A good camera to buy any suggestions please

[Gurcharan Singh]

Dear members

I already have a sony alpha 100 DSLR camera with normal 17-72 lens, a telephoto lens 72-315 with macro which brings it to around 1 m and I use for focussing flowers on trees. For general habit and group photos I use Digicam Panasonic DMC Z53 Lumix 12X, 25 wide angle and HD movie which I use for group photos, general habit of plant, and shooting movie scenes. For photographs of twig I generally use Sony DSLR normal lens and for close ups in absence of a good macro lens, I use extension tubes 36 mm + 20 mm + 12 mm which I use in different combinations, but still miss the sharpness of macro lens. I feel inconvenient to shift between normal lens and normal lens+extension tube every time, and plan to buy a new good DSLR camera with macro lens. Could you suggest a good camera with better features and within manageable budget. Please suggest a few good one to choose from.

--
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/

[Balkar Arya]

Yes Sir
Same Problem with me and planning to purchase a good camera (DSLR) preferebly Nikon
Suggestions pls

--
Regards

Dr Balkar Singh
Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology
Arya P G College, Panipat
Haryana-132103
09416262964

[Giby Kuriakose]

Dear Gurcharan Ji and Balkar Ji,

Please tell about your budget. 

I recently purchased Nikon D7000 with kit lens and Nikkor 105mm AF VR micro. They are working very nicely and I am getting some good pictures. My cousin bought the same in USA and bring the same here when he came home during last May. I could save a considerable amount by purchasing this camera from USA.  

Actually, for macro photography, we don't need VR (Vibration reduction for Nikon cameras) as it doesn't function within 3m. 

Sigma and Tamaron also produce good macro lenses that can be used with Nikon, Canon or Sony DSLR's. 

I am also fond of Panasonic LUMIX series cameras (http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/index.html).  

You may also visit dpreview.com (http://www.dpreview.com/) for more details on different cameras and updates. 

Regards,

Giby

--
GIBY KURIAKOSE PhD
Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE),
Royal Enclave,
Jakkur Post, Srirampura
Bangalore- 560064
India
Phone - +91 9448714856 (Mobile)
visit my pictures @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/giby

[Pankaj Kumar]

Yes, please elaborate the tentative budget so that I may be able to
suggest something good.
Regards
Pankaj

--
**********************************************************************
"Taxonomists getting Extinct and Species Data Deficient !!"

Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae)
Conservation Officer

Office:
Flora Conservation Department
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) Corporation
Lam Kam Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong.

Residence:
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email: pku...@kbfg.org
       sahani...@gmail.com
       pankaj...@rediffmail.com
Phone: +852 2483 7128 (office - 8:30am to 5:30pm)
       +852 9436 6251; +852 5431 6094 (mobile)

[Gurcharan Singh]

40000-60000

-- 
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

[Pankaj Kumar]

I am a Nikon Follower and hence I always talk about Nikon.

You have two body options from Nikon:
D90 and D5000 (41,000 and 32,000 INR)
You can buy JUST THE BODY of either.

Lens:
AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/3.5G ED VR (but price is 32000 INR)
AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G (17,000 INR)
AF-S Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8G ED (17,000 INR)

Flash:
Vivitar Ring Flash with adapters for the macro lens you buy (6000 INR)

Hope this is helpful.
Pankaj

[Gurcharan Singh]

Thanks a lot Pankaj ji for valuable information

-- 
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

-- 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

[Samir Ovalekar]

Following up on Pankaj's email since I am also a Nikon user:

You may get a good deal for the D90 since its been around for quite a while now. But i fear it "may" be discontinued at any point since the official lineup or progression intended is D3100/5100/7000.

So I would advise waiting / going for the D5100. This has the same sensor and 14-bit RAW capability as that of the high-end D7000 except the build-quality and the feature set.
There are some major improvements over the earlier D5000 model besides aesthetic changes which I liked.

