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I am a complete novice with regard to DSLR,have never used these A,P,S modes even in my zoom point & shoot camera . The 2 hour PPT covered topics like Full frame vs crop sensors , focusing , picture composition ,and modes like AV,S,P modes . In A mode brief abt focal point , depth of field , effect of various F stops ( like focus and out of focus ) etc with pictures. Brief of Shutter mode - like setting shutter speed to capture fast moving objects .

Now after the intro session ,able to understand why some pics are blurred and some very sharp throughout . However by advance training i want to learn & understand ISO ,what number to use under what situation , exposure ( effect of + / -),picture style, AF zones and what to use when ,concept of metering and various options in it .

What I understand is that you need a thorough working knowledge of the exposure triangle (relationship between shutter speed, aperture and film / sensor sensitivity or ISO as you call it). The 'correct' exposure is arrived as a combination of these three factors and every correct exposure (also termed as the correct 'exposure value' or EV) gives you various possible combinations of these three. You choose whatever combination suits your creative requirement. (E.g. ISO 100, f/16 and 1/125 will give you same EV or 'exposure' as ISO 200, f/16 and 1/250 or even ISO 800, f/11 and 1/2000. You choose one of these possibilities depending upon your requirement of motion blur, lack of grain and depth of field.)

It is my suggestion that you keep picture style, AF issues and metering modes out of this until you are thoroughly conversant with the exposure triangle.

Hello Guys, photos in my life were from a digital camera gifted during my marriage. Later through various mobile cameras but has come out good for my limited knowledge.

Now with time not being a constraint and increased trips as my daughter is now 4 and is strong enough to travel, the itch to buy a DSLR is at an all time high.

Searched online for a DSLR for beginers and have narrowed down to Nikon D3300. Most of the online review shows D3300 to be better than some highly priced Cannon. Is it so?

I would like the experts to suggest the right camera and the lens kit to go with it.

I have a budget of INR 45000 max and nothing more.

D3300 with its kit lens is a fantastic camera for its price. You can get is as low as Rs.28,000/ on some e-commerce sites.
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...0dslr%20camera

I would suggest that initially you just get the camera with its kit lens. Normally the sellers bundle it with an SD card and a bag. If not, get a small bag.
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...-bag/983066226

The other things that you will need are
. UV Filter. Get the Hoya 52mm http://www.snapdeal.com/product/hoya...0filter%20hoya
. SD card. Get 16/32GB 45 MB/s card, nothing slower http://www.snapdeal.com/product/sand...deo-sdhc/28975

At a later stage, once you have used the camera for 6 months or so, depending on your style and requirements, you can add the following
. 35mm F1.8 DX lens http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...mm%20f1.8%20dx
. External Flash
. Macro Lens - 60mm or 105mm
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...h:nikon%2060mm
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...:nikon%20105mm

If you find that you are shooting distant objects a lot and need a longer lens, avoid zooms with 200mm or 300mm at the long end; they have average IQ; rather save up and get the 300mm F4 AF-S lens.
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/niko...:nikon%20300mm

I have given the links to SNAPDEAL, but check Flipkart and Amazon also. The deals vary site to site and day to day

Thanks for the reply buddy.

Every moring second work i do is check for any great deals on those sites, first one being T-BHP!

Is it worth buying the Nikkor 55-200 mm lens along with the bundle? I see you have not recomended , but because I get them for a great price. As you said the reviews online are not encouraging for the lens.

If the camera is purchased in USA, will the warranty be valid here in India.

Instead of the not so great entry level DSLRs - why don't you buy a Sony RX100 instead? Outright much better photos out of the door unless you like to spend time in lightroom editing pics.

. 55-200 is not such a great lens. What you must realise is that you get what you pay for, especially in lenses. At 200mm it will be quite soft, negating the need for getting it. You will be better off cropping the images taken at 55mm of the kit lens (that is what I do). At longer end - 200mm and 300mm you need better IQ as the object is at quite a distance. If you are shooting wild life and/or birds, you will need faster aperture also, that is why I recommend the Nikon 300mm prime lens.

. Nikon does not transfer the warranty from one country to another. That said, the Nikon warranty in US is normally 5 years compared to 2 years in India. So it you travel to US frequently, it is worth it, else buy in India. You will be surprised to know that at times the prices here are much lower than west.

Thanks for the suggestions. I did check on them and also mirrorless cameras and feel DSLR's help in improving my skill. Also, another factor is the number of options to upgrade, with addition of lenses, if I need to go further.

Thanks for clarifying. Yes the price in India is Cheaper right now may be because of the reduced warranty period. Ill now have to decide on dropping the additional lens.
There are some suggestions online to go for a 18-135 mm lens instead of the kit lens. Is it a good option.

The 18-55 is one of the best kit lenses. As I had explained, the longer the zoom range, the lower the quality, especially at high end. Buy zooms with large range, only if you want to travel light and do not expect excellent quality.

Professional zooms do offer excellent quality, but they cost a lot more than an equivalent prime. The 70-200mm F4 is one such lens, but it is as expensive as the 300mm F4.

