Starting with a DSLR

seclachi

Hey,
Im looking to get into some photography with a digital slr, I have done some reading up, so I have a good idea what I would like. I would like a good all rounder lens, something like 18-70mm. I have been looking at the Sony A200, it seems to fit the bill, quite a low price, but seems to have a fair bit of bang. Im just starting out too, so I dont see the need to spend a fortune on a camera incase I end up not doing much photography. So does anybody have any good tips for somebody starting out or any other camera recommendations ?

Mycroft H

seclachi wrote: »

Hey,
Im looking to get into some photography with a digital slr, I have done some reading up, so I have a good idea what I would like. I would like a good all rounder lens, something like 18-70mm. I have been looking at the Sony A200, it seems to fit the bill, quite a low price, but seems to have a fair bit of bang. Im just starting out too, so I dont see the need to spend a fortune on a camera incase I end up not doing much photography. So does anybody have any good tips for somebody starting out or any other camera recommendations ?

I have it and i'm very happy with it. It has a very user friendly menu system thats well laid out. The in body stabilisation is a added bonus aswell

Prices should be low as there is a newer model being introduced at the moment.

Ricky91t

A canon or Nikon would be recommended,Not that there's anything wrong with the sony,Just there are more used lenses available more used cameras if you want to upgrade

Thats's my view

clive_odonohoe

I'd agree with nicky, I shoot with nikon myself. I think it may be better if you look at some of either nikon or canon cameras, cause if you start to become more interested in photography you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to lens/accessories/bodies when it comes to these two makes.

KarmaGarda

I agree there. I use a Nikon and have a mate that uses a Canon. I wouldn't be able to choose between them.

I have the Nikon D60 which comes with an 18-55mm VR lens and I have to say it's a really good lens. Does pretty decent macro shots as well as landscape etc too. Excellent all rounder. I'm sure there's something available in the Canon bracket too.

I know nothing about the Sonys though. Only cameras I ever see people using are Nikons and Canons to be honest!

Mycroft H

KarmaGarda wrote: »

I agree there. I use a Nikon and have a mate that uses a Canon. I wouldn't be able to choose between them.

I have the Nikon D60 which comes with an 18-55mm VR lens and I have to say it's a really good lens. Does pretty decent macro shots as well as landscape etc too. Excellent all rounder. I'm sure there's something available in the Canon bracket too.

I know nothing about the Sonys though. Only cameras I ever see people using are Nikons and Canons to be honest!

Sony took over minolta in 2006 and with it their mount (the a mount) and compatibility with all 30 million lenses produced since 1985, so there is plenty floating around on the used market.

There may not be the same amount of lenses in the shops here but there is plenty on E-bay or in british shops such as london camera exchange or MIFSUDS.

Accessory wise, there is plenty of flashes available such as units from metz, sigma, sunpak, nissen and sony themselves.

Only things missing from are a ring flash (which i dont need) or a super telephoto 600mm (which i'd like, but wont be able to afford for a while)

OP i'd also consider olympus e520 aswell, its a good camera too.

Edit: linky http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1024308

AnCatDubh

Nah, I wouldn't worry about choice of lenses tbh. Not exhaustive but;

Sample of Fixed lens

Sample of Macros

Sample of Zooms

As posted above, availability may be a bit more an issue, but speaking as a Pentax shooter, this global village that we live on means that while it can be an issue to walk into a bricks and mortar spot, it isn't a real problem that can't be overcome. Infact, you are better off than me in so far as the Sony kit would be stocked in bricks and mortar much more than my Pentax. In reality I wouldn't worry about it - it hasn't caused me a moments grief.

As trashed out on numerous threads - feature for feature there is very little to recommend you one brand over another at the entry level that you are seeking to purchase. As you've probably guessed with cameras in particular you will get particularly strong brand loyalty coming through which is why you shouldn't really trust a Pentax owner that says Pentax are the best, a Canon owner that says Canon are the best, a Nikon owner that says Nikon are the best, a Sony owner that says Sony are the best, etc.

More important for you to consider is how far your photographic journey will perhaps take you. This is where Canon and Nikon will start to pull ahead - not in the entry level gear or the serious amateur type of stuff but in the full professional rugged gear that both those manufacturers do so well. In fact it can be argued that such cameras bear little resemblance to their little brothers of entry level and serious amateur level. Admittedly there is a progression in that direction.

