[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by jacs

My baby step to photography....

Tokina 12-24 f4

Attachment 1101436

Should have gone in for the 11-16 from Tokina, much sharper lens.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Should have gone in for the 11-16 from Tokina, much sharper lens.

Hi Riju,

I remember my first introduction to Tokina was from your Auto Images thread as I recollect . Really appreciate your suggestion.

Got this reasonable deal from a known photographer in JJMPF. Lens is as good as new with warranty and paid 10K less than the professional market price. Shaju also helped me here to make a decision considering my very limited budget.

Another aspect is the 24mm which would come handy for my use as my kit lens would go to another newbie for his learning.

[dre@ms]

Guys I have the D5100 with 50mm prime lens. I didnt get the lens kit which comes with D5100.
The prime lens I have is used for portraits. I am now looking for a basic lens which can be a allrounder. Say I need to capture a group of people having dinner or may be a group photo.
Budget is 5k

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Guys I have the D5100 with 50mm prime lens. I didnt get the lens kit which comes with D5100.
The prime lens I have is used for portraits. I am now looking for a basic lens which can be a allrounder. Say I need to capture a group of people having dinner or may be a group photo.
Budget is 5k

You need a wide angle lens and the only offering in your budget is
http://www.nikon.co.in/en_IN/product...tLink=gp11zkz8
if you can go higher then this version is newer
http://www.nikon.co.in/en_IN/product...tLink=gp11zkz8

Your best bet is to go to a reputed shop and find out if any one wants to sell the above kit lenses. As they are bundled at 2-3k premium over the body only option, you may get one at a reasonable cost.

[navin]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

One of the best tips I'm seeing in this thread after a long time.

However, problem is not so drastic with improved manufacturing technology these days.

I keep the UV filter on when my son (age 11) borrows my camera or when shooting kids (they run into things including photographers with cameras) but otherwise the lens hood is all the protection I need.

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link so why put a piece of $100 glass in front of a $1000 lens?

[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by Aroy

Your best bet is to go to a reputed shop and find out if any one wants to sell the above kit lenses. As they are bundled at 2-3k premium over the body only option, you may get one at a reasonable cost.

The only difference I see in both the lenses are VR. How important it is. The prime lens I have doesnt have one and I believe I have a safe pair of hands.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by navin

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link so why put a piece of $100 glass in front of a $1000 lens?

That's like saying a brake pedal that costs few hundred rupees stops a 10 lakh rupee car !

I would like to keep the UV glass ,its protects glass from finger prints , dust and splash .

[navin]

Originally Posted by black12rr

That's like saying a brake pedal that costs few hundred rupees stops a 10 lakh rupee car !

I would like to keep the UV glass ,its protects glass from finger prints , dust and splash .

The brake analogy might not hold good. Light passes through a UV filter before it gets to the lens after which it gets to the sensor etc...and is processed into an image (for most of us JPG is adequate). If the filter is poor it will permit less light or distort the light getting to the lens and hence the lens has less to work with. I wont discount filters though, they are useful but for regular photography with adults having stable hands they are not essential.

If you are talking about brakes then lets consider this... a brake system consist of a brake booster, master cylinder, some hydraulics, slave cylinders, brake pads, etc... for a brake to work properly each one of these components in the line of operation must be adequately designed. A well designed master cylinder wont help if the brakes pads are poor and vice versa.

[Shakensoul]

Bought the Benro A650FBH2 tripod for 7.5k, absolutely VFM. Pics and review here

http://www.thinkcept.com/blog/gadget...-dslr-cameras/

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

The only difference I see in both the lenses are VR. How important it is. The prime lens I have doesnt have one and I believe I have a safe pair of hands.

VR compensates for vibration - be it due to your hand shake or due to mirror slap. Hence in most cases you can shoot at lower shutter speeds. Of course VR does not compensate for subject movement.

Though VR is god send for large telephoto lenses, even wide angle can benefit, especially in high MP cameras, as any shake results in a less sharp picture.

[abirnale]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

The only difference I see in both the lenses are VR. How important it is. The prime lens I have doesnt have one and I believe I have a safe pair of hands.

