Nikon 3100 or Canon1100d

[ranjeetrain]

ISO: 200/320/400. - Obvious. In good light, camera didn't need to push hard and use high-ISO. That's reflecting here.
A: F5.6 - F9 - Indicates that you camera detected the scene to be 'landscape'
S: 1/100- 1/400 - Indicates there was enough light
AWB - During day light camera doesn't really engage anything other than AWB. Only when its a very dull day you 'may' need to set the 'Cloudy' preset/WB
EV 0 - Camera will never use anything other than 0 EV in Green Auto. Changes to this are always a conscious decision.

A tiny reduction in exposure and increase in contrast and saturation is more to my liking. A marginal increase of definition/highlights and lightening the shadows also helps. For outdoor pictures shot in the ISO 200-400 range I raise the de-noise value from 0 to somewhere between 30-50. For indoor shots with decent lighting the Auto mode has mostly chosen ISO 400 and flash or ISO 800 and no flash. Most indoor shots require a little more de-noising than the outdoor ones.

That's less or more 'standard processing'.

I don't find the colors of pictures shot with a D40 very natural or satisfactory. I feel that D90 also shares these color tendencies but cannot be sure as I have only taken a few pictures with this camera. D7000 and D5100 both have extremely natural colors. On the D5100 I am extremely pleased with the colors and resolution when the color space is set to sRGB, Picture Control at Standard, WB and D Lighting at Auto and the lowest ISO value which natural light and aperture settings will allow.

D40 was a camera specifically targeted to 'please' consumers. D90 is a different beast. D90 colors are most natural in that generation of camera. There is a about 3 years difference in D90 and D5100 and D7000. Obviously these people were busy improving the sensor. Nothing surprising. 3 years is a HUGE time frame in this era of fast modernization.

 

[ajay124]

There is a about 3 years difference in D90 and D5100 and D7000. Obviously these people were busy improving the sensor. Nothing surprising. 3 years is a HUGE time frame in this era of fast modernization.

D7000 was released in October 2010 and D5100 in April 2011. Nikon's technology keeps improving and there are a couple of areas where 5100 may be a shade better than 7000. D7000 has video capabilities of 1080p/24fps while the D5100 has 1080p/30 fps. Also 5100 has in-camera HDR but this feature is no provided on D7000. Paying 20K more for a D7000 over a D5100 makes sense because of:

Weather proof magnesium alloy body
0,62x Pentaprism viewfinder with 100% coverage
Information screen at the top
Dedicated controls for ISO, white balance, metering and exposure
Built in auto focus motor
Longer battery life
Additional drive mode dial

Personally I like the fixed LCD screen better than the swivel LCD of the D5100.

 

[ranjeetrain]

May be I could have used more commas and brackets like D90 and (D5100 and D7000) or "D90 and D7000" and "D90 and D5100" I could have also been more precise like how many years, months and days

 

[iaudio]

Re: Wedding photographers

(1) In most cases, they don't have enough knowledge to manipulate settings for optimum use.
(2) They don't have the time to manipulate settings. Remember, their job is to capture the moments, not manipulate settings. They are better off with 5 pictures that captured unique moments than 1.
(3) They don't need to manipulate settings. A D90/D7000 even in Green Auto mode produces pictures that beat results from cameras like D70, D40, D1 etc.
(4) They cannot use OOC JPEG anyway. They must process the pictures. So don't go by what they shoot, go by what they deliver.

:clapping: Perfectly summarized. After reading Ajays post I was going to say pretty much the same things. I too held such illusions about wedding photographers till I started interacting more them. Most of the time they dont have much room for creativity.
General demand is for "well" lit( ample light,brilliant flash) photos of the wedding without missing any of the guests.

So yes, some of these wedding photogs are not bothered/interested in doing anything more creative or learning more. Ultimately its their rozi roti/ bread n butter for which they are doing this and they have no other attachment/passion for the profession. As for many others, they have to cater to demand rather than their own interests.

