Sony Alpha 200... maybe?

[MSIC]

Hi all, after being lucky enough to borrow my step-father's Canon EOS 450D for a recent holiday trip, my wife wants to buy me something similar, but i can't justify the £450+ cost
I currently own Fuji Finepix s5700 which has been ok in certain circumstances, but just dire in lower light (ie even in our house, with a window behind me!!).
I think i've got my sights now well and truly on the Sony Alpha 200 (TR review).
Sony themselves have reduced the RRP to £299, and after some internet hunting i found Argos selling it (with the basic 18-70mm Lens) for £259.

I have a few important questions that would be very gratefully answered though..

1) In terms of picking it up and pointing, for my wife who hasn't ever liked camera's before the EOS, will this 'feel' the same?

2) Should i be considering any other models? I dont have an absolute budget, but closer towards £400 simply feels uncomfortable to me.

3) Argos, amongst others, are selling a 'Twin Lens Kit' with a camera, for £389. (The difference seems to be the added Sony DT55-200mm lens which they sell separately for £176, however i'm not skilled enough to know the difference yet, much less use it )
Is it worth me getting this now? Would it be inevitable, as my skillz hopefully grow, that i'd buy such a lens anyway?

All thoughts, opinions and particularly experiences very welcome, i want to own it by Saturday ready for our next family holiday

[format]

From what I've read about this camera, it has anti-shake built in, which means you can save on lenses when you buy them later on.

I'm a complete amateur though, so please feel free to correct me, anyone

[kalniel]

1) In terms of picking it up and pointing, for my wife who hasn't ever liked camera's before the EOS, will this 'feel' the same?

Nope - it'll feel quite different to the 450D, but better IMHO insofar as it has a better grip. But you need to get her to go to a shop and handle one to make the decision.

2) Should i be considering any other models? I dont have an absolute budget, but closer towards £400 simply feels uncomfortable to me.

Sure - Nikon D40, D60 are both in budget, as is the EOS 1000D - the latter of which will feel very similar to the EOD 450D indeed. The Olympus 420 is very cheap and very dinky, the Oly 520 is still well within budget and has a 'proper' grip. The Pentax Km is also in budget. So lots of choice

3) Argos, amongst others, are selling a 'Twin Lens Kit' with a camera, for £389. (The difference seems to be the added Sony DT55-200mm lens which they sell separately for £176, however i'm not skilled enough to know the difference yet, much less use it )

I don't have any knowledge of Sony kit lenses, and when I was buying my camera I didn't think I'd want a dual kit.. but then I got a good deal on one and I've actually been using the tele-lens I didn't think I'd want more than the normal one.

All thoughts, opinions and particularly experiences very welcome, i want to own it by Saturday ready for our next family holiday

The most important thing is to get to a shop and try ALL the cameras within your price range. Maybe I'm fussy, but out of the 10 or more cameras I was interested in I only felt comfortable with three of them, which made my buying decision really easy!

[MSIC]

Sure - Nikon D40, D60 are both in budget, as is the EOS 1000D - the latter of which will feel very similar to the EOD 450D indeed. The Olympus 420 is very cheap and very dinky, the Oly 520 is still well within budget and has a 'proper' grip. The Pentax Km is also in budget. So lots of choice

Could you recommend where to buy from, or post any links please? I can only find these at around £400 or higher.
Thanks ever-so for your input though

[BUFF]

www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

it's not the be all & end all but it's a good starting point.

It's very, very hard to beat an A200 for vfm currently but it has to be comfortable for you so get to a shop & try.

[kalniel]

Nikon D40 used to be on sale at Amazon for about £230 including kit lens, but maybe supply has dried up as it's listed out of stock from CCL for £264.74 - http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...888&tid=frooct. The dual kit lens is ~£350 from argos - http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...nd+55-200+Lens

D60 kit is usually £369 from many places but I'm having a search nightmare and can only find it for £379 from places like Jessops - I think local camera shops would be a better bet (http://www.jessops.com/online.store/...3580/Show.html).

EOS 1000D kit is £379 from jacobs - http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index...product_id=272

Oly E-420 kit is £289 from many places, including jacobs - http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index...oduct_id=43078

Oly E-520 kit is £349 from park cameras - http://www.parkcameras.com/9480/Olym...f-3-5-5-6.html

Pentax Km kit is £369 from jacobs - http://www.jacobsdigital.co.uk/index...duct_id=170529

[jamena]

I got the a200 in a twin-lens kit (18-70 plus 75-300) and it's both really nice having the option of the telephoto and really annoying every time I realise I need to switch lenses to get the shot I want I find some of my better photos have come from the telephoto too, and there are things like planes, birds, wildlife, etc that you will really want the 200/300mm for later on! Seems advanced enough to learn all about DSLR photography, whilst the (in-body) anti-shake and auto/programme modes mean just about anyone can point-and-click with it straight away.

