[arjunrudra]

Thank you guys for your invaluable help. My friend bought the d90 dinally and is in love with it. thank you.
And he also got the body seperately and got the 18-135mm vr w2 lens.

[shajufx]

Someone is selling a Nikon SB600 flashlight, its just 1 month old and quoted 9k, is it worth ? I was thinking of the SB400 with a limited budget (around 5k US price), because my purpose is just general. Any tips ?

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

Are you suggesting leaving a xx-400mm+ lense on the body permanently? I always thought it will be a portability issue.

I had a lens like 18-270 tamron VC in mind, its not too huge and can be an allrounder lens. Portability when compared to a P&S would be a problem, but since Vkochar did consider buying a DSLR i didn't think portability would be a concern of his.

[phamilyman]

@Shaju:
Vivitar has a 285HV that everyone of my strobist friends seems to love. Check that out. You'll get two of them in that price!

[it_inspector]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

Are you suggesting leaving a xx-400mm+ lense on the body permanently? I always thought it will be a portability issue.

Like said above mega-zoom lenses are not that big on a DSLR. Also DSLR's are faster at AF when there are kids running everywhere. Then comes the Crop factor, 300mm lens gives the reach of a 450mm lens.

Originally Posted by arjunrudra

Thank you guys for your invaluable help. My friend bought the d90 dinally and is in love with it. thank you.
And he also got the body seperately and got the 18-135mm vr w2 lens.

18-135mm is decent lens but 18-105mm is better. 18-135mm was released with D80 so an older design when compared to 18-105mm. I suggest replacing them if he still has the chance.

Originally Posted by shajufx

Someone is selling a Nikon SB600 flashlight, its just 1 month old and quoted 9k, is it worth ? I was thinking of the SB400 with a limited budget (around 5k US price), because my purpose is just general. Any tips ?

Sb400 is quite good. But it also lacks so much. In the starting one won't notice anything but when it comes to serious shots and stuff, its problems start to show. No PC connector, no control whatsoever, bouncing is not what is expected. It is basically built in flash on steroids, nothing more.

Rather go with second hand Sb600 then newer sb400. Sb600 is so much more than sb400. I personally use combinations of Sb800/sb900 and its so effective specially since i can use these wirelessly without the need for wireless triggers

Nikon CLS rocks.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

@Shaju:
Vivitar has a 285HV that everyone of my strobist friends seems to love. Check that out. You'll get two of them in that price!

Vivitar is good for strobists but not as a dedicated single unit. Also remember when buying Vivitar one is buying a product made more than 5yrs ago. Signs of aging will be there.

I suggest rather buy generic Strobes from ebay.

Cheers

[govigov]

Hoya 58mm Introductory Filter Kit - Ultraviolet (UV), Circular Polarizer, Warming Filter (Intensifier) and Nylon Pouch

cost 3500/-

sounds good?

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by it_inspector

Even RAW can't do anything when White balance is off.

I am surprised to see this statement. RAW is what the sensor actually sees (data straight from the sensor) and the WB settings doesn't change the actual RAW image data. The WB setting value will just get embedded in the RAW files as a metadata for the RAW application to interpret and display the RAW file accordingly. Even the camera's LCD displays RAW according to the WB setting under which it is shot but that doesn't mean the image data has been manipulated according to the WB setting. All this as per my limited knowledge and understanding.

Basically, RAW is as is. Either the camera or the computer reads the raw image, then references the settings like WB, sharpness, saturation, etc. to determine how to display the image. Any of those settings can be changed later, because it's only a guideline, not set in the RAW data itself.

When it comes to Jpeg, these settnigs are 'hard coded' in the actual pixel data - so it's not possible or difficult to change them later.

In camera, the WB settings are taken into account when the Jpeg is made from the RAW data captured.

Experts, correct me if I am wrong.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by it_inspector

I only shared the issue i felt was a big thing, otherwise i qutie like Alpha series.

Even RAW can't do anything when White balance is off. And i only shoot RAW.

