[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Gadgets bought from US has no warranty in India (specially cameras that has US warranty)

You should always add $30 - 40 to budget for buying International warranty.

Some bigger stores (E.g. B & H) have opened offices in India. They will coordinate warranty issues if you have International warranty.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Of course, if you go into niche segment like long exposures, or high ISO photography, the DSLR wins hands down, but for run of the mill daytime landscape photography, a P&S will give the DSLR a run for its money

Well,sir, I really am not intending to contradict any of the facts.I value the words of an experienced hand at photography such as yours. Your himalayan pics are just awesome,(I wanted to tell this long back )

The suggestions about dSLR vs Prosumer that I gave are from my own experience . I went for an advanced p&s ,about an year back, thinking that it would suffice most of my requirements.It costed about 13K then. Not even a full year turned around , now I had spent almost thrice to get a SLR. That much amount is not something I can easily afford but , I just don't want to be looking for an upgrade in another 2-3 years ,atleast. So, I managed to strech my budget to get an SLR.

A few months back ,one of my friends was very keen on getting a prosumer. I urged him to get an SLR. He gave the same reasons as every other aspiring prosumer user.Eventually , he bought an SX10.
But with all the zoom and everything he had wished for , he only rarely used them fully. That too not to take pics of birds or people but to have fun shots of long distant objects. The only practical use he put his 20x SX10 for is to try a moon shot.

On the other hand, most of the shots are limited to capturing people,buildings,landscapes.

Even I use camera mostly for portraits,functions,landscapes etc. Here, except for landscapes my A720IS left a lot to be desired in all other scenarios.
That makes me think that if I had gone for DSLR earlier itself(even if it was d40), I could now spend that 13K to get a decent long zoom(if I really need).
What I mean is , with a DSLR one spends on body only once(say,for a 4 yr period) and can invest in lens as when needed.
Whereas in p&s type digicams, one actually have to buy a full camera if an upgrade is needed.

That's why I suggested DSLR(ofcourse,if somehow the vitamin M could be met only ) to a similar priced prosumer.
I understand money is not something that comes easily these days.So, when spending it ,spend for something which will serve one for long enough.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Do we have any Nikkor/Sigma/Tamron/Tokina reliable lense within a budget for birding ? My budget is max US$500 as of now. Its for a D60.

Sorry, no idea about nikon land, however there are is the sigma 120-400 OS for 900$ approx, well out of your budget.

[deetee]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Sorry, no idea about nikon land, however there are is the sigma 120-400 OS for 900$ approx, well out of your budget.

On similar lines could you suggest if sigma 17-50mm 2.8 is a good lens for canon?Any other atlernatives?

Edit: I think it is 18-50mm .

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Great, exactly what I imagined. Now, let me ask you one more question. Gadgets bought from US has no warranty in India (specially cameras that has US warranty), although you save 7k to 10k model to model. Dont you get the same saving when you buy it from the grey market here ? I bought my canon IXY800 IS from grey (original with a note- 'not to be sold outside Japan') for 13k including 1 GB card and a pouch ( beginning of 2007 ) which was selling at the dealer for 23k without card nor pouch. This month I got my Nikon D60 + 18-55 VR lens with Lowepro bag, LCD protector, 4 GB card all for 29700. Same thing is sold at the dealer for 38k+ (Pixetra price with 12.5% vat) but a kit of 2 GB card and cheap Nikon bag.

Well, call me naive, but I have no idea where and how to find "grey market" dealers. I visited at least 5 camera shops in Pune [not showrooms], and not one of them was willing to reduce the price by more than 1.5K - 2K over the MRP [for all brands].

Anyway, to each his own - even if I were aware of how to buy a camera from the grey market, I'd have still bought it from the US. I'd rather have a brand new camera from a reputed online store, even if it comes without warranty [as it is, the warranty is only for 1 year - I've used my Kodak P & S for over 7 years now, without a single trip to the service centre], than one purchased from the grey market :-)

Cheers,
Vikram

P.S: Olympus has a worldwide warranty for all their imaging equipment. You can buy their cameras from any country in the world, and their warranty will still be honoured in India.

