Nikon and Canon DSLR - which is popular in India?

[arj]

great to hear this Amitnoida ! ajay has singlehandedly converted many folks to Nikon yours truly included !
but Canon or Nikon, the Lens is the Key to the photo as Shivam had posted..rest is all technicality.
this thread is reviving my interest now..had been dormant for some time on this front ..as well as the audio front.

 

[Kannan_madhu]

Canon or Nikon the argument will continue like coffee bite .....
Mobile Photography by Rajeev N Raman - with Sony Ericsson K750i

 

[Staxxx]

The Vanguard seems a good choice. Go with it and it does not seem particularly heavy. Flickr is very useful but the traffic of posts is very small compared to LL (Luminous Landscape) and DPR forums. Enjoy shooting and post some shots...it's always good to see.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

While it is generally correct to say that one should go for the best lens one can afford and make do with a decent body the new canon 5d mkiii is turnin this around on its head. It shoots beautifully at 25000 iso. No need for huge lenses. Am seriously thinking of ditching my d90 and switching.

 

[srramanujam]

Amit

Carefully assess whether you would like to purchase the 70-300 lens.

I have that, its heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to reduce camera shake (even with VR). Unless you are into patient photography, using a tripod for many long shots, it may not be fully useful.

If you see the jjmehta forum, you will notice that this lens comes up for sale very often; possibly because owners dont see the utility.

 

[AMITNOIDA]

Amit

Carefully assess whether you would like to purchase the 70-300 lens.

I have that, its heavy, and it takes a lot of effort to reduce camera shake (even with VR). Unless you are into patient photography, using a tripod for many long shots, it may not be fully useful.

If you see the jjmehta forum, you will notice that this lens comes up for sale very often; possibly because owners dont see the utility.

Thanks Ramanujam for your feedback. Yes I know that it is heavy around 750 gm weight, that's why I have not yet purchaed it. But I have seen lot of good photographs with 70-300 lens in Flickr and that's why I got interested. But probably they are shoot with tripod. Which in your opinion would be better Tele lens?

 

[izn_47]

I guess canon is more popular, but I bought Nikon for myself as it offers little better pics in comparison.
and canon got better video capabilities.

 

[srramanujam]

Thanks Ramanujam for your feedback. Yes I know that it is heavy around 750 gm weight, that's why I have not yet purchaed it. But I have seen lot of good photographs with 70-300 lens in Flickr and that's why I got interested. But probably they are shoot with tripod. Which in your opinion would be better Tele lens?

Amit,

It is a good lens; i have it and intend to use it.

It just is demanding on the user; tripod is a must in moderate light or for higher end zooming. I have a Sony DSC with almost the same telephoto range; the quality of photos i get from Nikkor is amazing.

Just be prepared to spend time and effort to use it well.

 

[malvai]

Guys, if you really wanna try something new, try the Panasonic GH3. Its a lovely camera for enthusiasts as well and Pro's....

Its a Mirrorless, hybrid camera. Does photos and video's -- BOTH.

A lot of indie filmakers in the US and Europe are using it.

I just bought one for my Films company and it truly gives the Canon 5D Mk3 a RUN for its money on Video.

The Photos too are GREAT.

 

[amp]

Buy any modern DSLR - Canon, Nikon, Sony or Pentax - and you should be fine. Just go to any electronic store and see what feels good in your hand. It's been said before many times but it's worth repeating: Your camera is just a tool in your hands. The quality of your photos depends on you.

 

[izn_47]

Well I doub't pentax has any market in India for now..

 

[AMITNOIDA]

Purchased my tripod Vanguard Alta Pro 284CT and Vanguard BBH 200 ballhead yesterday. Now, I can take macro shots. First I will try table top shots of small artefacts, cut flower etc.. For best result, I shall have to purchase a flash light plus few LED lights / torch for directional illumination.
Any suggestion for flash light for Nikon D7100?

 

[Staxxx]

If you are taking macros with a fill flash, better to read up about the types. Some people like using a ring flash etc. For indoor shoots I prefer a table light with a home made diffusor or bouncing off a wall or ceiling. Do post some pics or a link to your Flickr account when you have taken some shots !

 

[AMITNOIDA]

Thanks Staxxx. I will share my Flickr photostream linkage once I take few macro shots and upload there.

Came accross a guy at Bangalore, who designed and developed 4-way Macro rail made of aeroplane grade Aluminium. Now he sells commercially also. His name is Praveen and a Mechanical engineer. I have a plan to contact him and enquire about his product.

So far I have shot in Jpeg and have a plan to start shooting Raw. Heard that Lightroom 5 is a good software. I don't know the cost although.

I am going slowly keeping the economics in order. After all this is an expensive hobby, but I find it interesting and challenging.

 

[malvai]

While it is generally correct to say that one should go for the best lens one can afford and make do with a decent body the new canon 5d mkiii is turnin this around on its head. It shoots beautifully at 25000 iso. No need for huge lenses. Am seriously thinking of ditching my d90 and switching.

Yup! The canon5d mkiii is unbeatable for low light... But the Nikon 800e has an unbeatable dynamic range, and is 50k cheaper!

 

[Staxxx]

I moved away from such big cameras, mainly because they were a pain in the neck literally to carry....although undoubtedly my 5D MkII really helped me take some great pictures. I would love to have the medium format 800E but again, whew the idea of carrying a large camera and lenses once more....just rather stitch using my DP3Merrill. I am enjoying learning what all the new software can do, especially Nik Collection. I use Camera Raw which comes with CS6 but Lightroom should be absolutely fine.
Do please share with me the details of the macro rail....the guy's contact and the product please.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Yup! The canon5d mkiii is unbeatable for low light... But the Nikon 800e has an unbeatable dynamic range, and is 50k cheaper!

