Help choosing camera

sjhpubs

I have a Konica-Minolta 5D camera that I have had for several years. i love it and I have many lenses and filters for it but it is a 6.2 mp, and I have since bought a Canon A1000, with 10 mp, that takes pictures that can rival my KM.

Of course, just after I bought the dSLR (and i did a lot of research before buying it), Konica-Minolta sold to Sony. So now i have a bunch of equipment, including a Sigma flash that is only compatible with the Sony a-series.

After going to PDN, i went over to B&H and talked to them about compatibility and brought home the Sony a330. They are not yet selling it as a body only so it came with a kit lens that is not as good as my original kit lens. I have started to do some research on the sony a-series cameras, and am wondering if I made a mistake. The problem is that I am pushing the limits of the 6.2 mp camera at times, and the technology has improved, but I have a substantial investment in my current lenses and flash.

So I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has a Sony a-series camera, and what they think of it, and any other feedback that you think might help me make my decision.

Thank you in advance for your help,
Sandy

ziggy53

Hi Sandy,

How do you feel limited by your current camera and system?

What do you want to do that you cannot do now?

What type(s) of photography do you wish to pursue? (Be as specific as possible.)

What lenses do you currently own?

swintonphoto

I think Sony makes some excellent DSLR's. I would be happy with them if I was you. Because it doesn't have the market share yet of Canon and Nikon, people don't talk about them as highly as the others. Nikon and Canon users often feel that anyone that uses anything else are idiots. But I am a proud Olympus user and have run my professional studio with Olympus equipment for years. So, don't feel bad about Sony. Their sensors actually have the best dynamic range of any sensors on the market (better than Nikon and Canon... and Olympus for that matter).

sjhpubs

Thank you for your help

ziggy53 wrote:

Hi Sandy,

How do you feel limited by your current camera and system?

What do you want to do that you cannot do now?

What type(s) of photography do you wish to pursue? (Be as specific as possible.)

What lenses do you currently own?

I really like my current camera, but I have begun to run into situations where if I crop and then want to print the results as 13x19 (or larger potentially), with some things I get pixilation. I have a moderate visual challenge--born that way, so I don't always "see" everything that winds up in my photographs until I view them on my monitor. So I do a lot of landscape photography, and some event photography. I often will hear birds out over the water, and set up the shot in that general direction without actually seeing what I am aiming at. Later, I find that I have a bird or two skimming the water with perfect shadows under them. But with the 6.2 mp that I have, I often wind up with grainy cropped and enlarged images.

I have a number of really nice KM and Tamron lenses, and one that is Sigma. And a Sigma flash. I have the original kit lens, which is really very good, I think. It's what I use a lot of the time--18mm-70mm--an unusual range for a kit lens. I also have a 50 mm f1.4 lens, a 90 mm lense, a 70mm-300mm telephoto lens, and a fisheye lens. Both the 50mm and 90mm prime lenses also have a macro capability. So I have a sizable investment in the a mount system.

Thanks,
Sandy

sjhpubs

Thank you for your help

swintonphoto wrote:

I think Sony makes some excellent DSLR's. I would be happy with them if I was you. Because it doesn't have the market share yet of Canon and Nikon, people don't talk about them as highly as the others. Nikon and Canon users often feel that anyone that uses anything else are idiots. But I am a proud Olympus user and have run my professional studio with Olympus equipment for years. So, don't feel bad about Sony. Their sensors actually have the best dynamic range of any sensors on the market (better than Nikon and Canon... and Olympus for that matter).

You know, that's probably true. And I have been doing some more reading online--dpreviews--and I think the Sony camera I would rather have (depending on price) is the newer A550. It's significantly more expensive but I think it will be more like my KM in many ways in terms of the controls and usability.