I'm currently thinking about seeking out a "fast" portrait lens for it to make it even better in low light Of course, if you know anyone (esp nice friends or family members) who have a DSLR already think about getting a similar model so you can borrow their lenses ...unluckily for me my dad bought a canon about the same time I got my Sony so I will either switch to canon too, or start collecting sony/minolta lenses sometime in the next year...

[Blastuk]

If you do consider the 1000D I might be selling mine for a body upgrade

[MSIC]

Ok folks, i bought a Sony Alpha 200 earlier today from Jacobs close to Oxford St.
I had a chance to play with the shop window model for 5 mins before making my mind up, i liked the weight and feel, and liked the shutter noise - it seemed to be quite purposeful.
Anyway, i'll be taking mine on my 2 week hols from Sunday onwards, so i'll endeavour to post my views on it after that period.

Thanks muchly to all above, especially BUFF who's link ended up sending me to Jacobs. They were the cheapest of the whole internets, surprisingly, and there service, whilst short, was good.

[MSIC]

I'd like to ask a follow up question please.

What sort of Compact Flash memory should i be getting?

The Jacobs guy wanted to sell me SanDisk Extreme III for about £35, which Scan sells for £28 for 4GB. It's labelled as 133x speed.

Kingston however sell 8GB of also 133x speed, for only £18.
Is there something i should know, or is this just a case of the more famous brands charging more?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I'd like to ask a follow up question please.

What sort of Compact Flash memory should i be getting?

The Jacobs guy wanted to sell me SanDisk Extreme III for about £35, which Scan sells for £28 for 4GB. It's labelled as 133x speed.

Kingston however sell 8GB of also 133x speed, for only £18.
Is there something i should know, or is this just a case of the more famous brands charging more?

I have an A200 too. I have both 133x and 266x cards and the latter are noticeably faster for continuous shooting. I use Kingston cards as they are among the better value for money ones.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I got the a200 in a twin-lens kit (18-70 plus 75-300) and it's both really nice having the option of the telephoto and really annoying every time I realise I need to switch lenses to get the shot I want I find some of my better photos have come from the telephoto too, and there are things like planes, birds, wildlife, etc that you will really want the 200/300mm for later on! Seems advanced enough to learn all about DSLR photography, whilst the (in-body) anti-shake and auto/programme modes mean just about anyone can point-and-click with it straight away.

I'm currently thinking about seeking out a "fast" portrait lens for it to make it even better in low light Of course, if you know anyone (esp nice friends or family members) who have a DSLR already think about getting a similar model so you can borrow their lenses ...unluckily for me my dad bought a canon about the same time I got my Sony so I will either switch to canon too, or start collecting sony/minolta lenses sometime in the next year...

Regarding lenses I have the following:
1.)Sigma EX DG 17-35mm
2.)Minolta 24-105mm
3.)Minolta 35-70mm/f4
4.)Minolta 35-70mm/f3.4-4.5
5.)Minolta 50mm/f1.7
6.)Minolta 70-210mm/f4
7.)Minolta 100-200mm/f4.5
8.)Minolta 100-300mm/f4.5-5.6 APO
9.)Sigma 135-400mm APO
10.)105mm/f4 Micro-Nikkor with lens adaptor.

I would say that the 70-210mm and 100-200mm are the sharpest of the telephotos I have. The 70-210mm I have is a very good example and until I can get a 70-300mm G lens it is probably a keeper. The Minolta APO is softer from 200mm onwards but is compact and is a decent travel lens. It is better than the Sony/Minolta 75-300mm lens. The 50mm is best from f2.8 onwards and the 24-105mm is pretty decent but has chroma issues in bright sunlight unless stopped downed to f8 onwards.

[MSIC]

The Minolta APO is softer from 200mm onwards but is compact and is a decent travel lens. It is better than the Sony/Minolta 75-300mm lens. The 50mm is best from f2.8 onwards and the 24-105mm is pretty decent but has chroma issues in bright sunlight unless stopped downed to f8 onwards.

I understood this up to the first 'The'. I think i've alot to learn

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Like I said before go for the 266x cards as they are faster it seems.

The next stop should be a 50mm lens as they are great for portraits and will be sharper than the 18-70mm standard zoom. You should either look for a brand new Sony 50mm/f1.8 for around £130 or a secondhand Minolta 50mm/f1.7 for under £100.

If any of you want some test shots from the lenses I have I can post some if I have the time.

[MSIC]

Excellent, thanks. I've just gone for a 200x speed 8GB card, rather than my original 133x idea, although the 266x seem pretty expensive still. I'll bear everything else in mind once i get some more experience!

[vicar]

Let us know how you get on with it. Happy shooting.