I don't know what to say. I suggest you look up the camera supplied software manual for your camera, and look up how to select WB in RAW.
In a RAW image you can select any WB from around 1600 to 10,000. RAW is basically RAW sensor data, there is no concept of WB in RAW. Maybe you are shooting RAW+JPEG, and then looking at JPEG? RAW files in canon have a .CR2 extension.

I have experienced/seen Hot Pixels in 5D mk1, 1D mk2, 1D mk3, 1Ds mk3, 40D. Have not used any of the xxxD series so cannot comment on that. However Hot pixels are not hard to clone out. They are just there none the less.

All cams will have hot pixels(speaking from experience) esp if you shoot with dark frame noise reduction switched off.
So how long were the exposures, and was dark frame subtraction off or on in the camera?
Moreover, to compare apples to apples, both cameras have to be at same ambient temp. Even a 5 degree difference in temp, and few minute of difference in exposure time can result in a huge difference

[IronH4WK]

Originally Posted by govigov

Hoya 58mm Introductory Filter Kit - Ultraviolet (UV), Circular Polarizer, Warming Filter (Intensifier) and Nylon Pouch

cost 3500/-

sounds good?

is this the Hoya Pro1 D series or the general filters? you can look up Hoya filters here. the 58mm Hoya Pro1 D will cost around $48.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I don't know what to say. I suggest you look up the camera supplied software manual for your camera, and look up how to select WB in RAW.
In a RAW image you can select any WB from around 1600 to 10,000. RAW is basically RAW sensor data, there is no concept of WB in RAW. Maybe you are shooting RAW+JPEG, and then looking at JPEG? RAW files in canon have a .CR2 extension.

@it_Inspector: You are using the Nikon D3x and the D3 right? So you must be having Capture NX for sure as your RAW convertor. The WB can easily be fixed using Capture/ Capture NX. Infact one of the major reasons of shooting RAW for me is WB adjustment in post processing.

[spkumar]

can someone please help me in identifying right kind of lenses for nikon d90 (in addition to kit lense) and the filters as well.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Hello All,

Yesterday I bought a tripod. And last night I was trying to capture night shot with my Canon 400D. I used timer to click a photo, to reduce further shaking.

Now, the problem is whenever I click a shot, the blue sky with some white clouds, appers as red'ish/orange colour sky. I tried a lot of different settings include change in shutter speed, low aparture, high aparture and ISO 100-200-400. I am using the standard Canon 18-55 lense.

Can anyone help me how to capture the blue sky with white clouds. The sky is brighter.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

@Shaju:
Vivitar has a 285HV that everyone of my strobist friends seems to love. Check that out. You'll get two of them in that price!

Bouncing light is something which I really want to experiment and my cam is D60, so sticking to nikon itself would give me some advantage when it comes to different in-built settings. So far no idea if other brands can actually function well on nikon.

Originally Posted by it_inspector

Sb400 is quite good. But it also lacks so much......Rather go with second hand Sb600...Nikon CLS rocks.

Yes I heard a lot about Nikon CLS and D60 supports it. My interest is to the tilting 90° up, 180° to the left and 90° to the right. Now the pricing part, is there any bargaining possible for a 1 month used flash ? I know lenses do not lose much value as seconds, but what about the flash ?

[SPARKled]

I have the SB600 and frankly I love it. I recently shot an event using the sb600 and the 35-70 2.8 and the client was so impressed that he has asked me to do another 2 events for him. But this is not my full time job so naturally had to refuse. Flash guns lose value as they are mostly electronic items unlike lenses.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by pawan_pullarwar

Hello All,
Now, the problem is whenever I click a shot, the blue sky with some white clouds, appers as red'ish/orange colour sky. I tried a lot of different settings include change in shutter speed, low aparture, high aparture and ISO 100-200-400. I am using the standard Canon 18-55 lense.
Can anyone help me how to capture the blue sky with white clouds. The sky is brighter.

What is your white balance setting? You shoot Jpeg or RAW? Please look at the couple of posts above (2916,2917,2919) which talks about shooting RAW and white balance.

If you shoot in RAW, you can correct the white balance later in the PC.

Changing shutter speed, aperture and ISO doesn't change the white balance.