You know, if it were not for the fact that my KM is limited to 6.2 mp, there is still a lot on that camera that I barely use or am just starting to understand fully and use. And because i have limited vision, sometimes the subtleties get lost on me. But I have been awarded 2 prizes within the past month for my photography--one show jusdged by Ira Black, a National Geographic photographer--so I guess i am doing something right. So I need a camera that I can really trust and rely on to help me transition to the next step without a jarring shift in color capture because i might not notice. I know what I like and what appeals to me, but I don't necessarily see things the way others do.

Thank you again,
Sandy

ziggy53

While I have a number of good looking large (20" x 30") prints from a number of 8MP cameras, and some are crops, if you want to stay Sony and you want both large prints and cropping ability, I would suggest a Sony alpha 850, full-frame dSLR. While you can keep a crop camera for your "kit" lens, the a850 will give you the maximum crop-ability at the least price.

The a900 is still viable if you want a bit more performance from the camera, and you might need it for birds in flight.

I still don't know for sure what lenses you have, except for the Minolta 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, so I don't know what will fit or not.

If you have a recent version of PhotoShop and if you shoot RAW files, you might try the interpolation to 25 MPix in Adobe Camera Raw to obtain somewhat better crops with your existing cameras. (Fewer "jaggies" anyway.)

ziggy53

sjhpubs wrote:

... I have been awarded 2 prizes within the past month for my photography--one show jusdged by Ira Black, a National Geographic photographer--so I guess i am doing something right. ...

Congratulations and I agree, you must be doing plenty that is right.

TGAllen

I've had the A100 and A350 Sony's. I recently bought a Canon 50D because I wanted something that handled the high ISO's better, noise wise. There are a lot of things I like better on the Sony's than the Canon, but some of them are probably just a familiarity issue. Things as simple as the on/off switch, to me, are much better on the Sony. The Sony Live View is far superior than the Canon. The Wireless flash system is another one for Sony. But I get better SOOC shots from the Canon, more FPS, better noise, obviously more compatibility choices.

The A350 made me really happy when I rented the Zeiss 24-70 f2.8 recently. So I wouldn't give up on Sony by any means. I wish the A850 would have been available earlier in the Summer.

sjhpubs

Thank you for your response. About 2 and a half weeks ago I gulped and baught the Sony A700 body. I had originally gotten the 350, but the feel of it in my hand, and the fact that it didn't have all the controls right on individual buttons, as I was used to with the Konica-Minolta, were two reasons why I went with the A700--which has gotten some very nice reviews. I have not used it extensively yet, but what I have shot I am very pleased with.

If anyone else oout theree is using the Sony A700 and has any tips I would apprecieate hearing about them.

Thanks again,
Sandy

Art Scott

Let us know how the A700 works out ..... I moved from KM 7D's to Nikon as I did not like any of the SONY offerings..........
But from the 6mp of my 7D's I have produced several 30X40 inch and larger prints...yes I used GF to uprez :D

sjhpubs

Yes, Art, I will let you know. I, too, have produced some wonderful large prints--not as large as yours yet--haven't tried anything larger than 13x19--with my KM 5D. It's a very solid camera. But the A700 takes advantage of newer technology, making some things much easier. Also, I sometimes don't notice things in the shots I take until I look at them on my computer monitor, and then I see some bonus that I got and often recrop the shot. On the 5D, this can produce very grainy shots (sometimes that's fine for the affect) but it's nice to have the higher resolution to be able to do that more successfully.

Sandy

cavediver2

I have been very pleased with my a300 but recently bought the a550 and absolutely love it. I stayed with Sony brand cause of Minolta gear i had from the past. I do believe that like past post have mentioned Sony does not get the acclaim that the other two get but I do see a change coming. The 550 has a high ISO now that will help and sell them more I believe. and now I am waiting on the UPS man to show up with the new Tamron 200-500 lens should be here tomorrow.


Don't sell your self short on the Sony Brand they have been big in the electronic market for many years and since they bought out Minolta I think there are only good things to come.

Oh and this is my first post on here yeah me.......