consider the following-

How much is your budget? How much do you want to spend on the camera, keeping in mind that you will need to buy more stuff as you grow with your passion for photography. In photography, there is a range starting from a lower to an exhorbitantly expensive price tag for the equipment. Generally expensive means better, but you have to evaluate as to in what terms the equipment is better. In terms of quality? Sturdiness? Productlife? or Ease of use?
If you have enough money, go for one of the best reviewed cameras. Also you may go for an expensive camera if you want it to go with your status. If you are particular about what will look good in your hands, do go for a more expensive one. If you have a given amount of money in hand, I would prefer buying an expensive lens compared to an expensive camera. Generally people tend to spend more on the camera and are not left with enough money to buy a good lens. A better (read expensive!) camera no doubt has its merits but remember that with the fast changing technology the price of the camera falls off very steeply whereas the price of the lens remains more or less constant. In other words, the camera which you bought today will become outdated too fast whereas technology in lenses will not change that fast. So, a camera with a longer life doesn’t really make much sense at a higher price because it will soon become outdated either in terms of the number of pixels or otherwise. Yes, if you do shoot a lot then it is worthwile the investment. Count the camera life through the number of shutter releases and not through the number of days or years. You may read about the camera being made up of titanium / magnesium and other strong alloys. Once again, these are great features but are you ever intending to drop your camera? If you are going to shoot a lot and in unfavourable conditions, then features like better wheather sealing etcetra are no doubt useful but maybe not otherwise.
Important features which a high end camera would generally have- better built, higher shutter life, wheather sealing, higher number of frames per second, better processor, maybe (not necessary) easier to handle, compatibility with more professional accessories, faster recycling time of the inbuilt flash, but generally it wont have one. Yes, a pro camera would not have a built in flash where as an amateur camera would have one. check out the equipment buying form.
 

Which is a good brand? Nikon or canon? Comparison. Do not even think of any other brand. Since the dawn of digital technology there has been quite a lot of turmoil in the camera industry. Minolta joined hands with konika and was eventually sold out to sony. Sony pro cameras which you may buy today are actually minolta cameras. Yashika, once a popular low budget brand is no more. Kodak ventured into pro segment without success. However, it is interesting to know that till recently Nikon cameras used to have sony CCDs and similarly Kodak also manufactures for some well known brands. But Kodak's own DSLR camera which was based on a nikon body with a nikon lens mount did not do well in the market and does not exist anymore. Samsung etc. have absolutely no experience in the pro or camera segment for that matter. Do not even think of buying such brands. Go for the brand that has been there and will certainly be there for years and years to come. And that is canon and Nikon.
If you ever want to venture into the medium format camera segment, opt for Mamiya or Hasselblad coupled with any of the phaseone digital backs, which are considered best worldwide. sameway, some of the well known brands do not exist today due to competetion and changes in technology.

Do check out the nikon and canon comparison.

Buying form

Features comparison form

where to buy from

Lenses - Buy your lenses keeping in mind the kind of work you intend to do. Very good reviews on lenses are available at www.fredmiranda.com or checkout recommended lenses
I generally prefer zoom lenses compared to the primes although primes are supposed to be better in quality. Bt with improvement in technology even the zooms are as good as the primes. Moreover, if you are shooting in fast changing situations it is just too difficult shooting with a fixed focal length lens. Getting the shot is more important than that little extra quality, which will be of no use if you miss out on the actual shot. Try not to repeat your focal lengths. you may not buy your lenses together but you must plan which all lenses to buy. this way you will be able to not missout or repeat focal lengths. Go for the assortment of lenses depending on the kind of work you intend to do. Or if your area of specialization is one, you may go for cheaper lenses for another genre, which you may indulge in very rarely. Generally you would like to consider lenses for the following categories-

However, it does not mean that one type of lens can't or should not be used in another area. for creative purposes or if your frame includes a lot of ambience as well you may use a wide or extreme wide angle for fashion.

If you can afford, buy Nikon or canon lenses and not sigma or tamron lenses

Filters- Hoya makes the best filters. If you find them unaffordable go for any other good brand, maybe marumi. but if you have a lens with great optics go for the best uv filter. www.hoya.com www.marumi.com
 

Tripod
Go for the tripod, which is very sturdy and portable at the sametime, if you are planning to buy one. Otherwise you could have the heavier one for more critical studio work and for the medium format. For traveling you could keep the lighter one. But remember, it should be stable enough and heavy enough to take the weight of the camera especially when connected to a long lens and in the vertical position. This is when it is actually resting on the screw of the tripod head.
Monopods are good in the fast move but keep in mind that monopods are not a substitute for a tripod but to be able to shoot a couple of shutter speeds below the safe limit or to avoid camera shake otherwise.

Memory cards-
sandisk is the best choice. Otherwise you may opt for lexar or Kingston. Do not go for any other brands. Go for the higher capacity than speed if you are not a pro and if you are not into sports or wildlife. even the basic ones are fast enough and will work just as good. In the same price if you need to choose between capacity and speed, go for capacity. Buy two cards than one. you can continue shooting while one card is being transfered to the computer. Moreover you always have a backup in case the card goes bad.  www.sandisk.com