Lens:

AF-S DX Micro Nikkor f/2.8G
(This I believe was launched very recently and positioned as a starter macro lens)

Ring Flash as mentioned by Pankaj

Needless to say that all this is strictly my opinion / judgement only :)

Samir

---

From: Pankaj Kumar <sahani...@gmail.com>
To: Gurcharan Singh <sing...@gmail.com>
Cc: Giby Kuriakose <giby.ku...@gmail.com>; Balkar Arya <balka...@gmail.com>; efloraofindia <indian...@googlegroups.com>; Dinesh Valke <dinesh...@gmail.com>; Shrikant Ingalhalikar <le...@rediffmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 5 October 2011 4:29 PM
Subject: Re: [efloraofindia:86046] A good camera to buy any suggestions please

[Pankaj Kumar]

The prices were official ones except for flash. Feel free to bargain.
If you wish to bye with original bill, then go to the main distributor
at Rajendra Place. There also you can bargain.

Inter Foto India Pvt. Ltd. (New Delhi)
808/Vikram Tower, 16/Rajendra Place, New Delhi 110008
011 41537976 / 011 41537938

Pankaj

[Balkar Arya]

Thanks you all for suggestion I am also having Same Budget as Gurcharan Ji said

Thanks

[Giby Kuriakose]

I think the suggestions made by Pankaj is apt for our purpose. 

If both of you together purchase camera and lens, then you both can bargain down the price quite a bit, I guess. 

I would suggest Nikon D5100 rather than Nikon D5000 for few reasons. The former is the recent update with advanced features, the maximum picture resolution, the processor type, and HD movie (which may not be needed for our purpose), the ISO range, Storage card type and LCD size.  

Please have a comparison of these two cameras in the following links

http://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/slrs/nikon_d5000

http://www.dpreview.com/products/nikon/slrs/nikon_d5100

and for price for D5100 in India visit the official site of Nikon India@ 

http://www.nikon.co.in/productitem.php?pid=1423-f4320ceaf9

Regards

Giby

[Balkar Arya]

Pankaj Ji

from the web i learned this

MELVILLE, N.Y. (July 12, 2011) – Nikon Inc. today introduced the new lightweight and versatile AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G lens to provide Nikon DX-format shooters macro capabilities at an affordable price point. Ideal for intimate details or general portraiture, the new AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G lens has a minimum focusing distance of just 0.53 feet (6.4 inches) to allow users to capture extreme close-up photographs and High Definition (HD) video with a life-size 1:1 reproduction ratio.

I could not understand with distance of about 6.5 inches how a good close up can be catch. As many semiDSLR like Sony HX1 etc allowes to have shot at about 1 Cm distance

Please through light on matter

Is anything else like macro lenses or extension tubes etc to be used with this lens 

[Pankaj Kumar]

Balkar sir,
40mm lens will have minimum focusing distance of 11cms.
Pankaj
Its not always about minimum focusing distance. The 40mm lens will
give 40% of the actual size of the subject on pic. So more is the
number, better it is with respect to magnification.
Regards
Pankaj

[Balkar Arya]

is there any lens/ combination/ex tubes etc which can give about 2 to 4 times larger size image than actual

[Pankaj Kumar]

There are tele convertors. They are costly.
Pankaj

[Balkar Arya]

Thanks Pankaj Ji

[shrikant ingalhalikar]

Balkarji,
The min focussing distance is measured from the film plane or sensor,
ie roughly from the back of the camera and not from the front of the
lens. If you fit a ring flsh on the 40 mm macro lens, the object at 11
cm might go inside the flash which is usually 3 cm long. Regards,
Shrikant

[Balkar Arya]

Thanks Sir This i was not knowing

[Balkar Singh]

Dear All

Today while searching for some plants 

I saw a site with extraordinary sueperb pics. sharing link of that site

http://teakdoor.com/farming-and-gardening-in-thailand/14923-thai-flowers-your-pictures-13.html

Most of pics of good quality was taken by  Sony DSC-R1. this camera was launched in 2003. 

Comments on Camera quality pls