[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

3. The look on samurai's face when you beat him to the E-3 and post samples : Priceless

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

So Navin ji, the confusion is over. Try the K10D(don't worry too much about long zoom for now, 50-200 should suffice. Here is the link http://www.pentaxslr.com/pdf/50_200_specs.pdf

If you are not satisfied, try the E-3 and splurge.
1. Cost of E-3 body 1700$
2. Cost of lenses and accessories $2000
3. The look on samurai's face when you beat him to the E-3 and post samples : Priceless

Where do I try the K10D or E3? Pentax does not really have a following here and Samu has not bought his E3 yet. Every one I know has either Canon or Nikon (with a solitary Sony R1 thrown in).

The K10D is very tempting. it goes to 24mm and has a decent 24-70 zoom.
The general impression of the 50-200 is that it is bested by the Nikon equivalent (55-200/4-5.6) which itself is VFM but not that hot.

What pentax really needs is a good $500 70-300/4-5.6 zoom using 62 or 67mm glass and a $1000 70-200/2.8 using 77mm glass (like NikCan).
52mm glass is just not going to cut it! remember the bigger the glass the more the light. Brighter glass elements can only push the physics of optics so far. But I am not Pentax's business manager.

BTW did you know that the E3 system is only $400 away from a full frame camera (5D) system (the 5D system stops at 300mm while the E3 is till 400mm but I can always crop and pretend I got a 7-8MP camera instead of 10MP). Also do you think I'd ever try to antagonise Samu-san by getting the E3 before him and then making that info public? I dont have a death wish! :-)

Really my options are either to get the Canon 40D system now or wait till the E3 (and associated lenses/accessories) prices drop 20%. This could happen if the "5DII/6D/7D" and 5D are allowed to co-exist (pushing 5D prices into E3's ball park) or Sony rolls out a sub $2K FF dSLR.

Originally Posted by Samurai

See Tanveer, he is already hinting he'll pull my hair out! :-)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by navin

Also do you think I'd ever try to antagonise Samu-san by getting the E3 before him and then making that info public? I dont have a death wish! :-)

See Tanveer, he is already hinting he'll pull my hair out! :-)

That was my hair, what's left of it. Navin, I don't mind if you buy before me, the sword will remain sheathed. I will be mostly buying locally, may not go US route this time.

BTW, I think 5D is not a good idea, except for FF, it is not really desirable.

[tsk1979]

You don't even get a flash with the 5D, and you have to get all L lenses. With a normal lens the edge distortion becomes a factor. In case of 1.6x crop you are concentrated on the sweet spot near the center.
So don't bring canon or Nikon in the picture.
Pentax has started K10D in India, if you want I can get you the address of numbers of the people who deal in pentax. One guy in paai.in has contacts inside of pentax india.
I handled the K10D at the photoimaging Asia at Delhi, and the viewfinder is to die for.

There is lot of debate on how Oly measures 1.15x etc., etc., and the only way to see how good it is to look through the eyepiece of an oly.

Olympus has opened these exclusive showrooms and affliate showrooms in all big cities, try contacting their marketing office for the info.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by Samurai

A few steps back through the wall, down the cliff, into the river, off the bridge. Man, the things people do to promote Canikon...

That was a good one.

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

...and you have to get all L lenses...In case of 1.6x crop you are concentrated on the sweet spot near the center. So don't bring canon or Nikon in the picture.

Pentax has started K10D in India, if you want I can get you the address of numbers of the people who deal in pentax...I handled the K10D at the photoimaging Asia at Delhi, and the viewfinder is to die for.

There is lot of debate on how Oly measures 1.15x etc., etc., and the only way to see how good it is to look through the eyepiece of an oly...
Olympus has opened these exclusive showrooms and affliate showrooms in all big cities, try contacting their marketing office for the info.

5D would be used with a 24-70 (which is L) and 70-300 (which is NOT L). Do all non L glasses have edge distortion? but that was only if it was chosen over the E3. E3 itself is over my budget by 20%.

I called up the Oly dealer in South Mumbai and she said that they dont hae an E3 in stock or in their showroom. They dont expect stock for a month or more. They have a few Oly E3 expected in a month but they are against orders.

Maybe the K10D will be easier to find (given that it is older) at their dealers (Can I have the details) but what do I do for a long telephoto?

With canon 40D system (a) I dont have to wait for prices to drop or a long tele zom (b) I am within budget (E is not right now, K10D is) (c) service/advice is easy to come by but I sacrifice 3mm on the wide end.

