My First DSLR: Sony or Canon?

[CrackedButter]

First, I am a Canon guy. I own over 10k$ in Canon gear and I think I take good pictures.

I think this entitle me to say that a lot of the previous poster dont know much about what they are talking about. Sony Alpha bodies are getting very good reviews and have some incredible features, such as the in body IS or eye scan to start the camera - focus point.

Also, a lot of attention is on Nikon these days but Sony is the company that is moving forward the fastest these days. Because they are in a green field they can be very creative and that is what they are doing. If I was to start from scratch with 10k$, I would give a serious look at Sony.

Finaly, the look of their lenses is straight from the future! ;-)

I cant provide you with a straight answer because there are none. Both system are good, actually every camera manufacturer has great entry level bodies these days. You just have to pick the system that you like the most.

My only real suggestion is to get a 50mm1.8 lens. What ever the system you get, you will need one ;-)

So you own 10K in gear, shoot Canon, point out that you're an authoritative source on Canon and none of us know what we're talking about, only for your post to talk up Sony products?

Then in the end your advice is to suggest buying a prime lens, something which other people on this forum already suggest anyway and the only difference is we haven't spent 10K on gear and become arrogant in order to figure this out?

 

[Westside guy]

First, I am a Canon guy. I own over 10k$ in Canon gear and I think I take good pictures.

I think this entitle me to say that a lot of the previous poster dont know much about what they are talking about. Sony Alpha bodies are getting very good reviews and have some incredible features, such as the in body IS or eye scan to start the camera - focus point.
<snip>

Okay, have you actually read a review of this specific camera? Have you actually looked at photos taken with this specific camera?

The two reviews/previews I've seen are on Luminous Landscape and on DPreview. The camera gets good marks at ISO 200. There are reviewer comments regarding the noise at higher ISO. Additionally, there are sample images available for all to see - hence the comments people have made about noise, the "lack of pop", etc.

So if you want to make sweeping, generic statements such as "a lot of the previous poster dont know much about what they are talking about", please back it up by giving SPECIFIC examples where previous posters are wrong. I'm also not sure why you mention how much gear you own, then just say "I think I take good pictures" - that just means you're a non-pro who's apparently somewhat well heeled. Your input matters, but no more than any other person - even those with less money than you - participating on this forum.

 

[Phrasikleia]

So you own 10K in gear, shoot Canon, point out that you're an authoritative source on Canon and none of us know what we're talking about, only for your post to talk up Sony products?

Then in the end your advice is to suggest buying a prime lens, something which other people on this forum already suggest anyway and the only difference is we haven't spent 10K on gear and become arrogant in order to figure this out?

He didn't come off as arrogant to me. I think he's merely saying that he's heavily invested in one of the major players, but nonetheless has enough photography experience and an open enough mind to appreciate an up-and-coming brand. And his comment about the prime lens is just one more vote for a going suggestion...so what?

 

[CrackedButter]

He didn't come off as arrogant to me. I think he's merely saying that he's heavily invested in one of the major players, but nonetheless has enough photography experience and an open enough mind to appreciate an up-and-coming brand. And his comment about the prime lens is just one more vote for a going suggestion...so what?

So... i didn't need to tell everybody else they don't know what they are talking about nor spend 10K in order to suggest that somebody get a prime lens. Simple, as I stated before.

 

[bassproguy07]

the way I look at it is Sony makes everything from playstations to big screens, Canon has always made stuff for imaging and has been making cameras for years. I;m not too sure about sony's history but I know for a fact that canon has been in the industry for a very long time. Same goes for Nikon. I know I'd pick an industry leader like Canon Nikon, olympus, etc over anything else.

 

[Phrasikleia]

So... i didn't need to tell everybody else they don't know what they are talking about nor spend 10K in order to suggest that somebody get a prime lens. Simple, as I stated before.

I'm going to backpedal a bit. I guess I glossed over the part about others not knowing what they're talking about. He definitely didn't need to say that.

 

[CrackedButter]

Okay thanks Phrasikleia.

 

[lasuther]

I ended up going with a Olympus E420 because size of the camera and lens were the most important feature for me. I carry a smaller camera around more and end up taking more pictures.

I'd recommend looking into a E420 or E520 with dual kit lens if you can find a good price for it.

 

[Westside guy]

But then prior to going with a Mac, I quite happily ran Linux as my primary OS at home since kernel .98p11 and at work since about 1.03.

I hope you've upgraded those kernels in the meantime...

 

[NightGeometry]

I used a friends Oly (e-500) for quite a bit, decided to get a DSLR all of my own, and wanted an e-520. Then saw the panasonic 4/3 camera (love that lens), but nowhere physically had one to try out.

So I read up a lot more, tried various cameras (Cannon, Nikon, Pentax, and Oly). Then got to play with a Sony, and liked it, a lot. Read up some more, and realised that there are a *lot* of second hand Minolta lenses around that a) not that many people are interested in, b) are damn good lenses.

I got the Sony, because of good second hand lenses. But the important part was that I physically played with one, and just got on really well with it, if I had liked a different camera more, then I'd have got a different one.

Part of it, of course, was that not many people have a Sony DSLR - the stupid part of me likes to have something not that many other people have, I admit.

Ultimately any current low end DSLR is going to do a really good job.

Possibly if you want cheap, and to learn, buy a 35mm slr (or russian rangefinder), B&W film, and a developing canister... Home developing is fun.

 

[compuwar]

I hope you've upgraded those kernels in the meantime...

