[Aroy]

Camera shake is more pronounced with longer lenses. So if you normally shoot with shorter lenses (< 150mm) it should not matter. With higher focal lengths, especially faster lenses it is a different ball game. At that level, having a good VR lense is definitely worth it. But then VR is a recent phenomenon. Before that it was either steady hands or a tripod.

There are a lot of add-on to Telephoto lenses to steady the hand held shots. One of the most practical is the "Pistol Grip" with a shoulder support. I had one on my Zenit (http://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Sovi.../dp/B005KLM3S6) and Hasselblad had one for their 500mm. Below are some interesting links

http://www.amazon.com/Vanguard-GH-10.../dp/B003XDE8TK

http://www.amazon.com/Stedi-Stock-Sh.../dp/B004816LZA

http://www.pimall.com/nais/photosniper.html

or may be you can make one http://www.petapixel.com/2011/10/17/...s-photography/

and this is another good idea
http://www.powrgrip.com/cgi-bin/powr...ing_goods.html

Now coming to high MP sensors. Medium Format cameras have high MP sensors, and people do shoot them handheld for fashion. For landscapes where razor sharp details are desired, it is tripod (a really heavy duty one at that), mirror lock and low wind and vibration technique. VR helps, but better technique always wins.

[clevermax]

Sony A99 - A camera which has the potential to outshine 5D Mk-III in terms of video making capabilities.

Their approach to A99 was looks like the right first step - they worked together with real filmmakers on how they want A99 to perform.

More details:
http://www.eoshd.com/content/8709/to...nal-filmmakers

Price is expected to be around $2500 but some rumors say it would be around @2700.

[Behemoth]

Well, looks like we can expect an announcement from Nikon on the Sep 13th and they are having media events in many countries, including Dubai:
http://nikonrumors.com/2012/09/04/ni...ber-13th.aspx/

They have clearly mentioned that they want to share the latest addition(s) to their DSLR range - so there is hope that they may lauch multiple models! The pricing also remains to be seen, as the Sony A99 is expected for $2800+. Will Nikon really pitch the D600 at a sub $2000 level, or try to milk the premium market with a higher price level?
The answer should be known on the 13th!

Also, in line with recent launches ,hopefully the new products should be available in the Indian market within 2-3 weeks.


Regards,
Behemoth

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Well, looks like we can expect an announcement from Nikon on the Sep 13th and they are having media events in many countries, including Dubai:
http://nikonrumors.com/2012/09/04/ni...ber-13th.aspx/

They have clearly mentioned that they want to share the latest addition(s) to their DSLR range - so there is hope that they may lauch multiple models! The pricing also remains to be seen, as the Sony A99 is expected for $2800+. Will Nikon really pitch the D600 at a sub $2000 level, or try to milk the premium market with a higher price level?
The answer should be known on the 13th!

Also, in line with recent launches ,hopefully the new products should be available in the Indian market within 2-3 weeks.
Regards,
Behemoth

The price of D600 is rumored to be much less than $2000. All are expecting something in the range of $1500-$1700. A99 is said to have better video specs and is supposed to enter a league of fine video making DSLRs, and prices are expected to be around $2700.

[gopikb]

Friends, Need your help to finalize if the below deal is worth for Nikon D5100 with 18-55mm Kit Lens. There is a promotional offer at www.zoomin.com where they give Rs.3900 off with coupon code "NIKD5100" for this camera. The final price is Rs.29999/-.

I was initially eyeing the Nikon D3100, but am inclined to go for the D5100 given the discounted price. Let me know if this is worth it. By the way, I am just a beginner into the world of DSLR and hence just a basic camera would do for my use.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Friends, Need your help to finalize if the below deal is worth for Nikon D5100 with 18-55mm Kit Lens. There is a promotional offer at www.zoomin.com where they give Rs.3900 off with coupon code "NIKD5100" for this camera. The final price is Rs.29999/-.

I think it is a good deal, the other least price I can see online is in homeshop18, where it sells for 33.9K.

[kala]

Originally Posted by clevermax

I think it is a good deal, the other least price I can see online is in homeshop18, where it sells for 33.9K.

Just a few days ago Homeshop18 had a superdeal on the D5100 + 18-55 kit lens for somewhere under 30K. (29,XXX - Can't recall what the XXX was ). Might have been marginally less than this one, but may not be worth waiting for the same deal to appear again.

[joslicx]

That seems a great price. Does anybody have any prior buying experience at zoomin

Also how good (or bad) would homeshop18 be for buying a DSLR. The D7000 is available for the least price there (with a 2500 coupon) but I am scared of making such a big purchase online.

[kala]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Also how good (or bad) would homeshop18 be for buying a DSLR. The D7000 is available for the least price there (with a 2500 coupon) but I am scared of making such a big purchase online.

A couple of months ago I bought an Atrix-2 (18.2K) and a Galaxy S2 (23.5K) from Homeshop18, and didn't face any issue. The Atrix-2 was delivered in 2 days but the S2 took a bit longer - about 10 days I think. (Their "expected delivery time" was 7 to 8 days).

Looks like they source each item from different merchants and the merchants mail you the stuff directly. The Atrix was sent from Delhi whereas the S2 came from Bangalore. So the reliability could depend on which merchant they are sourcing it from.

[chaudhrysan]

A question for the gurus.

I have a D90 and a 80-200/2.8 and 70-300VR telephoto zooms. I have been wanting to get a longer reach zoom for wildlife. The Nikon choices are out of question (too expensive, my level of expertise does not justify that kind of investment right now). So the options come down to third party - Sigma 150-500, 50-500 or Tamron 200-500, around 65k to 1L price range. Image quality reasonable for the amount you pay, nothing extra ordinary.

