freebooter said:
I have a Sony DSC-R1. I'd recommend it for the following reasons: ....
I've read a similar review to yours before, and it wasn't from Imaging-Resource.com, so multiple reviewers are just drooling over this thing, especially that lens, which they say should be a $1000+ lens retail.
DPReview also had a glowing review of it, but it's not good for specific applications. So if you need to a zoom lens with a wide aperture (f2.8), it can't give you that. It's not great as a portrait lens. A DSLR has the option (!!) of giving you all that. But if you have no intention of switching lenses, then......moot point.
Anyway, the point is that the Sony DSC-R1 has a general lens with wide focal range, and the lens probably as good as any similar all-purpose lens on the DSLR market. However, the Nikkor DOES have VR, so......
beavo451 said:
LCD screens are questionable in their ability to provide accurate framing, clearly indicate focus, and promote unstable holding techniques. The ability to frame with it in awkward positions is nice though. The viewfinder itself is not even an optical VF and instead uses a small LCD screen.
Not true. Since you still have option of looking through the optical viewfinder (I know it's really an LCD and not really an optical viewfinder
), you won't have to frame in "awkward positions." DSLR optical viewfinders give you only 95% frame coverage, so it's slightly off. The LCD contained inside the R1's viewfinder will give you 100% view of the frame, and with a "through the lens" viewpoint as well.
However, you're right that it would be hard to manual focus with the R1, but if he doesn't plan on manual focusing on his baby, then......moot point again.
Beavo said:
Faster fps, bigger buffer, ability to take accesories, better AF systems, and more flexibility. I'll bet a D50 with a 50mm f/1.8 (~$700 total) lens will produce an image as good, if not better than the R1 with the addition of all the dSLR advantages.
Irrelevent. A D50 with a 50 mm f/1.8 lens is also better than a D50 with any 18-200 mm lens in terms of photo quality, so it's not good comparison of the cameras themselves, nor is it a comparison of the lenses. The question should be whether the DSC-R1 is better than a D50 + 18-200 mm VR lens, because he's interested in big zoom, and is relevent to him.
I'd still go for the D50 + 18-200 mm VR, but that's because I love the Nikon's ergonomics, along with the VR. However, that R1 has it's own advantages and isn't a bad choice for him, and you really can't say that a DSLR is best for everyone, especially for someone who's not going to changes lenses like he changes clothes.