[drsingh]

Jjmehta is the best place online for photography gear.

As you're a total newbie I would suggest buy a used camera body and a 'normal' lens.you can add accessories and lenses as you learn more.if you're serious and master photography skills in 4-5 months, you can go for another new body with full understanding about what you want.the old camera can serve as a back up body and lenses can be used with the new camera.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by drsingh

Jjmehta is the best place online for photography gear.

As you're a total newbie I would suggest buy a used camera body and a 'normal' lens.you can add accessories and lenses as you learn more.if you're serious and master photography skills in 4-5 months, you can go for another new body with full understanding about what you want.the old camera can serve as a back up body and lenses can be used with the new camera.

thanks drsingh. well I am new to DSLR world but have been using point and shoots for ages. But of course till now never gave second thoughts to terms like ISO and apertures and what not! But I have been following some video lectures on photography now and learning these terms.

You say I should buy a used camera first. Is it absolutely necessary? Thing is, here in India we are so much skeptical about buying used stuff! I certainly am. There is no way to know how genuine or good it would be and if it would not give me problems. I am OK with splashing money on a new unit. I plan to keep it for long hence the inclination to go for the D7000. What do you say?

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by joslicx

thanks drsingh. well I am new to DSLR world but have been using point and shoots for ages. But of course till now never gave second thoughts to terms like ISO and apertures and what not! But I have been following some video lectures on photography now and learning these terms.

You say I should buy a used camera first. Is it absolutely necessary? Thing is, here in India we are so much skeptical about buying used stuff! I certainly am. There is no way to know how genuine or good it would be and if it would not give me problems. I am OK with splashing money on a new unit. I plan to keep it for long hence the inclination to go for the D7000. What do you say?

As far as I know, D7000 is a fantastic camera. It should keep you satisfied for a good amount of time. Also the kit lense 18-105 which it comes with is a decent lense, better than the 18-55 ones. If you dont have budget issues, I would say you can go for the D7000. What you can also try is buying the body only and getting a 35 mm prime plus 55-300 for telephoto. This should be deadly combination of lenses plus camera.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Rachit.K.Dogra

As far as I know, D7000 is a fantastic camera. It should keep you satisfied for a good amount of time. Also the kit lense 18-105 which it comes with is a decent lense, better than the 18-55 ones. If you dont have budget issues, I would say you can go for the D7000. What you can also try is buying the body only and getting a 35 mm prime plus 55-300 for telephoto. This should be deadly combination of lenses plus camera.

As per the latest grapevine info on nikonrumors.com the Nikon D7000 is being discontinued and soon to be replaced with the full frame D600 and the announcement is expected in mid September. It is also possble that there may be a crop frame replacement to fill the gap and to replace both the D90 and the D7000 very soon. No harm waiting for a few days so that the roadmap is clear and possibly you could get good discount on the current stocks of D7000.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by joslicx

....in India we are so much skeptical about buying used stuff! I certainly am. There is no way to know how genuine or good it would be and if it would not give me problems. I am OK with splashing money on a new unit. I plan to keep it for long hence the inclination to go for the D7000. What do you say?

I wish if someone could convince me on this point back in 2009 !! I would have saved a lot of money by now. Anyway, to put in 1 sentence, I do lot of hobby/commercial stuff and presently own 2 bodies & 4 lenses, all of them were bought as used. I would not lose much if I sell all of them now, because I already got them for the best prices in the used market. Point to remember, check it physically with a friend who is good at inspecting such stuff. There are 100s of sales happening that are really good stuff and well cared for. People usually upgrade without a reason. Commercial shooters keep a lens & body for years together. Find a hobby seller, you will click a very good deal. D7000 is very good in many ways, I have one, I wont sell it in the near future.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by joslicx

thanks drsingh. well I am new to DSLR world but have been using point and shoots for ages. But of course till now never gave second thoughts to terms like ISO and apertures and what not! But I have been following some video lectures on photography now and learning these terms.

You say I should buy a used camera first. Is it absolutely necessary? Thing is, here in India we are so much skeptical about buying used stuff! I certainly am. There is no way to know how genuine or good it would be and if it would not give me problems. I am OK with splashing money on a new unit. I plan to keep it for long hence the inclination to go for the D7000. What do you say?