Originally Posted by Aroy

VR compensates for vibration - be it due to your hand shake or due to mirror slap. Hence in most cases you can shoot at lower shutter speeds. Of course VR does not compensate for subject movement.

Though VR is god send for large telephoto lenses, even wide angle can benefit, especially in high MP cameras, as any shake results in a less sharp picture.

Exactly as Aroy said.

Another perspective - if you aren't ready to spend much on the VR lens, try this: use the external battery grips. They are generally heavier due to their ability to have extra batteries filled in their magazines. With fully loaded batteries, its weight helps keep your hands steady. And using raw photo format, you may be able to work around some photos by editing them.

But nothing can compensate as good as VR or IS! Any day its a better investment considering the output it produces - more if you are huge telephoto guy. Its just that, battery grip will partially help you avoid shakes just due to it's weight and at the same time provide more juice for your camera. Two birds with one stone.... err.. one and half birds actually

[nilanjanray]

A couple of questions folks:

1. Anyone bought the D7100 yet or played around with it? Any feedback regarding the real life usability of the buffer for action shots?

2. Between the Tokina 11-16 DX2 and Sigma 8-16, which one is recommended? I am not sure I need the f/2.8 of the Tokina since it will be used stopped down for the kind of shots I might take.
h
Btw, regarding the ^^^ discussion regarding VR - my take is that always go for a VR lens if you can afford it. Makes a HUGE difference in low light situations when you are handholding. I have shot at 1/10s in some cases with the 70-300mm VR, and some of the photos are usable. The funny thing is, I think in some lenses there are some VR sweet spots in terms of shutter speed.

Edit: i was going through some of the beginning pages of this thread. Seems the popularity of this thread - and if I correlate to that of DSLRs - is exponentially increasing (just plot the number of pages for each year)! Or is it that auto fans are more likely to eventually develop an interest in photography as well? Perhaps this, along with the fact that DSLRs are tending towards early majority in the product life cycle, and with lower costs, increasing income and the hordes of phone camera users who eventually like to go for better IQ, are no longer limited to the early adopters.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

A couple of questions folks:

1. Anyone bought the D7100 yet or played around with it? Any feedback regarding the real life usability of the buffer for action shots?

...........

2. Edit: i was going through some of the beginning pages of this thread. Seems the popularity of this thread - and if I correlate to that of DSLRs - is exponentially increasing (just plot the number of pages for each year)! Or is it that auto fans are more likely to eventually develop an interest in photography as well? Perhaps this, along with the fact that DSLRs are tending towards early majority in the product life cycle, and with lower costs, increasing income and the hordes of phone camera users who eventually like to go for better IQ, are no longer limited to the early adopters.

1. D7100 is 95K, while D600 is 126K. In my opinion D600 is a better buy.
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/compari...slrs/index.htm
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D600-vs-Nikon-D7100
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50936168

And then your wide angles are wider on FF compared to DX sensor.

2. I guess that in real terms DSL are getting cheaper, hence more and more users are buying them. Yes better IQ is a point but that is offset by more items (and weight) to carry.

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by Aroy

1. D7100 is 95K, while D600 is 126K. In my opinion D600 is a better buy.
http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/compari...slrs/index.htm
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D600-vs-Nikon-D7100
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50936168

And then your wide angles are wider on FF compared to DX sensor.

2. I guess that in real terms DSL are getting cheaper, hence more and more users are buying them. Yes better IQ is a point but that is offset by more items (and weight) to carry.

Currently D7100 is available for 71.5K in Camshot, and around 73K in ebay India (just the body). Since I mostly do wildlife and nature, I still prefer DX since the cost/TCO goes up exponentially to get the same reach in FX. Besides, D7100 also has far better AF. The UWA is for occasional landscape shots.

But yes, for jack of all trades purpose, D600 is a fantastic camera.

[sj_koova]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Should have gone in for the 11-16 from Tokina, much sharper lens.

I own Tokina 11-16. This lens is super sharp also I never felt the need for a filter.
Almost 2 years and only 5% of my clicks are with this lens. I end up using my Nikon 18-105 mostly. Composing with extra wide lens is a skill I am still learning.