[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

To Thad specifically: Any dealer you would suggest in Chennai ( I will be there next weekend) for Nikon?

A friend is well connected. I went with him and he did all the negotiating.

I wonder how far from Kannur you are? If I was within easy reach, I wouldn't hesitate in buying from Videolinks. I usually buy from them after Whatsapp agreement and bank transfer.

I have also bought online from Fotocentre, Mumbai. They have a good site and I understand it to be backed up by a real shop.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I wonder how far from Kannur you are? If I was within easy reach, I wouldn't hesitate in buying from Videolinks. I usually buy from them after Whatsapp agreement and bank transfer.

I have also bought online from Fotocentre, Mumbai. They have a good site and I understand it to be backed up by a real shop.

Thanks.
Yes, let me check with Videolinks, I had some 7 years back purchased a point and shoot. However, that was a direct - shop purchase. Thanks for reminding about them. I am currently at Bangalore, however will be visiting Calicut in Dec, so Kannur is only 90KMS from there.

Let me check with Fotocentre too.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

I am currently at Bangalore

Videolinks is shipping from a warehouse in Bangalore. I don't know if they have retail/pick-up facilities there.

[TheDarkKnight]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Does anyone have feedback of Kamal Imaging Mumbai?

I have purchased a camera bag from them and it did reach me quickly in a day.

They have a small shop in the suburbs which I had visited personally and can confirm it’s a legit store, but most of their stuff is kept and shipped from their own warehouse is what I was told.

Cheers.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Videolinks is shipping from a warehouse in Bangalore. ...

Search under Nexgen Image Gears.

[zurura023]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Thanks.

Let me check with Fotocentre too.

FotoCentre is quite big in Bombay photog circles. You can also try HeyJimmy. He is pretty good and been reliable over the years.

Also, like mentioned earlier you can never go wrong with Videolinks.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Videolinks is shipping from a warehouse in Bangalore. I don't know if they have retail/pick-up facilities there.

Originally Posted by TheDarkKnight

I have purchased a camera bag from them and it did reach me quickly in a day. .
.

Originally Posted by zurura023

FotoCentre is quite big in Bombay photog circles. You can also try HeyJimmy. He is pretty good and been reliable over the years.

Also, like mentioned earlier you can never go wrong with Videolinks.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

Compared prices of all the above options and also Foto Ciricle from Bangalore also.

Found that Videolinks were quoting the cheapest for multiple products that I checked. Not sure what is the catch, since there is a significant price difference compared to others.

Their quote was almost cheaper by 7-8 % when checking.

However, was not sure on ordering heavy lens from them (or anyone) online due to risks in manhandling during shipment. Hence went to Foto cirlcle Bangalore for lens purchase eventhough it was slightly costlier.

For body - Nikon ZF, went with Videolinks, they shipped the same via DTDC courier.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I don't think there is a catch with Videolinks, except having to wait until the courier delivers your shiny new toy. They give good, personal service, and great prices.

I have bought lenses from them. Nothing over 1 Lakh, but 50k+ and even 80k+. No problems, brilliant packing.

I had a problem registering the warranty on a Tamron lens. Anish got his Tamron rep onto it and it was sorted.

Just, I couldn't bear to think of a 2-Lakh camera body coming by courier, and combined with want-it-now syndrome, I bought from a local dealer for just a few thou more.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I don't think there is a catch with Videolinks, except having to wait until the courier delivers your shiny new toy. They give good, personal service, and great prices.

Yes. Packaging, pricing, responses to query - all no complaints.

What I meant was, I wonder how they are able to get it for a low cost.

To give an example of the Nikon ZF body that I was checking with different vendors.
Suggested price at Nikon site -INR 1.77 lakh
US Sites - USD 2000

All vendors quoted below the above mentioned rates, but the difference between their quotes was in ~INR 1K range.

Videolinks gave a quote which was cheapest by next cheapest by ~INR 2K.

One I assume is due to their comparatively low logistical cost - shop in smaller city, courier from there to destination, still.

[Dr.AD]

In my last weekend drive to "Old Magazine House", which is a popular place for birding, I rented a "NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR" telephoto lens. I used this with my Nikon Z5 camera and took plenty of bird photos with this combo.

