[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

I just did not get this part. Could you kindly explain?

Rudra, i just wanted to say that on this thread, you and the others are so informative on subject of photography, it just astonishes me. In other words, your the gurus of this thread!

[deepakvrao]

So the popup flash is useless for action freezing. Infact in true action photography, you would need an extremely powerful flashgun which high speed sync which will cost you 10-20times the cost of your camera.

Actually that holds good when you are using flash as a fill. Its in these conditions that you need a high speed sync flash. BTW HSS flashes do not cost that much - the Canon 550/580 are AFAIK between 15-18K.

High speed sync is really a bit of a misnomer actually - what it does in HSS mode is that it emits a series of flashes so that the film/sensor is shown the image evenly even when the shutter curtains are narrow slits.

If its darkish and flash is your main source of light it will freeze action EVEN if the shutter speed is as slow as 1/60 etc. Thats because in a true flash illuminated image the image is captured in the 1/2000 or so [an approximation as I dont know exactly how long the flash fires for] that the flash lights up for and the shutter speed is pretty irrelevant except for taking in the ambient lighting. This is easy to try at home.

[tsk1979]

You are right about 1/2000 deepak, but in case of actual action photography, as in sports, you are a little too far away from your subject to go with the 550 etc.,
I was told that in case of football games etc., the flashguns used cost around 5000$

[deepakvrao]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

You are right about 1/2000 deepak, but in case of actual action photography, as in sports, you are a little too far away from your subject to go with the 550 etc.,
I was told that in case of football games etc., the flashguns used cost around 5000$

Yup - sports shooting is expensive. You need teles which are fast and expensive flashes. Not to forget bodies with high frame rates.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

1. Take time to think as what you’re going to shoot mostly.
2. Take time to think as how often you’re going to take big prints.
3. Take time to think if you really need that RAW shooting feature.
4. Through a single lens penta-prism live view (in DSLR) is always better than aim and shoot camera viewfinder. There’s no parallax error in DSLR.
5. A compact digital camera sacrifices on critical aspects. Any compact camera will give you good A4 prints.
6. Don’t trust a digital zoom. It’s pure rubbish.
7. In-built body image stabilizer is not as effective as in lens image stabilizer. In lens stabilizer is designed for that particular lens.
8. If you’re a regular heavy-duty tripod user
9. Think twice before investing on lenses. Similarly, a tele-zoom will sit in your house because it’s too cumbersome to carry always.
11. A 50mm 1.8/1.4/1.2 will give you the same result under most normal condition.
12. Most of the time a supplied kit lens is good for general photography.
13. Take any reviews from abroad with a pinch of salt.
14. Buy cameras, which have proper presence and support in this country.
15. Keep a camera for few years. Use it well to know it well. You’re only ready for upgrade then.

i'll try and simply this...
1. In India buy Canon. Nikon has about 10 service centers in India. Canon has about 100. Any SLR from Nikon or Canon or anyone else is more camera than most of us need.
2. Buy a 24-70, 24-85 or 24-105 zoom. zooms any wider distort and vigenette. zooms any longer get heavy you youa re liable to not carry them. f/4 with IS is about as fast as most of need on a DSLR. Any faster and you got very heavy glass, besides in a DLSR you can push the ISO and with IS you can push the apeture too keep in mind that you loose DOF as you go faster.
3. Camera take longer to write to RAW so use RAW only when you have time between shots so that means no RAW for family events, holidays, etc.. RAW is really cool for a landscape or a sunset but then these situations really scream for a Medium format.
4. digital zoom is like a crop.
5. keep in mind that most DSLR (nto the kind Rudra uses) have a crop factor so get a fast 24, 28 or 30mm prime. 50mm is too long, but a 50/1.8 can make a cheap potrait lens.
6. to really master a good DSLR takes about 5 years for us mortals
7. spend on quality glass rather than a quality body. buy glass that you can carry and use. keep a track of what you shoot and what focal lengths and apetures you need for various applications.

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

In this photo with ISO 800 I was able to get 1/800 shutter speed at F5.6

did you get one of the dolphin kissing the ball?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by mobike008

TSK, that was one awesome and simple way to put things across. Were you guys ( Rudra, Samurai, Deepak ) all born so educative?

What am I doing in this esteemed company?

Actually I have simply given up on flash photography, too difficult to master it. Instead of that I am focusing on composition and on learning post processing.