Computer
Go for the highest affordable configuration. As your camera megapixels increase over the time, you will start finding your computer slower and slower. A 2Gb RAM is certainly a bare minimum, although you can manage with 1Gb as well and later on upgrade which is possible only if you are using a single 1gb RAM and not two 512gb rams.  However most of the computers come with two slots filled with half the number to double up as the total. A good graphic card is also important as it helps in rendering the images better. Your monitor ofcouse is extremely important. Sony and Dell have some of the best options. Since sony does not make monitors anymore check out Dell. Interestingly sony monitors have a much larger colour gamut compared to apple macbok pro. Dell also make monitors with 102% color gamut. If you are buying LG or Samsung check out their professional series, their general models are not too great. 17” is a must. Go for the conventional LCD monitor than the wide screen version as you get more surface area/working space in a 4:3 standard lcd compared to the widescreen. However now almost all the monitors have wide screens (which is actually less surface area!!!)
Higher the resolution of the monitor better it is. If you can find out the color gamut of the monitor, consider the one which has a higher gamut.
Mac versus windows. As people generally say, window is not so good and a lot of other things. That may be true but do not expect mac to be flawless. Surprisingly many photography / imaging softwares from major brands are designed better for windows than for mac!
Desktop or laptop- Maximun you can get is a 17” screen on a laptop whereas 24” monitors have also become quite affordable these days. Ideally you should have both but if portability is the criteria then laptop is the only solution. Generally laptops do not have very accurate colors, so working on your pictures on a laptop is not the right choice (with exceptions, ofcourse) In such a scenario, if you have limited budget and can buy either a desktop or a laptop, buy a good monitor. You can always plug in your laptop to the monitor and see accurate colours but ofcourse depending on the accuracy of the external monitor.
www.apple.com
www.dell.com

computer cabinets- Ibal is "supposed" to be good but it is not in terms of the higher price tag. It ususally has one or the other problem. A good mouse is very important for photography softwares. It is not  recommended to use the laptop trackpad for photoshop as it does not have the same maneuverability as a mouse. Go for a good optical mouse which is comfortabel in your hand rather than a fancy too big or too small a mouse.

within the given budget, go for highest affordable ram than harddisc. (external discs can always be added easily but not ram without discard), bigger monitor with good resolution, good graphic card.
Softwares- till date photoshop has always been the best image editing software.
For RAW conversions, try out different options and use the one you find most comfortable. Generally, I use the proprietory software of the brand I am using. Capture one pro is supposed to be one of the best raw convertors. I feel a good software is the one which you take minimum time to understand and get going. It shouldn’t have silly loopholes. www.adobe.com www.phaseone.com

Colour management- beyond doubt, this is a very important part of your work flow. Mostly, you may have shot correctly but may not see it correctly if your monitor is not calibrated. In an attempt to correct the image, which was actually correct, you are in fact spoiling it and making it worst. You pass on the image to another person who is observing the image on another monitor which is also off calibration and to different range. He may further “correct” the image, which needed absolutely no treatment to begin with. Once your monitor is calibrated you are sure that you are seeing what you shot. One may feel that it is an expensive investment but it is worth it. The price for different models ranges from about 7000INR to about 20,000 INR. www.datacolor.com Do check out the article on colour management.

Graphic tablets WACOM is the only option. If you do a lot of artistic photoshop and fine cutouts, intuos tablets are worth the investment. Your hand doesn't pain because of continuous mouse use and it is just like sketching. The opacity of the tols is based on the pressure of the pen. It is very convenient to cut out rounds and give natural stamping on portraits etc. www.wacom.com

Camera bag- This in one area where you can probably save your money. Some of the India brands are quite good. I have been using two “camcare” camera bags since quite a few years and it is still in great shape. If the price difference is not much, go for “lowepro” bags, which are supposed to be the best in the world. Other option is “kata”.
National geographic also makes some camera bags.
While you buy your bag make sure that it is within the specifications of the baggage you can carry on board an international flight. Backpacks are good for stocking your equipment while on the move but not at all convenient and quick for changing lenses etc. while on the move. For this purpose a shoulder bag is the best option. You may also go for a combination of a smaller shoulder /waist bag plus a large backpack. Go for a backpack in which you may fit in your laptop as well, even though you may not want to use it for that purpose. But if you do so even once for a holiday or something, it will be worth it. You also get very cheap bags which do not last long and you are anyways taking a risk of your expensive equipment.

I use lowepro computrekker plus AW backpack and camcare & Ginni shoulder bags. I find "woodland" Photographers jacket very useful for fast shooting. Do check out what all equipment computrekker can fit in.
www.lowepro.com

Studio lights  As far as overall performance and value for money is concerned go for “prolinchrom 23” There are several other indian brands, but I have always found prolinchrom to be most durable and easy to maintain.

 Flash opt for the dedicated flash of the brand you are using. Other major independent brands are metz, vivitar, starblitz
 

Stand alone data storage- Best  brands being Wolverine( www.wolverinedata.com ) Jobo, epson.....make sure that you are buying a stand alone device and not an external hard drive which needs a computer. Go for the highest affordable capacity than a bigger screen. But do buy the one, which has the display where you can view your images rather than just indications.

How much equipment is enough? I came across two great photographers in new york, one of them had the most modern gadgets, much before anybody would plan to buy, but would generally say that he was short of equipment. On the other hand the other one, who was operating from his apartment would generally make stands out of wooden sticks fixed in plaster of paris inside “paint boxes”. A stand is only making your efforts more convenient but is not directly effecting your photography. Any such area where you can save the money, you should but not on the real photography equipment.
Whatever equipment you may buy remember one thing that these are only means to an end. It is you who actually makes the photograph, if your picture is aesthetically good, it will no doubt overpower another picture which may be technically better but aesthetically weaker. In the nutshell, do not compromise on the equipment which is directly going to effect your pictures.

 

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS/BRANDS/MODELS 2008-NUTSHEL-these are my personal views, do check out other opinions as well before buying.

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