Ajay, I do think the swivel lcd is an added convenience. It's probably because I got used to it on the Canon s3IS which I was using before I got my Nikon D200.

And yeah a rant, I so wish Nikon exposure meter would show +(over exp) to the right of the axis and vice versa than the way it is now!

 

[ajay124]

I used to have a Sony Handycam whose swivel screen went dead after a couple of years use. It was out of warranty and instead of buying a new screen from the Sony service center I chose to sell the it at a huge loss and bought a Nikon D40 instead. D5100's swivel screen has a similar build quality and could start malfunctioning at some point whereas a Nikon DSLR with a fixed screen could potentially last forever.

Incidentally a tip for folks who want to buy a used Nikon SLR. I downloaded the Exif viewer for Mac OS which not only provides comprehensive information about a digital photograph but also retrieves shutter actuation data. The shutter actuation figure represents the number of photographs which have been taken with the SLR which clicked the photograph. Anyone considering a used SLR should shoot a picture and then open its JPEG file on the Exif viewer to verify the SLR's count of shutter clicks. The Exif viewer may or may not reveal the shutter actuation data with all SLR brands and models but it is free and useful so there is no harm in trying it out. For Windows PC there is an Opanda Exif Viewer but I don't have a Windows PC (never will ) so I can't tell you if it works or not.

Simple EXIF Viewer for Mac OS X

Exif viewer : Opanda IExif - Professional EXIF / GPS / IPTC Viewer & Editor in Windows, IE & Firefox

 

[nirrej]

Nikon's technology keeps improving and there are a couple of areas where 5100 may be a shade better than 7000. D7000 has video capabilities of 1080p/24fps while the D5100 has 1080p/30 fps.

24fps is the preferred frame rate by professionals for that smooth 'film-feel'.

 

[ranjeetrain]

24fps is the preferred frame rate by professionals for that smooth 'film-feel'.

That's correct! 24fps is the pro standard and a more sought after frame-rate.

 

[ajay124]

I have been surfing websites selling camera accessories and Manfrotto seems to be a good brand for tripods/monopods and Lowepro for camera bags.

Manfrotto India

Bag Finder by Lowepro

I still have the Nikon camera bag which I got with the D40. It is nice and big and on a holiday I could fit my D40 with the kit lens, an iPad, passports and tickets and a slim volume of Pablo Neruda in this bag. For local use I wanted a smaller bag. I was initially looking at Lowepro Adventura 120/140 but finally I opted for a Lowepro AW45 Toploader Zoom bag which would be able to carry a D5100/D7000/D90 with a small 3x3 lens, spare SD cards, battery and my cell phone.

I have a Steinzeiser SZ16 tripod which I have started using lately. It is easy to set up and quite effective. But I am planning to replace it with a Manfrotto monopod with the 234 RC 2 swivel head sooner or later.

 

[matbhuvi]

Lowepro is a very good brand..well priced...good choice. I have a slingshot 102AW and vouch for its quality and build. Monfrotto again is one of the best in making tripods. Their pricing is bit premium. One thing i found really useful in a tripod is a quick release plate. You don't want to miss a shot just because you couldn't remove the camera from tripod in a sec.

 

[ajay124]

matbhuwi

The slingshot AW102 looks like an ideal bag for carrying a complete kit. I was looking for a small toploader for everyday use. I bought the Lowepro AW45 C.O.D from Letsbuy.com as they were offering it at a great price of 999. Received the parcel through Blue Dart within 72 hours. AW45 is big enough to hold the D5100/D7000 body with one small lens attached. D5100 with 35mm prime is a very comfortable fit. With the 55-200mm lens I can just about zip up the bag. The outer pocket can hold a filter and an extra battery while the inner pocket is good for an extra card and a lens cleaning cloth. For longer lenses AW50/55/75 would be better options. A toploader is easier to carry around and very convenient for quickly pulling out and putting back the camera.