E3 prices wont drop for 6 months and whenthey do I am not sure if they'll drop 20%+, will they? Samu, you have been tracking Oly prices is this possible?

[tsk1979]

Pentax can be had at
+91-22-2265 93 44
+91-22-2264 17 27
+91-22-2267 15 03

FotoCentre Trading Co. Shop No:2, Davar House Bldg.,197,Dr. D.N.Road ,Fort ,Mumbai-400 001,Maharashtra,India

As for Oly(or any other brand) expect 20% higher price in India as compared to worldwide prices.
Pentax and Olympus offer international warranty on their cameras. Canon gives international warranty only on lenses

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Pentax and Olympus offer international warranty on their cameras. Canon gives international warranty only on lenses

Canon's prices are also about 15% higher.

Canon 40D with 17-55 and 70-300 and BGE2N = $2600 is about Rs. 129,000 in India (at Rs. 40/$ that is about $3200).

Thanks Tanveer, I'll call Pentax on Monday.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by navin

Canon's prices are also about 15% higher.

Canon 40D with 17-55 and 70-300 and BGE2N = $2600 is about Rs. 129,000 in India (at Rs. 40/$ that is about $3200).

Thanks Tanveer, I'll call Pentax on Monday.

Everybody's prices are higher in India.

[kvish]

Originally Posted by navin

The K10D is very tempting. it goes to 24mm and has a decent 24-70 zoom.
The general impression of the 50-200 is that it is bested by the Nikon equivalent (55-200/4-5.6) which itself is VFM but not that hot.

What pentax really needs is a good $500 70-300/4-5.6 zoom using 62 or 67mm glass and a $1000 70-200/2.8 using 77mm glass (like NikCan).
52mm glass is just not going to cut it! remember the bigger the glass the more the light. Brighter glass elements can only push the physics of optics so far. But I am not Pentax's business manager.

When you look at pentax, the following tele's are options that you have:
1. Pentax DA 50-200
2. Tamron 70-300
3. Sigma 70-300
4 (not mentioned till now) : Its the tamron 18-250 which is also availble as a pentax rebadged version as pentax DA 18-250. Image samples show that this lens is really good.
5 Tamron 70-200 f2.8 is coming up end of this year and so is the sigma 70-200 f2.8
6. A short tele: pentax da* 50-135 f2.8 is available too as a part of the DA* lineup. (I think the DA* lenses are weather sealed too. That would make the complete system weather sealed)
7. Last but not the least, sigma 50-500 is available for pentax mounts too.

Where pentax shines is in the Primes (Starts at 14mm and goes upto 100mm). For portraits and low lights, pentax has some awesome primes.

Unless you are into serious birding and sports photography, there is no need to wipe out the pentax K10D completely.

[navin]

Originally Posted by kvish

When you look at pentax, the following tele's are options that you have:
1. Pentax DA 50-200
2. Tamron 70-300
3. Sigma 70-300
5 Tamron 70-200 f2.8 is coming up end of this year and so is the sigma 70-200 f2.8
6. A short tele: pentax da* 50-135 f2.8
7. Last but not the least, sigma 50-500 is available for pentax mounts too.

Unless you are into serious birding and sports photography, there is no need to wipe out the pentax K10D completely.

I am not into birding but a fast tele will help with school sports and the occasional trip to a sanctuary or a zoo (not the Mumbai zoo).

of the lot you have listed above the f2.8 tamron or sigma look very interesting as does the 50-500! any idea of the prices on these lenses?

the pentax 50-135 is not long enough and $1000 to boot.

[rkg]

i have canon optura 20 handycam braught from usa.it gave good service for two and half years. one fine day it stopped for working in day light or rather bright light. entire LCD screen/optical view finder will be white.one can not see anything to shoot.inside home with less bright light it shows the objects and one can shoot
i have given it to canon service centre in bangalore. they told me it may be exposure problem and kept it for 30 days and sent it to delhi. then they told me it costs 10500/=but did not give details of the repairs to be carried out. i did not get it repaired.
guys what could be the problem actually? did any one has any idea?
thanks in advance

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by rkg

they told me it may be exposure problem and kept it for 30 days and sent it to delhi. then they told me it costs 10500/=but did not give details of the repairs to be carried out.

Did this happen at canon's own service center or at deendayal at cmh road???

[Samurai]

Dpreview finally posts E-510 review: Olympus E-510 EVOLT Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

[tsk1979]

They still can't get high ISO right. Using excessive noise reduction to make image look cleaner than it is won't lend itself to good image quality. I hope the E-3 does not do this