Most people on this boards forum have nice gear but few of us have professional quality gear. We may aspire some day to be the proud owner of such gear and good luck to whoever makes it. For the rest of us, we will extract such crazy enjoyment from the art with our 'brand' gear that I don't really care whether my Pentax gear has anything that any other brand has - this I expect is how others feel too about their Canon, Sony, Nikon, etc..

All i'm saying is don't get too tied up in any ones brand loyalty. You ask a canon owner what to buy - they say canon. Ask a nikon, they say nikon, ask me and i'll tell you Pentax, but you shouldn't believe me as I don't know how far your photographic journey will take you.

If you've done the research and have landed at the option of a Sony A200, then what I can say impartially is that I have seen some amazing work posted here and other places which have been taken on the Sony gear. I would have no particular worries as to whether the Sony is 'up' for the job or not.

Have great fun with whatever you decide and post back here often with your progress.

seclachi

Thanks for the fantastic advice so far. There does seem to be alot of support for canon and nikon where ever I look, which is strong testament for them. The reasons im gravitating towards the sony are as follows.

-Its cost effective, I have many hobbys I started into with gusto, only to look back a year later at a hundreds of euros of gear I just dont use, I definetly dont want to have a €1000 slr and another €1000 of lenses looking back at me in that case. On the other hand, everybody uses a camera at some point or another, so it wouldnt be a complete waste, but i think in the case of the a200 the €400 would be acceptable.

-Its got a flexable lens on it, from what I read 18-70mm should cover anything thats not a large landscape or telephoto. Only problem is some people have made comments on its quality.

-As people have said, it appears to support a wide range of mintola and co. lenses. It seems the body itself uses image stablization, unlike some of the nikon cameras around that price point, which I think require lenses with the stabilizer built in.

AnCatDubh

seclachi wrote: »

The reasons im gravitating towards the sony are as follows. <<Snip>>

Very sound reasoning. I think you have it well thought through.

Tallon

I have the A200, very happy with it.
Spurious lenses are not that expensive and as you said, its a very cheap camera if you decide not to persue photography, also you should get an ok trade in if you do

KarmaGarda

Just to confuse you even further, in regards to VR, I only realised a couple of weeks back that my lens had VR on it. And it had been switched off all along! So, personally, I'm not sure how I rate it in the particular bracket of cameras and lenses you'll be getting into. I dunno, maybe I've a very steady hand!

seclachi

I owe must of what I know so far to this rather good article on lenses.
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/best-digital-slr-lens.html
I have had plenty of experience with megapixels and the rest of camera terminology from working with compacts I have had, but slr lenses were a new thing to me.

I think the next step for me is to head down to a shop and see if I can get my hands on some of these models to get some sort of a feel for them.

Crispin

I have an a200, great little camera. I got mine a year ago and it only cost me 270 stg. at the time nikon/canon were more expensive. Now they all pretty much do cheap starter slrs for similar prices. Only thing I didn't like is the kit lens (but I think that would be the case with most kit lenses. I just don't use the kit lens anymore.

There are 3 new sony's coming soon http://www.dpreview.com/news/0905/09051804sonyalphas.asp so you could wait for these or get a better deal on the old a200. The new versions come with a new improved kit lens. great to get into dslr photography.

I wouldn't worry too much about lack of lenses, sigma do great lenses that fit sony. and the old minolta lens are great. just bought a 50mm f1.7 for 90 euro and it is so sharp.

i would recommend going to a bricks and mortar store to try them out, decide and then jump on the net to get the best deals!

Hope to see some shots from the new camera on boards soon!:)

seclachi

Made the plunge and got the a200. Now I need to find a tripod for my first ambition, some long exposure night shots !

Crispin

seclachi wrote: »

Made the plunge and got the a200. Now I need to find a tripod for my first ambition, some long exposure night shots !

congrats on taking the plunge
I think either aldi or lidl have a tripod for 17 euro this week?! <-might help your night shots!:)

B0rG

Get a kit, any kit, I started with Canon, others have Nikon and Sony. Shoot 2 000 pictures. Than decide what exactly do you want to shoot and what kind of gear you really need.

All of them are overpriced, but sometimes you manage to get cheap 70-200 2.8 IS for your mount and you don't really want to part with it

CabanSail

If you are in Dublin then we have a talk from Sony on their range of equipment & how to get the best out of it next Tuesday night at Dublin Camera Club.

We had a talk from Canon I organised two weeks ago, but I missed that one. Will try to get one from Nikon soon.

