Indians For Guns

Which one would be a better option?

Nikon D7000, Canon 7D ,Pentax K5 or Olympus E-5?

It is not fair to compare Leica VLux2 with these DSLR’s but still it’s a very nice alternative for travelling and nature photography.

Hello,

If you are buying SLR's much depends on the lens. Which lens are you planning to buy apart from the standard kit lens? This is more important I guess.

These cameras are all good if you are not into very advanced photography or have any special requirements.

Hello Bespoke,
First and foremost, congratulations on your decision on taking up wildlife photography. I personally use the D 5000 Nikon with lens 70 - 300 mm. Look up the Wild life Photography thread, you will get a lot of useful pointers.
Best Regards

If I were you, I'd pick up the Canon 7D immediately and affix a 70-300 Canon IS lens. Both don't cost a fortune and make a excellent combination.....

A cheaper version of the lens would be from Sigma or Tamron etc for the Canon body. Say a 100-300 Sigma would cost about 8-9K or so....

Now this is IF money is a factor... if NOT, a Nikon system IS THE BEST, any day... !!

Thanks for the responses.

Rajat,
I know lens are major but there are other factors also to be considered like image quality, image resolution, weather sealed etc. which is what I am confused about like 7D has less shutter lag and higher resolutions and better cross type focus point at same time Nikon D7000 2 storage slots, better image quality ‘longer battery like etc.

Olly,
I am more inclined towards Nikon D7000.I am new to lens and a photographic illiterate so will do a bit of research before I finalize it.
If money wasn’t a factor Hasselblad H4d or Leica S2

Hvji
Thanks .I shot these images with 7 year old simple Sony 4 megapixel camera digital camera and the pictures came out nicely (no editing) so I thought I might move onto a better camera and see how it goes.

Nice snaps Bespoke.

Looks like someone is in love with Dehradoon.

Why not? Its a beautiful city with some very good examples of Indian colonial architecture which is nostalgic and indigenous.

You are right indeed the building is Forest Research Institute in Dehradun and the other two pictures were captured at a hotel called "Glasshouse on the Ganges" 25 kms from Rishikesh.

Forest Research Institute.Dehradun
An educational institute for the "Man of the woods".
Spread out in 1200 acres of land with this beautiful building in the middle.
Designed by C.G.Blomfield.
Inaugurated on 7th November 1929 by Lord Irvin .
The building is built with bricks and limestone. The roof is made of Pine.
Here are a couple of snaps
1. panoramic view of the building with a friend standing in the wrong place.
2. the view from inside.

Bespoke
Old Chap, not only is your knowledge of guns good, but your ability to compose photographs is equally if not more commendable.Now I understand why you need to move on, we hope that more such photographs are posted here.
Best Regards

Bespoke wrote:Thanks for the responses.

Rajat,
I know lens are major but there are other factors also to be considered like image quality, image resolution, weather sealed etc. which is what I am confused about like 7D has less shutter lag and higher resolutions and better cross type focus point at same time Nikon D7000 2 storage slots, better image quality ‘longer battery like etc.

You are right Bespoke. I just pointed out the lens part as the emphasis was on the cameras in your question.

This is correct there are a lot of other factors involved like you have mentioned but you will not notice anything lacking in any of the cameras which you have shortlisted. Unless you are into very advanced photography.

You will be safe with all of listed models and makes but in my opinion you should choose between the Nikon and the Canon.

I can see a lot of great pictures coming from you soon

Presently, if you do not have old lenses or SLR equipment....it really does not matter which DSLR you buy. In this situation, Instead of buying a D7000, you can go for a D5100 (which has most of the D7000 internals) and use up rest of the money to buy a Nikon 70-300 VR AF-S lens and most importantly a good Manfrotto tripod like a 055 and a ball head like a 496RC2.

But if you have existing SLR system, give me the details and I will suggest accordingly.

M.

Bespoke wrote:Which one would be a better option?

Nikon D7000, Canon 7D ,Pentax K5 or Olympus E-5?

