[Samurai]

reignofchaos, I don't want to start a dSLR family war here. But, I did say I was talking about amatuer photographers, who at the most have Rs.1-2 lakhs as their total dSLR budget. In that budget, non-Canikon systems provide more value for money. You are talking about IS/VR lenses, how many amatuer photographers have IS/VR lenses? I have never met one or one that could afford one. I own lenses with effective focal length ranging from 28mm to 560mm, within F2 to F4.5 similar to L series quality. You will have to pay double for the same in Canikon system. Also, amatuers don't change bodies so often, most can't afford to do that.

As an Olympus E-system follower let tell you this. The flagship of E-system is not E500, it is E1 for which the successor will be announced in few months.

These are the 4/3 lenses available.
These are the 4/3 bodies available.

As an amatuer photographer who has no plans to turn professional, I am more than happy with Olympus. They have the only working anti-dust system and Internet based firmware upgrade system. In addition I can even jump between Olympus, Leica or Panasonic bodies. My real concern with Canikon is that I couldn't have afforded the lens range I own now.

[Rudra Sen]

Totally agree with your view but..

Originally Posted by Samurai

My real concern with Canikon is that I couldn't have afforded the lens range I own now.

Difficult to digest this one.

[tsk1979]

Any new system has its initial hiccups. I don't think Oly or Pentax will stop making new lenses. Pentax is has been releasing Canon L equivalent lenses.
Most of us who are into budget SLRs can't afford to upgrade for another few years, till then Oly, Pentax and maybe even Sony would have matured enough to have a decent PRO body and lens range.
I own a 350D, and I cant afford anything yet that is not available in the lesser brands list.
Moreover if you look at Pentax history, they go all the way back to film slr's when their K1000 was touted as one of the best Film SLRs.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Difficult to digest this one.

Ok, so I tend to go beyond my budget sometimes. What can I do, those lenses were so offordable compared to Canikon.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by Samurai

reignofchaos, I don't want to start a dSLR family war here. But, I did say I was talking about amatuer photographers, who at the most have Rs.1-2 lakhs as their total dSLR budget. In that budget, non-Canikon systems provide more value for money. You are talking about IS/VR lenses, how many amatuer photographers have IS/VR lenses? I have never met one or one that could afford one. I own lenses with effective focal length ranging from 28mm to 560mm, within F2 to F4.5 similar to L series quality. You will have to pay double for the same in Canikon system. Also, amatuers don't change bodies so often, most can't afford to do that.

Well IS is not *that* expensive... an older 28-135 is around 350$. The very popular 17-85 is 500$ and the excellent 70-300 telephoto is also around 500$. Its only the L glass that costs a lot of money. But the fact is, once you see the results of canon IS, as I said there's no going back. I'm an amateur as well who does it for hobbies and don't have a big fat budget to put into cameras.

All one needs to do is select lenses that are value for money. My canon lenses are mostly very cheap but still very good optical quality. One doesn't need L glass for every single lens, but yes having it is helpful. Plus one has a lot of good third party choices on the canon and nikon mount.

Agreed that Olympus lenses are probably cheaper, but then again you are severely limited in the range of lenses you can get. Plus there's very little 3rd party support for non canikon models.

As an Olympus E-system follower let tell you this. The flagship of E-system is not E500, it is E1 for which the successor will be announced in few months.

These are the 4/3 lenses available.
These are the 4/3 bodies available.

As an amatuer photographer who has no plans to turn professional, I am more than happy with Olympus. They have the only working anti-dust system and Internet based firmware upgrade system. In addition I can even jump between Olympus, Leica or Panasonic bodies. My real concern with Canikon is that I couldn't have afforded the lens range I own now.

Well ask yourself if either of those panasonic bodies are actually worth jumping onto! Leica is not within the budget of most serios pros, forget amateurs and frankly their digital bodies are very poor value for money. In case you didn't know, canon also has anti dust features now in its bodies if you care, but sensor dust really isn't that big a pain... so far i've had none.

Finally compare the high iso performance of a 4/3rd system compared to a canon APS-C CMOS sensor. I'm more or less certain that the canon would perform better at ISO 1600 than the olympus at ISO 800. Anything beyond ISO 400 is unusable on existing olympus bodies without significant sensor noise whereas I routinely use ISO 800 and ISO 1600 as well many a times.

[Samurai]

As I have mentioned before I don't want to get into dSLR family wars. I have witnessed enough Canon vs Nikon wars while researching my dSLR. The only point I am trying to make is Canikon is not the only choice for amatuer photographers. BTW, do check this article.

[navin]

1. There are quite a few rather good 3rd party lenses. Some of the "PRO" range 3rd party lenses can rival the regular Nikon/Canon glass. Besides you can get OS/IS/VR as well.

2. Of course I'd love a 17-55/2.8, 28-70/2.8 or a 70-200/2.8 VR but (a) how often does one need that extra stop and (b) are you willing to lug the lens around when you got a family i tow? Sometimes a tripod/monopod or stable platform can compensate for the extra stop.

If I was a Pro like Rudra I'd have a good reason to buy big, heavy, expensive fast glass but for family photographers like me smaller lenses (62-72mm dia) are good enough.

3. India is Canon Country. So it might be easier to stick to Canon. (for the record I use Nikon, I wish I was used to Canon's body because I could have borrowed some nice glass from my niece).

4. Dont blame the Equipment. In most cases it is the EYE that is the limiting factor. I know some photographers who can squeze the best out of a P&S. In fact today's P&S are soo good I feel the best "back up body" is a P&S (like the Fuji F31fd or Canon A640/710IS). I tuck a small water resistant P&S into my Camera bag when I travel.

[Max]

Hi,

I want to buy Sony H5 digital camera

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review

The camera is being sold at $400 in united states but here in india they are selling it for $700 (Rs.30,000) in authorized sony shops with bill and warranty. Thats whopping $300 extra !

Question:
Where can i buy this camera in mumbai?. I checked hira pana market but only one guy have this camera but he was not ready to show the camera at all for testing. He was selling it for Rs.22000/-. I don't want to pay Rs.30,000/- so i am looking for shop which sell imported stuff!

thx.

[khanak]

Try Alfa in Irla, they usually have everything.Besides this there are a number of shops that just sell cameras like JJ Mehta jjmehta .com , India 's Premier Photography Website - Digital Camera , Digital SLR Camera , Video Camera , Apple iPod , mobiblu* Online. You should check them out too.

[yogi1771]

check this link out max i think its the best bet since u get 1yr dealer warranty Sify Shopping - Sony

[Mugen_Power]

Finally Got My New Cam..

[tsk1979]

Brillian choice mugen.
The only features missing are no Bracketing(exposure/wb) and no DOF preview, but you wont miss these don't worry.
It has much better kit lens than canon too!

[navdeep]

Originally Posted by Mugen_Power

Finally Got My New Cam..

Perfect !!

How was your deal ?
Did u try D40x

[Mugen_Power]

Originally Posted by navdeep

Did u try D40x

Ya i had tried for D40x but it was 12k more than D40, and i was looking for entry level Slr because i am noob in photography.

[navdeep]

Originally Posted by Mugen_Power

Ya i had tried for D40x but it was 12k more than D40, and i was looking for entry level Slr because i am noob in photography.

thats quite steep x has more mega pixels rest there aren't any significant upgrades. Intelligent choice. BTW how much did it cost you. Grey or billed ?