Discovering My 1st DSLR part 2

Discovering My 1st DSLR part 2
( Declaration- I have never owned a DSLR before this & taken some worthwhile snaps only with a Nikon D40, D60 & a D3000. All of which were used for not more than a couple of hours. All of My statements are henceforth in this comparison. )

24th December- What a start to the day !!!
The Gadget of My life was right there in My bag as cool wind refreshed Me while standing @ the door of the train just past midnight. A race back home on My Red Mean Machine got Me the 1st look @ the Black Beast !!! Huge, heavy & built like a tank. No curves like the beautiful EOS 60D, but looks were no more My priority. A resounding click on the F mount, battery plugged in & I was ready to Hear the Mirror go clat clat clat. The bigger & brighter Viewfinder than My Baby Olympus gave a completely new perspective of looking at things..

Well the biggest issue seemed to Me was the weight of the behemoth. Weighing more than 1.1kg is nothing near to what I had used all these years. Well it turned out that My wrists were going to have a good work out !!!
Even the simplest of things are so fast on a DSLR. The startup is almost instantaneous. It can be put to sleep inside 5 inactive seconds & is still ready to AF & click inside 20ms. Shutter lag is non existent in comparison to P&S. This is partly due to accurate metering & super fast AF. The 9 Cross sensors spread across the frame ensure quick & accurate AF, more importantly even in low light & low contrast situations. This basically means ability to capture the perfect candid moment without fail.

Colour rendition, shadow detail, crisp sharpness, extreme ISO performance without Chroma noise are some results that have left Me gaping in some last few months. I can shoot 1600ISO even normally achieving excellent results. I feared crossing ISO 400 on My Olympus. Now that fear strikes Me on ISO 3200 !!! Now That's a full 3 stop advantage. For the normal person it simply means I can shoot @ 1/160 of a second while a non DSLR will struggle to freeze action @ 1/20. Plus I get better image quality & that to at 16.2mega pixels :D

The lens actually has a Mechanical zoom ring which is exponentially smoother than the electronic zoom ring. Zoom effect shots are obviously a charm to snap & look beautiful. Obviously even the Manual Focus ring is a charm. I can Macro shoot, but obviously not life size & not from very near. Reversing My lens is another option but not really feasible. My Olympus allowed Me to Macro @ 1cm range & more than life size owing to the small sensor size. Coming to the sensor size, the D7000 has a huge sensor which indirectly means longer focal lengths on lens & more shallower depth of field :D

1thing is obviously miss on My D7000 is the 520mm of equivalent focal length on the tele side & more so at just f/4.5. An approximate equivalent of about 450mm on a Nikkor will cost Me a cool 3lakhs!!!

The ability to attach filters is another wonderful though I just own a UV filter as of now. A circular polarizer & a ND8 filter are on My radar though. Some special effect n Colour filters tickle My imagination but I can Photoshop the colours anytime.

Speed & Continuous shooting modes are better n worse both @ the same time. D7000 captures @ a mere 6fps while the Olympus did an amazing 13.5fps. But the difference being 16megas vs 1.3megas !! Plus the Olympus was capped @ 30 jpegs while the Nikon is capped @ 100jpegs. The Olympus blanked out once the buffer was full & wouldn't allow Me to do anything except staring at it's blinking LCD, while the D7k still shoots more than 1fps once the buffer is full. It's the Continuous focus in these fast shooting scenarios that is simply awesome in general. I hardly lose focus once locked on !! A feature called 3D tracking auto tracks moving objects in proper conditions.

Metering is simply awesome giving accurate readings on every exposure. Only problem being, knowing what type of metering to use in which condition. The 2048pixels RGB Matrix meter delivers awesome landscape results but jut fails after an approximate 17EVs of ambient light systems. Now this condition is rare considering it would be a real Sunny Day & I would be needing to shoot slow shutter speeds !! Spot metering & center weighted are accurate across all conditions. I haven't considered the use of flash anywhere across these situations though.
Video quality is excellent but inbuilt audio recorder is mono aural & even captures Auto-Focus & zoom creeps. Auto-Focus shifts to contrast detection as the mirror locks up leading to a not very great AF system while doing Video. It's very simple- DSLR VIDEO is not for even Hobbyists. It needs loads of practice on a MF system to get the OOF neat & clean alongwith with sharp in-focus areas. Once that is done then its difficult for a camcorder to beat a D7k in video quality.