It is not fair to compare Leica VLux2 with these DSLR’s but still it’s a very nice alternative for travelling and nature photography.

Bespoke,

I have a Canon EOS 500 D. It was thanks to fellow IFG'ians, plus some of my other friends that I was able to zero in on that.

Although I have not tried wildlife photography as such, I did do normal nature shots (without the fauna!). I found that for anything beyond indoor shots, the 18-55 kit lens is probably the same as a non-SLR camera (point-and-shoot), of course the res and size being better due to the SLR factor. For anything resembling the great outdoors, you would need something like a 50-200 or 70-300 lens. Plus a UV filter to cut direct sunlight. Plus a circular polariser (CPL) to cut glare, atmospheric haze, and whiteouts. Then you would want to take real good closeups of say, flowers, hence you would need a macro / fixed focus lens...... ad infinitum.

And of course, a very good tripod for those panoramas, as Fantumfan suggested, a good bag (the bags which come free with the camera are not very useful in the field - I got a Lowepro backpack). A remote trigger. There are some sites - digitalphotographyschool.com, cambridgeincolour.com, etc. - which I found helpful. You can get free membership, and they will typically e-mail you tips and tricks every couple of days or so. Just ignore the sales pitches!

I would also suggest going to a multibrand camera outlet and comparing the damn things in your hand, if the shopkeeper is friendly enough, he might accompany you out to check how long distance snaps look like. I honestly could not understand most of the tech stuff on the internet, hence JJ Mehta in Mumbai was a godsend! Big electronic stores would typically have more "popular" models rather than "good" models.

Happy shooting (of the RAW kind)!

EssDee

Hvji,Rajat,

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement.I hope i live up-to your expectations.

Fautmanfan,

Thanks.I do not own a SLR system so I will have to start from scratch.I will look at D5100

Essdee,

Thanks for you indepth knowledge on the subject and this has helped me understand the needs better.

I might have to trouble you guys to review my final decision on this

Dear Bespoke

I am not a professional wildlife photographer but I have been into clicking pictures for over 30 years now and believe me when I tell you that there is no specialized camera for any occassion other than underwater and infra red photography . Even underwater photography can be done by putting your ordinary camera in a plastic pouch . It is the man behind the camera which makes all the difference .

Having said that - there are a few points to ponder on and my two pence on the subject is as follows :

1) Nikon any day over Canon for wildlife and hiking . Canon lenses are beautiful but my experience with canon cameras when you are roughing it out is not very good . I find Nikon bodies more robust and able to take a lot more beating . Nikon D7000 is a good choice and is a far superior camera to D5000 on the point of weather sealing . I use a D90 and a D 300S now . I find them much better than D5000 .

2) For wildlife a lens with a 2.8 aperature is a must - for getting those low light shots in .Even the Nikon 50 mm fixed focus lens with a 1.4 aperture is wonderful .

3) Are you planning to shoot from Jeep / elephant / perched on a tree ? if yes do not waste your money on tripods . I have 3 of them and never used them . Get lenses with image stabilization / VR ( vibration reduction ) instead - allows you to shoot 2 stops lower in handheld mode than ordinary lenses . I suggest the excellent Nikon 18 - 200 VR , the 70-300 and the Sigma 120-300 . The last one is an excellent lens .
You can at the best invest on a Gorillapod - with flexible legs ( for wrapping them around tree branches / jeep bull bar / elephant howdah railing - for more stability . Tripods are good for nature / family trips and in wildlife too - if you are shooting from a hideout .
4) Your camera must have spot metering/ centre metering facility and the access to the control needs to be easy . In jungles - due to tricky light situation - this feature is a god send . matrix metering most times can be a disaster.
5) equally important is to be able to bracket your shots in bursts of 3 shots - let us say -0.3 / 0 / + 0.3 stops . D90 / D300S / D7000 - all do this well . This is to ensure you do not get " that fanstastic once in a lifetime snap of a tiger cleaning its claws " wee bit underexposed . Photoshop cures everything - but its not that satisfactory to the photographer .


Joydeep