[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Consider the Canon 550D, falls well in your budget.

Well I was particularly stuck on this one EOS 550D Kit (EF S18-55IS)
Any other option.?

[shyamhegde]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Well I was particularly stuck on this one EOS 550D Kit (EF S18-55IS)
Any other option.?

Please check if you can go for a fast lens in that focal range instead of 18-55 IS. There are few F2.8 from Sigma and Tamron in the same focal range. Experts here might offer suggestions on exact models that are good , from their personal experiences.

[Gurudatta Nayak]

Originally Posted by el lobo 6061

Well I was particularly stuck on this one EOS 550D Kit (EF S18-55IS)
Any other option.?

Canon 550D and Nikon D5100 both are equally good with some minor differences. Why don't you try out clicking some snaps with the above models? Buy the DSLR you are comfortable in holding and clicking as that's the base for DSLR selection. In my case, I selected Nikon D5100!(Receiving it in 4 days) as Canon 550D was bit small for my hands. I am also a user who is upgrading from P&S (Panasonic FZ35). Let us know your final choice.

[C300]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

I always have had hunch for Pentax, in fact before purchasing my D300 I was all set for the K7 ..

BTW my boss did buy a K5 and I was blown away by the pic quality.Note that he is using the 250$ 50-200 and a 31mm f/1.8 lens
Here is the Link to his flickr-
Abhijit

Nice set of images there.
Pentax was more like a boutique camera maker for past few years. One of the best AF prime lens setup in the industry but limited choice around the gear meant very small consumer base. K5 is probably their first serious attempt to compete with the big boys - Canon and Nikon. There is still a long way to go. Hoya corporation, the owner of Pentax, recently sold the imaging business to Ricoh. Hope Ricoh continues on the path of innovation for Pentax.

[architect]

Hi people,

I am quite a novice at advanced photography as far as equipment is concerned. For the past eight months, I have been shooting with Canon EOS 500D with the 18-55 IS kit lens. While it is the person behind the camera who matters more than lens, but sometimes I feel the limitations imposed by this lens.

It's time to start planning for the add-on lenses. Here's what I want:

1. A wide-angle (something of, maybe, 10-25 mm range) for my architectural and landscape photography ambitions. (Also very useful in taking interior shots after the project is complete).

2. A lens for portraits (since I enjoy shooting portraits). I have a fixed 50mm lens in mind (but that's only because I have seen some people use the fixed 50mm for portraits). The Canon fixed 50mm 1.8 is affordable, the fixed 50mm 1.4 is not. But I can wait if the 1.8 mm is not worth it.

3. A telephoto for some animals, birds and landscapes. Here I am clueless. The Canon EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS seems to be going for around Rs 13,400 or so. Is it a good buy?

For the moment, the combination of the EF-S-55-250 f/4-5.6 and the fixed 50 mm 1.8 will cost me less than Rs 20,000/- but is this a good set of lenses to buy to expand my equipment? I know a new wide-angle will be very expensive (from my POV, I know "expensive " is just a relative term in the "Bottomless Money Pit" of DSLR equipment.)

Suffice to say that I am not looking at spending big bucks but I would rather wait than buy stuff which is not worth the price. Guys, please chip in with advice, as I hope to buy at least one of these lenses soon.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by architect

1. A wide-angle for my architectural and landscape photography ambitions. (Also very useful in taking interior shots after the project is complete).
2. A lens for portraits (since I enjoy shooting portraits). I have a fixed 50mm lens in mind
3. A telephoto for some animals, birds and landscapes. Here I am clueless........

Welcome to the 'bottomless' money pit, its nice to be hanging around here

Point 1 = Sigma 10-20 is really good which will meet all your needs. If you have low light wide angle shots in mind, then Tokina 11-16 and 12-24, both are good. If tripod is used without hesitation, Sigma can save some bucks !

Point 2 = 50mm 1.8 is a really affordable lens with very good appreciation and image quality. I dont think anyone would regret buying one nor sell later.

point 3 = Again Sigma has 70-300 in the affordable range and 120-300 f/2.8 on the higher side but a kick-*** glass for variety of things. You will very rarely find the second lens around here, because not many know about it.