If you go to jjforums you'll see an amazing community of gentlemen photography enthusiasts and a lot of gear for sale. dslrs have 2 year warranties. A lot of beginners outgrow their cameras in 1.5 years or seniors buy new cameras and want to sell their old ones.its a good place to be for photogs.

[2StrokeJunkie]

Hi guys, I am new to the world of DSLR's and manual photography and I am in a sort of delima ! So far my experience with photography has been with my out-dated point and shoot cams and ive recently started to play with the aperture/ISO and lighting. I am very interested in learning but i am pretty clueless on where to start with my gear. I am also on a limited budget. Since i am a newbie and beginner ( but a fast learner ) it would be great if you guys could help me in selecting a good DSLR that i will not outgrow in the near future and whos system I would be able to afford to upgrade affordably ( lenses etc ). I would like to hear your guys recommendations on lenses and bodies.

So far I have selected the following cameras:
Canon 1100D with the double lens kit (EF-S 18-55 IS II + EF-S 55-250mm IS II) around INR 38k
Canon 550D with standard kit lens 18-55mm around 34k INR
Nikon D5100 with standard kit lens 18-55mm around 39k INR
Nikon D90 with 18-105mm standard kit lens around 57k which i really like but it is a little out of my budget. D90 body though retails for 42K which i find very interesting - but alas there is no good quality lens at that price.

Please feel free to add other models/ setups to this list as my knowledge is limited.

I had a conversation with an experienced gentleman yesterday and he recommended the D1100 with the double kit lens as he said that was excellent VFM and good lenses are more important than an expensive camera body. I was planning on going with the D90 body for 42k and buying the nikon AF-S 18-55mm lens for 7k which he said is a poor lens, hence i have dropped the idea of the cheaper lens on the expensive body combo.

The the 550D also seems great but with the setup being offered I am limited to only 1 lens (18-55mm). The 55-250mm lens will set me back another 16k.

The D1500 has no built in auto focus so i will be stuck with buying expensive AF-S lenses which is why i am not too keen on this entry level nikon.

The D90 seems great to me as its very close to pro, has a built-in auto focus, hence can take cheaper lens BUT its video recording qualities are outdated and im not sure how good the kit lens of 18-105mm is and if having a single lens is worth 15,000 INR extra, which will stretch my pockets to the limit and i will be left holding onto only one lens after shelling out close to 60k. With that price i will have to forgo the Prime lens i want to pick up, a 50mm 1.8f and a medium zoom upto 250mm which i would get on the Canon 1100D. Not to mention I would have spent a good 20k more compared to the above listed canons.

So with these budget constraints and my quest for a progressive dslr ALONG WITH good quality lenses what would you sugges ? I know this might seem a little confusing but i am pretty confused meself !! Any help would be appreciated. In the mean time i will go through the close to 700 pages on this topic and see if i find an answer. Looking forward to your suggestions. Thank You very much !!

[HellwratH]

Shaju,
The key word in your statement is "convince" . Most people don't need a DSLR but DSLR is a status thing for many. They want to buy it because it's big and heavy and looks "professional". I know this sounds selfish and greedy but I want more people to buy DSLRs and expensive gear. We will get hardly used stuff for cheap in the used market .

Originally Posted by drsingh

If you go to jjforums you'll see an amazing community of gentlemen photography enthusiasts and a lot of gear for sale. dslrs have 2 year warranties. A lot of beginners outgrow their cameras in 1.5 years or seniors buy new cameras and want to sell their old ones.its a good place to be for photogs.

I find the term "outgrow" very amusing. IMHO, you can never outgrow a body, you just learnt to work around its quirks. Most people (especially guys who are "into photography" for a year or less) upgrade because they think upgrading = better photographs. And everyone goal seems to be full frame at the end of the day. I can't seem to understand why. I personally know 2-3 folks who went full frame and yet the quality of their images hasn't improved. Some even have moved between systems and the result stays the same. Anyway, end of my rant.

[Samurai]

About 10 days back I met a guy at a homestay. He was very interested to look at my E3. After checking out the camera he says...

He: Doesn't this camera have a 2x crop?
Me: Yeah, so?
He: So it has less resolution...
Me: <sigh>

Frankly, my photography has never evolved to a point where that 2x crop has bothered me. But I keep running into people for whom nothing less than FF will do, and they are not even professional.

Meanwhile, I have a sincere suggestion to first dSLR buyers. Please checkout the mirrorless/EVIL options first before hanging your hat on the dSLR stand. I am desperately trying to get out of the dSLR gig onto mirrorless/EVILworld for the sake of convenience and practicality. But selling Olympus 4/3 gear (even high grade) is turning out to be a challenge.

