[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ampere

A question on storage. How do most of you store your images? Is RAW preserved? What happens if your machine's hard disk over flows? Take it off line? Before taking it off line, do you take a back-up of the same as well? .

I shoot RAW + JPEG for the reasons I explained before. I load them from the SD card onto the HD of my Mac.

I edit the pictures I want on my website (or for other purposes). I edit in RAW and save in JPEG. I keep all my final edited version of the JPEG on my MAC and the MAC gets backed up with Time Machine to a seperate external HD.

I keep all the original RAW files and JPEGS and every so often I move all of them to a separate external HD> (That needs backing up separately)

Jeroen

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

So total savings over flipkart could be around 3-4K. Not much, but still better than flipkart.

So check from brick and mortar store and then decide.
.

Quite right. I find that the latter are around 10% lower than Flipkart on price.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by ampere

A question on storage. How do most of you store your images? Is RAW preserved? What happens if your machine's hard disk over flows? Take it off line? Before taking it off line, do you take a back-up of the same as well?

I am on Aperture with referenced masters. I keep RAW. Convert to TIFF which ever is needed and then after export I delete the TIFF. But still some how find the over all thing a bit cumbersome.

I shoot mostly in JPEG, unless there's a need to shoot in RAW (extract dynamic range, heavy post processing, correct wb later etc). Irrespective of shooting mode, I process the images and finally save as 100% quality Jpeg. This gets backed up to external HDDs I keep. I didn't find any need to store RAW files as such except in situations where you want to do the processing much later.

[clevermax]

Is there any camera shop which sells macro focussing rails?

The one like this -


If any of you planning a visit to a camera store, please ask about this - any help highly appreciated.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

By auto zoom do you mean auto focus ?
Better stick to nikon lenses . There are other lenses like sigma , tamron , tokina etc , but nikon lenses are best suited .

Yup Auto Focus.
Yes Im also keen on sticking to Nikon lenses.

Originally Posted by amitk26

What is your budget ? I will suggest following lenses which will do AF on your body.
1. A fast aperture zoom lens.
3. Other lenses depends on your interest if it is in UWA , Macro or telephoto.

I do not see a point in moving from D3100 to D3200 is there any specific feature which attracts you ?

Thanks for the inputs, Im a bit confused on which lens to choose. Need to visit the basics!

Regarding D3200, someone suggested me that D3200 will give better results that D3100 & Lens upgrade will work better with D3200.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by AWD

Yup Auto Focus.
Yes Im also keen on sticking to Nikon lenses.
Thanks for the inputs, Im a bit confused on which lens to choose. Need to visit the basics!

Regarding D3200, someone suggested me that D3200 will give better results that D3100 & Lens upgrade will work better with D3200.

Rather then looking at brand of lens you should look at the aperture value.
If your budget allows go for Nikon F2.8 zoom lenses but if not look at Tamron Sigma fast aperture zooms.

A better lens with lesser body always gives more bang for buck then an excellent body with mediocre lens.

If you insist then D3200 has better sensor with more megapixels and more dynamic range but a sensor can capture the image which lens casts on it.
So IMHO lens should get priority in upgrade.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by AWD

Yup Auto Focus.
Yes Im also keen on sticking to Nikon lenses.



Thanks for the inputs, Im a bit confused on which lens to choose. Need to visit the basics!

Regarding D3200, someone suggested me that D3200 will give better results that D3100 & Lens upgrade will work better with D3200.

IMHO , there is no need for a D3200 , some nice lenses should do the job pretty well. Just find out what your purpose is , chalk out a budget and then it will be easy to buy a lens .

For example , if your purpose is wildlife photography , you will be needing a telephoto lens like 70-300 or 200-400 , or sigma 15-500

if you need good land scape / architecture photos , then you require wide angle lens like 11-16mm . It will be easier for you to but once you decide on what you will be clicking .

[SPARKled]

Nikon has introduced new FW upgrades for almost all their current DSLRs. I upgraded my D800E and the AF has improved considerably. IMHO a very worthwhile upgrade.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/04...d3-d7000-d3200

[R2D2]

The firmware updates have certainly helped both my cameras. Highly recommended.