Mirror lock up mode, Intervalometer, User Modes are simple features but which add a lot to increase shooting possibilities. The battery life is jaw-dropping giving me approx 1200shots on a single charge with 10% flash usage. The ergonomics are perfect. The buttons are very convenient while 3 buttons give user customisation. The Top LCD is handy while the back one is nice & bright. The dioptric adjustment is sufficient for a normal eye sight.
Coming to the lens & other aspects.

The 18-105mm VR ED lens is a more than decent lens giving a wide angle & decent telephoto range. Enough to shoot a landscape, a portrait or even a candid some distance away. Flare is an issue but it's expected coming from a zoom family with many elements. The Hood does a pretty decent job though. It does block the flash while nearing the tele end leading to a shadowy patch @ the bottom center of the snap. Both the Zoom & Focus ring work flawlessly. A focus distance scale is sorely missed though. The plastic mount is strong enough even for everyday usage. The VR & Focus switch are placed within the thumb's reach.

The Sandisk Extreme III class 6 works great for the video while the primary Sandisk Class 10 Extreme gives an impressive 26-28 MBs write speeds. The perfect cards for a Fast DSLR system, although one might say that the latest CF cards are way too fast. But they come @ a cost and any which ways they are not supported on the D7k.

As far as My shooting exploits go, I've tried doing landscapes, sports photography, basic portraits & a few occasions. Shooting for HDRs is fun & gives a super slide show. Candid Photography needs lots of patience but results have seemingly been good. Sports is a challenge & daylight shots have come out nice. Shooting sports in dark is not that good due to a very slow lens. But a high ISO value sometimes is good enough to compensate. Flash photography is bad considering the power & nature of the pop-up flash. Have tried a few hand made diffusers though with a good diffusing result if not the illumination.

Well this almost says about My ongoing Unique experience with a Masterpiece. I don't say that other camera systems don't take good snaps. They do !!! Be it Canon, Sony. Olympus or on the higher side Hasselblad, Leica or Mamiya Medium format cameras which are drool worthy.
For Me, I am happy with I have got & I'm sure My camera won't let Me down. Otoh I always try & not let My camera down !!

Discovering My 1st DSLR.

Discovering My 1st DSLR.
It was way back in July '10 that my search for a DSLR started. As a Tech freak I was reluctant to ask any pro photographer about what to buy. I went about my search in the most intricate manner. Learning how every part of a camera is made & it's function.

The foremost contenders for my purchase were Pentax, Canon, Nikon, Sony & Olympus. Pentax I soon found had no presence in India in terms of sales & support. Not that these DSLRs go crazy on you but lens availability, cost & not enough as a competent product @ that time closed the doors on Pentax. Sony on the other hand is growing in this Market. Even lens compatibility is increased by the use of the same mount formerly used by Konica-Minolta. But yet again the after sales support & lens portability options left Me blank. Olympus had impressed Me with their Prosumer SP 570 UZ. But again lens availability & the EVIL Micro 4/3 put Me off. Especially the 4/3 sensor was disappointing considering the awesome reviews of Zuiko optics. The options had boiled down to Canon & Nikon. I figured out My budget, made some enquiries & got the 2 competing models fitting in My budget. Actually 3 cameras. Canon with EOS 550D/Rebel T2i/Kiss X4, EOS 50D & the Nikon D90. The Rebel was soon chucked owing to it's comparatively Poor Low Light & High ISO performance. Mind You it boasted of 18megapixels of images & Full HD Video recording. The 50D is a semi-pro model having a Magnesium alloy body & Excellent IQ. No video though. The D90 sprung out to be Jack of all trades. It neither had Full HD video nor the Magnesium alloy body. But the weakness of the Rebel was the Biggest strength of the Jack. It was at this time that Canon was buzzing around with their soon to be launched EOS 60D & Nikon was doing rounds with the rumoured D95. Not that I was interested in those models, but hoped that their launch would reduce the price of the model that I choose. Finally I approached few practising Photographers for their take on 50D vs D90. As it turned out this Canon vs Nikon war is like the same between Ferrari vs Lamborghini, Intel vs AMD, nVidia vs ATI or even Honda vs Yamaha !!! Those who support Canon will swear on it while those who use Nikon are anti-Canon. So it all went down on which deal is cheaper. The prices in USA are much cheaper than back here in India. Warranty is an issue, but as I mentioned earlier these Cameras don't give up so easily & the price difference was enough to convince Me to buy from USA. Now that I had enough time to buy, since My friend who was going to get it for Me was coming in December, I started to look for the cheapest deal around. September arrived as did the awaited EOS 60D, just 200USD outside My budget. The 50D wasn't getting any cheaper while the D90 price hiked !!!

