[amitk26]

Originally Posted by shajufx

Yes, thats what I heard before ordering mine, and my pack also was classified as 'low value' in the shipment. I dont think anyone would pay a shipping charge of $61 for a product worth less than $100 !!

That's what I mean Customs generally consider Lens , Mobile phones etc as high value item if the invoice says like 100$ they will consider a case of under invoicing and levy tax going by Notional market value.

Actually In my company we need to regularly import our Mobile phone targets boards from HQ which carry no commercial value but customs levy tax going by market rate of similar looking smart phone.

[amitk26]

Dear Gurus,

I gathered from various posts that a UV filter is not really a good idea specially on low light and to protect lens a Lens hood will do.

I am thinking of Flower Hood for Sigma 70-300 AP DGO Lens ( Lens is being shipped) and an Canon EW-60C equivalent for 18-55 Canon Kit lens.

now the question is if there is some disadvantage of using cheap hoods compared to Canon original ?
I can find these hoods ( Non OEM) as cheap as 150 Rs on ebay India and nearly 5$ on US sites.

Second question is about the SDHC card ? I am thinking buying a 16 GB /32GB fast card.

Anyone knows burst write speed which 500D can generate, I am thinking of a Transcend or Patriot Class 6 , 16GB card. I can go to Class 10 ( Patriot / Silicon power) if there is any significant advantage in real world scenario. My aim is not to test the top performance in terms of number of frames / second but just real world extreme usage like shooting 1080p 20 FPS video.

Sandisk Extreme III outperforms Class 10 specification but will 30 Mbps write speed will ever be used on this camera or it is just a marketing number like megapixel.
can Canon 500D owners post which brand / class they are using and do they find any performance problems like camera taking long to flush buffer or skipped video frames.

[tsk1979]

amit. hood is just plastic. You can go for any hood which is the same shape as the canon hood.
As for SDHC cards, most cams can write max class 6 speeds, so a faster card need not give any advantage, so go for a simple transcend class 6 SHDC card, this will do.

[ph03n!x]

I'm using a Class 4 Transcend 8 GB on my T1i - I never have captured videos yet, but shoot in RAW+JPG - the card seem to be good enough for that, have never seen the busy light glow for more than a second or two after the shot.

[pawan_pullarwar]

Hello,

I have question on Aparture setting.

What should be the aparture settings for landscape photography in normal daylight condition. Low or High. I am using Caonon 400D.

I tried shooting some of the photos on High Aparture value 22 and Low aparture 3.5 in M mode. When I increase aparture I have to decrease the shutter speed to match the exposure level.

[MileCruncher]

What is the difference between CMOS and CCD type lense sensor and which is better?

[tsk1979]

Basically they are different technologies.
CMOS is complementary metal oxide semiconductor, and CCD is Charge coupled device.
From a laymans terms think CCD to be analog
So when light hits the pixel, it is stored as an electric charge
In CMOS, each pixel is photosensitive and is connected to an active amplifier. Its actually an active pixel sensor
Active pixel sensor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now Canon and Nikon forms and fanboys go ga ga over superiority of one over the other, but actually, its not so simple
CMOS is actually cheaper and simpler, and gives better readout(faster).
However CCDs have been around for quite a time, technology is mature and with innovations like 3CCD and super CCD, give great signal/noise performance.
But if you compare two sensors with same pixel densities, the noise profile is not very different. Larger sensors are nowadays usually CMOS due to faster readout and simpler and cheaper construction

In the good ole' days, things used to be simple, but now you have back illuminated sensors(How good is it will be seen in the HS10), 3CCD, Fovean sensor blah blah blah.

In the end, don't read too much into CCD/CMOS debate, and get a cam which suits your needs

[Samurai]

Fovean X3 sensor is not new, I remember reading about it in 2002 when it was first released. Too bad no major Camera maker licensed it for use, who buys Sigma dSLRs anyway. Sigma makes great lenses, but body is not worth considering.