 

[ajay124]

While sipping my morning cuppa of Sri Lankan orange pekoe and surfing my favorite bookmarked websites (hifivision, flickr, marketwatch, bloomberg, wsj, nse, spiegel online, al jazeera, reuters, hindu) I glimpsed the moon peering in through the window.

moonshine | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[matbhuvi]

Yesterday i noticed that my D3100 used ISO3200 in Programmed auto mode. Damn u Nikon..wonder what they were thinking. I could easily use ISO400 with 1/200 shutter in the manual mode for the same shot.

 

[theironhorse]

While sipping my morning cuppa of Sri Lankan orange pekoe and surfing my favorite bookmarked websites (hifivision, flickr, marketwatch, bloomberg, wsj, nse, spiegel online, al jazeera, reuters, hindu) I glimpsed the moon peering in through the window.

moonshine | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

the moon pics looks more of an HDR..

was it done by a software or multiple shots combined at diff exp..

i might be wrong.. it can be just that the wall was in focus and moon out of focus.... bokeh effect ??

 

[ajay124]

the moon pics looks more of an HDR..

was it done by a software or multiple shots combined at diff exp..

i might be wrong.. it can be just that the wall was in focus and moon out of focus.... bokeh effect ??

Exif data would be available by clicking on 'actions' above the photograph in Flickr. I selected 'Vivid' as the picture control option. I had to crop the image in order to get rid of some electricity cables and branches. Used iPhoto's editing software to enhance highlights, contrast and exposure and marginally reduced noise.

 

[theironhorse]

Exif data would be available by clicking on 'actions' above the photograph in Flickr. I selected 'Vivid' as the picture control option. I had to crop the image in order to get rid of some electricity cables and branches. Used iPhoto's editing software to enhance highlights, contrast and exposure and marginally reduced noise.

was just curious.. though my comment was without any intention so please dont take it otherwise.

 

[ajay124]

ironhorse

I did not read any 'intentions' in your earlier post except curiosity

Excellent reviews of many lenses at Photozone:

All Tests / Reviews

 

[Asit]

photozone and a few other good sites have already been listed in this post:
http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/21662-nikon-3100-canon1100d-6.html#post303209

Regards

 

[Asit]

Yesterday i noticed that my D3100 used ISO3200 in Programmed auto mode. Damn u Nikon..wonder what they were thinking. I could easily use ISO400 with 1/200 shutter in the manual mode for the same shot.

The auto ISO implementation by Nikon has some problems. I have already pointed this out in two of my earlier posts. There are quite a lot of discussion on problems with auto ISO in D3100, D5100 and D7000 while using flash and perhaps also the P mode. But I think with aperture priority or shutter speed priority or in complete manual, there is no problem.

 

[ajay124]

Yesterday I downloaded the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 editing software. It is available free ( trial offer ) for 30 days. The full price is 299$ but Adobe is offering it for 149$ until 5th March. Lightroom seems to be far more effective than the free softwares I have used till now like iPhotos, Gimp, NX2. I want to decide by the end of this month whether it is worth paying for Lightroom or not. I would appreciate some advise from actual users.

 

[stereorules]

Ajay.....I have been shooting photos with digital cam since past 5 years ...never used any photo software..recently upgraded to DSLR ...initially processed with the original software from camera ....Then started using Adobe photoshop .....Its been amazing ..post processing def'nly reqd ..nothing better than PS ...Lightroom is a toned down version of PS ..But the kind of flexibility that PS offers is amazing ....I'm using just a handful of features of PS ...but those are more than sufficient for me ... I have tried LR also ..I didnt experiment too much with that because it didnt have layers which is a very useful feature in PS. Layers is a very powerful feature and can be used very creatively..It will open a whole new world for you ...I have been learning a lot recently about PS .. Please have a look at PS also ..