Team-BHP - The DSLR Thread

Hey guys, logged in after a long time. Have good news for fellas interested in buying an entry level dslr. Canon's dropped the price for its 500d today. checked it at Ria in VT. they are offering 33,500 for 500d kit lens, 4 GB sdhc (class 4), japanese make and 2 yr manufacturers guarantee. Although the new of the price drop not confirmed by other vendors in the VT are. I am expecting that Nikon would follow suit for its d5000, especially since the d3100 is going to be out in the market in Oct. (at a price tage of USD 700). Any comments are welcome. Though I am still to buy a dslr, might opt for 500d soon, especially since have a HV30 bought a couple of yrs back. Appreciate if anyone can quote a better deal.

I just confirmed at least from the canon India Website. The recommended retail price's dropped to Rs. 38,395. Just a few hrs bak thier site showed upwards Rs 40,000.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please use the "edit" button if posting within 20 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboyslim (Post 2058109)

Agreed. In-camera stabilization (I don't know if it sensor that is stabilized though) typically has lower lifecycle costs but it does not have stabilization customised to any particular lens and thereby hangs a tale for many advanced photographers. Just my thought!

Pentax does customise the SR (shake reduction - Pentax terminology for it sensor based stabilisation - the sensor floats and compensates for any shake in the body) per the lens focal length. If you mount any old K lens, the menu for setting the focal length for SR adjustment will popup. For zooms, you select the FL you normally use or average of the length.
But, many say this is not as good a stabilisation as given by the ones built in the lens itself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkdas (Post 2062249)

Got myself a Vivitar VPT 3600 Tripod for 1500Rs.

Good buy was there any Vivetar model with ball-head if yes then how much ?

Guys I was searching for good lens cleaning solution for very long time in Bangalore and everywhere just the Chinese kits were available for 600 to 1000Rs consisting of couple of lint-free paper sheets and a nylon brush.

Finally got 2 bottles of this Carl-Zeiss lens cleaning fluid from Amazon at 2.99$.

Amazon.com: Carl Zeiss Optical Inc Lens Spray Cleaner (3-Ounce Bottle): Sports & Outdoors

Till now I was of firm view that UV Filter as protection is waste of money but as I managed to dirty my kit lens front glass so finally got a Hoya SMC UV filter while buying Hoya CPL CIR 58 filter.

If you want to purchase from Amazon sitting in India there is an excellent solution available see Shop online in the U.S from where you live | comGateway. They will provide a US shipping address to which you can ship your amazon order and then consolidate the items to be shipped to address in India.

Shipping cost using standard shipping will be 20$ for first 0.5 Kg and 3$ for additional 0.5 kg so works well for items which ships free from Amazon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaureanBull (Post 2062836)

@amitk26 : That was a good buy. I dont have any such solution yet, but will buy soon. But are you supposed to use nylon brush on lens? You mentioned that you got it with the Chinese kit.

I did not purchase those kits because I was not sure of quality of lens cleaning fluid.

I have a lens pen brush so used it a few times for dry cleaning and just once used Pec-pad lint-free wipe wet with distilled water to clean some sticky substance from front element of lens . I think distilled water is much safer then any unknown liquid.

You can use nylon brush both on lens and CMOS sensor. Choose a soft nylon brush preferably of white color so that you can be sure it is not dirty.

You need to charge the bristles by blowing air using an air-blower and then slowly move in one direction over the surface the charged bristles will attract the dust specs from surface.

Take following precautions.

1. use only nylon brush not one with animal hair ( art brush)

2. Wash multiple times using distilled water first and dry in some enclosed space. distilled water is available at medical stores and is used for injections so should be safe for lens.

3. Makeup brush available at stores like health and glow is a cheap and workelble choice.
Else similar brush marked for DSLR is priced at around 25$
http://www.amazon.com/D-SLR-BrushTM-...sr=8-1-catcorr

Interestingly the costliest one from arctic silver claims to use bristles made in India instead of cheap Chinese ones as USP.

PS : I have just used this method on lens surface and not on CMOS sensor yet , 500D has auto sensor cleaning with vibration and it is working well for me till now.

In all of my 28 years of passionately pursuing my hobby of photography, I've seen this general aversion to the 'Auto' mode on the SLR/DSLR. Why?

Does it hurt the ego or in any way lessens your composition skills? While it is nice to be in control of the situation & equipment that would eventually give satisfaction to the creativity, Auto is a feature that also is useful and can be used with great success too.

My two cents and I don't mean any offence to anyone here..

Quote:

Originally Posted by shajufx (Post 2059870)

Mine is mostly on Aperture Priority, very rarely it goes to Shutter Priority. I dont remember if it ever clicked anything on 'Auto' mode. I dont even know if the Auto or the Scene buttons actually works on my D90 :), never checked it. But if someone prefers to shoot in 'Auto' mode, dont buy a DSLR, a good quality P&S can do the work well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aa_asif (Post 2060016)

+1 to your views Shaju!

I've been using my D80 for last 3 years. Used it in "Auto Mode" for first 2-3 months, Switched to "Manual" mode after that and never looked back!

This gives different level of satisfaction:

1. You own the camera here, Camera does'nt own you
2. Take the 100% blame or credit when you screw up the composition or got it right in the first go.
3. Scope to learn more and the thrill of getting out of the world results.

I believe a SLR camera in Auto mode is like owning a chauffeur driven Ferrari.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gd1418 (Post 2063012)

GD sir you are right. The auto mode is given in the DSLRs to be used and in most case when the knowledge is not thorough, it is recommended; of course the right mode for right situation.

But the discussion started, when someone said that in some situations he feels that the result of a P&S is better than the DSLRs. So, what was pointed out was that to bring out that difference between the camers, one must choose the correct settings manually in a DSLR.

The default settings of auto modes in a P&S and DSLR are likely to be same. So, obviously the results would be same.

Just my thoughts. You have more experience.