Olympus uses NMOS in their dSLR line, if anybody cares to know.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Basically they are different technologies.
CMOS is complementary metal oxide semiconductor, and CCD is Charge coupled device.
From a laymans terms think CCD to be analog
So when light hits the pixel, it is stored as an electric charge
In CMOS, each pixel is photosensitive and is connected to an active amplifier. Its actually an active pixel sensor
Active pixel sensor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now Canon and Nikon forms and fanboys go ga ga over superiority of one over the other, but actually, its not so simple
CMOS is actually cheaper and simpler, and gives better readout(faster).
However CCDs have been around for quite a time, technology is mature and with innovations like 3CCD and super CCD, give great signal/noise performance.
But if you compare two sensors with same pixel densities, the noise profile is not very different. Larger sensors are nowadays usually CMOS due to faster readout and simpler and cheaper construction

In the good ole' days, things used to be simple, but now you have back illuminated sensors(How good is it will be seen in the HS10), 3CCD, Fovean sensor blah blah blah.

In the end, don't read too much into CCD/CMOS debate, and get a cam which suits your needs

I only have the Canon 1000d or Nikon D3000 within my budget right now and I was leaning towards the Canon because of the over all package (I think most of the features are same except the sensor).

Is there anything specific that I should consider before buying Canon?

[tsk1979]

Try squeezing in the 450D if you can do so. Otherwise the 1000D is a nice camera. One drawback is no IR remote in 1000D. For 450D, you can get a nice remote for as little as 4$

Apart from that buffer size is limited, viewfinder is horrendous and there is no spot metering(something I miss a lot on my 350D, esp if you intend to do any birding).

The price diff is not all that great, and you can find bargains here and there. Try to get the 450D, but if you are okay living with the following drawbacks
1. Limited burst speed , esp in RAW(drawback if you shoot lot of action)
2. Poor viewfinder(not a big no, unless you like to compose in low light)
3. No spot metering(workaround possible, but an annoyance nevertheless)
4. No IR remote feature(Again, it may not matter to you at all)

If you can wait, 450D may get a price drop, or with 550D out, canon can put out a 15MP or so companion budget camera to complement the 550D.
for example, low end you have 1000D series, midrange 5XXD series, and then you have the 50D kind of cams, and at top of the APS-C tree sits the 7D

Sooner or later the 1000D replacement(similar price bracket) will come out, but as of now the 450D makes a swell buy.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Try squeezing in the 450D if you can do so. Otherwise the 1000D is a nice camera. One drawback is no IR remote in 1000D. For 450D, you can get a nice remote for as little as 4$

Apart from that buffer size is limited, viewfinder is horrendous and there is no spot metering(something I miss a lot on my 350D, esp if you intend to do any birding).

The price diff is not all that great, and you can find bargains here and there. Try to get the 450D, but if you are okay living with the following drawbacks
1. Limited burst speed , esp in RAW(drawback if you shoot lot of action)
2. Poor viewfinder(not a big no, unless you like to compose in low light)
3. No spot metering(workaround possible, but an annoyance nevertheless)
4. No IR remote feature(Again, it may not matter to you at all)

If you can wait, 450D may get a price drop, or with 550D out, canon can put out a 15MP or so companion budget camera to complement the 550D.
for example, low end you have 1000D series, midrange 5XXD series, and then you have the 50D kind of cams, and at top of the APS-C tree sits the 7D

Sooner or later the 1000D replacement(similar price bracket) will come out, but as of now the 450D makes a swell buy.

Thanks Tanveer for the info. I need to buy the camera sometime next month as someone in immediate family is travelling to US and will bring it from there. My budget is about 20k (give or take a few) and the 1000D is around $500 while the 450D with lens is over $600.

[tsk1979]

At B&H photo video
Canon 1000D = 500$
Canon 450D = 560$
The price difference around 2700rs.Thats all.
B&H is one of the most respected stores in USA, and your family member can order from there(free shipping, 1 week delivery)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Thanks Tanveer for the info. I need to buy the camera sometime next month as someone in immediate family is travelling to US and will bring it from there. My budget is about 20k (give or take a few) and the 1000D is around $500 while the 450D with lens is over $600.

Hmm, a budgeted dSLR purchase, interesting! Does this mean you don't have any plans of lens upgrade for a long time?

In that case, here is something for $567 at Amazon.com: Amazon.com: Olympus Evolt E620 12.3MP Live MOS Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization and 2.7 inch Swivel LCD w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens: Camera & Photo

That's a ridiculous price for a fantastic camera. Of course, no resale value in India though.