Malvai, what price are you talking about? I am getting 180k for new canon eos 5d mkiii. 50 k cheaper than this would mean 130k. I have seen prices upto 145k, but not lower. Are you really talking of sub130?

 

[ranjeetrain]

Macro photography is most difficult and satisfying genre in my opinion. I have been able to shoot everything else comfortably, but macro drives me nuts. Specially because I haven't invested in appropriate macro photography gear. I only shoot normal (non dedicated macro) lenses, still I manage to get some nice shots. Good composition can sometimes compensate for lack of magnification ability.

But the Nikon 800e has an unbeatable dynamic range, and is 50k cheaper!

I am still holding on to my D3. But it looks like I need to give it up for a D800.

So far I have shot in Jpeg and have a plan to start shooting Raw. Heard that Lightroom 5 is a good software. I don't know the cost although.

I am going slowly keeping the economics in order. After all this is an expensive hobby, but I find it interesting and challenging.

Please don't get me wrong, but that's just one of stereotypes in photography (that you get better picture if you shoot raw). Shooting raw can only help somewhat with dynamic range, sharpness, white balance. It can't help with more important aspects of photography - composition, focusing, lighting. Once upon a time I was obsessed with LightRoom. I only shot raw and put everything under LightRoom processing. Once for a portrait shoot I changed to RAW+JPEG and after processing compared my output files to the OOC JPEGs. I was surprised to see that my post processed files mostly resembled the camera JPEGs. I was unnecessarily spending time in LightRoom.

Please note, I am not saying LightRoom is useless. I am also not saying shooting raw has no benefits. What I am pointing out is that if you are able to set the camera properly, OOC JPEGs are pretty darn close to processed raw files. On board processors in the camera are almost as powerful these days as a full scale computer a few years ago. Due to increased processing capabilities, cameras are able to produce much much better JPEGs these days.

When I apply the "Auto correct" features in Adobe CS5 on photos taken by my D3, I only notice two minor effects. The Adobe color is slightly on the colder side (low temperature) and tone is somewhat contrasty. Even that may be due to the fact that I keep all pictures controls in the camera on "Normal". My conclusion is that the onboard processor in the camera and the algorithm applied by the onboard software produces nearly same results. See all this, now I only shoot raw when the lighting condition is challenging or the photos are more valuable to me, or when I am sure I want to put them through Adobe CS.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Yup! The canon5d mkiii is unbeatable for low light... But the Nikon 800e has an unbeatable dynamic range, and is 50k cheaper!

I saw on DP review that at low ISO, 800E is better, but in high ISO, the SN drops around 2% for EOS5D iii but by a very large amount for 800e. And i feel i will save multiples of the price delta on lenses. A 4.5-5.6 lens on the EOS will produce thanks to high ISO pictures similar to 800E with much lower f stop. The pictures on dp review seem to confirm this visually also, apart from the graphs. Absence of a flash does not bother me, but the very high pixel count of the 800e and my inability to put it to use definitely does. Finally the high pixel count impacts the frame rate in 800e in burst mode.

 

[AMITNOIDA]

Macro photography is most difficult and satisfying genre in my opinion. I have been able to shoot everything else comfortably, but macro drives me nuts. Specially because I haven't invested in appropriate macro photography gear. I only shoot normal (non dedicated macro) lenses, still I manage to get some nice shots. Good composition can sometimes compensate for lack of magnification ability.

Yes, I do agree. Macro photography is difficult without proper gear. Especially my Nikon 105 mm Micro does not have VR, so proper tripod and macro rail is important for me along with a remote control. I have tried once handheld macro at 1:1 but couldn't focus at all, it was so much shaking.

Please don't get me wrong, but that's just one of stereotypes in photography (that you get better picture if you shoot raw). Shooting raw can only help somewhat with dynamic range, sharpness, white balance. It can't help with more important aspects of photography - composition, focusing, lighting. Once upon a time I was obsessed with LightRoom. I only shot raw and put everything under LightRoom processing. Once for a portrait shoot I changed to RAW+JPEG and after processing compared my output files to the OOC JPEGs. I was surprised to see that my post processed files mostly resembled the camera JPEGs. I was unnecessarily spending time in LightRoom.

Please note, I am not saying LightRoom is useless. I am also not saying shooting raw has no benefits. What I am pointing out is that if you are able to set the camera properly, OOC JPEGs are pretty darn close to processed raw files. On board processors in the camera are almost as powerful these days as a full scale computer a few years ago. Due to increased processing capabilities, cameras are able to produce much much better JPEGs these days.

When I apply the "Auto correct" features in Adobe CS5 on photos taken by my D3, I only notice two minor effects. The Adobe color is slightly on the colder side (low temperature) and tone is somewhat contrasty. Even that may be due to the fact that I keep all pictures controls in the camera on "Normal". My conclusion is that the onboard processor in the camera and the algorithm applied by the onboard software produces nearly same results. See all this, now I only shoot raw when the lighting condition is challenging or the photos are more valuable to me, or when I am sure I want to put them through Adobe CS.

I don't have any doubt about the quality of camera on board Jpeg converter in good modern days camera. But sometimes I mess with White balance, which I think can be to some extent corrected through post processing. Can you share something about 'White balance card'?

Luckily, my camera has two memory card slots so I can set them in Raw+Jpeg. But in burst mode, it will be slower.

Another utilities of post processing in macro is taking multiple shots focussing different part of the subject gradually (specially in case of wide aperture with low depth of field) and then synthesising the layers to get a uniformly focused object. I have seen this in some Youtube tutorial.