[thalavoy]

Originally Posted by C300

This baby arrived today from B&H - Pentax DA* 300mm f4. Another contribution towards the bottmless money pit .

Image courtesy of Google Images.
Attachment 825848

What a baby! My dream setup was always a K-5 + DA300.
Availability in India made to go for Canon 7D + 100-400.
Any chance you visit Bangalore with this baby. Would love to hold and test it

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shajufx

We were blessed to see some test shots from another 300mm and hope its not in sleep mode now

Originally Posted by C300

Good point . Havent seen any pics from that 300mm in a while.

Err, guilty as charged guys. Optimus and the rest of my kit is sleepin as I am travelling on work. :-( Will be back home 3rd week of Oct in time for Diwali and the fun begins.

[C300]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I had 3 transactions in the past, always received through Fedex without a reason to worry, but the shipping & duty makes me never buy again !! Now I look for people who are coming on vacation, so that I save the shipping and duty But some items are available in India for a marginal difference, its always better to cross check the local online dealers.

Yeah its better to ask family/friends to bring the item rather than going through the customs hassle.
Online prices vary considerably. B&H and Adorama prices were around 30% lower compared to local dealer in Aus. Few eBayers based in HK offer competitive pricing. I have done few transactions with DigitalRev, T-Dimension and DWI Electronics. All are reputed online stores based in HK.

Originally Posted by thalavoy

What a baby! My dream setup was always a K-5 + DA300.
Availability in India made to go for Canon 7D + 100-400.
Any chance you visit Bangalore with this baby. Would love to hold and test it

Thanks. Yes its a dream setup for me as well. Coupled with the FA 31mm and Takumar 135mm my compact all-prime set-up is complete
You made the right decision. Its better to stick with Canon or Nikon in India.

[bhairavp]

Originally Posted by C300

Yeah its better to ask family/friends to bring the item rather than going through the customs hassle.
Online prices vary considerably. B&H and Adorama prices were around 30% lower compared to local dealer in Aus. Few eBayers based in HK offer competitive pricing. I have done few transactions with DigitalRev, T-Dimension and DWI Electronics. All are reputed online stores based in HK.



Thanks. Yes its a dream setup for me as well. Coupled with the FA 31mm and Takumar 135mm my compact all-prime set-up is complete
You made the right decision. Its better to stick with Canon or Nikon in India.

What a beaut! I shoot Pentax as well, K-x + DA16-45 + FA28/2.8 + FA50/1.4 + DA55-300
Still to get some good longer glass though!

[ruchirtnt]

I have shortlisted Nikon D3100, please suggest is the UV filter is given by default with Nikon if not, which one should i buy and what is the price

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by vijayk

Thanks Onegative. Actually I am looking for better price than the list price from the authorized dealer.

I was actually telling you not to waste time on getting the best deal money-wise. Rather to identify a place where you get the best deal product-wise and where you can get support after you procure the product.

[thelightening]

UV filter is not a part of standard OEM package. We need to buy it seperately as per the diameter of the lens. It may vary from 52mm to 67mm I feel. Price are different for different products ranging from 300's to 3000's.. not sure though.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

I have shortlisted Nikon D3100, please suggest is the UV filter is given by default with Nikon if not, which one should i buy and what is the price

Forget the UV filter and buy a Circular Polarizer instead. That is much much more useful than a UV filter. UV filter is just a piece of glass in front of your lens, which actually might degrade the quality of the photos that you take. Check the lenses that you are buying and buy CPL's for them for the respective lenses.

[gd1418]

Nikon D800

Does anyone has any information about the D 800?? Half of October is gone and there is no murmur in the market..

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Nikon D800

Does anyone has any information about the D 800?? Half of October is gone and there is no murmur in the market..

Rumoured launch date is 26th Oct '11 - 36MP semi pro DSLR with 100% viewfinder. Expected price is ~US$3500-4000. They are expected to launch some DX and FX lenses - primarily an overhaul of legacy models.

[rajb3125]

Rumors for D800/D4/Dxxxy will go on till olympics next year. This was told to me by Nikon PR guys.

Both Canon/Nikon are supposed to bring something new to table next year at olympics. But product cycles are almost overdue now, so anything can happen.

To be honest, all I am waiting for is new TC's (2x and 1.4x), D4 and SB900 replacement.

[ruchirtnt]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Any idea where I can buy authentic Nikon dSLRs (with bill and warranty) in Delhi? And what's the price of D50 (with bill)?