Hi varunanb,

If you are buying Nikon products online, please don't buy from sites like Snapdeal or Flipkart. Nikon India has posted a warning on their site that they are not their partners, and won't honor the warranty if you buy from them.

Even if you are buying from other sites like Amazon, please check the seller name and verify if it is present in the list of verified sellers that Nikon has in their site. Would save you a lot of headache later.

Thanks Mate. I also read about it. Ill mostly be buying them from Amazon. Im off to check the cameras tomorrow at a retail shop and then go for an order.

Check out Photo Park on Ellis Road. They give good discounts. I recently bought a D750 from them.

I didn't know this thread was just a gear buying thread - merely about specs or 'should I buy X vs Y' :) And which photography thread are you referring to? The images threads are about posting images. And not about discussing techniques, or advantages or limitations of certain gears or techniques. Even arguments add a lot of value and force one to think differently. If you read some of the initial pages of this thread, you would find many arguments and discussions about photography, some very interesting posts. Unfortunately most of the recent posts are about 'should I buy an entry level X vs Y, given my ZZ budget'.

Nice shots, thanks for sharing and your post. I checked out your Fickr photos, liked the chair one and the one in Fatepur Sikri/Agra (taking photos).

Here is my counter point:

If you were shooting a recent DSLR that has a sensor (e.g. Sony Exmor) that allows for pulling up shadows - you could have metered for the brightest part of the scene, and pulled up the shadows later, and toned down the highlights, to get a shot that would have captured more details across the frame. Some Nikon and Sony cameras allow you to do that, without significant penalties in terms of noise or banding.

Or, with a sensor that doesn't allow so much leeway, one could have done exposure bracketing and then created a blended image.

So, different ways to reach an outcome. And modern technology allows one to push the envelope with a lot more leeway. Makes it easier to capture the right moment and interesting light. And I will still argue that 99% of the time, one doesn't need to rely on concepts such as Sunny 16 that were a lot more relevant when technology wasn't so advanced

And as you said, if you know how you want the end photo to look, you can plan for it right from the beginning. But I am also bringing in the post processing variable here.

A recent shot: negative exposure compensation, pull up the shadows and tone down highlights later. Meter for the brightest part of the scene, focus somewhere else. Easy with a modern sensor and knowledge of one's camera.



Metering, pp were a function of the end image I wanted when I took the shot



Tricky but lovely light. Getting it right - shooting parameters, pp - took some effort, especially given that this was shot with a 80-400mm lens.

Thanks. I have added a full set of photos from my 1968 TLR camera (120 size film) yesterday, hope you like them too.

Actually, I don't see it at as a 'counter point'.

What you are saying is that modern sensors allow you to pull up shadows so you can shoot according to the brightest and post-process. Agreed. I am also assuming that using best ETTR practices, you expose the highlights at the highest end of the available DR of the camera (i.e. chimp after shooting to see there are no 'highlight' blinkies' or check the histogram) and later over / underexpose as per requirement in Lightroom / PS / whatever software.

What Ansel Adam's zone system says is that you define zones (usually from 0 to 9 or 10, where 0 and 9 or 10 have no detail left in them, in short 8 or 9 usable zones) and you shoot with your visualisation of the image in mind. (i.e. what you need to retain as brightest and darkest). Then you use various film developing techniques (n+1 development, n + 2 development and so on) to push / pull exposure.

So, the post-processing you intend to do in photoshop is similar to the pulling / pushing of the negatives. Zone is as much about developing as it is about shooting, which is what you are also saying about PP being important and useful in digital photography. The only difference is that it is better to over-exposure (without losing highlights) in digital and slightly underexpose in film (again, advanced practitioners say this. I haven't developed film on my own since college darkroom days, so I don't know exactly if film is better underexposed or not).

You are practising the zone system without realising it. It is not complex and you have been using it.

As far as sunny 16 is concerned, it is for complex, or rather, confusing lighting scenarios. Again, it is a handy tool to do less chimping while shooting. Works for me when I shoot film (without working meters, of course!), street photography or even the occasional complex landscape (like a sunset shot where there is extreme contrast and light is fading fast).

Another point: everybody is not using 'Exmor' sensors. Many beginners cannot justify the investment on expensive cameras. I shoot with a Canon 500D, I know the limitations (ISO 800 max, 11 stop DR, centre point focussing is best, lens capability is more important in focussing than body etc etc) but using these techniques has got me to applying the fundamentals well in all situations. Its very useful because I end up switching between 5 different cameras most of the time (office Nikon D60, wife's Nikon D5100, my 500D, 35 mm film SLR and 120 mm film TLR). It gets universal and then the camera settings get out of the way and I can concentrate on the image in peace. Hope that clears my point.

I do use the zone system when lighting is challenging. During car reviews, sometimes we end up shooting a black car in harsh sun. Normal tendency is to underexpose... but I knew to overexpose thanks to the understanding of zone system. I shot the following with +1 EV to get the true color of the black car.

https://www.team-bhp.com/carpics/Hyu...-sonata-13.jpg

The rule appears to be same for both digital and film. The most advanced expert I know (Rudra Sen), says you need to underexpose even for digital shots. It is easier to recover from shadows than whiteout. I have found it to be true.