[abhijitaparadh]

Do we have any Nikkor/Sigma/Tamron/Tokina reliable lense within a budget for birding ? My budget is max US$500 as of now. Its for a D60.

Canon has 70-300 USM IS. which is just barely sufficient for birding. It retails for around $500 in US.

AFAIK, Nikon also has something similar in that price range.
For complete lens range for Nikon APS-C, refer to photozone

I can see a Nikkor 80-400mm, which is decent range for birding.

[abhijitaparadh]

@deetee

sigma 17-50mm 2.8 is a good lens for canon

Its an awesome lens. But I find the range too short to my taste. Similar range is available from Tamron also.

You can also look at Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC Macro. It has got decent reviews.

[kalpeshc]

I guess a few of the posts related to lenses and DSLR should be moved to the DSLR thread. It would help keep the threads clean.

[breezydrive]

I am seriously considering Lumix FZ-28, quoted 24K with B&W at Panasonic brand shop & 17.5K thrugh someone well known in grey market. I have heard that at this price this is a damn good camera.

Sorry, I haven't gone through the entire posts of this thread but does anyone owns Lumix here? Any reviews

[mav2000]

Hi, Wanted to buy a new pint and shoot for around 10k (without warranty). I know the guys pretty well as far as shops are concerned, but am confused as to what to buy. They mainly have cannon and sony, with no mention of panasonic anywhere.

So which one makes sense. My requirements are a good macro mode and around 8-10 mp should be more than enough for the size of pictures I need. Need some manual functions once in a way. HELP?????????

EDIT: One more thing, good low light snaps.

[deetee]

Olympus SP565UZ is going on offer @Rs.16000/- at CROMA. I don't know if this is lower than market price, but if it is, anyone thinking of SP ultra zoom can grab it.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

GTO check out the Canon SX 10 IS

Thanks. Is that the absolute best P&S out there?

Originally Posted by StarScream

All DSLRs have a point and shoot mode GTO. In Nikon cameras you just turn the mode dial to the green camera icon and it does everything for you. The only thing you have to do is fidget with the zoom ring on the lens to get the composition right - but then you do that in a P&S as well with buttons.
You can use a DSLR exactly as you would a P&S - the camera will focus, meter, expose and even automatically pop up and fire the flash if needed.

Thanks StarScream. Recommendations?

Originally Posted by Samurai

Yes, now there is a dSLR point and shoot.

Olympus E-P1 'digital Pen' - in depth preview + samples: Digital Photography Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 digital camera specifications: Digital Photography Review

Both of them can use interchangable lenses and shoot HD videos. In fact, both of them can use all my dSLR lenses.

On my way to check.

But, I don't think it is for you.

Why not?

You should indeed stick to regular P&S if you don't have patience for photography. This thread the best info: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...s-etc-218.html (The Digital Camera Thread: Questions, discussions, etc.)

I have the patience to shoot and will cover everything there is to. However, I don't have the inclination to learn / fiddle with settings.

Thanks

[sj_koova]

Originally Posted by GTO

Is there anything like a point & shoot DSLR? Or should I vamoose from this thread? Purpose : Only to shoot cars. I am not the type who will make even one manual adjustment for a picture, but know what to shoot (in terms of angle). Best point & shoot?

Look at Nikon P90 as well. Does from 26mm to 624mm.
If you don't plan to photograph in low light condition, you can do with a P&S for most of the cases

[tsk1979]

GTO, DSLR is not for you. You will be best with a superzoom P&S
There are 2 camera I recommend
Canon SX10 IS and Panasonic FZ28
Choose any one, both are excellent

Canon has more bells and whistles, while the Panny has easier to use interface.
I suggest you handle both, and then choose

[Samurai]

GTO, in this thread we have to tendency to recommend dSLR to anybody who is foolish enough ask for our advice. Consider yourself warned.

The only reason you are looking at dSLR is for image quality, am I right? Do you really want to carry a bulky 1kg camera? Mine weighs close to 1.5kgs with my primary lens.

There are a few pocketable cameras that can give you very good image quality. But if you are looking at producing the kind of shots generally taken using dSLR, then you have to learn photography.