How much is your DSLR net cost?

[bfitzgerald]

Hard to say quite a lot in the last 12 months, but then I've returns too so that wipes off some of the cost. Total spend on lenses/bodies and flashes in the last 2 years is quite high..but only because I switched mounts twice
It's not a problem though, any purchases are a business expense. You just have to make sure you don't overspend!

[David Kilpatrick]

Here's a worry. I was offered a Hasselblad H3D with 80mm, 35mm, 31 megapixel back, prism and WLF plus extras for £4166 + VAT today and turned it down. I talked it through with Richard K and in the end we both agreed that it wasn't even worth that, when I could buy a Nikon D800E with a 50mm (even with a 50mm focusing closer than 70cm without fitting expensive extension tubes) and a 28mm f/2.8 for considerably less.

And of course, I guess we have to get the Nikon gear. And also the A99 if Sony doesn't respond to requests for loan stock. A Canon G15 arrived today for test. I'm not sure if I can continue to invest in new Sony because it's going to cost me twice as much as using any other system.

Then you get the good side. I bought an inexpensive 28-135mm f/4-4.5 Minolta. I had a chance to use it seriously last couple of days on the A900 and the results are just perfect. I've rarely seen any zoom lens as accurately centered and free from edge aberrations as this.

David

[Wes Gibbon]

I got great results with the 28-135mm too. However, I generally use the 24-85mm as a 'walk-around' lens nowadays because close-focusing on the 28-135 isn't great and it's rather heavy. You get that that extra reach up to 135mm but that's not usually enough for me so I have to carry a 70-300 anyway. But it is very well matched to the A900.

[bakubo]

I will probably try to sell my Canon mount Sigma 10-20mm and Tamron 28-75mm soon.

I sold the Sigma 10-20mm and Tamron 28-75mm a few weeks ago. The Sigma sold for 92% of my purchase price after I used it for 6 years. The Tamron sold for 138% of my purchase price after I used it for 9 years. I sold locally on craigslist so I may have been able to get a better price with the larger market on ebay, but ebay has become such a crapshoot with scammers galore, idiot people, and very high fees that I started selling only locally a few years ago where I can meet the person, hand the item over, and get cash in hand. Selling in Japan on Yahoo Japan auctions is okay though.

[agorabasta]

And of course, I guess we have to get the Nikon gear. And also the A99 if Sony doesn't respond to requests for loan stock.

David,

I'd like to build a good standard colour profile for that Nikon. All I need for that is two raw images of GMB target, one shot at about 2700K (plain tungsten or warm halogen), another - at about 4500K-5500K (pm sun).

My reason is simple - I really want to know if it's possible to get the colour better than that of the latest Sony bodies.

P.S. I can do the same for the other cameras too, so everybody's welcome to provide the calibration shots.

[bfitzgerald]

Interesting D800e report
http://blog.mingthein.com/2012/10/27/ni ... rm-report/

I can't comment much, but AF wise I've seen this AF issue across bodies (not just the back focus) but the AF can be a bit off even with multiple shots at the same target ie variations in where the focus is. I'd imagine on a 36mp DSLR that would be more obvious, can't comment on the D600 but AF was unsatisfactory on the DX bodies I had maybe I'm fussy but I found it quite unnerving in field use. Manual focus..I found the D90 and D7k hard to do MF with I'm not sure if that's down to the focus screen not being coarse enough (It's quite different from the Minolta and Pentax ones I've used) and maybe the LCD overlay hurts things a bit there.

MF is hard with Nikon DSLR's even the ones with half decent pentaprism viewfinders. I found the K-x and Km5d easier to MF with which is surprising to say the least.

Just as a side note editing some D7000 shots I also noted some motion blur at shutter speeds that were well over safe levels. This is the first time I've seen very clear evidence of the shutter/mirror causing problems with hand held shots. I never saw this on the 35mm bodies I have (and I scan high res)..nor the Km5d/A200. I did see a few times unexplained shake with higher shutter speeds with AS/SSS enabled, very rare though.