[WindRide]

Picked up a brand new Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G yesterday from Whizz M.G.Road for Rs.12,500/- with 2 yr warranty.

Naresh (RK photoguide) and Jayesh (fotocircle) had no stock but were quoting the same price. Felt foolish having suffered the gandhibazaar torture and ending up buying it from my neighbourhood.. haha.

This particular lens seems to be in some serious shortage.
Also strange in US it costs more (avg $300 for new piece)!

Now looking at buying an used 50mm f/1.8D.

[gd1418]

Camera gears are generally scarce in the market due to the Japan crisis. The companies had stopped production. Rates are generally going North.. My guy in Chandni Chowk has asked me to wait for 2-3 months.

Originally Posted by WindRide

This particular lens seems to be in some serious shortage.
Also strange in US it costs more (avg $300 for new piece)!

[WindRide]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Camera gears are generally scarce in the market due to the Japan crisis....

The 35mm is "made in China". The impact must be minimum.
So why the rates are shooting up in US only and not in India (where it has actually gone down from around 16k last year to 12.5k now) is beyond me.

Maybe its the logistics cost. US is farther from China than India ...

[rajb3125]

Originally Posted by WindRide

The 35mm is "made in China". The impact must be minimum.
So why the rates are shooting up in US only and not in India (where it has actually gone down from around 16k last year to 12.5k now) is beyond me.

Maybe its the logistics cost. US is farther from China than India ...

Even tough budget DSLR's and lenses are made in china. Majority of the optical glass is still made in Japan. It takes way too long to establish an optical glass factory, AFAIK some of the equipment used at Canon factory in Japan is more than 30yrs old.

Off topic, I picked up Fuji W3 today. Not the best setup for 3D but for happy snaps, it does 3D good enough

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by WindRide

Picked up a brand new Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G yesterday.....Now looking at buying an used 50mm f/1.8D.

I just sold my 35mm a month back in pristine condition. Any reason for aiming 50mm when in effect your 35mm is 52mm on a cropped body and your 50mm will be 75mm ? Hope I am confusing you enough Dont you think an 85mm prime would suite better ?

I am super excited about the D700 which should be in my bag very soon. That will come with a 20mm f/2.8 prime. Hope I will do justice to my first FX body. Special thanks to Nisarg for finding time to check the cam in person. Team-bhpians really rock everywhere. I cant live without them . Now Gujarat is added to my travel list. I will say good bye to my dear D90 and its accessories next week as its new die-hard owner is excited to get it as fast as possible.

My search for the ND filters are still in the dark. I almost decided on the Lee foundation kit, 62mm adapter ring, 0.9 ND (3 stops) and The Big stopper (10 stops). But none of the sellers (Indian and US) have got stock of all of it together. If someone has the filter, they dont have the holder kit and vice versa. Its a shocking total of 20k !! Not justified for a hobby user like me. Checking other alternatives. Singh Ray is more expensive than Lee. Finally Hoya Pro1D might be the available option (not available in India yet as a result of my search), serves the purpose for 1/3rd of Lee.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I am super excited about the D700 which should be in my bag very soon. That will come with a 20mm f/2.8 prime. Hope I will do justice to my first FX body.

Congrats Shaju...welcome to the world of 'low pixel density' sensors! (sorry I couldn't resist it. There are too many inane discussions like this about hardware)

Enjoy the camera and please post some pics. I am looking forward to them.

Cheers!

[WindRide]

Originally Posted by shajufx

..... your 50mm will be 75mm ....Dont you think an 85mm prime would suite better ?

.....

Exactly! a 50mm f/1.8D on a cropped body would be a cheap telephoto alternative right?

Can I not use a 50mm (effectively 75mm on my D40) similar to a 85mm lens on a FX/film body?

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by gd1418

Camera gears are generally scarce in the market due to the Japan crisis. The companies had stopped production. Rates are generally going North.. My guy in Chandni Chowk has asked me to wait for 2-3 months.

True I am in Korea which has huge electronics / camera market , yesterday went to iPark mall at yongsan which has 3 floors dedicated to DSLRs and Camera ( approx 300-400 shops on each floor) and everyshop owner told same story of Tsunami. I could not find 77mm Hoya/Kenko Pro 1 D CPL and everyone is trying to Push Hoya HD which way costlier.
In fact India may be in better situation as some people may have old stock.

[shajufx]

As far I understand from the reports and people in Japan, its mainly the FX body plants that were in the affected area. So this price increase and non-availability could also be a game plan by the dealers and stockists. I felt it all the more correct when two sellers told me Lee filters are not in stock due Japan psunami. They dont even understand Lee is made in the UK

[teknophobia]

Originally Posted by amitk26

True I am in Korea which has huge electronics / camera market , yesterday went to iPark mall at yongsan which has 3 floors dedicated to DSLRs and Camera ( approx 300-400 shops on each floor) and everyshop owner told same story of Tsunami. I could not find 77mm Hoya/Kenko Pro 1 D CPL and everyone is trying to Push Hoya HD which way costlier.
In fact India may be in better situation as some people may have old stock.

Strange, I just bought a Hoya Pro 1D 77mm CPL last week here in India. As an aside, I can now defintely confirm that Hoya is a Tokina brand. AFAIK, the HD has a 1 stop advantage in light transmission over the Pro1D, which, considering the conditions you are likely to use a CPL in, is, IMHO, actually a disadvantage.

Also, a test shot for your viewing pleasure

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

As an aside, I can now defintely confirm that Hoya is a Tokina brand.

Were exactly you purchased it in India ?
Hoya is much larger company which owns many brands including Pentax , Hoya, Kenko .
Tokina manufactures and distributes some products for Hoya / Kenko and also I think Tokina is owned by Hoya corp in some part , Japanese companies have really complex structure so we don't know who owns what.

HOYA CORPORATION

[ajman28]

I just came across the following in the tech specs of canon 1000d.

"Center AF point is cross-type sensitive to f/5.6 and larger apertures"

What does this mean?

[teknophobia]

Originally Posted by amitk26

Were exactly you purchased it in India ?
Hoya is much larger company which owns many brands including Pentax , Hoya, Kenko .
Tokina manufactures and distributes some products for Hoya / Kenko and also I think Tokina is owned by Hoya corp in some part , Japanese companies have really complex structure so we don't know who owns what.

HOYA CORPORATION

I know about the close complex interlinkages between these companies, however, the packaging of the Hoya filter had Tokina Company Ltd., Japan as the brand owner, Hoya was mentioned only as the brand. In addition, I have not seen any mention of Hoya on any of the Tokina lenses I/my friends own, draw your own conclusions

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

I know about the close complex interlinkages between these companies, however, the packaging of the Hoya filter had Tokina Company Ltd., Japan as the brand owner, Hoya was mentioned only as the brand. In addition, I have not seen any mention of Hoya on any of the Tokina lenses I/my friends own, draw your own conclusions

Yes I know I have Hoya HMC CPL and UV filters in 58mm size and it says made by Tokina, Well on Pentax Camera also Hoya name or Tokina does not figure.

Kenko and Tokina merged some time back and then kenko was taken over by Hoya so in case of filters probably Tokina -Hoya -Kenko are same. The US distributor is THK ( Tokina-Hoya-Kenko limited)

Hoya have wide array of prodcts like Tamrac bags ,Cokin filter and filter holders , Lee filters but definately Cokin and Lee are not same as Hoya or Kenko :-)

Any way does not matter for people shooting pics on who owns the company.

[throttleking]

Guys, I landed up in a great confusion with Nikon D5100 and Canon EOS 550D. Please advice me on which one to buy!