-Chris-

CabanSail wrote: »

If you are in Dublin then we have a talk from Sony on their range of equipment & how to get the best out of it next Tuesday night at Dublin Camera Club.

We had a talk from Canon I organised two weeks ago, but I missed that one. Will try to get one from Nikon soon.

I'd love to go to this - can you provide more details?

seclachi

CabanSail wrote: »

If you are in Dublin then we have a talk from Sony on their range of equipment & how to get the best out of it next Tuesday night at Dublin Camera Club.

We had a talk from Canon I organised two weeks ago, but I missed that one. Will try to get one from Nikon soon.

Alas i am not, thanks for the kind offer though !

-Chris-

-Chris- wrote: »

CabanSail wrote: »

If you are in Dublin then we have a talk from Sony on their range of equipment & how to get the best out of it next Tuesday night at Dublin Camera Club.

We had a talk from Canon I organised two weeks ago, but I missed that one. Will try to get one from Nikon soon.

I'd love to go to this - can you provide more details?

Anyone any further information on this?

I have the address from the DCC website, and I know what time it's on. Do I need to be a DCC member to attend? Do I need to pre-register? Is there a cost involved?

CabanSail

You are welcome to come along as a Visitor. The meeting starts at 8pm.

There is no fee for a single night or two, but if you like the club then we hope you will join. There are a few from this forum who are active members there already.

-Chris-

Thanks CabanSail, I'll pop along tonight and get some info on the DCC while I'm at it!

CabanSail

I must admit I was quite impressed with the talk on the Sony range last night. They are a much better system than I had realised. Except that I am fairly well sealed into the Nikon System too much to change I would seriously consider them. The figures that were shown last night must have Canon very worried as they are eating into their market & very rapidly. Nikon seem to be holding their own at the moment. Sony are doing a very clever thing by going for the Entry Level market while they develop their higher end products. We all know that when you are in a system you tend to stay there, so the new users of today will develop into the high end users tomorrow. The Zeiss Glass was also very nice indeed & has a promise of some very interesting developments in the future.

-Chris-

Yeah, I thought it was a very worthwhile talk - thanks to the DCC for putting it on/letting me in!

I attended because I bought an Alpha 200 recently and wanted to know more about their systems, lenses etc. I found all the information very interesting.

I think you're right CabanSail, it's a great strategy they're currently on - I bought the A200 based on reviews and awards, and now I'm sucked into their system. If they can keep prices reasonable and standards high, I don't see why I'd ever leave.

On the other hand, I do have a little buyer's remorse over buying the A200 - I didn't know enough at the time of purchase and didn't realise how locked into the system I'll be. It was only after committing to the purchase that I realised I couldn't use any of my dad's lenses - I can't even borrow one of his flash guns!

I'm in no doubt after seeing the presentation though, that Sony have bought into a proper heritage of quality & innovation, and that I should have no fear over availablility of quality bits and pieces for the camera - both new and used.

Thanks DCC & Sony!

CabanSail

-Chris- wrote: »

On the other hand, I do have a little buyer's remorse over buying the A200 - I didn't know enough at the time of purchase and didn't realise how locked into the system I'll be. It was only after committing to the purchase that I realised I couldn't use any of my dad's lenses - I can't even borrow one of his flash guns!

When people are looking at an Enrty Level DSLR the advice is ussually to look at the whole system & how it will cater for you when you move up. This has been the strong point for Canon & Nikon but after last night I will include Sony in that group.

What system is your Fathers Gear?

-Chris-

He's running Nikon.

I thought about buying Nikon at the time, but the camera for the same budget was the D40, and the reviews put the A200 well ahead of the D40, so I went for it.

CabanSail wrote: »

When people are looking at an Enrty Level DSLR the advice is ussually to look at the whole system & how it will cater for you when you move up.

In all honesty, I was really only looking to move from point-and-click to DSLR to understand the basics of photography better (playing with manual mode) - I wasn't intending on going beyond the kit lens and built-in flash.

But as these things tend to go, I now crave more stuff - I've tried shooting a few indoor gigs, and I need a faster lens... I'm also not liking the harshness of head-on flash and want to get an external flash... I also want a nifty fifty... etc. etc.

CabanSail

You could get a used Nikon Body & use some of the gear. You soon find that Bodies are the temporary items you upgrade. There are often D70's available (some D50's too) which will allow access to that supply of glass. If it's not AF stuff then a D40/D60 body would be fine.

-Chris-

Yeah, it probably makes more sense to make my next purchase a used Nikon body, rather than a Sony lens & flash.