at the maximum end, better if I can save money on it.

After reading the posts here at the moment I have mostly shortlisted the Canon 1000D or maybe the sony a200k for the only reason being with the sony i am getting a 2nd lens as well in the same price as the Canon.

My photography requirements are 50% family, 40% scenery/hills/ wildlife and 10 % night shots (here I would like to experiment a bit)

At the moment I own 3 normal digital cameras and 1 minolta maxxum 5 SLR with kit 28-80 / 3.5-5.6 D AF zoom and also an extra Minolta AF zoom 75-300mm 1:4.4 (32) - 5.6 D 55mm.

Now the plan is keep 2 digital cameras and sell the 1 digicam and The SLR of them to fund partly for the DSLR.

Now the questions.

1. The canon 1000D obviously seems to be the preffered one over the sony here but is the difference in picture quality really that much. Also if I deciphered the lingo here in some previous posts correctly here it says that Canon is better for Nature and night photography over the Sony. Am I right?

2. I know SLR cameras are hardly in use, so will i fetch some returns if i plan to sell my Minolta Maxxum 5?

3. Will my extra AF zoom 75-300 which I already have fix in the DSLR I buy that is either Canon or Sony?

4. If not then I guess Its better to sell the SLR with the extra zoom. right?

5. I am in no hurry to buy the DSLR. Do you guys think the prices are bound to come down in 5-6 months time? If yes I will wait.

6. Lastly is it better to buy in India than the US? As I believe that though the things are cheaper there in the US but the gaurantee you get there is not a world wide gauarantee??

Sorry for so many questions, hoping that you guys can shed some light on this.
regrads
Dhiraj

You can use your Minolta lens in a Sony. Not on a Canon.

@ Deky, 30K for starters is not a sum you look to put in a system. A lot of people overlook the statement that has been said time and time again, that you don't invest your money in one camera but a system i.e. canon, sony, nikon, oly, etc. So you start off with a camera which will cost you 30K and then you keep adding lenses as you discover your requirement. It requires significant cost and patience to understand how the whole system works and the experience is quite different from learning a P&S. It is a lot of trial and error.

Coming to your point, if you are looking to invest in a system, first you need a wide angle which is fast (as in smaller F value like F1.2 - 2/2.8 max) for family and indoor pictures. The ideal range would be 25-50 MM on a 35 mm format. Given that you have a budget of 30K, there is hardly any lens in Canon range below 15K (US Price) which is going to give you a true to life performance. You can buy the new 18-55 & 55-250 mm lenses which will cover a good amount of purposes you intend to do. But then, are you really really serious about putting round 45/50K to begin with and follow it up with more. If so, we can go on suggesting and guiding you to the right lens.

Regarding your existing 28-80 & 75-300, I am not quite sure they will be fully compatible with Sony's rebranded Minolta cameras. How old are they & what is their current condition. You might want to take them to a Sony DSLR retailer and try it if they have a demo-piece. Note that I am saying fully compatible, meaning that while they might fit, their AF logic and other mechanism may not be compatible with latest lenses. Therefore, be careful.

That would be coz Nikon's 18-135 lens doesn't have VR. The 18-105 lens has VR.

For example:

Nikon D300 body only:

In India with B&W (Pixetra) Rs.80,051/-
pixetra - NIKON D300 DSLR camera body from pixetra online)

In DXB with B&W (Sharaf DG) Dhs.7,999 = Rs.102,900/-
Sharaf DG=

Now is that 20 big bucks in your pocket or what?

I talk from experience. I paid for a grey market example in Dubai what I would've paid with B&W in India.

Just been to the sony dealer here in jaipur. He didnt have alpha 200 in display but the brochure categorically states that its compatible with all AF minolta lenses and Srishiva in post # 317 has confirmed the same.

So taking that my minolta 75-300 lens is compatible with sony a200 and not with Canon Rebel, will getting a Sony make it better buy than Canon?

Or should I stick to canon rebel with just the kit zoom (and invest in a bigger zoom later) and try to dispose the minolta zoom with the minolta SLR camera???

Again hows the picture quality of a Sony DSLR, much of noticible difference than the Canon for a newbie like me?

Well something isn't right. Pixetra may well be giving you a bill and warranty but not from Nikon India. The D300 price according to Nikon's distributor in India is Rs. 115,950.
http://www.interfoto.in/catalogview.asp?id=244

One thing I realized after reading a lot of price comparisons here is that the US is THE best place to buy photography related equipment. All things are at least 25% cheaper :)

D300 DX body : USD 1450 = INR 69000
And you get decent deals on it, if you are prepared to wait for MLK day, President's day and of course thanksgiving !

@deky, Sony dslrs are very good too. Only thing is the noise at high ISO. Sony uses noise reduction on the chip and is applied to raw images also as far as I know.

One more thing you need to consider is that you might be a newbie now but with practice would move higher. You seem to be in two minds about choosing the brand. If you can dispose the Minolta lens then go with Canon. You should be satisfied with your purchase (even if its a brand issue or the fact that most people use Canon or Nikon)

Even with the official bill & warranty, prices at dealers tend to be quite a bit below the interfoto price. I think the interfoto site is updated less frequently and often keeps reflecting the launch price even after the market price has gone down. The D300 is available in Mumbai with JJ Mehta for ~89k with a bill and Nikon India warranty

Steeroid, please note that Pixetra adds 12.5% VAT and shipping charges during the checkout process. So the 80k becomes 90k+

deky: pm clevermax. He uses one.

Tried his DSLR last week; didnt feel that user friendly. My opinion.

Isn't it funny? The longer zoom doesn't have a VR while the shorter one does...


The D300 body here in Delhi's camera market at Chandini Chowk is for 55K