[sdp1975]

@iamahunter , the 70D is good for video and live view - check dpreview. If you don't need video, you'll get the 7D2 at almost the same price in the US, or another APS-C much cheaper. What are your requirements , like portraits/sports , etc ?

I have a 1200D for about a year - I use it for mostly family photos , outings and travel - quite happy with the results , particularly at the price point of the 1200D.

[ntomer]

Finally the D500 arrives, a worthy replacement to my trusted and weathered D300. Any idea by when it will be available in India?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

I have a 1200D for about a year - I use it for mostly family photos , outings and travel - quite happy with the results , particularly at the price point of the 1200D.

I got myself a 1200D too, a couple of months ago, and for my extremely beginner skills, is serving me well. I currently have just the 18-55mm kit lens.

I was looking at getting the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Lens, mainly considering the price it's available at. Worth getting?

[sdp1975]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I got myself a 1200D too, a couple of months ago, and for my extremely beginner skills, is serving me well. I currently have just the 18-55mm kit lens.

I was looking at getting the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Lens, mainly considering the price it's available at. Worth getting?

I personally prefer primes, and have switched to the EF-S 24mm f2.8 , hardly use the kit lens. The 24mm costs about 8.5K new, and is extremely compact and lightweight. Yes, I do lose the flexibility esp at the wide end, but it suffices 95% of my needs. The photos in my recent travelogue were all taken with this lens - no post processing involved. I'm very impressed with the image quality.

I have not used the Sigma 70-300, but I had the Canon 55-250 as part of the dual kit combo with the 1200D. Sold it recently for 6.5K as I was rarely using it. It was a decent lens - decent image quality , lightweight and more importantly with IS that the Sigma DG macro doesn't have. I would recommend buying a lens with stabilization at these focal lengths - either the Canon 55-250 or the Sigma with OS.

Again, I don't know what your requirements are. If wildlife, the Canon/Sigma are good lenses at those price points. There are the 300F4 and 400F5.6 primes from Canon, but they're a lot more expensive and heavier.

I've realized one thing though, there's no point buying too many lenses. Most people can usually manage with just about 1 or 2 lenses. I'd hate to buy something and keep it lying unused.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Finally the D500 arrives, a worthy replacement to my trusted and weathered D300. Any idea by when it will be available in India?

I would guess late April/early May. The new cameras will be available from Mar. There will be a huge rush. Nikon will have to ship the cameras as per regional quota.

[nilanjanray]

I think I will take a sabbatical from shooting big cats. I get too excited and forget about any other type of photography. Don't feel like using any other lens even if I carry them.

A starry night and a campfire? Too lazy to get up, set up tripod, change lens...why not just shoot with the mobile?

When I don't have a long lens and when there are no cats around, I am forced to see things in a different way and make the effort.

Just one 50mm f/1.8 lens and a camera.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

A starry night and a campfire? Too lazy to get up, set up tripod, change lens...why not just shoot with the mobile?

Because mobile phones suck at low light while fast normal lens can do miracles in low light. Try it.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

When I don't have a long lens and when there are no cats around, I am forced to see things in a different way and make the effort.

Now my longest lens is 45mm, I have learned to see the world very differently through my camera.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Because mobile phones suck at low light while fast normal lens can do miracles in low light. Try it.

I know

I was talking about mindset and laziness.

[ghpk]

After using Fujifilm S2550 Bridge Camera for 4 years, I now feel I should upgrade without delay.

Reason, learn more advance or next step in photography, I want my taken pics to be more accurate and with ability to control what I wanted to be in snap.

however I mostly carry Redmi Note phone and love to take pics, sometimes my friends say, I wish that moment was captures, and their smiles are restores when I show them a PIC they were dreaming off.
Some call me photo journalist some say "click man", but I a love the little photo enthusiasm in me.

DSLR that Shutter sound, I am so much in love with that sound, a old friend bought some expensive camera Last year, I requested him to make a short video of shutter sound and kept it listening, don't know how many hundred or thousand times.

Coming back to topic, Recently I see a Huge Price drop in Nikon D3200 price, from 22-24k Range its now very visible in and around 19K price tag online.

I feel like grabbing one now, I cannot afford a more expensive camera at present so after what I read about it, I don't think its a bad camera for a starter on DSLR's

please enlighten me if I am wrong.

[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I was looking at getting the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG Macro Telephoto Lens, mainly considering the price it's available at. Worth getting?

I recently upgrade to the 70D from my 1000D and had got the 70-300 Sigma lens almost as soon as my 1000D. (In May 2010)

On the 1200D, the 70-300 will do just fine - At this range of focal length, you will not be able to use the lens after sunset, so IS on the lens will really make no sense.