[MadBiker]

Originally Posted by HellwratH

Shaju,
I find the term "outgrow" very amusing. IMHO, you can never outgrow a body, you just learnt to work around its quirks. Most people (especially guys who are "into photography" for a year or less) upgrade because they think upgrading = better photographs. And everyone goal seems to be full frame at the end of the day. I can't seem to understand why. I personally know 2-3 folks who went full frame and yet the quality of their images hasn't improved. Some even have moved between systems and the result stays the same. Anyway, end of my rant.

I moved from a Canon 500D to a 40D for better fps & better ISO performance. But as you mentioned, from a personal perspective i feel the quality of images i shot have become inferior. I guess it all boils down to how much you learn your body & use it than simply buying a costlier body and expect the camera to do it all.

[HellwratH]

Originally Posted by Samurai

About 10 days back I met a guy at a homestay. He was very interested to look at my E3. After checking out the camera he says...

He: Doesn't this camera have a 2x crop?
Me: Yeah, so?
He: So it has less resolution...
Me: <sigh>

Frankly, my photography has never evolved to a point where that 2x crop has bothered me. But I keep running into people for whom nothing less than FF will do, and they are not even professional.

Meanwhile, I have a sincere suggestion to first dSLR buyers. Please checkout the mirrorless/EVIL options first before hanging your hat on the dSLR stand. I am desperately trying to get out of the dSLR gig onto mirrorless/EVILworld for the sake of convenience and practicality. But selling Olympus 4/3 gear (even high grade) is turning out to be a challenge.

I see where you are coming from. I have had so many people complain about 2x crop factor and when compared to APS-C, it's not very small. But most people haven't seen the difference and they go by what they read online. And I am with you on the mirrorless cameras as a first serious camera. But, like I said, most people want a DSLR and nothing else will do. I met a gentleman last week who uses a Nex-7 and he shared a similar experience too. When someone asked him for camera suggestion, he suggested mirrorless options and he got weird looks from the other guy .

By the way, do try to post the lenses up on JJ mehta, you might be able to get some buyers.

Originally Posted by MadBiker

I moved from a Canon 500D to a 40D for better fps & better ISO performance. But as you mentioned, from a personal perspective i feel the quality of images i shot have become inferior. I guess it all boils down to how much you learn your body & use it than simply buying a costlier body and expect the camera to do it all.

Exactly. The more you stick with your body and learn what it has to offer, the better you'll get at it. Because, then you know how it behaves in different situations and you get more control. And different bodies excel in different areas, so you'll have to know for sure that this is what you intend to do. For example, if you get a 7d to shoot landscape, I won't see much of a value addition. And to know that this is what you want to do, you have to stick to a entry level DSLR and learn your own preferences and liking.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

As per the latest grapevine info on nikonrumors.com the Nikon D7000 is being discontinued and soon to be replaced with the full frame D600 and the announcement is expected in mid September. It is also possble that there may be a crop frame replacement to fill the gap and to replace both the D90 and the D7000 very soon. No harm waiting for a few days so that the roadmap is clear and possibly you could get good discount on the current stocks of D7000.

I have been frequenting there recently and did read about D600 and D400 as well. D600 is rumored to be full frame so it is not going to be cheap - rumored price is $2000+. That puts it around 1.5L with lenses. Too much out of budget.

D400 (or it might be named D7100) is rumored to be the real D7000 successor with a 24MP DX sensor (same as in D3200) but it is also rumored to be priced around $1600+ price point - at that price Canon EOS 7D seems very attractive. D7000 price seems good for what it offers - weather sealed body, 6fps, full AF, dual SD slot, great battery. And it takes great pictures. I will be making the purchase around Diwali so can still wait to see any D400 announcements. If D400 is a 1L+ camera then D7000 it is for me! It is still a fantastic camera for enthusiasts is what I could gather.

Originally Posted by drsingh

If you go to jjforums you'll see an amazing community of gentlemen photography enthusiasts and a lot of gear for sale. dslrs have 2 year warranties. A lot of beginners outgrow their cameras in 1.5 years or seniors buy new cameras and want to sell their old ones.its a good place to be for photogs.