They have released firmware updates for the D600, D3S, D3X, D3, D7000, D3200.

The SB900 flash also gets a rare update.

[ajay_satpute]

Nikon has filed 3 new patents. Excerpts from the original article:-

The first one, patent 2013-57757, is for making it easier for photographers to swap lenses in the dark. The camera body contains an LED light source that apparently lights up a section on the front of the camera and on the top of the lens. This lights up the front of the camera, allowing the camera user to see what's going on during the lens changing process.

Another patent, number 2013-58840, is designed to improve the connection between lenses and the cameras they're mounted on. You may have had experiences of having to clean your lens' or cameras contacts (perhaps using a pencil eraser) in order to fix certain errors.

Nikon's new idea is to double up on contact points. By having a second identical set of contact points between the lens and the camera, there is less opportunity for things like dust and grime to cause communication issues.

Finally, patent 2013-54232 reveals that Nikon is working on a hybrid viewfinder that can effortlessly switch between optical (OVF) and electronic (EVF) modes. They may be developing something similar to what's found inside the Fujifilm X100.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Nikon has filed 3 new patents. Excerpts from the original article:-

The first one, patent 2013-57757, is for making it easier for photographers to swap lenses in the dark. The camera body contains an LED light source that apparently lights up a section on the front of the camera and on the top of the lens. This lights up the front of the camera, allowing the camera user to see what's going on during the lens changing process.

Another patent, number 2013-58840, is designed to improve the connection between lenses and the cameras they're mounted on. You may have had experiences of having to clean your lens' or cameras contacts (perhaps using a pencil eraser) in order to fix certain errors.

Nikon's new idea is to double up on contact points. By having a second identical set of contact points between the lens and the camera, there is less opportunity for things like dust and grime to cause communication issues.

Finally, patent 2013-54232 reveals that Nikon is working on a hybrid viewfinder that can effortlessly switch between optical (OVF) and electronic (EVF) modes. They may be developing something similar to what's found inside the Fujifilm X100.

Good patents, hope they will make it to production.

The most interesting is the hybrid VF. I wonder which camera range will feature it. Will future Nikon DSLRs be hybrids and offer best of both worlds. Or, will this be a separate product line. I'll bet on the former. Interesting times ahead. AFAIK Fuji has been a trendsetter with hybrid VFs.

[nilanjanray]

I too the plunge and bought the Nik collection. Might end up buying CNX2 as well.

I can call up the plug-ins directly through View NX2.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

I too the plunge and bought the Nik collection. Might end up buying CNX2 as well.

I can call up the plug-ins directly through View NX2.

OK, so I also downloaded trial version of Lightroom today evening. Can't say I like it that much - after reading about it so much, am somewhat disappointed. If I have to spend $ 150-175, I would buy CNX2 instead of LR. Yes, I know that is a heretic statement .

[ampere]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

OK, so I also downloaded trial version of Lightroom today evening. Can't say I like it that much - after reading about it so much, am somewhat disappointed. If I have to spend $ 150-175, I would buy CNX2 instead of LR. Yes, I know that is a heretic statement .

I am on Aperture since start. Really like the simple set-up. But the only negative is I think its bulky. And all third party plugins are compatible.
Still checking out Nik compared to Topaz. I see pros and cons of each. Topaz is nicely integrated into a workflow which today is not available in Nik.

[arup.misra]

Taking the plunge into SLR domain. I'm a complete novice compared to the experts around here. After quite a few years with P&S and against some stiff opposition (from FM) I decided to plunge into the black hole. Hopefully it doesn't suck me dry


On a serious note, I want to up my learning curve. Have tried to readup on the exhaustive information in the prior pages.

Was thinking to start the journey with Nikon D5100 with 18-55 VR kit. What do you guys think?

Saw this today on flipkart - Nikon D5100 (body) with Sigma 18-125mm F/3.8-5.6 DC OS HSM combo for 40k. Think this is good?