[amitk26]

Well Gentleman,

If resale value in India and lens availability is not a concern and purchase can be made in USA . Pentax Kx beats these two in terms of budget and features.

Single 18-55 mm is just 469 U$ on Amazon and
A dual lens kit with 18-55 and 55 -300 is just 649 US$

Kx beats Canon Nikon in terms of features and also this is extremely hackable camera.It is the only entry level Camera where you can do micro lens calibration ( of course in Admin menu with a little known hack available on net). Scripts can be written and run from SDHC card.

Incidentally Pentax Lens availability in India is bit higher then Olympus.
Also there is service available ( not warranty service) in Bangalore at HM towers Brigade road.

I was almost sold to dual lens Kx kit but then chickened out due to service/lens/support availability and bought a 500D.

Buying a refurbished Canon in USA from Adorama or Canon direct is another option. Usually these refurbished are peaces which people return to stores as in USA consumers have full right to return with in 30 days no questions asked this is quite common. Canon retest them and Camera being sold through refurbished channel are as good as new. They come with 90 day canon warranty and 1 year store warranty usually.

Regards
Amit

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm, a budgeted dSLR purchase, interesting! Does this mean you don't have any plans of lens upgrade for a long time?

In that case, here is something for $567 at Amazon.com: Amazon.com: Olympus Evolt E620 12.3MP Live MOS Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization and 2.7 inch Swivel LCD w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens: Camera & Photo

That's a ridiculous price for a fantastic camera. Of course, no resale value in India though.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

At B&H photo video
Canon 1000D = 500$
Canon 450D = 560$
The price difference around 2700rs.Thats all.
B&H is one of the most respected stores in USA, and your family member can order from there(free shipping, 1 week delivery)

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

At B&H photo video
Canon 1000D = 500$
Canon 450D = 560$
The price difference around 2700rs.Thats all.
B&H is one of the most respected stores in USA, and your family member can order from there(free shipping, 1 week delivery)

Thanks. Will check it out. I went to the Reliance digital here and was told that 450D has been stopped and now there is only 500D available after the base 1000D. 1000D is for 26k odd while 500D is for 48k here. At the above prices it makes sense to go for 450D but am worried but getting warranty service here in India for a US bought piece which is discontinued here.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Hmm, a budgeted dSLR purchase, interesting! Does this mean you don't have any plans of lens upgrade for a long time?

In that case, here is something for $567 at Amazon.com: Amazon.com: Olympus Evolt E620 12.3MP Live MOS Digital SLR Camera with Image Stabilization and 2.7 inch Swivel LCD w/ 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Lens: Camera & Photo

That's a ridiculous price for a fantastic camera. Of course, no resale value in India though.

Budgeted purchase yes! Long time, well it depends on personal definition. Anyways will keep adding kit as my skill improves which I don't see happening overnight.

I already have a Olympus P&S which was bought after my Cybershot P&s got stolen last year and I have experienced their shitty warranty service. Also the picture quality especially the colour rendition is no where close to Cybershot or Canon Power Shot. So I don't think I'll buy an Olympus.

Originally Posted by amitk26

Well Gentleman,

If resale value in India and lens availability is not a concern and purchase can be made in USA . Pentax Kx beats these two in terms of budget and features.

Single 18-55 mm is just 469 U$ on Amazon and
A dual lens kit with 18-55 and 55 -300 is just 649 US$

Kx beats Canon Nikon in terms of features and also this is extremely hackable camera.It is the only entry level Camera where you can do micro lens calibration ( of course in Admin menu with a little known hack available on net). Scripts can be written and run from SDHC card.

Incidentally Pentax Lens availability in India is bit higher then Olympus.
Also there is service available ( not warranty service) in Bangalore at HM towers Brigade road.

I was almost sold to dual lens Kx kit but then chickened out due to service/lens/support availability and bought a 500D.

Buying a refurbished Canon in USA from Adorama or Canon direct is another option. Usually these refurbished are peaces which people return to stores as in USA consumers have full right to return with in 30 days no questions asked this is quite common. Canon retest them and Camera being sold through refurbished channel are as good as new. They come with 90 day canon warranty and 1 year store warranty usually.

Regards
Amit

I saw a Sony A (alpha) 100 DSLR with image stabiliser and 18-70 mm at price point lower than the D1000.

Anybody got any firsthand feedback on this model?

Cheers