So can you find the likes of D7000 on sale there? And typically what are the prices one can expect? And how to know what one is getting is good or not? I do not have any friends or acquaintances who can help me with SLRs so cannot depend on others. Its tough to buy a used camera for me.

My intention of going for a DSLR is to develop it as a serious hobby. I do not plan to go professional or anything so I am unlikely to "outgrow" whatever camera I buy (anytime soon). Mainly I want to buy this camera to capture my daughters photos. My current Panasonic TZ15 is good for that outdoors but indoor pics are not that good.

One thing I noticed is on jjmehtas own website the price mentioned for D7000 is 72.7k while on their ebay store it is 78k. Has anybody bought online from jjmehta dot com?

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by joslicx

I have been frequenting there recently and did read about D600 and D400 as well. D600 is rumored to be full frame so it is not going to be cheap - rumored price is $2000+. That puts it around 1.5L with lenses. Too much out of budget.

D400 (or it might be named D7100) is rumored to be the real D7000 successor with a 24MP DX sensor (same as in D3200) but it is also rumored to be priced around $1600+ price point - at that price Canon EOS 7D seems very attractive. D7000 price seems good for what it offers - weather sealed body, 6fps, full AF, dual SD slot, great battery. And it takes great pictures. I will be making the purchase around Diwali so can still wait to see any D400 announcements. If D400 is a 1L+ camera then D7000 it is for me! It is still a fantastic camera for enthusiasts is what I could gather.

So can you find the likes of D7000 on sale there? And typically what are the prices one can expect? And how to know what one is getting is good or not? I do not have any friends or acquaintances who can help me with SLRs so cannot depend on others. Its tough to buy a used camera for me.

My intention of going for a DSLR is to develop it as a serious hobby. I do not plan to go professional or anything so I am unlikely to "outgrow" whatever camera I buy (anytime soon). Mainly I want to buy this camera to capture my daughters photos. My current Panasonic TZ15 is good for that outdoors but indoor pics are not that good.

One thing I noticed is on jjmehtas own website the price mentioned for D7000 is 72.7k while on their ebay store it is 78k. Has anybody bought online from jjmehta dot com?

Guys, I don't intend to spark off the old debate about people "outgrowing " cameras or not.
Its like people buying suvs even though they don't intend to take it to desert storm rallies!!!!

The gist of my advice is to take advantage of good used gear available! For whatever reason

I bought a Nikon d5000 and it's good enough for my needs. But I am still eyeing a d90 for its better build and more manual buttons. And to avoid changing lenses

I have the money! And I enjoy the hobby!!
As I've played around with photography, I have learned that I enjoy shooting people and candid emotions.
So my accessories purchases now would be geared to better lighting, faster lenses etc.

I can now buy gear confidently.I've also bought lenses used and then sold them after trying them out..

Its much better like this for everyone in the hobby, instead of piling on new gear and not using it!!

P.s. I just checked jjmehta forums and d7000 is available for 38k......!

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by joslicx

I have been frequenting there recently and did read about D600 and D400 as well. D600 is rumored to be full frame so it is not going to be cheap - rumored price is $2000+. That puts it around 1.5L with lenses. Too much out of budget.

My guess is D400 will be closer to the D7000 current price and should be around $1250 (70K Inr) while the D600 should be in the range of $1800 (1L). At these prices they will both be good successes and will give the competition a run for their money! I have myself been aspiring to upgrade from my D90 to the D800, but can't seem to convince myself for the 1.6L price of the D800 (body only!).
I am also awaiting eagerly the D400 and D600 and hopefully some clarity should happen on the Sep 13th.

Regards,
Behemoth

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

My guess is D400 will be closer to the D7000 current price and should be around $1250 (70K Inr) while the D600 should be in the range of $1800 (1L). At these prices they will both be good successes and will give the competition a run for their money! I have myself been aspiring to upgrade from my D90 to the D800, but can't seem to convince myself for the 1.6L price of the D800 (body only!).
I am also awaiting eagerly the D400 and D600 and hopefully some clarity should happen on the Sep 13th.

Regards,
Behemoth

If D400 comes at 1200 USD price point, Nikon will have real hard time meeting the demand. It will totally cannibalize D7000 market.

Instead I think Nikon would want to sell it at a premium, thus keeping both D7000 as well as D400, just like they did with D90 when D7000 came. Lets see. I hope the price is what you are saying rather. And I hope its made available in India.

Is Sep 13 some kind of Nikon event?