Bammmm, Nikon launched the D7000 in October, way out of My budget !! Wait, the body only option was just 100USD off my budget...... Was it worth spending so much extra??? I asked myself this question a zillion times & never got a positive reply. The D7000 launch nose dipped the EOS60D value by a whopping 200USD making it the Best option out of no where. 50D & D90 were out of reckoning !!! 4 months of brain wracking had almost turned waste !!!
The 60D didn't have the Magnesium alloy body from it's predecessor nor the same burst rate. It did have Full HD video & a super swivel LCD display. Nikon, beat that !! It also looked stunningly beautiful better than any DSLR in My price point. Not that looks are important, but it's always an added Boasting point.

I turned My attention in gathering all the money & looking to someone who would buy Me the camera back across the Atlantic. A family friend agreed & I was ecstatic. Few of My Canonite Friends were also Happy !!

Test results had started to pour out soon enough & those explained the price drop of the Canon. The Nikon D7000 simply competed with the higher end cameras such as Canon EOS 7D & Nikon D300s, often outperforming them. Afaik these tests can be rigged more often than not & an intelligent user would just use them as a guide line & not the only basis of buying. Till then I had handled the Rebel, D90, 50D. For My hands the D90 was the most ergonomic, indirectly giving the D7000 an edge over Canon due to similarity in the respective upgraded cameras. But it was still very expensive...

My Tech Freak head had started to take over My Hobby now. It was no more 'The VFM Hunt'. Dual SDXC slots, a better Viewfinder, Handling & Ergonomics, partial Magnesium alloy body ( Polycarbonate in EOS 60D ), weather sealing & most importantly overall performance except video were good enough points to rack My brain further. Canon was about to lose a Customer !! Yet Money was going to be a problem. I could have got a Tele lens, multiple filters, a tripod with the D90 & yet saved some money. But No, D7000 was poking it's nose ahead of both the semi-expensive EOS 60D & the cheaper D90. Now to gather the extra money was even more worse. Mom comes to the rescue!! Yay :D

Catastrophe was to soon strike... As usual Nikon had announced the D7000 well before being shipping ready. The stocks were rare & expensive. The rare reviews coming added more to the agony as mega shops started to have more than 45 days waiting!! After keeping tabs on almost stores, My friend finally got hold of 1 piece @ Best Buy. While the camera travelled from Kentucky to New Hampshire to California, heading for India as the final destination, I even got the Sandisk class 10 SDHC cards. How these cards are monstrous was to be learnt later !!!
Well this sound to be the ending of the story, it actually isn't !! I had just 'Bought' My 1st DSLR not Discovered it by any means..
End of Part 1
Tune in further for the 2nd part...

The GO Journey

The GO Journey
Mid May 2005
I was busy pumping up those Bulging biceps those days. Regular to the gymnasium, I was putting on in all the right areas. Intermittently a Guy named Nikhil Agharkar used to pop in the gym, do some kind of freak workout & leave us envious, being the proud Owner of those 8pack abs & an awesome Athlete Body. On one of His rare trip to the gym, He asked whether I was interested in a trekking adventure... Wasn't I just waiting for this moment for a long time !!!
A Trek to Harishchandragad was planned, but due to less number of people it got shelved....
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Wait...!!!! How can it end here? This is just the start..
Come June 4th & the trek finally materialised. In front of Me were 2 of My good friends as of now, but who despised My presence @ that time. That's another story though. Aditya was also on his 1st trek with the grp. Uma & Her friend Shruti were the remaining people of which Shruti's presence was a Mystery soon to be solved !!
And so started My GO Journey. The term GO is very audacious & was termed much after, in the January of 2007 by another character who I call as The Grumpy Intellectual :P
The 1st trek- Laughter ensued almost as soon as the initial Hi-Hellos were done. A Laughter derived from the explicit GO language which has come large in all these years, uninterrupted, unchanged & unchallenged !!
A GR8 trek in which The Despising Kaustubh Juvale realised that I was the Fuel to his Fire !!!
( Nikhil, Me, Kaustubh, Anuja, Aditya, Uma & Shruti successfully returned to base)