[mail4ajo]

This below pic was shot by me with a Canon P&S at 4x optical zoom at a high shutter speed of 1/800 sec.

Compare with the second pic from tsk's Canon 350D. Now doesnt it makes sense to invest in a DSLR?? I am not offering advice, but a suggestion to people who want to invest in so called ultra zoom cams with many bells and whistles.

[deepakvrao]

2. Buy a 24-70, 24-85 or 24-105 zoom. zooms any wider distort and vigenette. zooms any longer get heavy you youa re liable to not carry them. f/4 with IS is about as fast as most of need on a DSLR. Any faster and you got very heavy glass, besides in a DLSR you can push the ISO and with IS you can push the apeture too keep in mind that you loose DOF as you go faster.

Navin,

I agree with most of what you have to say but nothing beats faster lenses. IS does not give you the DOF control, which in fact you have already lost with all crop cameras. DOF is the one reason I would love a FF but alas I cant afford it.

F/2.8 is far far better than a F/4 and whats better than a f/1.8 or f/1.4?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by navin

i'll try and simply this...
1. In India buy Canon. Nikon has about 10 service centers in India. Canon has about 100. Any SLR from Nikon or Canon or anyone else is more camera than most of us need.
2. Buy a 24-70, 24-85 or 24-105 zoom. zooms any wider distort and vigenette. zooms any longer get heavy you youa re liable to not carry them. f/4 with IS is about as fast as most of need on a DSLR. Any faster and you got very heavy glass, besides in a DLSR you can push the ISO and with IS you can push the apeture too keep in mind that you loose DOF as you go faster.
3. Camera take longer to write to RAW so use RAW only when you have time between shots so that means no RAW for family events, holidays, etc.. RAW is really cool for a landscape or a sunset but then these situations really scream for a Medium format.
4. digital zoom is like a crop.
5. keep in mind that most DSLR (nto the kind Rudra uses) have a crop factor so get a fast 24, 28 or 30mm prime. 50mm is too long, but a 50/1.8 can make a cheap potrait lens.
6. to really master a good DSLR takes about 5 years for us mortals
7. spend on quality glass rather than a quality body. buy glass that you can carry and use. keep a track of what you shoot and what focal lengths and apetures you need for various applications.

I shoot raw for everything. With modern cameras and fast CF cards RAW is not an issue
As for zoom, on a crop factor camera, 24 is too narrow. 18 is the bare minimum.

Originally Posted by navin

did you get one of the dolphin kissing the ball?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

This below pic was shot by me with a Canon P&S at 4x optical zoom at a high shutter speed of 1/800 sec.

Compare with the second pic from tsk's Canon 350D. Now doesnt it makes sense to invest in a DSLR?? I am not offering advice, but a suggestion to people who want to invest in so called ultra zoom cams with many bells and whistles.

I had a long lens, and better exposure as there was no strong light in background. With a cloudy sky an ultrazoom would have taken the same shot similarly.

[AnniHilat0R]

Hey guys. Need help regarding one thing. I own a Canon IXUS 950IS. The body has got scratched a bit. Its really hurting me. I wanted to know whether can I get its body changed ? I mean the outer body. Is it possible ? And if yes, how much will it cost me ?

[Mugen_Power]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Hope this post clears up the confusion!

Awesome clarification Tsk..

[kvish]

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

This below pic was shot by me with a Canon P&S at 4x optical zoom at a high shutter speed of 1/800 sec.

Compare with the second pic from tsk's Canon 350D. Now doesnt it makes sense to invest in a DSLR?? I am not offering advice, but a suggestion to people who want to invest in so called ultra zoom cams with many bells and whistles.

Aaah the underwater world with the good old 3.2 Mpix S1-IS. No comparison to the DSLRs but does a very decent job!!



The main issue is the ability to crop. Check the image below and thats probably where more megapixels might have helped. This constitutes about 65% of the original image and already looks soft.



Dont rule out ultrazooms completely. They provide much needed convinience and features that satisfy the ordinary shooter.

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

As for zoom, on a crop factor camera, 24 is too narrow. 18 is the bare minimum.

Oh I meant 24mm for a Full frame. that would mean 15-16mm on a crop. however most cropped general purpose lenses start at 17/18mm which is closer to 27-28mm on a FF.

Originally Posted by kvish

Dont rule out ultrazooms completely. They provide much needed convinience and features that satisfy the ordinary shooter.

what is an ultra zoom the 170-500 or the 70-300?