The myth of 'third party lenses are bad' is no more existing. Sigma, Tokina and Tamron have got some good quality lenses with latest technologies, that can match Nikons/Canons any day. I have been using a Sigma 70-200 since an year and never felt I should get a Nikon variant paying double. Nowadays its also easy to find some friends who are using the lens in consideration, and test it out before buying.

[thelightening]

Right now i am using an old Sigma 18-200 DC along with D90. As per what I have heard, Nikon 18-105 VR is having better output than my sigma 18-200. As an ameteur, I am not sure about the technical stuffs, But would like to seek suggestion on which one is better, giving better crisp image quality

1. Sigma 18-200 DC
2. Nikon 18-105 VR
3. Nikon 55-250 VR

I love zoom lenses. Parrellely planning to buy some used nikon 50mm f1.8D also for portraits.

[Sunney]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

You are completely wrong. Like tsk said - full VAT purchase of India products will be fine.

Provided its not a china product being sold in India or suchlike.

Its highly irresponsible of Nikon Bangalore to give such incorrect sweeping generalizations

Not very sure, be careful if need warranty.
I called Nikon-service in Cochin just before ordering my 5D Mk II, last week from US.(Price is about 8000 less)
They say a NO WARRANTY if bought from US/ Europe, and from Online. They say buy from Auth. Nikon Dealers alone, to ensure warranty...

I cancelled, now buying from India only...

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Sunney

Not very sure, be careful if need warranty.
I called Nikon-service in Cochin just before ordering my 5D Mk II, last week from US.(Price is about 8000 less)
They say a NO WARRANTY if bought from US/ Europe, and from Online. They say buy from Auth. Nikon Dealers alone, to ensure warranty...

I cancelled, now buying from India only...

May be I missed something here, but why did you call Nikon service before ordering your Canon 5D Mk II? You should have spoken to Canon isn't it?

All Nikon DSLRs have country specific warranties while film SLRs, lenses and other accessories have international warranties. And NO warranty coverage if you buy from unauthorised retailers - including most e-retailers even though those sites may claim otherwise. Best to check on Nikon or Canon's web site before buying.

And yes, I avoid buying expensive items online in India. Warranty is one reason and the 2nd is very few have a no-questions return policy in case you are dissatisfied. I always believe in checking the item before I pay. This has served me well even in the recent past.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by thelightening

.....Nikon 18-105 VR is having better output than my sigma 18-200......

One general rule which does not fail in most cases: When you get an all-in-one product, it will have its own cost advantage as well as quality degrade. Price difference is one way to know the quality difference. Nikon is a winner in your comparisons.

Originally Posted by Sunney

....I called Nikon-service in Cochin just before ordering my 5D Mk II....

Did you just say that you called up the Tata dealer to check about the Fiesta warranty ?

[HellwratH]

Quick question to everyone. How do you avoid purple fringing? And what are the real causes, so that I can tackle the situation? Thanks in advance!

[Sunney]

Originally Posted by R2D2

May be I missed something here, but why did you call Nikon service before ordering your Canon 5D Mk II? You should have spoken to Canon isn't it?

All Nikon DSLRs have country specific warranties while film SLRs, lenses and other accessories have international warranties. And NO warranty coverage if you buy from unauthorised retailers - including most e-retailers even though those sites may claim otherwise. Best to check on Nikon or Canon's web site before buying.

No, you didnt miss, but I mixed up two brands.
Actually I planned a D90, called Nikon, cochin about US purchase. They said NO warranty applicable for India.
Later I decided to go for 5D.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Sunney

Actually I planned a D90, called Nikon, cochin about US purchase. They said NO warranty applicable for India.
Later I decided to go for 5D.

I am afraid Canon probably follows the same warranty policy - exception is purchases made in Singapore. Other Canon users on TBHP may be able to guide you further .

See this link and read the notes in red font prefixed by asterisks **

http://ecsm.net:8080/wtyregis/CustRegistration.jsp

Your camera's serial number requires validation for warranty claims/repairs.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by HellwratH

Quick question to everyone. How do you avoid purple fringing? And what are the real causes, so that I can tackle the situation? Thanks in advance!