Pluses
1) Awesome value for money lens - Very acceptable performance for the price
2) Allows you quite a large focal range - 300mm is really useful for those zoom requirements (300mm is equivalent to about 16x zoom)

Minuses
1) You will find the focus to not be reliable 100% of the times - It's irritating when the composition is good, but the lens does not support you
2) Not usable indoors / after sunset. You have to buy the prime (50mm f1.8 for that)

I still have the lens for my 70D and it works beautifully It's almost 6 years and running so the reliability from a quality point of view is also not an issue.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by varunraizada

Any thoughts on which camera you are upgrading to ?

No thoughts. The deed is done. A 7D Mk-II. Will be getting it later in time. 5D is way too expensive and not needed for hobbyists in my opinion. And I was not wanting to take the 6D. A 7D in that way helps you to expand one's genre to birds as well with its fast AF.

Moving to an APS-C won't make any sense. 550D is an awesome one on its own.

It actually makes sense to me. I never felt out of depth with an APSC. And we rarely print.

The L lens is the holy grail of all 100mm's available. The pic is awesome.
So far I have somehow been managing all my macros handheld. Will be doing another project soon and will share the pics

I have been holding on to my 550D for almost 5-6 years. And in that time, beefed on lens and post processing and other accessory (flash, tripod, ballheads etc) requirements. The addition of 100mm L actually also reduced my usage of 70-200 thanks to its versatile nature and IS. But yes, have learnt use all the glasses in their own elements.

As regards to hand-held versus tripods, I think you should invest in a good tripod. Its really good especially when you want to stack images. And so is a ball head equally important.

[varunraizada]

Originally Posted by ampere

No thoughts. The deed is done. A 7D Mk-II. Will be getting it later in time.

Agree ! I had left home thinking of the 7D 2, but ended up with the 70D as did not find the speed too much of a requirement to spend that 50% more , but yeah, it is a super one and you'll get the best out of those L's with a better camera.

I have been holding on to my 550D for almost 5-6 years. And in that time, beefed on lens and post processing and other accessory (flash, tripod, ballheads etc) requirements. The addition of 100mm L actually also reduced my usage of 70-200 thanks to its versatile nature and IS. But yes, have learnt use all the glasses in their own elements.

My 1000D served me for 6 years as my primary, but I still have it so as to use it as my secondary cam when I am at weddings / events

I have that tripod and will share some pics soon . I think we will need to meet when I'm in Bangalore next

[ampere]

Moved the previous two posts to this thread for relevance.

Originally Posted by varunraizada

Agree ! I had left home thinking of the 7D 2, but ended up with the 70D as did not find the speed too much of a requirement to spend that 50% more , but yeah, it is a super one and you'll get the best out of those L's with a better camera.

I was of the same opinion. Till I saw some amazing deals on 7D-II selling almost at 70D pricing

6D in no way was going to be my upgrade, because for the price, I was not getting anything worthy in my opinion (apart from a basic FF body). So I was holding to see if Canon was planning some upgrade on the sensor as they did with 5DSR. I was hoping some of it would trickle down to 6D or 70D next gen. But 6D MKII is no where to be seen and also I am convinced I dont need a full frame. That's when I noticed good deals on 7D-II (I think it may be something to do with new Nikon D500 announcement? Dont know).

My 1000D served me for 6 years as my primary, but I still have it so as to use it as my secondary cam when I am at weddings / events

Thats my plan too. Use the 550D as a second camera while on photo-drives.

I have that tripod and will share some pics soon . I think we will need to meet when I'm in Bangalore next

If you have not seen, check out Acratech Ballheads.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by ampere

But 6D MKII is no where to be seen and also I am convinced I dont need a full frame. That's when I noticed good deals on 7D-II (I think it may be something to do with new Nikon D500 announcement? Dont know).

Full frame can get addictive

The 7D Mk2 deals were due to Black Friday and Christmas. Awesome deal.

There is not too much switching among folks going for high end crop sensor cameras. More of upgrade buys than brand switching, due to existing investment in gear and habit (ergonomics).

The D500 looks very interesting.

[ghpk]

sorry for another newbie post.

I failed to buy the D3200 on recent sale, and it was available around Rs.18990 on all 3-4 online stores, but since yesterday all sites list it at Rs.26000+

I don't see logic of this steep rise, Sites like paytm and amazon India were offering it under 19K even on non-sale days.

currently Nikon D3200 & D3300 is priced almost same ?

seems will have to delay this purchase again :-(