[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by abhayshanu

Please feed backs on my photos. it doesn't have to be good, just feed back. If you want to give me tips, I'm all ears.

When you capture an image the general thumb rule is your image should tell a story. See images off the net taken by some great photographers and try to understand what might have gone into their mind before clicking that picture.

For now stay away from post processing and think no software exist for PP. Get the basics right mainly the exposure piece such as metering, ISO, what amount of aperture needed for what kind of compositions etc. Make a picture which will make people spend some time to watch it.

Originally Posted by ampere

Guys, Keep checking Amazon US Pricing for downloadable versions of LR (Windows or Mac). In between they had a deal for 80$ for the downloadable version (windows or mac). But that was applicable for US billing address. If you have friends in US, change your billing address and it works. And this is full professional version (not the student one).

Please test your RAW handling capabilities with LR. The D300 and above RAW is improperly reverse engineered by LR/CS leading to reduced clarity of picture. For Nikon NEF, capture NX2/CaptureOne pro works the best.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Agree with everything except the AF part. What makes you think so? Many folks said that the 1DX af was better than the D4's, but the D4S seens to have again taken the lead.

The D300 and D7100 have pretty good af capabilities compared to their Canon equivalents.

Agree again, I would like to understand on what basis do we judge the AF capabilities. Here is a shot I took using D800 with 70-200 f.2.8 from a moving boat.

http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/3476848/

I hardly missed any shot, OTOH my friend apparently with a 1D MIV and 300 f/2.8 missed many shots (he is a veteran FYI so no doubt in his skills). Especially given the scenario that D800 is marketed as a 'wedding' camera and fps slow enough to not to put into wildlife category.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

Please test your RAW handling capabilities with LR. The D300 and above RAW is improperly reverse engineered by LR/CS leading to reduced clarity of picture. For Nikon NEF, capture NX2/CaptureOne pro works the best.

I am on Canon. My flow is : Camera RAW -> Canon DPP -> Tiff -> LR5

[KRN]

Gurus,

I have largely used P&S cameras in the past and currently have the Sony HX30V. It has great features, decent outdoor image quality and I love the zoom lens on the camera.

The indoor performance of the camera is disappointing and I am at a point where I have some cash to invest in a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, while retaining the HX30V (when I need the long lens & don't want to carry the bulk of a DSLR).

I intend to use the camera for the following

1. Shoot indoors - Pictures of my kid, birthday parties etc.
2. Family portraits
3. Vacation pictures (will be carrying the HX30V along as well)

I have decent understanding of photography basics (aperture, depth of field etc.) but limited practical experience.

Here is what I am looking for

1. Camera system with cheap prime lens that will give me good shallow depth of field, and also used for portraits & indoor photography. I don't plan to invest in anything other than kit lens + prime for next 2-3 years
2. Ability to shoot videos with continuous AF (with minimal focusing noise)
3. Nice to have features: Wifi, touchscreen, in camera HDR
4. Budget: Around Rs. 35000 +/-10% for camera + kit lens. I am open to buying from the US if the price is better
5. I am looking for a camera that will help me learn and also retain for about 5 years.

Thanks in advance!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by KRN

Gurus,

I have largely used P&S cameras in the past and currently have the Sony HX30V. It has great features, decent outdoor image quality and I love the zoom lens on the camera.

The indoor performance of the camera is disappointing and I am at a point where I have some cash to invest in a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, while retaining the HX30V (when I need the long lens & don't want to carry the bulk of a DSLR).

I intend to use the camera for the following

1. Shoot indoors - Pictures of my kid, birthday parties etc.
2. Family portraits
3. Vacation pictures (will be carrying the HX30V along as well)

I have decent understanding of photography basics (aperture, depth of field etc.) but limited practical experience.

Here is what I am looking for

1. Camera system with cheap prime lens that will give me good shallow depth of field, and also used for portraits & indoor photography. I don't plan to invest in anything other than kit lens + prime for next 2-3 years
2. Ability to shoot videos with continuous AF (with minimal focusing noise)
3. Nice to have features: Wifi, touchscreen, in camera HDR
4. Budget: Around Rs. 35000 +/-10% for camera + kit lens. I am open to buying from the US if the price is better
5. I am looking for a camera that will help me learn and also retain for about 5 years.

Thanks in advance!

I do not think you will get any thing in that price. The best and least expensive option amongst current models is the Nikon D3300
- Price with Kit lense ~ Rs.33K
- 35mm F1.8DX prime lense ~ Rs.8-14K, depends on the schemes that day. I got my one for Rs.7.8K. List is 15K.

You can go with D3200; one generation older; which will be around 5K less, but I will not advise as the D3300 has the latest processor and does video at 60P.

There is no WiFi, no touch screen, but has HDR and a tremendous sensor.

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by KRN

Gurus,

Here is what I am looking for

1. Camera system with cheap prime lens that will give me good shallow depth of field, and also used for portraits & indoor photography. I don't plan to invest in anything other than kit lens + prime for next 2-3 years
2. Ability to shoot videos with continuous AF (with minimal focusing noise)
3. Nice to have features: Wifi, touchscreen, in camera HDR
4. Budget: Around Rs. 35000 +/-10% for camera + kit lens. I am open to buying from the US if the price is better
5. I am looking for a camera that will help me learn and also retain for about 5 years.

Thanks in advance!