The next trek 2 Naneghat introduced 3 more permanent characters to this GO family. The Tiny Chiu Dandekar aka Archana, who is now Chiu Juvale !! The Highly Spontaneous & Fiery Sushant Wad aka Susu & Tany the effervescent Tanmay Dikshit, who can talk out anybody as also Eat like Bakasur. Unlike Bakasur, He can eat that much & Continously- "to paryanta Me kahitari khato" is His standard dialogue.

The beautiful Gorakhgad trek followed. Hatti had an interesting time on the descend here. More to follow on this later.

The Mega Torna-Rajgad trek in December '05- This Trek really challenged everybody not in actual terms of climbing capacity but by the mere prospect of climbing Torna by morning, travel the ridge across to Rajgad base by late evening & climb up Rajgad to reach Padmavati mandir all the way around Sanjeevani Machi by midnight. Endurance !!!!

A Himalayan Trek around the Chadrakhani Pass in April-May was a different experience, but unfortunately not all GOs GOOed the Virgin paths.

Then came the weakest Time for Me in this group after an incident on Kothaligad. I descended alone to stay away for over a month from all. A Simple Burial of our behaviour & acceptance of Our mistake by Me & Nikhil paved the way for an inspiring trek partnership which has rooted itself deep for the rest of Our lives. Yes, even Me & Jadi have been better friends after that !! Jadi aka Anuja & lately aka HATTI was the second character who wasn't very pleased on My arrival in the group @ the first.

It was in Dec '06 that one of the most Memorable trek happened for the GOs- Ratangad. Not just due to the mere fun but for many reasons. We travelled by rail, then land, then on water to finally ascend this beauty of a huge rock. The climb up the Nedha & going down the other side on complete scree & finally finding the cave after more than 3hrs, at the same place where we actually entered the fort, just few yards off the gate was an awesome experience !!! The delicious noodles @ night & the record breaking descend without a single food break in the entire 2.5hrs !! An unsuspecting Hatti horrified to find 3-4kg stones in her bag @ Kasara station which had been stoved away in her bag long back @ Shendi, during Her Kolha Hunting break !!

June 2007 introduced Me to Death on Dhak Bahiri...
Me & Nikhil climbed up the entire way up Dhak Bhairi from the rock patch & dry waterfall. 200feet from the cave, I missed the route only to get caught up on a vertical patch with no where to go. No way Up & no place to touch down on a 800ft of vertical rock !!! Nikhil's vision under My legs & My daring to come down 3 feet, body grazing the vertical rock with no support at all is My definition of Near Death experience !!

Gorakhgad part 2 followed- The biggest example of extreme climate change in a matter of seconds & the contrast of it within just 3-4kms across the top of Gorakh is what Me & Nikhil enjoyed, while all the others kept stuttering @ the rock base itself !!! A run down the vertical steps for a final show down with the approaching battery of cloud & rain was an absolutely Adrenaline Pumping experience.

June '07 saw Me miss the 1st edition of 1day Kalsubai trek.
I missed a few more treks in 2007 due to some flop reasons given by My medical advisor. In one of those treks to Harishchandragad, Amruta Khadilkar aka Bombti shouted Her way in the group while Hatti created the Famous "Me kuthe jau ata" scene !!! Hahahahaaa... rather she has many such scenes to Her credit including tha famous one @ Gorakhgad where She spent more than 20mins just figuring out how to get down !!! The actual descend actually took just a min!!!
2008 March produced one of the worst energy sapping treks of all time. Kulanggad- The Highest Vertical climb in Maharashtra drained everybody. The lost route, the frantic search for a new one & the trace back, took a Major toll on Me. Climbing @ the bottom of the group, I stopped some 300feet from the top. With Pavan accompanying Me, His Vertigo accompanying Him, it wasn't a pretty sight as We straggled our way to the top. I had posed stiller than a scare crow on more than a single occasion on that sweat drenching, stone carved structure !! I felt the fear of heights for the 1st time on descend & got caught out on a number of occasions, the worst being handing over My sack to Sushant on a patch where He Himself got down with 2 sacks on & just on His legs, while I struggled even on Fours without any load..