\N

Nikon India Private Limited - Authorised Dealers

You can get Nikon dealers in Delhi from the link given

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Forget the UV filter and buy a Circular Polarizer instead. That is much much more useful than a UV filter. UV filter is just a piece of glass in front of your lens, which actually might degrade the quality of the photos that you take. Check the lenses that you are buying and buy CPL's for them for the respective lenses.

thanks but the polarizer on nikon site is quoting 11465 which is way too much, is it the same thing

http://www.nikon.co.in/productitem.p...544-0566259726

I will settle for a UV filter only, i am getting a deal of Nikon D3100 + 8GB card + Bag + Nikon original UV filter worth 100 at 28500, what say

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Forget the UV filter and buy a Circular Polarizer instead. That is much much more useful than a UV filter. UV filter is just a piece of glass in front of your lens, which actually might degrade the quality of the photos that you take. Check the lenses that you are buying and buy CPL's for them for the respective lenses.

I do not fully agree.

A UV filter
. Prevents UV radiation from affecting the colour balance
. Protects the expensive lense front elements from knocks and scratches
. Prevents dust accumulation on the front element

That said, if the quality of the filter is not the same or better than the lenses glass, your image may get degraded. Further less expensive filters can introduce distortions due to variations in optical density of the filter glass, primarily due to either inferior glass or non uniform cross section.

If you have to get a UV filter do some reading on the net to get an idea of what is available, and why some filters are extremely expensive, while others are dirt cheap. In general the OEM filters are of better quality compared to third party filters. Here is link to some excellent filters
https://www.schneideroptics.com/info...hotography.htm
HOYA FILTERS - The Difference is Clear

[ruchirtnt]

Nikon India Private Limited

Please suggest if the filter shown in the link is a UV filter or something else

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

thanks but the polarizer on nikon site is quoting 11465 which is way too much, is it the same thing

Nikon India Private Limited

I will settle for a UV filter only, i am getting a deal of Nikon D3100 + 8GB card + Bag + Nikon original UV filter worth 100 at 28500, what say

You can get a normal Hoya CPL for around 1500Rs itself (what is the size of your lens's screw mount in front?). Just check in Flipkart. But again, the cheap ones are not that great but still can do the work in a much better way than having a no-use UV filter. Do read up about CPL filters on net to see what difference a CPL can make, (specially to a Landscape/Floral and even portraits)

Originally Posted by Aroy

I do not fully agree.

A UV filter
. Prevents UV radiation from affecting the colour balance

I really have to see any real world difference between a photograph taken with UV on and without UV. If there is any minuscule difference then still it doesn't required to put a UV filter while shooting.

. Protects the expensive lense front elements from knocks and scratches

. Prevents dust accumulation on the front element

Agreed, but the same can be achieved by a CPL too. And if that's the only reason to go for a UV then go for it but don't forget to remove that filter while shooting. Why on earth would I put a 500Rs cheap glass infront of my 1Lakh lens to degrade overall quality. I've burnt fingers on cheap filters before and would never again touch one in my life. One gets the quality what one pays for.
There is another reason to use UV filter is during rain. Some L lenses need a filter in the front element to make it completely waterproof (such as 17-40mm). But even in such cases I've used the CPL and a hood instead of UV filter without any issue.

That said, if the quality of the filter is not the same or better than the lenses glass, your image may get degraded. Further less expensive filters can introduce distortions due to variations in optical density of the filter glass, primarily due to either inferior glass or non uniform cross section.

Exactly the reason to avoid UV filters as people mostly just go for the cheapest one and I've seen how these so called UV filters distorts the images. If one still wants to go for a UV filter for lens protection then please go for a good quality one.

Anyway, everyone to his own, I've just wanted to warn people about what I've learned the hard way.

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

You can get a normal Hoya CPL for around 1500Rs itself (what is the size of your lens's screw mount in front?). Just check in Flipkart. But again, the cheap ones are not that great but still can do the work in a much better way than having a no-use UV filter. Do read up about CPL filters on net to see what difference a CPL can make, (specially to a Landscape/Floral and even portraits)


I really have to see any real world difference between a photograph taken with UV on and without UV. If there is any minuscule difference then still it doesn't required to put a UV filter while shooting.


Agreed, but the same can be achieved by a CPL too. And if that's the only reason to go for a UV then go for it but don't forget to remove that filter while shooting. Why on earth would I put a 500Rs cheap glass infront of my 1Lakh lens to degrade overall quality. I've burnt fingers on cheap filters before and would never again touch one in my life. One gets the quality what one pays for.
There is another reason to use UV filter is during rain. Some L lenses need a filter in the front element to make it completely waterproof (such as 17-40mm). But even in such cases I've used the CPL and a hood instead of UV filter without any issue.

Exactly the reason to avoid UV filters as people mostly just go for the cheapest one and I've seen how these so called UV filters distorts the images. If one still wants to go for a UV filter for lens protection then please go for a good quality one.

Anyway, everyone to his own, I've just wanted to warn people about what I've learned the hard way.

Originally Posted by ruchirtnt

Nikon India Private Limited

Please suggest if the filter shown in the link is a UV filter or something else

Those are protector filters which are neutral. I would say instead of spending that money, you can buy a CPL (Hoya). You'll spend the same amount of money but with added advantage of polarization. Trust me, the difference of a polarized shot is huge when used correctly in the right situation.