Entry level - Sony A200 or Nikon D60?

civildefence

Buying an SLR for herself. I have an A200 myself but have been told the Nikon is superior. Any takers?

AnCatDubh

The opening post of this thread (in the stickies at the top of your screen) will give you lots to go on.

TJM

Stick with one system (whatever it is) if you can to make life easier in relation to lenses and accessories.

Morrisseeee

Stick with one system

I see this comment quite a bit........but I know it frightens people/beginners ! ie. "...what, I must BUY into a system, OK, which one ? !" Hense: this leads directly to the ould Nikon/Canon choice/debate/argument.
If you are a beginner you have a wide variety of (entry level) camera models to choose from, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Samsung, Sigma, Panasonic. They are all of equal quality. Buy any Photographic magazine to compare prices (and sometimes quality). If you then get tired of your entry level camera, you can sell it off (to the next beginner) and you can THEN think seriously about buying into a system !!

DaireQuinlan

Morrisseeee wrote: »

I see this comment quite a bit........but I know it frightens people/beginners ! ie. "...what, I must BUY into a system, OK, which one ? !" Hense: this leads directly to the ould Nikon/Canon choice/debate/argument.

Actually I was about to post the same thing as TJM (and also to correct some of mediafreaks points). There's little point in buying into another system if there's already a sony in the house. Grab another sony body and the OP and SO can share lenses accessories etc etc.

mrmac

Have you considered a bridge camera?
The Panasonic Lumix FZ28 gets a great write up, and there's great deals to be had on fleabay ATM. Works out cheaper than either of your first options.

As for your "which one is better" question, seeing as I've never used a Sony A200 - NIKON of course

(Just waiting for Tallon to bite!)

KarmaGarda

To give you the feedback from a recent beginner... well, I used to dabble years ago, but only took it up seriously very recently. I went down the Nikon route and I bought the D60. I am thoroughly impressed, but I would have gone for the D40 instead... only for it's discontinued. I wanted to get a brand new camera as opposed to buying off ebay etc. But if you're an avid ebay/second hand buyer, go for the D40 before the D60. As a previous poster mentioned it's probably even better than the D60, because the megapixels count for nothing really. If you want brand spanking new then you may not have a choice but go for the D60 unless you find a store that still has them in stock.

AnCatDubh

Morrisseeee wrote: »

I see this comment quite a bit........but I know it frightens people/beginners ! ie. "...what, I must BUY into a system, OK, which one ? !" Hense: this leads directly to the ould Nikon/Canon choice/debate/argument.
If you are a beginner you have a wide variety of (entry level) camera models to choose from, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony, Samsung, Sigma, Panasonic. They are all of equal quality. Buy any Photographic magazine to compare prices (and sometimes quality). If you then get tired of your entry level camera, you can sell it off (to the next beginner) and you can THEN think seriously about buying into a system !!

All very valid stuff however (there's always a however), once you get your entry level you are likely to go and get a decent lens rather than waiting until you've outgrown your entire entry level kit and maybe then an external flash - and maybe then another decent zoom lens. At that point you are more or less hooked through incrementalism. Eitherways you are likely to become very attached to your brand once you have it in your hands - i'd love to see that analysed. I'd guess 98% of people never change. So that quoted above being valid if you plan on finding your feet with a DSLR and then deciding on a path (system) - but you still will have the same dilemma.

To me the system is particularly relevant if your aspirations are to move into the professional game at which point the Canon and Nikon's take off and heck - they can argue that one out among themselves.

hopelessOne

To be clear: I'm an old Minolta, now Sony, user. Although my bias is for photography skills over any particular equipment brand.

One beneficial advantage that Sony has over other manufacturers is the integrated anti-shake system which can be used with any lens... particularly useful for beginners for several reasons:

• beginners don't need to buy expensive VR/IS lenses
• beginners probably won't have fast lenses
• beginners might not be used to holding an SLR and therefore have an increased likelihood of camera shake
• beginners are more likely to use the wrong shutter speeds, increasing camera shake.

I can't recall any comparisons between the a200 and D60 but the a200 (and previously, a100) won lots of awards in the "entry-level SLR" categories.

Morrisseeee

integrated anti-shake system which can be used with any lens

Olympus has this aswell (in-body image stabilization)..............but your above points are well made and should be considered.

you are likely to go and get a decent lens rather than waiting until you've outgrown your entire entry level kit and maybe then an external flash - and maybe then another decent zoom lens

....however.....ahem.........you can also (with certain brands) go for older (manual) lenses or prime lenses if cost is an issue, also the quality of the older primes are excellent aswell.

KarmaGarda

Just a quick addition, the D60 comes with a "VR 18-55 mm Lens" as part of the bundle.

RandomAccess

Hi Guys,
I'm considering picking up a Nikon D40.

I had considered getting one second hand from gumtree.ie or similar, however I have heard some negative things about buying used dslr's as its hard to know how its been looked after.

I have no experience with DSLR's but I want to pick one up for hobby use as I have done as much as I can with the cameras already at my disposal.

I was under the impression that the D40 went out of sale many years ago (since it was originally introduced in 2006) but today I discovered that Argos in the uk were selling them up until recently at what i believe was a bargain price of £246 (€300) . All the second hand D40's I saw are going for that price!

I read kenrockwell.com and he raved about the D40, even saying he preferred it to the D60 and many other of his pro cameras.
(he seemed to know what he was talking about)

Anyway, I rang up argos uk and they have none in stock and the camera is in fact now discontinued, though still listed on their website.

However it appears I can get a store bought D40 in the south for €380
It appears this camera is going to be extinct once that unit is gone.. and here is my quandry..

Now nikon have released the D5000, which is supposed to be the D40 replacement (spiritually or something) however its around double the price.
Will the D60 drop in price? Its currently £342 (about €415) when bought from Argos in the uk.

What are used D40's selling for and is it a bad idea to buy used when you don't know much about them yet?

Opinions?
I'm using Argos for pricing as they seem to be fairly good on price, though I may be wrong. Who do you buy from?