[Samurai]

Originally Posted by navin

US route might be possible. I have to ask friends but wont they have to pay duty on entry into india? What if somone came into india with such a combo would not customs ask him to either declare it and return with it or pay duty?

I just read today in Smart Photography Magazine (page 7, from the editor) that custom duty has been removed on digital cameras. Besides, they allow one camera through without question since 4-5 years. My entire Olympus gear was brought in by my boss.

BTW, expect local prices to go down because of this.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Samurai

My entire Olympus gear was brought in by my boss.

Hope my boss is as compliant as your boss! :-)

BTW does Oly have a service center in South Mumbai?

Rudra, Tanveer, Samu,

I read a lot abou the E3, D300, 5D and 40D and everyone was talking about long primes (FF equivalent 500mm and longer) and super wide (16-18mm) and all osrts of nonesense. No one discussed the range where most of my photos are. Why are people obsessed with the extremes when I would suspect people mostly shoot from 24-70 or at best 24-105.

I mean I saw one discussin that took 3 pages and was entirely about how the $7000 300/2.8 zuiko lens compared with the similarly priced canon 600/4 (some reviews claim that since the canon 40D is less noisy the E3 f/4 on the 40D is like f/2.8 on the E3)! Get a life!

Rudra and my niece (both are Pros) told me that for my 6x8 prints the E3 is more than adequate. My niece told me that even the Sony R1 with a 2x teleconverter is adequate for my needs and the E3 will happily make 8x10 or even 12x16 prints if used in RAW mode.

Samu, why are Oly's fixed apature lenses (14-35/2, 35-100/2, 90-250/2.8 etc..) so expensive. i thought smaller sensors would mean smaller glass and hence cheaper lenses. After all NikCan's 17-55/2.8, 24-70/2.8 and 70-200/2.8 are just as heavy, have the same dia of glass (77mm) and a lot cheaper.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by navin

BTW does Oly have a service center in South Mumbai?

I don't know whether this is south Mumbai:

Camera Care Centre
225, Commissiriat Bldg. Next to Old Hendloom House,
Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai 400001 India
Tel :(91) 22-2261 1274 / (91) 22-2261 4015
Fax :(91) 22-2261-0219
E-mail :indiaolympus@vsnl.net


BTW, here is the cryptic circular that abolished customs duty for all digital cameras.

Circular No. 32/2007-Cus.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I don't know whether this is south Mumbai...Dr. D.N. Road, Mumbai 400001 India..

Very nice. Very nice. Yes it is South Mumbai. Thank you. I'll call them.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Samurai

.BTW, here is the cryptic circular that abolished customs duty for all digital cameras.

Circular No. 32/2007-Cus.

according to the circular it ONLY covers camera that can take still images and short videos. It does not cover video recorders and still cameras that cannot record video.

in my view this effectively this might eliminate all mini-DV cams as well as DSLRs from the duty exemption list. However we'd have to take the advise of a customs expert.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by navin

Rudra, Tanveer, Samu,

I read a lot abou the E3, D300, 5D and 40D and everyone was talking about long primes (FF equivalent 500mm and longer) and super wide (16-18mm) and all osrts of nonesense. No one discussed the range where most of my photos are. Why are people obsessed with the extremes when I would suspect people mostly shoot from 24-70 or at best 24-105.

You want 24mm in 35mm format.
The problem is that you will not find any IS lenses in that area. there is not enough demand in the canon and nikon space for IS in that area simple because mostly wildlife shooters with telephoto have been traditionally wanting IS.
your kind of shooter buys a compact cam mostly.
That said if yo go for an in body IS DSLR, you have the Oly and the Pentax which will give you your wanted range
Nikon and Canon will not come with an in body IS anytime soon because of lot of money invested in the IS lens space.

In the Pentax K10D space there is the Pentax SMC-DA 16-45mm which costs 350$ and is a good lens. Pentax is 1.5 crop so you have effective focal length of 25mm-78mm
There is the more expensive(1000$) 16-50mm lens, which is equivalent of the "L" space.
Pentax Digital SLR Cameras :: Lenses
You were wondering about lack of lenses, go to this webpage.

Another lens which can be used on 1.5x crop pentax is the excellent sigma 17-70 which comes to around 25.5mm at wide end.

If you go 4/3 system which is oly, you can get the 12-60SWD

Both Oly and Pentax have what you need, but India is Canikon country, and shopkeepers will give you weird looks if you whisper anything else.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by navin

Does the E3 come with a battery pack. All the pics I see of it look like it has a battery pack attached to it's bottom.

Yes, there is a Battery Pack. But it's optional.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

The problem is that you will not find any IS lenses in that area. there is not enough demand in the canon and nikon space for IS in that area simple because mostly wildlife shooters with telephoto have been traditionally wanting IS.

Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Wide Angle EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by navin

according to the circular it ONLY covers camera that can take still images and short videos. It does not cover video recorders and still cameras that cannot record video.

in my view this effectively this might eliminate all mini-DV cams as well as DSLRs from the duty exemption list. However we'd have to take the advise of a customs expert.

You actually presume to understand that cryptic garbage?

Anyway, this circular came about by the joint effort of Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Casio, etc., working closely with the central government. The still digital cameras were already covered under, but since most of the latest cameras have both still & video, the customs was taking the benefit of doubt and treating all cameras (including dSLRs) as dual purpose. Now they have made all digital cameras except camcorders as customs duty free.

