[fatboyslim]

Thanks TSK,may be I will muster some courage and indeed ask him a few questions.

On the discussion about third party lenses, it is a good idea to buy from Grey market in India or procuring it from the US with warranty. I am sure the US price would be still lesser with warranty.

In the event something goes wrong with the lenses, do we have a good service network in India for Tamron, Sigma or Tokina?

Originally Posted by tsk1979

@fatboyslim, Rudra is a Full Frame guy, so he does not dabble in EF-S lenses at all
As far as general queries about cameras and DSLRs are concerned, you can ask Rudra anything. He will reply!

@allothermembers: Newsflash: Tamron is expected to launch 70-300 VC soon. link attached:

Tamron develops SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 Di VC USD lens: Digital Photography Review

Cheers!

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

I picked up the 500D for ~44k with warranty from bangalore, a month ago.

Jaguar, can you also please share where you made the purchase from? I'm looking to buy the EOS 500D in a month's time, with warranty and 44K seems cheaper than JJMehta.com.

Apart from the box kit, did you get any gifts/freebies from dealer? Thanks for your help

aK

[shajufx]

Any of our members have bought things from smartshoppers.in ? I am interacting with them on few lenses and a bigger bag. Please give some input if there is anything related to this online retailer from chennai.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Any of our members have bought things from smartshoppers.in ? I am interacting with them on few lenses and a bigger bag. Please give some input if there is anything related to this online retailer from chennai.

Avoid. People on photography forum camshotsindia have had bad experiences

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

Thanks TSK,may be I will muster some courage and indeed ask him a few questions.

On the discussion about third party lenses, it is a good idea to buy from Grey market in India or procuring it from the US with warranty. I am sure the US price would be still lesser with warranty.

Tamron has a Delhi distributor, but most things are out of stock. I feel that sigma and tamron are not really interested in India as a market.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Avoid. People on photography forum camshotsindia have had bad experiences

Ouch, I was also planning to purchase some stuff off them! Thanks for the heads-up!

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Avoid. People on photography forum camshotsindia have had bad experiences .

Thanks for the info. I think I saw one of our members (Sankar) in the customer testimony with a good comment. Luckily what I want is not in their stock, therefore I am searching other alternatives.

[Live To Jive]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Man, why don't you go to the canon.co.in website?

I did and they sent me a mail with the addresses of the dealers. I spoke to a person in Canon whose number was mentioned in the mail. He recomended a shop in Panjim which I visited today. He also had Nikon and Olympus.
BTW Canon does not supply the IS kit in India. You have to buy it with the normal lens.

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

"See, Nikon does not have to make flat bed scanners and colour printers (like Canon) to make money. Nikon only makes cameras and lenses and they are mighty good at it"

The same goes for Olympus and Pentax.

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

@live to jive
Canon is mighty efficient in response as well. I shot an email to the dealer/distributor in raipur (Found our the details from the canon website as TSK had mentioned) about 50D and lenses and petal hood yesterday evening.

Voila! I get a call today morning from the regional manager for MP& Chattisgarh followed by detail breakdown of the cost, warranty details etc, with the request to visit digital zone to experience the ergonomics. Boy, I surely am impressed.

I also got a prompt response from them.

[robimahanta]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Any of our members have bought things from smartshoppers.in ? I am interacting with them on few lenses and a bigger bag. Please give some input if there is anything related to this online retailer from chennai.

Smartshoppers.in has really pathetic customer care. I ordered a Lowepro bag from them after making sure they had it in stock, but upon making the payment they said it was out of stock and will take atleast 2 weeks. Eventually after around 20 days I received a shipment from Interfoto,Mumbai(Lowepro dealers) but the invoice indicated the price to be around 1000 bucks less than what i had paid to smartshoppers.in. I complained about this to their customer care but they failed to respond and gave lame excuses.

I can't imagine buying expensive lenses from them. As you are interested in Sigma lenses, get them from Shetala,Chennai. Mr. Kumar from Shetala is a great guy and they are very prompt. Moreover, you get a genuine 2 yr warranty. I know it will cost you a tad more but call/mail them and negotiate. Its worth it.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Jaguar, can you also please share where you made the purchase from? I'm looking to buy the EOS 500D in a month's time, with warranty and 44K seems cheaper than JJMehta.com.