Not a Guru, only a student

1. On ebay, you can get brand new D5100 or D3200 around 26k with 18-55 kit lens. Add prime lens of 35mm 1.8g or 50mm 1.8g at 7.5k. No wi-fi or HDR, but solid camera for photography.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Nikon-D5100-1.../281363106451?
http://www.ebay.in/itm/Nikon-D3200-w...item3f382c00bc

2. Don't know about continuous AF in video.

3. No such features in Sub 30k dslr, not needed as well.

4. Budget easily met. Don't bother US for mid range DSLRs.

5. All the best for not giving into temptation of upgrade for next 5 years

[KRN]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

Not a Guru, only a student

1. On ebay, you can get brand new D5100 or D3200 around 26k with 18-55 kit lens. Add prime lens of 35mm 1.8g or 50mm 1.8g at 7.5k. No wi-fi or HDR, but solid camera for photography.

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Nikon-D5100-1.../281363106451?
http://www.ebay.in/itm/Nikon-D3200-w...item3f382c00bc

2. Don't know about continuous AF in video.

3. No such features in Sub 30k dslr, not needed as well.

4. Budget easily met. Don't bother US for mid range DSLRs.

5. All the best for not giving into temptation of upgrade for next 5 years

Thanks ani_meher and Aroy for your suggestions. My budget of Rs. 35k doesn't include prime. So does it makes sense to look at the D5200 or D3300? The D3300's price point is very compelling! How much would I lose with D3300 in terms of IQ compared to D5200 (or would I regret getting the D3300 compared to D5200 2 years down the line?)

[govigov]

Sony A7s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgbUgNiHfXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVBUpXVYALY

what a low light monster.

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by KRN

Thanks ani_meher and Aroy for your suggestions. My budget of Rs. 35k doesn't include prime. So does it makes sense to look at the D5200 or D3300? The D3300's price point is very compelling! How much would I lose with D3300 in terms of IQ compared to D5200 (or would I regret getting the D3300 compared to D5200 2 years down the line?)

You will very easily get D5200 in 35k. Don't know about D3300, may be others can advice, but D5200 is worth its price.

I would advice you to give max weightage to IQ, not other features. I read for either D5300 or D3300, that wifi was sketchy at best. GPS eats up battery, and even D5200 has a built in HDR (or something related) feature, that is beater easily by softwares. You can't add IQ to the camera, while you can have workarounds for other comfort features.

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by ampere

I am on Canon. My flow is : Camera RAW -> Canon DPP -> Tiff -> LR5

Interesting, can you elaborate on why you use DPP first as I think LR does a fine job.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by KRN

Thanks ani_meher and Aroy for your suggestions. My budget of Rs. 35k doesn't include prime. So does it makes sense to look at the D5200 or D3300? The D3300's price point is very compelling! How much would I lose with D3300 in terms of IQ compared to D5200 (or would I regret getting the D3300 compared to D5200 2 years down the line?)

The IQ will be more or less same, with an advantage to D3300 as it has no AA filter, hence sharper images. As stated the D3300 has better video capabilities.

You can never go wrong with D3300 as it is a bare bones body, with all essential controls but none of the frills. Buy it, use it and later when you want more capabilities get either a D7100 or a D610 (depends on whether you want FF or speed). The D3300, D5300 and D7100 have similar sensor and similar IQ, all better than the previous models - D3200, D5200 and D7000.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gr8guzzler

Interesting, can you elaborate on why you use DPP first as I think LR does a fine job.

Thats because DPP I think does the best possible colour reproduction of the RAW. I was on Aperture earlier and it was pathetic.

[gr8guzzler]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thats because DPP I think does the best possible colour reproduction of the RAW. I was on Aperture earlier and it was pathetic.

Cool, Thanks! Will test it out and see if it makes a difference. Cheers!!!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gr8guzzler

Cool, Thanks! Will test it out and see if it makes a difference. Cheers!!!

Basically the native S/W (DPP for Canon) and ViewNX(?) for Nikon should have the best possible idea on how to convert their own formats and reproduce the colours. I used to be on Aperture and when I read the Raw directly, I could immediately see the faded colours. And then I used to crank up the colours to get back what I lost ! Since then I have resorted this approach. Works amazingly well. But since the TIFF is a big file, I dont convert every thing to TIFF. I go through DPP, see which is worth processing, select them and then do a batch convert of the subset. Then I read this subset into LR5. (I shifted from Aperture to LR5).

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by KRN

So does it makes sense to look at the D5200 or D3300? The D3300's price point is very compelling! How much would I lose with D3300 in terms of IQ compared to D5200 (or would I regret getting the D3300 compared to D5200 2 years down the line?)

D3300 uses inferior Metering and Autofcous module. It also has a slower CPU. This results in:

1. Less cross type autofocus points (D3300 has Just 1, as compared to 9 in D5200)
2. Less overall autocous points (D3300 has 11, as compared to 39 in D5200)
3. 420-pixel metering vs 2016-pixel metering in D5200
4. RAW is limited to 12 bit color depth
5. Does not have enough processing power to do brackating

In terms of performance, this would not impact normal photographs in daylight. This would start to show limitations if you try creative photography such as:

1. Metering + Autofocus in low light
2. Wildlife and action / sports
3. Long exposure / multiple exposures (LCD is fixed, shooting from high or low angles is problematic)

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by ampere

Basically the native S/W (DPP for Canon) and ViewNX(?) for Nikon should have the best possible idea on how to convert their own formats and reproduce the colours.

New DPP is coming out I hear?

Capture NX2 is slightly better than View NX2, but it is more expensive than Lightroom. And I read that Lightroom is increasingly getting better in terms of capturing 'true' colours.

Not sure what Nikon is doing with the NXD. The USP of Capture NX2 - control points - will be lost.

I am looking forward to reading about the D810 (or whatever it is called). If I eventually buy the Tamron 150-600mm, then I would still get 600mm reach on a full frame. And the FPS seems to be good enough.

Will also have to buy a nice FX landscape lens.