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

You want 24mm in 35mm format.
The problem is that you will not find any IS lenses in that area...
In the Pentax K10D space there is the Pentax SMC-DA 16-45mm which costs 350$ and is a good lens. Pentax is 1.5 crop so you have effective focal length of 25mm-78mm
There is the more expensive(1000$) 16-50mm lens, which is equivalent of the "L" space.
Pentax Digital SLR Cameras :: Lenses...If you go 4/3 system which is oly, you can get the 12-60SWD...

I need 24mm (in Full Frame equivalent) with low light (read f/2.8 IS). Nikon's 17-55/2.8 on it's 1.5 crop (D80, D200/300) gives me 25.5mm but Canon 1.6 crop pushes this to 27mm+.

I was sorta stuck on the Oly E3+12-60 SD combo and now you throw in a Pentax K10D with a 16-50? You guys will make me nusto. I guess it is payback for all the ICE abuse. :-) another friend is now sugesting i look a the Panasoic L10 as it is focuses fastest with Live view.

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Super Wide Angle EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Wide Angle EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

On the Canon 1.6 crop these lenses are 27.2mm I think, closer to 28mm than 24mm. On Nikon's 1.5 crop 17mm = 25.5 mm which maybe can be tolerated.

Originally Posted by Samurai

You actually presume to understand that cryptic garbage?

Anyway, this circular came about by the joint effort of Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Casio, etc., working closely with the central government. The still digital cameras were already covered under, but since most of the latest cameras have both still & video, the customs was taking the benefit of doubt and treating all cameras (including dSLRs) as dual purpose. Now they have made all digital cameras except camcorders as customs duty free.

dSLRs do not take video atleast the D80 and 20D dont but if there is another ruling that covers dSLRs then i's good. I guess my wife's Panny SD5 will not be covered (she wanted to upgrade her Panny 851 DV cam to something smaller and more modern).

[tsk1979]

Seriously, for your kind of use, the E-3 is an overkill.
Even the Pentax 16-50 is an overkill.
But its like ICE. To listen to music you need a budget of 3000rs, but to really listen to music you need to go 20x

Since you want IS at wide angle, it does not maker sense to go for either canon or Nikon. Your future lens purchases will go cheaper if you stick to Oly or Pentax.

My suggestion check out both these combos
Pentax K10D + 16-45,16-50, 50-200
E-3 + 12-60, 70-300

If you want to splurge, there is a certain FF 2900$ camera in the market from the house of canon.But it does not have a flash. but with uber clean ISO 4000, who needs a flash

PS: Your budget has shot up to 4000$ now, and Rudra hasnt even opened the scotch bottle yet

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

My suggestion check out both these combos
Pentax K10D + 16-45,16-50, 50-200
E-3 + 12-60, 70-300

Why not E-510 + 12-60, 50-200 (non-SWD)? Brings the price down by atleast $1000.

The diff between E3 and E-510 is AF speed, VF size, articulating LCD.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by navin

I need 24mm (in Full Frame equivalent) with low light (read f/2.8 IS) .... You guys will make me nusto.

I would say strike a compromise. Between 24mm, 2.8, IS, service ceters etc, decide which is of top most priority. Better rank them.

At such wide angle, one really dosnt need a IS. And then if you have shaky hands, even with IS it is possible to introduce some amount of shake. Trick is to figure out at 24mm what is the slowest speed you can hand hold. Then you can use higher ISO, if required, to get to that speed. I would prefer to have a noisy picutre over a shaky one.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Why not E-510 + 12-60, 50-200 (non-SWD)? Brings the price down by atleast $1000.

The diff between E3 and E-510 is AF speed, VF size, articulating LCD.

You forgot high ISO performance. For indoor scenarios, you need high ISO, and E510/410 do not seem to be upto mark. I know there are lots of samples on web, but most of them are 800/600. Noise performance is best measured in 100% crop.

[navin]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

the E-3 is an overkill, Even the Pentax 16-50 is an overkill....Since you want IS at wide angle
My suggestion check out both these combos
Pentax K10D + 16-45,16-50, 50-200
E-3 + 12-60, 70-300
PS: Your budget has shot up to 4000$ now, and Rudra hasnt even opened the scotch bottle yet

What $4000! I am hoping to get the Adorma combo for $2500. Remember I need to fit a flash and a battery pack into my 3K budget.

I'm given to understand that the K10D is more comparable to the E330/410/510 than the E3 but I have not done independant study.

I have already dumped the Oly 70-300 in favor of their 50-200 (non SWD) lens. Samu says it is very good on the E3 it might perfrom a bit better.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Why not E-510 + 12-60, 50-200 (non-SWD)? Brings the price down by atleast $1000....articulating LCD.

The 330 has articualting LCD what does it loose to the E510? If I get the E510/330 I could get the 50-200 SWD lens and still come under budget. what say? too much lens to little body?

So now I have 4 options.
K10D with 16-50/2.8 and 50-200/4-5.6 (the 50-200 is a poor lens but there is a 50-135/2.8 that is supposed to be sharp).
E510/330 with 12-60/2.8-4 and 50-200/2.8-3.5 SWD (non SWD saves $400-500).
E3 with 12-60 and 50-200 non SWD (pushes budget to 4K incl. battery pack and FL50 flash)
Nikon D80 with the 17-55/2.8 (no IS) and 70-300/4-5.6 VR