I am a software engineer working at Bangalore, India. Photography is my passion. I belong to hobbyist / enthusiast category in photography.
My first Camera was a Canon S2 IS (5 MP). I like Canon(low noise at higher ISO) 350D, 400D but after using the Nikon D70s(D200 is great, but costly), i fell in love with it for its look, feel and ease of usability. I sold my Canon S2 IS and picked up a new D70s(D80 was available at the time of purchase, but still love D70s for its 1/500 Flash sync and 1/8000s shutter speed).
My kit:
Camera Body:
Nikon D70s
A very old camera for the current time. But who cares. Its a real work-horse camera that proves its ability for all my needs. 6MP 3008 x 2000 [L] is less to todays standards but i sometimes shoot at 'Medium' which is 2240 x 1488 [3.2MP approx.] which is good enough for me. But i think the time is nearing(may be a year) to go for a new DSLR and put this cam as a secondary body always loaded with a common zoom lens like 17-50mm f/2.8. Planning for a D90. I concentrate more on landscapes, macro and portraits. I will be happy with D300(s) for macro and portraits, but will be longing for a fullframe 'D3(s)' for magnificiant landscapes.... :-(
Lenses:
Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD Asp IF
Like said on many discussion forums and reviews this lens competes head-to-head with Nikon's 17-55 AF-S F/2.8. Use it to believe it. I am happy that i paid 1/3 of the price to get the SUPERB quality. Its sharp at all apertures. No AF-S, but still the autofocus motor speed is good. At 17mm to 20mm the distortion is slightly more than the limit. One big drawback is when used with a flash it overexposes by +0.7 - +1, but hey i always bring my flash exposure by -1 which will help save battery ;-). Thom Hogan have reviewed and recommends this lens.Worth the money.
Nikon 85mm f/1.8 AF-D
Should i say more....? The best F/1.8 aperture lens available. Sharp from the wide open aperture(the contrast at 1.8 is slightly low). The bokeh produced by this lens is soo good and so do the sharpness. A must to have prime lens. Build quality is very good(much better than 50mm 1.8 Nikon). There are no negatives to mention about this lovely lens.
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO Macro
A lens with a very different focal length, that too for a macro, and for what purpose it can be used effectively? WELL, this lens is a very good portrait lens and a very very sharp 'n easy to use macro lens. With its HSM motor focus is fast, but as expected the focus hunts sometimes when used for macro. There are three limit switch to solve this issue. The tripod mount is an extra good feature. You can DIY mount the flash on it with a TTL chord and use this setup effectively for macro shots. A very sharp lens that killed 105, 180, 200mm range macro lens lineup's . Additional OS(Optical Stabilization) will really crown this lens the emperor of all macro lenses. Can be used with a tele-coverter. This is the max telephoto range i have in my lens line-up.
67mm Circular Polorizer, 52mm, 58mm, 62mm, 67mm, 72mm & 77mm UV Filters (Kenko, Hoya, Marumi, Sania)
I also use my friends lenses, Nikon 18-55mm Make II and a Sigma 24-70 F/2.8 AF DG Macro.
Sold My(lenses that i used and sold),
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM
This Lens may not be as good(edge sharpness/overall sharpness/fixed apearture) as Nikon's counterpart, but provides a 2mm extra on the wider end. A good ultra-wide angle rectlinear lens. Sharp from edges to center starting from 14mm. At 12mm the the edges are not very sharp. I use this for Landscapes/Cityscapes and for some funny distorted close-up's. Worth the money. Nikonian Thom Hogan has this in his photography gear and recommends this for the extra 2mm on the wide end.
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Aiming at Nikon 50mm 1.4 i gave up this lens. For low light i use my Nikon 85mm F/1.8 now. 50mm 1.8 is a very good lens for its price.
Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom
I love this lens, but after the Tammy 17-50 i had no other choice other than to give up this sharp, well constructed and economic lens.
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro
Good macro lens, especially when used in manual mode. Some of my favorite/best shots were made with this lens and the 50mm 1.8 attached reverse to it. Very old in todays macro market. Hate the tube that extends and the slow motor focus. A HSM version with OS will sure bring this lens to its lost position. Is Sigma listening?!
Sigma 70 - 300mm f/4-5.6 DG APO Macro
Good for a starter who doesn't know of what kind of photography to pursue with!. I tried Macro, Candid, Bird/Animal and landscapes with this lens befor concluding on to concentrate on my likeness. The new Nikon 55-200 VR, 18-200 VR and 70-300 VR are by all means a better lens for beginners. Its time for Sigma to retire this 'once' good lens.
My DREAM Lenses/Gear(will buy it soon and keep it for ever... :-) ),
Tamron 10-24mm (Release: Last quarter of 2008)
Sigma 30mm 1.4
Nikon 50mm 1.4
Nikon 70-200 F/2.8 VR AF-S
Nikon/Sigma 1.4, 1.7 and 2x Teleconverters
Nikon SB-800 Flash, 2 more SB-600's
Filters - Cokin 'P' type filter holder, Pro filter holder, GND filter soft/hard from 3-stops to 5-stops, all of Gallen Rowell filters, reverse GND, Infra-red filters, varied ND filter, if possible all of Singh Ray filters ;-)
BIG DREAM
Nikon 200mm F/2 AF-S VR
Sigma 200-500 F/2.8 HSM
Other Accessories:
Nikon SB-800 Flash Kit
Nikon SB-600 Flash
iTTL flash extender cable
National PE-201A Manual Flash
Flash-Shoe adapter and extension cables
1 Harison W-622 tripod, 1 monopod
4GB Sandisk CF, 1GB Sandisk Extreme III 133x CF and 1GB TEQU 80x CF
Wireless Remote Shutter Release Nikon ML-L3, Wired Remote Nikon MC-DC1
60 Gb iPOD for storing/backup photos
iPOD Camera Connector
+1, +2, +4, Macro Filter Kit
Kenko Extension Tube(N-AF UNIPLUS Tube 25), Sonia(Indian Make) Manual Extension Tubes
Reverse Ring With 52mm Thread, Macro Coupler(-or- Male thread on both ends) 52mm-52mm and 58mm-58mm,
Indian Make of Cokin P Filter Holder with two 3-Stop ND Filters(Indian Make)
Step-up and Step-down Rings
USB 2.0 Card Reader
Camera Cleaner Kit(basic)
LowePro CompuTrekker AW Backpack
FYI:
The pictures in this website are solely an expression of art, creativity and skill. The intension is not to demean, derogate or defame any person or thing. Any allusion to this effect is wholly unintentional. Some pictures may carry a logo that belongs to others. However, there is no intention to claim any right, copyright or benefit from the same. This work is solely an expression of creativity.
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