[thirst4torque]

Guys, I Picked a Canon 450 D with 18-55mm lens kit. Now I am thinking of adding a good lens. How is Sigma 18-200mm compared to Canon 18-200mm? Both have image stabilizer. The price difference is of the range of 6K between them. Other option I am looking at is the Canon 55-250mm IS. I am new to DSLRs so don't have much information

[reignofchaos]

Get the 55-250 IS. Its a far better lens than the 18-200 lenses from third parties.

[navin_bhp]

Hi Guys,

I was searching around the forum for some info on Macro lenses. Couldnt find anything dedicated to DSLR Lenses, so thought of creating one.

I have a Canon 350D with 18-55 Kit lens, a 75-300 Canon (non USM version) and a Canon 50mm 1.8 Prime lens. Im planning to get a Macro Lens soon. I have two questions

1) Canon 100mm or Sigma 105mm, which one is better performance/contrast/focus speed wise?

2) Where to buy in India and what is the price of both?

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by navin_bhp

1) Canon 100mm or Sigma 105mm, which one is better performance/contrast/focus speed wise?

2) Where to buy in India and what is the price of both?

Not sure about sigma, but canon is pretty good. Focus speed is good, not as quick as other non-macro lens i have. But when working with non-macro subjects, and focus limiter set, it is pretty good. Hunts a little in low light.

But then, on macro range it MF all the way. Ofcourse you will also need a sturdy tripod, remote shutter release etc.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

Not sure about sigma, but canon is pretty good. Focus speed is good, not as quick as other non-macro lens i have. But when working with non-macro subjects, and focus limiter set, it is pretty good. Hunts a little in low light.

But then, on macro range it MF all the way. Ofcourse you will also need a sturdy tripod, remote shutter release etc.

+1 to that. Instead of spending lot of money on a macro, you can first experiment with a magnifier also.

[kuttapan]

Which one would be better? Nikon D90 or Canon EOS 50D? I am not in the market at the moment, but would try to understand the pros and cons of each from regular users of each brands. Why would one pick Canon over Nikon or vice versa?

Please put forward your thoughts without starting a Nikon vs Canon war. Or do we need a separate thread for this?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

Which one would be better? Nikon D90 or Canon EOS 50D? I am not in the market at the moment, but would try to understand the pros and cons of each from regular users of each brands. Why would one pick Canon over Nikon or vice versa?

Please put forward your thoughts without starting a Nikon vs Canon war. Or do we need a separate thread for this?

Yes, this may land up being a canon nikon war. I've used a nikon SLR in the past and now have a Canon DSLR.

The advantage with nikon is that you can use your earlier old nikon lenses in the new DSLR. Not possible in canon.

Any other points i'll keep to myself, lest i start WWIII.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Well you should check the high ISO capabilities of the canons in a similar price range. Even a Canon 350D which is a late 2005/early 2006 camera hands both the D40 and D60 its rear end at ISO 800. I'm not comparing it to any new canons.

I am sorry - but that's just not true. Please check here:
Nikon D40 Review: 17. Photographic tests: Digital Photography Review

to quote the site:
"The Nikon D40 delivers cleaner images across the ISO range than the other two cameras here, and it does so while maintaining good detail (although I would say this is probably second to Pentax who have a very hands-off approach to noise reduction). At ISO 1600 the D40's grey and black patches are very clean with only a hint of chroma noise, this compares very well to the K100D and EOS 350D (Rebel XT)."

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Its not just older lenses - any full frame lens - which essentially means most of the better lenses can't be autofocussed.

RoC, the point is if i am picking up a Prime or a Fullframe lens, then what am i doing with a 400$ D40? If i buy those lenses i would start with a D300/700 or at least with a D80.

D40 is aimed at a hobbyist migrating from a P&S, and it does the job well. If someone is looking at a semi-pro amateur camera - he should start with at least a D80 or preferably a D300.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

Which one would be better? Nikon D90 or Canon EOS 50D? I am not in the market at the moment, but would try to understand the pros and cons of each from regular users of each brands. Why would one pick Canon over Nikon or vice versa?

Please put forward your thoughts without starting a Nikon vs Canon war. Or do we need a separate thread for this?

If you aren't so committed to getting a new model - one of the best buys in that segment in EOS 40D, which comes at just around 800$ (body only). Cant find a better value in semi-pro cameras anywhere.

[finneyp]

Skywalker, Nikon D90 costs around $850 (body only), so buying the latest model from Nikon would make more sense.

[clevermax]

While all the professional photographers (Mostly those who shoot at marriages, functions, meetings etc) use Nikons, most of the the amature photographers and hobbyists use Canon. I keep wondering why.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Skywalker, Nikon D90 costs around $850 (body only), so buying the latest model from Nikon would make more sense.

I was thinking they are in two levels. D90~450D and 40D~Nikon D200.

But you may have a good point there. I remember using 40D and being impressed by it, so probably i was blinded. A quick Google told me you may be right.
Just-announced Nikon D90 vs. just-reduced Canon EOS 40D | Digital Cameras | ZDNet.com

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by clevermax

While all the professional photographers (Mostly those who shoot at marriages, functions, meetings etc) use Nikons, most of the the amature photographers and hobbyists use Canon. I keep wondering why.

Even i wondered the same. Every marriage function has a guy with a Nikon DSLR

If i think again, it really does not look like a compliment

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by clevermax

While all the professional photographers (Mostly those who shoot at marriages, functions, meetings etc) use Nikons, most of the the amature photographers and hobbyists use Canon. I keep wondering why.

This is one case where hobbyists are lot more experts than professionals, at least in the Indian scene. I have spoken to few of these guys and soon realised that they are mostly ignorant about their equipment. They still carry their habits from film SLRs. The EXIF data of the photos from my B-I-L's wedding was an eye-opener and shocking.

[tsk1979]

Up north wedding photographers mostly use Canon's and I see they use Auto mode mostly.