After over 3 years of using a Powershot, I thought of graduating to a SLR. I planned for a decent SLR but had no plan on lenses.. well I never had taken that into consideration.
Then Ranthambore trip happened. I went crazy over what to buy..from a TC for my Powershot to all possible cameras that I can buy at that point of time, finally ended up buying a Canon EOS 1000D and with some good advice, a Sigma 70 300 APO DG MACRO F4 – 5.6.
Ranthambore trip was a great learning experience, my first wildlife shot was of T39 tigress. I got so confused on either to take pic or watch the tiger go just feets away from me. So did not pay attention to details. Rest of the days in Ranthambore were good, learned a lot from wildlife photographers(Sagar Gosavi and Yogesh Rane).
Next trip was after a week from Ranthambore was Jim Corbett National Park and this time I tested my setup as a camera person . Well I found myself starting from scratch here in Corbett.
My few observation in regards the last two trips were :
1) Canon EOS 1000D is an awesome camera but not at all suitable for Wildlife photography.(1.5 fps in RAW is way too slow).
2) OS/IS/VR is somehow a requirement for early morning and late evening shots(Most movements happens in this time though).
3) ISO the more the better. Noise the less the better ( 1000D scores a good point her though).
In the last two trips I narrowed down on my short comings trying to fix them but still I need a basic setup to do wildlife photography(I might be carried away with the crowd though). Here is what I shortlisted and currently in a dilemma.
1. Canon vs Nikon : Being a faithful canon user for last three years I wanted to stick to canon but found in some cases Nikon provides exactly what i want.
2. Lenses (Sigma,Canon,Nikon ) : Sigma cheap and does great job, while Canon/Nikon are better and costs a lot
Finally these are my shortlisted cameras and lens :
Canon EOS 550D : Great camera with great feature but misses on fps.
Used Canon EOS 40D : Again Great Cam but 10MP(low resolution on high crops, ISO to 1600 only).
Nikon D5100 : Pretty much does everything but I have one or two inexpensive canon mount lenses which goes wasted if I chooses this.
I pretty much narrowed down on Sigma 150 500 F5 – 6.3 APO lens which means I need high ISO a lot of times.
Taking all into consideration I am confused like never before 😦
So please help!!!!
Subhodip's Blog 
all I’ve figured out is there really isn’t much of a shortcut when it comes to camera equipment; you’ve already identified all the tradeoffs, and there’s no magic shortcut. If you want lenses with better apertures so you can get better shots in lower light then you’re going to have to pay more for ’em. Ditto for camera backs which can provide better quality at high ISOs. There just isn’t anything you can do about this. Equivalent lenses from different manufacturers usually cost about the same, ditto with backs; you’re not going to get a Nikon back with much better high ISO performance than a Canon one for the same price, they’re pretty similar all the way through the range.
I guess all I’d say is go with good glass first, because lenses age much much more slowly than backs, and consider image stabilization, especially for the use you’re making – it sounds like you’re into hand-held shots at long zooms (wildlife pictures), for which IS is really going to help. Often one of the trade-offs with cheaper lenses is you don’t get IS. (One thing you could consider here, I guess, is getting a camera back from a manufacturer who builds IS into the camera; then you can use a third-party lens and it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t have IS).
http://nikonites.com/d5100/2507-d5100-vs-d90.html
Go for D90, D5100 does not have autofocus motor, so you will have to buy newest and costlier lenses(but not necessarily best) which have inbuilt motors. If you go for D90, you can use almost any lens Nikon ever made.
If you are willing to spend more on body, and can spend a little extra (~25k) and want to do a lot of outdoor shooting, go for D7000 by all means.
@Adam : Ditto here .. I want to have good glass but white glasses are pretty expensive now so settle for a good performer.
@Susmit : Nikon D90 is almost out of production, D7000 is amazing but cost a lot and I am in for canon so for that money(if ..ever?) I would love to go for 7D or 7D mk II (CR) anytime, and as of this time I think I will used 40D and better glass may be 😀
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Hi Subhodip,
I took a different route on photography and i’m just beginning to learn about it more. I actually chose an SLR (not digital) and actually love noise from film. I think some people I know in the same forums use Olympus for bird photography because of the crop factor thus extending the range of the zoom compared to Nikon and Canon.
But again, brand for me is a secondary issue as long as you like the feel and quality of your camera, you’ll definitely be using it more.
Oh ya, maybe more megapixels doesn’t actually mean better quality (as i’ve read on some sites). So you probably don’t need to worry about the 10mp.
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