OK let me tell the cure first which may be of more interest and then the cause of purple fringing
1. Avoid shooting very high contrast boundaries in bright sunlight. Like a subject wearing black and white striped shirt.

2. When you have high contrast boundaries like a dark subject against bright blue sky do not use open wide aperture/

3. Use post processing in GIMP / Photoshop to remove purple fringe if you can't avoid.


4.Make sure your subjects do not wear fluorescent / phosphorent print T Shirts even best lens can not avoid CA in bright sunlight. If someone needs proof I can post picture.

Now here is the cause :

Purple fringing ( and also green fringing ) is the result of chromatic aberration that is all the wavelengths do not converge at same point. It is actually property of the glass ( and not coating as some people think) ,
It can happen due to many reasons.

(a) You might remember from high-school physics that frequency of light is constant in every medium whereas speed changes. Now f = V/ wavelength thus the wavelength must change. So in denser medium ( glass) speed decreases thus to keep frequency same wavelength must decrease so in the captured image you see some color which were never there.

If the color is continuous you just do not perceive this change and make general comment the colors of XYZ lens are not vibrant as uber-expensive bla-bla lens but at the sharp contrast boundary you can detect this as purple or green fringe.
When you see fringe at the boundary it is this kind of CA. The color of fringe depends on the lens.
My son has a glow in dark ghost T-shirt and I get different color fringes from different lenses in same condition :-)

(b) Many times lens fail to converge the light of different color at same point and thus you see fringing. ( reason is related to point (a) above itself)

(c) This one is not applicable to DSLR as built in fiters on sensor filter out IR and UV but in film the UV in spectrum shifts and gets captured.

(d) If you see continuous fringe through out the image evenly spread , Some websites say it is due to microlenses on the sensor. The reason will be exactly same refraction and not converging all wavelengths but culprit is said to be the micro-lenses on top of sensor and not the lens itself.
I personally doubt this theory because Purple fringing is a known issue from film era and not digital specific.

[architect]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Point 1 = Sigma 10-20 is really good which will meet all your needs. If you have low light wide angle shots in mind, then Tokina 11-16 and 12-24, both are good. If tripod is used without hesitation, Sigma can save some bucks !

I don't own a tripod (another bottomless money pit accessory lined up, see. ) and I don't know how many times can I actually carry it. But yes, I will have to see the cost difference between Tokina and Sigma. I hope you can buy them in retail.

Stupid Question: Why can't we use a fixed 35 mm or a fixed 70 mm for portraits?

Originally Posted by shajufx

Point 2 = 50mm 1.8 is a really affordable lens with very good appreciation and image quality. I dont think anyone would regret buying one nor sell later.

I have used a Canon fixed 50 mm 1.8 and I loved the lens. I was considering the fixed 50 mm 1.4 because I was hoping to avoid going beyond ISO 800 when I shoot people in the evening (at a poorly lit restaurant or something) without flash. The 500D can get large amount of colour noise at high ISO like 3200 and 6400 (I couldn't afford the 550D despite well-meaning advice from many people including phamilyman here)

Originally Posted by shajufx

point 3 = Again Sigma has 70-300 in the affordable range and 120-300 f/2.8 on the higher side but a kick-*** glass for variety of things. You will very rarely find the second lens around here, because not many know about it.

If I buy a 120-300 f/2.8 (assuming I can afford it), will I be missing out anything if I have nothing between that and the 18-55 kit? In the sense missing a focal length range between 55 and 120?

Originally Posted by shajufx

The myth of 'third party lenses are bad' is no more existing. Sigma, Tokina and Tamron have got some good quality lenses with latest technologies, that can match Nikons/Canons any day. I have been using a Sigma 70-200 since an year and never felt I should get a Nikon variant paying double. Nowadays its also easy to find some friends who are using the lens in consideration, and test it out before buying.

I have read in some posts that "X lens focusses faster than Y lens" or "X lens does not distort the corners as much as Y lens." How good are the third party lenses as compared to Canon lenses in these things?

P.S. I wanted to ask you these question on facebook, Shaju, but I thought other members could benefit from this discussion.