A few days back while browsing the net, I came across an interesting bit of information, or rather experimentation that quite a few people overseas have been trying. Hooking up Dx or Fx zooms or primes to the Nikon 1V1 using the FT1 adapter. The image quality of the V1 is pretty decent (though not upto the m4/3 or larger sensors, but certainly much better than P&S category).

Taking as an example, with my 70-300 VR, the V1/FT1 (Crop factor 2.7) becomes a whopping 190-810mm/4.5-5.6 AFS VR combo. With the 2.8 lens the effective combo becomes 216-540/2.8 (no AF, no VR). Ofcourse there are downsides of using FT1 adapter - no AF-c, single centre point AF, compromised DOF to name a few. AF with AFS lenses has been reported to be good in decent light, not so good otherwise. Someone had sampled images at different focal lengths with the 55-300 AFS VR. His observations were that image sharpness and CA control was excellent (both centre and corners) upto 250mm, at 300mm stopping down to f8 acheived excellent results. Sample galleries that I have seen on the net (with 55-300 VR and 70-300 VR) have shown quite good results. Some samples with 600mm nikkor were really mind blowing.

Now back to the question. My level of photography is as a hobbyist, not proffesional, and I have no intentions to pursue photography for earning money. Both packages - D90 with 500mm zoom or V1/FT1 w/70-300mm AFS VR, are with compromises. None will be good in adverse lighting.

Keeping this in mind, I am now leaning towards the V1/FT1 route. My reasons:

V1 kit w/10-30mm zoom + FT1 will cost about 45k in the US. The bigger zooms start at 65k+.
V1 combo shall be much easier to handle vs the larger zooms bacause of compactness and light weight.
No mirror slap induced vibrations.
I have a number of primes and a micro that I can try with this combo.
Plus I have a sub-compact V1 10-30 combo that I can carry easily on the fly.

I have noticed lately that I do not want to carry the dSLR on vacations or imprompto trips unless the reason for the trip was specifically for photography. So, am I leaning in the right direction?

[dgupta]

I have a few queries with regards to starting off with my new Canon EOS 600D 18-55 kit. I am not an amateur to photography in the true sense of the word, I am aware of the various concepts. I studied just enough about DOF, ISO, aperture, shutter speeds and the likes to make an informed choice between the Nikon D5100 and Canon EOS 600D. Now that I have one, can the gurus here please clear my doubts.

I want to learn how to use all these setting on the camera to become better in my shot composition while not being solely dependent on just my camera. I was looking to buy some books to educate myself and I came across a lot of books from various authors (like David Busch, Jeff Revell Etc.), specifically for EOS 600D. Is it worth buying these books or going with generic ones like the series by Scott Kelby. I am more interested in portrait and macros, landscape and wildlife are lower on my priority. I am not that creative when it comes to these 2 genres.

Any help will be much appreciated.
Deepak

[fine69]

I've had my Canon 550D for 2 weeks now but I haven't really taken it out much for the lack of a UV filter.

Can you guys please help in deciding which of these two that are readily available on flipkart are ok to get started with.

http://www.flipkart.com/marumi-58-mm...6-0d909c5bb2fe

Marumi - This one is for 420, but with only 1 year warranty.

http://www.flipkart.com/kenko-58-mm-...6-0d909c5bb2fe

Kenko - This one's for 725 but comes with 10 years coating warranty.

One thing though, the Marumi UV filter also says 'Haze', does it mean anything to anybody?

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by fine69

I've had my Canon 550D for 2 weeks now but I haven't really taken it out much for the lack of a UV filter.

Why on earth you are not using the camera? In the digital world, UV filters doesn't serve any purpose other than protecting the lens. Most people believe that cheap UV filters do more harm to the picture quality than any good.
If you can be a bit careful, you can get by without any filter. Or just buy a cheap one and remove it when taking shots.

PS: I personally haven't felt any difference in picture quality with or without my cheap UV filter and leave it on most of the time.

[gd1418]

Whatever you do or decide, do not get rid of the 80~200 f/2.8. It is an extra-ordinary piece of glass.

So is the 70~300 but is a slow lens.

Originally Posted by chaudhrysan

A question for the gurus.

I have a D90 and a 80-200/2.8 and 70-300VR telephoto zooms. I have been wanting to get a longer reach zoom for wildlife. The Nikon choices are out of question (too expensive, my level of expertise does not justify that kind of investment right now). So the options come down to third party - Sigma 150-500, 50-500 or Tamron 200-500, around 65k to 1L price range. Image quality reasonable for the amount you pay, nothing extra ordinary.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by fine69

I've had my Canon 550D for 2 weeks now but I haven't really taken it out much for the lack of a UV filter.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Why on earth you are not using the camera? In the digital world, UV filters doesn't serve any purpose other than protecting the lens. Most people believe that cheap UV filters do more harm to the picture quality than any good.
If you can be a bit careful, you can get by without any filter. Or just buy a cheap one and remove it when taking shots.

PS: I personally haven't felt any difference in picture quality with or without my cheap UV filter and leave it on most of the time.

I have the same thing to say. I do not even use my UV filter most of the time. 99% of time I go for shooting without it. To be honest, haven't felt any difference in pictures with the filter on or without. For lens protection, hood is there and moreover, few dust particles accumulating on the lens surface is no big deal. I use a blower to drive the dust off, and then moisten by exhaling and wipe off very gently with a lint free paper. This is not even required often.