New DSLR consideration

[tegan]

DSLRs seem to go up a megapixel or more a year which means that the top megapixel camera you bought 3 years ago is not producing the same quality of images as the newer ones unless you bought the flagship expensive versions such as the Canon Mark II, or Mark III etc. Needless to say more megapîxels has also been accompanied by better tonal range and less picture noise too.

Sony announced an Alpha 350 which is part Minolta in heritage, to come out in late March or early April. The interesting point is 14.2 megapixels at a price of under $1,000. It also has live view and several other features.
For value, it certainly seems to ahead of a lot of cameras currently out there.

Tegan

[Marko]

I haven't reasearched that model - but that sounds like a heck of a good deal!

[Realist]

I haven't researched it either, but it seems peculiar to me. The price says they're skimping out on something to me. I'm sure it is a good camera, but I'm not sure if it's "professional" grade. I'll have to look it up sometime.

[tegan]

I haven't researched it either, but it seems peculiar to me. The price says they're skimping out on something to me. I'm sure it is a good camera, but I'm not sure if it's "professional" grade. I'll have to look it up sometime.

Speaking as a professional photographer I find it humourous when that term is applied to equipment. It is the photographer who takes the shot, not the equipment that is "professional grade" and for some pros the appropriate equipment might be Zeiss lenses that have a reputation up there with Leica on a Sony/Minolta camera.

Tegan

[Lovin]

What about Nikkor?

[tegan]

What about Nikkor?

Nikon and Canon are excellent as well and have more models and lenses to choose from, but with more models and lenses, it takes more research to decide which is best for your particular needs.

Sony at the moment is intent on taking market share from these two leaders in the digital area so there will be more price bargains from Sony than what you will see from the other two. The Sony 350 certainly seems to be one of those bargains but we have not seen performance tests yet from the labs of some of the photo magazines because the camera won't be available until March. Nevertheless, it is worth a look for beginning DSLR owners.

That being said, bottom line is that it becomes really difficult to compare a particular Sony camera against a Nikon and a Canon. All 3 cameras will have different prices, different features, different strengths and different weaknesses. It becomes a matter of which features are most important to you for the type of photography you are likely to do and the price you are willing to pay. There is no simple answer.

Tegan