I wish I'd kept the SLS distro at .98p11, it'd still have uptimes that anything other than AIX would look in envy at (my best AIX uptime is 768 days on a system with about six interfaces acting as a firewall for ~2500 desktop and ~24,000 email users- I had to take it down to add more interfaces, or I'd have topped 800 days easily!)

 

[compuwar]

It's a niche need for sure. The advantage is really for shooting from a moving platform, or if you've got physical limitations, as the shutter speeds you'd need to be at for hand-held are well into the point where you're likely to get subject motion blur even for a stationary human subject- especially if you're practiced in hand-held shooting (1/30th or slower for wider lenses.)

 

[Phrasikleia]

It's a niche need for sure. The advantage is really for shooting from a moving platform, or if you've got physical limitations, as the shutter speeds you'd need to be at for hand-held are well into the point where you're likely to get subject motion blur even for a stationary human subject- especially if you're practiced in hand-held shooting (1/30th or slower for wider lenses.)

There's no motion blur when you're shooting statues in a dimly lit museum. My husband and I do a lot of this, and his combination of body-stabilized prime lenses (Pentax) is unbeatable for the purpose. I use an IS zoom lens and a fast prime on my Canon, and his results trounce mine.

 

[ftaok]

There's no motion blur when you're shooting statues in a dimly lit museum. My husband and I do a lot of this, and his combination of body-stabilized prime lenses (Pentax) is unbeatable for the purpose. I use an IS zoom lens and a fast prime on my Canon, and his results trounce mine.

Yeah, I can see where in-body IS would be useful in those situations.

But the $1 string tripod could help you out on your Canon.

Here's a link from photojojo:

http://photojojo.com/content/diy/one-dollar-string-tripod/

 

[compuwar]

There's no motion blur when you're shooting statues in a dimly lit museum. My husband and I do a lot of this, and his combination of body-stabilized prime lenses (Pentax) is unbeatable for the purpose. I use an IS zoom lens and a fast prime on my Canon, and his results trounce mine.

Statues in a museum with any regularity is definitely a niche. Personally, if I had to do a lot of that, I'd probably get a D700 to cover the niche. An interesting test would be to switch bodies and see how much of it is the shooter and how much the camera. The guy I bought my 400/2.8 off of could hand-hold it for shots slower than 1/400- I can't get good shots that slowly, but I can't hand-hold it for any significant length of time.

 

[Phrasikleia]

Yeah, I can see where in-body IS would be useful in those situations.

But the $1 string tripod could help you out on your Canon.

Here's a link from photojojo:

http://photojojo.com/content/diy/one-dollar-string-tripod/

Thanks, but I tried and ditched the string tripod long ago. It really didn't help. I found that the tension I needed to put on the string in the vertical direction caused enough movement in the horizontal to be a problem. My IS lens is my best option, but alas, it's not a prime.

 

[marclapierre13]

My advice, go try out every one in your price range.
I dislike Canon cameras, also sony i like better, but they are my 2nd least favorite.

I love Nikon and Pentax cameras.
In my opinion the best beginner camera is the k200d, for many reasons. Do a search online, and you can find out more info about it and all the positive reviews.
To start, its weather sealed body, 10 MP's, and personally I love the ergonomics of Pentax cameras, they feel great and the layout of the buttons are fantastic.
If you want to move up a little more in advance, get the last generation K10D...it has a lot of the same features, except the k200d requires you to go into the menus in the LCD more to adjust settings, where as the k10d you dont. Also you can get the k10d or k200d for under $600

 

[AndyR]

I picked up a Sony A200 yesterday as my first DSLR. Price was right £253 with 18-70mm kit lens from Amazon.

I have to say I am blown away by how good it is! I thought I would miss the liveview coming from a P&S cam but so far I haven't. Can't wait to play with it a bit more, but just the few shots I got last night shows how superior it is to a point and shoot!

For me it was the price, in body IS and good reviews that swung it for me. I would have liked the Canon 450D but this was another £200 so I'll use this difference for a good 18-200mm or 70-300mm lens.

 

[MacMontana]

As an Sony a350 owner I am very happy with it's color reproduction and IQ. Large prints are stunning. This is far from my dream camera. But, it works great with my old Minolta primes. The new Sony Zeiss lenses are superb but WAAAAY over priced. I would go Canon if starting from scratch, but since I already had Minolta lenses the choice was obvious.

 

[Col127]

the 75-300mm is a really bad lens. invest a bit more and get the 55-250mm IS. much better IQ and it's got IS.

Hi there,

I am new into this, I hope to get some advice from you experts helping me to decide which one is better bargain

My budget is limited and after a few rounds of look-around and reading/research I have the finalist...



or



The Sony is 100$ dearer than the Canon and with only one lens.

I have read these 2 are good for beginners but I just want to know which one is a better deal? I am liking Sony at this stage I just want some more input from you experts to help me to make the decisions. (pros, cons etc)

Thanks.
D

 

[HooHar]

In the UK we have an excellent magazine called Amateur Photographer.
This weeks issue reviews these two cameras head-to-head and the Canon comes out tops because of great quality at higher ISOs.

The Sony didn't perform well at ISOs of 400 or above.

Cheers
HooHar

 

[QuantumLo0p]

Sorry, I can't help you much. I would chose neither.

 

[Westside guy]

I think the OP needs to post whether/if he's made a decision, so this thread can mercifully die.

 

[QuantumLo0p]

I think the OP needs to post whether/if he's made a decision, so this thread can mercifully die.

Long live Thread Necromancy!!!

 

[bassproguy07]

get an XSi body with some L lenses you wont be dissapointed. If you want to upgrade to a better body later on, you will still have some of the best lenses and be able to sell your XSi for a good ammount