After having missed the 1st edition of Peb killa, i joined in the second time. A group of non GOs had also come this time around- Nikhil's friends precisely. They never bothered to come back on a trek with the GOs!!! Mind you, only 3-4 of the normal GOs were enough to ward them off coming with us. Imagine all of them together.

Sudhagad was the 1st proper rain trek in 2008 which unfortunately I missed, but it introduced a temporary Hatti replacement in the form of Tany's friend. Tany introduced a new form of Golf which involves the use of a wooden stick which directly hits the grassy ground to erupt the topmost layer of Soil to slingshot it almost 10feet across !!! Fun as always :P

Sarasgad which saw the highest number of Girls ever in GO History was GOOed upon in heavy rain 2008. While the initial attempt to hit the top got foiled due to rains & pitch darkness, We soon realized in the morning that the abort decision proved Good. There was no shelter @ the top !!! The biting Mosquitoes were equally hopeless & the base, but then who gets a chance to wrap Your legs with Your Female friend's Speckless White scarf !!! The descend brougt to fore the concept of PACHAK. Pachak is the art of jumping in poodles of water & Chikkhal/Kichad in such a manner that all around Us get the Natural gift. ( It doesn't matter if You yourself get dirty :P ) if I remember right, P1 was @ the receiving end of most of My attacks though I made sure that all were dirtified !!!

I hit a dead end for sometime after 17Aug '08 after my freak jump ruptured My right Knee ACL. Trek to Naneghat followed in this period, while I managed a night out even with a plaster on My leg @ Chiu's place !!

26th Jan '10 was the day on which i finally decided enough was enough with my exile. A single day Trek to Manikgad, with a new Person who is now a permanent Member of GOs who got introduced to GO style treks if not the group itself. Formerly Ashwini Rane, now Ashwini Rane Karmarkar had a taste of what a grand experience it is to trek with the GOs
Manik trek famously labelled SHEE trek was left unconquered by GOs. Something which had never occured earlier had hit the GOs. But GOs did strike back, completing the trek 2 weeks later, ascending from 1 side & descending down the other. Sumit Kane & Aniket Kharadkar had been with the GOs @ 1st Peb also, but it was on Manik that I met them for the 1st time. Sumit met during the 1st attempt on Manik while Aniket met on the 2nd. The 2 Junior most members are always in for an Adventure.

Malanggad in April was a welcome change in terms of the Scene seen from atop the mountain. Heavy White clouds all settled down giving a Majestic experience after what had been a drenching climb even @ night 0330hrs !!!
Yes this so called DCH or 3 Idiots or whatever it may be called Trek started with Me, Nik & Tany buzzing off My car @ 0230hrs. The steps ensured a continous climb till we 3 literally stopped to drain the sweat of our bodies!! Even in My shorts & sando, I was sweating like a pig ;) The shortest trek ever ended inside 9.5hrs to & fro my house.

Torna, just Torna repeated itself during the rains of 2009. A 48hr extravaganza under the influence of rains. Hahaha, what a Bonanza it turned out to be !! All the GOs except yet to be introduced Sujata, Ajit enjoyed the bonanza. Right from Sweetie Pie to Aloo Bhusssjiya to drying the temple premises for which I spread CaCO3 powder under My flex sheet to Stealing Bombti's Tee & let it hang on the Temple ceiling to GO planning of giving Me Goat shit by showing it as Avla Supari, all was grand !! Btw this Temple premises was supposed to be as big as a toilet as per Nikhil for the large part of time from Dec 2005 to June 2009 !!! This was the belief held true by all of the GOs by trusting Nikhil & on which pretext He never discussed Torna as a possible trek spot. Finally the Jinx broke & we had 1 awesome of a trek !! A trek where Hatti & specially Bombti created new slipping records. Bombti on her behalf finally sprained her ankle half way down the descend. This was followed after me & Nikhil made sure that Her clear white pant was red in colour by applying red soil all over Her!! Not to forget the Grand Kundugiri while on the ascend & Sumit's 2hrs escapade from the group. Nikhil successfully attempted pissing in a plastic bottle which He had shoved up his track pant- all this on the last seat of the public transport bus while returning. I obviously took My revenge by recording it all. A revenge for having recorded some seconds of My private Potty time :P ( For all those who are getting weird ideas, both the videos have nothing but explicit language. No inappropriate Video has been captured :P) for the 1st time, the GOs even had McDonalds stuff while on a trek. All thanks to Hatti for listening to my advice of using Her Sodexho coupons & then finally getting the flak of- How could have she listened to me !!! Instead of enjoying the mini meal, all were hell bent on badgering my advice & Hatti decision !!!