This was my first time using such a big and heavy telephoto lens on my full frame camera. In the past, I have used Nikon DX 70-300mm lens on a DX body (Nikon D3500) and that is a very light and compact setup. In comparison, this big lens felt very big and heavy at first. NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR weighs about 2kg, and together with my Nikon Z5 body, the total weight of the setup was about 2.7kg. I struggled to even hold it still enough initially, but after some practice, got used to it and did plenty of photography with holding this lens and camera in hand and walking around in the forest with this lens in hand.

After I got used to the size and the weight, and practiced holding it still and taking handheld photos, I started loving this lens. Autofocus works well with this lens (Nikon Z5 does not have the best of the autofocus system anyway; and that is the fault of the camera body and not the lens), and Vibration Reduction (VR) worked well too. I got some decent shot with this lens handheld, even when this was my first time using a big telephoto lens.

Here are a few photos that I liked, all taken with Nikon Z5 + NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR.























You can see more photos with this lens here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5695784 (New Year Drive to "Old Magazine House")

Overall I loved photography with this lens, and got some decent pictures. 180mm to 600mm focal length range is very good too, and that makes it a very versatile lens for wildlife photography - for animals as well as for birds.

The only obvious limitation of this lens is that it is relatively slow at f/6.3 max aperture at 600mm end of the range. Apart from that, I found this lens excellent on every other aspect, at least for my kind of usage.

Although I rented it for the last trip, now I am considering buying it. It retails for about Rs. 1.5L in some shops is what I have heard, although the stocks may be limited.

Just wanted to share my quick review based on this short one weekend experience. Thanks!

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Although I rented it for the last trip, now I am considering buying it.

Fotocenter / Jayesh & Videolinks were having stock / short waiting period for the same. You can check with them in case you are planning to.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Fotocenter / Jayesh & Videolinks were having stock / short waiting period for the same. You can check with them in case you are planning to.

Ok, great, Thanks! Fotocenter is my usual place too for cameras and accessories, and I will surely go to them once I decide to by this lens. Thanks for that information.

[mxx]

Around 10 years back I purchased a Olympus E-PL3. I liked it a lot and used to give much better results that my phone camera. However, over a decade the camera phones started getting better and now they are too good - especially the pixel phones in android world and iphones ( i have not used iphones though). Anyway with phone cameras evolving the use of E-PL3 started going down, and in last few years almost no use. I am wondering is there is any use keeping this mirror-less now. ie Is there any scenario where it is beneficial to use E-PL3 instead of phone camera? One use maybe for proper optical zoom, but at this point I dont know if it is wise to spend some huge amount on a tele-photo lens on a camera that is rarely used. With a sensor that is more than a decade old, what if I am unimpressed by the image quality after spending on a tele-photo lens.
What do you guys suggest?

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by mxx

With a sensor that is more than a decade old, what if I am unimpressed by the image quality after spending on a tele-photo lens.
What do you guys suggest?

A sensor which is a decade old, along with Indian conditions, is bound to cause sensor degradation, due to dust, moisture, ageing of the chemical processes on the sensor itself.
The processor is also 10 years old, prone to ageing of its own.

In addition, the benchmark from a dedicated camera has risen, partly due to the improvement in phone camera images. For a 10 year old camera to match such pictures is difficult, no matter how good the lens. This, even though the lens plays the most important part of the imaging process.

Suggest you borrow/rent a compatible lens to see if the image is upto your standard before plonking enough money that would buy you a mid range camera of today's crop of offerrings.

I too sold my 10 year old D5000 and instead went for a s23 ultra, which gave me enough capabilities for personal use, without the hassle of handling another equipment. It is obviously not the quality of a dedicated dslr/mirrorless, but for personal use, does it really matter? It doesn't to me atleast.

My 2 paisa opinion...

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by mxx

One use maybe for proper optical zoom, but at this point I dont know if it is wise to spend some huge amount on a tele-photo lens on a camera that is rarely used. With a sensor that is more than a decade old, what if I am unimpressed by the image quality after spending on a tele-photo lens.
What do you guys suggest?

I suppose you always shot JPG with the E-PL3 using the kit lens? In that case, most mobile phone cameras above 20K can blow it out of the world.

There was a time when most people bought dSLR/mirrorless with kit lens just to get some good quality photos. That time has passed.

Now, the only people who must bother with dSLR/mirrorless are those want to use high quality lenses and would shoot in raw.

Last year I bought an OM-5 body because I had too much investment in Olympus lenses.