[redrage]

Even i Strongly agree that the 55-250 is not enough for Birding, but ... for a beginner who has a flair to capture avian creatures and just try to perfect his skills for the approach to the bird which is really very very important irrespective of the focal lengths this side of 800 mm, its a fantastic buy for the price and to understand the limitations will take a while but u can get good birding snaps from it.

Still got some shots i took with it.
orkut -

One of the members from INW, Swaheel who has done some awesome work with the 55-250 IS
India Nature Watch

[inder]

Hi gurus,
Which DSLR should I buy if I have a budget of 40k (including lense).Simple question need a simple answer.It would be bought in U.S.

[abhijitaparadh]

For beginners, the Canon 450D + 18-55 IS + 55-250 IS would be decent enough combo. Would set you back for about $800.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

I'm still using what I bought in 2003. Six years down the line I still can't afford to buy what I want to add..

Didn't you buy the EOS1DS II in 2005? Don't fool us Mr. Rudra Sen. We know what your assets are.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Didn't you buy the EOS1DS II in 2005? Don't fool us Mr. Rudra Sen. We know what your assets are.

I bought EOS 1V in 2003 with four lenses. 2005 I bought EOS 1Ds mark II body. There's no question of fooling anybody here.

I was talking about lens and not body. I may go for another EOS 1Ds mark II body in future. There are few advantages:
Price will be lot less but only I've to find a new body from somewhere.
I'm yet to see a significant difference in 14 bit processing of Mark III as oppose to mark II's 12 bit.
Images from my camera has gone through 80 feet blow up and sharpness/tone/colours are not a point to discuss there. So I'm not really worried about it's image quality. It does much more than I really look for.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Images from my camera has gone through 80 feet blow up and sharpness/tone/colours are not a point to discuss there. So I'm not really worried about it's image quality. It does much more than I really look for.

Rudra I dare say it but you could shoot with a Canon P&S and still produce good photos. It is the rest of us mortals who need to blame the equipment.

[TOR]

After almost a month's wait my Nikon D60+Nikkor 18-105mm VR combo has arrived.

The deal:

1)Body + Lens = 628$

2)Sunpack Premium Plus UV filter(67mm) = 10$

3)Sandisk 2GB Ultra II(pack of 4 cards) = 20$

4)Vistacon(old Keiko i guess) UV filter(67mm) = Rs.500

5)Sandisk 4GB class 2 card(single) = Rs.450.

6)SLR bag = Rs.1000.

7)Lens cleaning kit(blower/cleaning solution/lens wipes/cleaning cloth) = Rs.450

Items 4),5),7) were bought from India.



The Choice:

Looked at the D40/40x, D5000, Canon EOS 1000D/450D and ofcourse the D60.

The D40/40x were given the pass because the D60 was an upgrade and the price difference between the two was not massive.

-low light shooting of the D40 is quite impressive.

The Nikon D5000 was over budget-but more than that did not like the articulating screen as the same is quite restricted in use while on a tripod.

-movie mode was something nice but guess the specs on the same will improve on future models(like auto focusing/length of movie restrictions and higher FPS).

The EOS 450D was the closest contender-its much better than D60 in almost all respects-except handling and the user interface, in both departments the D60 is far better by a margin(the most comfortable Canon personally was a 50D).

The EOS 1000D appeared to be a compromise-built was quite average and lack of spot metering was a let down.

The Lens:

The standard Kit lens on the D60 is quite impressive-but i was looking for a bit more range(3x compared to the 5X+ on the 18-105).

The 18-200mm Nikkor or the longer ones from Sigma/Tamaron would have been much better-but the budget ruled them out.

The Nikkor 18-105mm VR is quite an understated lens i feel(from the reviews online)-this i feel is a real VFM lens from Nikon.

Future plan is to get a 10-24mm.

The First Photos:

Fellow lives right outside on my balcony-but never could appreciate the details(this is a cropped image/re compressed).

Do note that this is my first d-SLR, so please give directions to go forward.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by TOR

2)Sunpack Premium Plus UV filter(67mm) = 10$

4)Vistacon(old Keiko i guess) UV filter(67mm) = Rs.500

Don't use these two for shooting. Use them only for your lens protection.

Most of the these kind of filters (except few makes) pull down the quality if image.

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Don't use these two for shooting. Use them only for your lens protection.

Most of the these kind of filters (except few makes) pull down the quality if image.

This reminds me , I was given a "OSAKA - Made in Japan" Uv filter with my DSLR , is this any good or as suggested , should i just use it for lens protection?

[Rudra Sen]

Yes, only for lens protection. Actually you can check out the difference. Shoot a picture with and without filter. Difference is going to be very apparent.

[Jaggu]

Hey congratzz! nice kit you got there.

Its monsoon time out there right, go out and shoot!!

[absynthguzzler]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Yes, only for lens protection. Actually you can check out the difference. Shoot a picture with and without filter. Difference is going to be very apparent.

Thanks Rudra Sir,do these kind of filters cause complete loss of whats supposed to pass through or is it correctable in PP(which I'm still learning from 123di)?

Cause if its correctable, then I'd rather keep it whilst learning to handle the DSLR properly and protect myself from amateurish mistakes.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

Cause if its correctable, then I'd rather keep it whilst learning to handle the DSLR properly and protect myself from amateurish mistakes.

Use lens hood all the time when shooting. It's the best protection.

[SkyWalker]

Here's requesting for suggestions from Rudra and other experts:

Looking to upgrade from my D40 Kit Lens. Here's what i have in mind, planning to pick them up during my next US trip, mostly will be ordering from Amazon.

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM 479$
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR 539$

I am happy with the D40 and its capabilities now. Maybe someday i will move to a D5000. I doubt if i will go for full frame anytime soon - i like small sized DSLRs due to their ease of use.

Please advise.

Some sample shots i have taken in the D40 with the 18-55 Kits lens









Current Gear:
D40+18-55 Kit Lens+Spare Battery+4 GB Hi Speed card

Alternate Gear:
Canon 40D+some cool lenses. Not mine, its in the family and i get to loan them occasionally. Obviously since it aint mine, i wont upgrade this

[maven]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Yes, only for lens protection. Actually you can check out the difference. Shoot a picture with and without filter. Difference is going to be very apparent.

i have been shooting with a marumi on (which i got for free) for the past two months.
All this while i have had a sneaking feeling there is something amiss because even though i moved from autofocus to full manual the images havent improved in terms of picture quality and some were looking close to my kodak point and shoot.

thanks for the tip.