Apart from the box kit, did you get any gifts/freebies from dealer? Thanks for your help

aK

Picked it up from Jayesh (Photo Circle). Got a cheap UV filter & screen guard from him.
The box contains 4Gb SDHC card.
After registering for canon edge, got a bag and one year extended warranty.

All the best for your purchase.

[iamswift]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Any of our members have bought things from smartshoppers.in ? I am interacting with them on few lenses and a bigger bag. Please give some input if there is anything related to this online retailer from chennai.

I bought 500D + 18-55 kit lens from S'mart.
So far no issues.
While shopping, the latest date for delivery was mentioned around 10 days from date of order. Since I'm in Chennai, I expected it to be delivered around 2/3 days. But I received it just one day before last date. But thats ok.

I was little worried about the courier handling. But the package was pukka. Another cardboard box with well cushioned package over the original box.
With their seals fixed on lot of places - Impossible to tamper with by the intermediate courier guys.

Price wise, I find them cheaper too. I find them to be lowest among all in Chennai.

What I understand from other comments is that they are poor at responding to any complaints.
I see they stock more of cameras and lenses - less bags, tripods etc.

If you are looking for good deal (on cameras and lenses) and could tolerate upto 2 weeks delivery time I guess you can go to them.

[iamswift]

Originally Posted by robimahanta

Eventually after around 20 days I received a shipment from Interfoto,Mumbai(Lowepro dealers) but the invoice indicated the price to be around 1000 bucks less than what i had paid to smartshoppers.in. I complained about this to their customer care but they failed to respond and gave lame excuses.

I guess they ordered it for you and kept the margin of 1000 bucks for themselves. Oops - 1K is too much of margin for an intermediate job - don't you think?
BTW, why didn't you directly get it from Interfoto?

As you are interested in Sigma lenses, get them from Shetala,Chennai. Mr. Kumar from Shetala is a great guy and they are very prompt. Moreover, you get a genuine 2 yr warranty. I know it will cost you a tad more but call/mail them and negotiate. Its worth it.

Shetala is straight forward dealer. No frills and expensive.
If you could get Tamron / Sigma / Canon / Nikkor lenses from others with less price an yet with same original warranty, why Shetala.
I prefer Shetala for filters, LCDprotector and such stuffs.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Live To Jive

BTW Canon does not supply the IS kit in India. You have to buy it with the normal lens.

Only 1000D comes with the non IS 18-55 lens. 450D and 500D kit boxes from canon have the Is lens
EOS 450D Kit EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - Digital Cameras - Canon India
EOS 500D Kit EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS - Digital Cameras - Canon India

If your dealer is selling you any of these 2 without IS lens, then it means he has opened the kit and cheating you.

[tsk1979]

I am looking for Sigma 10-20 F4/5.6 For Canon mount.
This lens is not really readily available in Delhi, and from Amazon.com with priority shipping it will cost approx 500$.
I checked the customs website, it says duty for camera lenses is 10%.
So with customs duty, price will come to 25000 approx.
So guys, tell me, has anybody imported lenses from amazon.com and what was the customs duty.

Alternatively, if you can point me to a sigma dealer in New Delhi it will be great!

[navin]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim

+
1. Kit lens: Canon 17-85 vs Nikon 18-55
2. Kit lens: Canon 18-200 vs Nikon 18-105

Originally Posted by navin

1. 18-55 IS/VR Kit lenses from Nikon and Canon are pretty good VFM. To get significantly better IQ one has to consider lenses 4 times their price like the 15-85IS and 16-85VR.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Actually, the canon 18-55 IS lens is very very good, and image quality is top notch

Tanveer, I have used the Canon 18-55 IS and yes it is a good lens. I have even compared it to the 17-55/2.8 IS and above f8 or so it is very good except maybe at the extreme ends. I dont know if theis makes a difference but my screen is a 46" LCD TV and my "projector" is a Sony PS3.

Like I said both 18-55 are so good that to get significantly better you need to spend 4 times as much.

Still I'd recommend the 18-105 only so that fatboyslim does not feel the need to change lenses as often.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

As far as general queries about cameras and DSLRs are concerned, you can ask Rudra anything. He will reply!

Rudra is a very patient man. I learnt more from him in one afternoon than from all the photography forums.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by navin

Like I said both 18-55 are so good that to get significantly better you need to spend 4 times as much.

As a long time user of 18-55 Non IS, I can safely say that this lens is not as good as the 18-55 IS. At F8/F9 the standard 18-55 does the job well, but at other apertures, the 18-55 IS trumps it!