Kau, Chiu, Adi, Sumit, Me, Nikhil & the newest addition named Sujata hit Gorakh yet another time. For the 1st time ever Nikhil had his own food, his own bedsheet, plate, spoon etc etc. Basically whatever is needed by an individual on a trek. We wondered if there was even a table & a Valet folded inside to do all the work !!! Sujata Maiyya ki Jai ho :P
For the 2nd time with the GOs I descended all alone after summiting the top which is above the cave level. This is also the trek where Sujata realised that She had to seriously compete for Nik with Kau !!!
Apparently the cooking Stove went missing after this trek. All GOs pondered on all possibilities of finding the stove including the idea of Sujata having carried it all the way to Pune :P

The much anticipated Kulang part 2 came to effect in Dec'09. The rule was simple- DO NOT SPLIT UNDER ANY CONDITION. This was derived w.r.t. the scenes that occurred the last time whenever the group split on the trek to Kulang, be it in the train or even on the mountain. This time around it was also the so called Honeymoon trek for Nik & Suj !! Kau was hell bent to spoil it all, continuing his antics from Gorakh trek. A little village propped up in the cave of Kulang owing to the long weekend of Christmas. The descend started @0630hrs to end approximately 6.5hrs later @ 1300hrs !! Sumit & Ani had had a bath, took the wrong route on multiple occasions & yet reached 2.5hrs early !! Sumit alone might have just hit Pune by the time we descended !!! My 1st time fear on this Mammoth of a mountain vanished this time around. The ascend was a bit cautious, while the descend was a breeze. I also happened to have created the most hilarious scenes in GO history by descending some part of the rock patch wearing my tee n 2 undies, worn 1 over the other & front side back. This seems as an ultimate disaster for everyone but the GOs had their fair share of fun. Also the fact that it was cold & shivering for most of them & I dripping like a pig even in that skimpy outfit was a thing to laugh about !!

Jump to the rains of 2010- The GOs hurdled the Roadblock left uncrossed last time. Chanderi which is 2nd nearest spot from our Home town finally saw the GOs GO Yellow :P
Something unseen before happens in the form of a Snake Bit to Nikhil's right toe. Fortunately even a Female Bamboo Pit Viper couldn't do much do dampen Our trek. This trek also gave the the Best Spot for Kundugiri ever. 3hrs in the same spot enjoying the light flow of crystal clear cold water with just the right amount of depth to soak our bodies !! Add the so called Erotic attempts of Mr. Grumpy & Mrs. Not so Grumpy to create some atrocious poses in water, added a light humour considering the use of term- Pani Bharaychay (Filling Water)

Night-overs have been a constant part of GO life. Making life miserable for neighbours by the usual GO antics, going out on bikes @ 0300hrs to grab a Vada-Pav & Shev-Bhaji, watching movies on a 5.1 home theatre @ 0400hrs & what not...!!! Be it @ Kau's place, My, Nik's or even P1's new home, it's always Havoc !! Peeing off the terraces of buildings or even the Gallery is what GOs specialize in !!! Squeezing 10 GOs on a 6x6 double bed ( inclusive of Hatti & Tany ) is a stunning feat regularly achieved.

Ashwini-Pavan, Anuja-Ajit, Archana-Kaustubh & finally Amruta-Suhas have got married in the past 14months starting a new phase in their lives..
I won't GO more in this section since this is about the GO Journey, a Journey joined by the Love of Treks !!!
Almost 6years in this Journey, the fairytale is slowly Fading in an unintended but circumstantial slow down.....
The GOs Trekkers have finally become social....

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P.S. – Whatever I’ve missed in, whatever maybe the corrections, C&C invited !!