sony slr upgrade question

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spanner28

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hi, i am debating whether or not to upgrade my sony a200 camera and am not sure what to upgrade to.

Ive been looking at the a380 but this is also in a similar price range to the slightly older a700, basically im not sure which offers me better quality pictures (i know the lens plays a huge part in that) and which is gonna have better features.

due to the amount of kit i have already bought for my a200 i really need to stick to sony as i cannot afford more stuff but am looking for honest oppinions as to what people think

many thanks
 
spanner28 said:
hi, i am debating whether or not to upgrade my sony a200 camera and am not sure what to upgrade to.

Ive been looking at the a380 but this is also in a similar price range to the slightly older a700, basically im not sure which offers me better quality pictures (i know the lens plays a huge part in that) and which is gonna have better features.

due to the amount of kit i have already bought for my a200 i really need to stick to sony as i cannot afford more stuff but am looking for honest oppinions as to what people think

many thanks
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honestly....i'd go for an A700 as it's a much higher spec'd camera with a semi pro status....and it's much better than my A350(which i will be selling shortly to get another A700)with easier access to change settings like WB,ISO etc...and as you say,it's similarly priced to the A380.

also,if you shoot at high ISO's/low light...the A700 handles the noise very well up to 3200,and is usable at 6400,whereas things get pretty bad at 1600 on the A350(I would expect the A380 to be similar to the A350).
 
Im actually considering upgrading my A350 to the A700 but wasnt sure if I would need to get a different flashgun etc...
 
spanner28 said:
from what it looks like the a380 is similar to the a350
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the A380 has the same MP as the A350...ie 14.2mp.

it is said that the A200 and the A300 handles noise better than the A350 due to the resolution on the croped sensor,so apart from the tilting screen/live view..the A200 is a better camera for low light/high ISO shooting.

as said...get the A700,and you won't be dissapointed...especially for what you can get them for now (y)
 
theyre around about the 549 mark from what i can find, whereas an a380 is about 559...

its a tough one its either get a better camera or buy another lens, but im leaning towards a newer camera being able to help me capture even better images... hmmm
 
you might wait to see the A700's replacement.
Supposedly an announcement due in September.
 
handy to know that about the frame rates as i wasnt aware of that, and with regards to its replacement it will be alot more expensive than the a700 is currently and therefore be out of my price range i would have thought
 
depends how they replace it - there's a suggestion that it may be replaced by 2 different models rather than just 1.

The A380 of course has Liveview that the A700 doesn't whereas the A700 has better build, more buttons, better AF etc..
The A380 also has slightly higher resolution (14Mp v12Mp) & some would say that it provides better IQ at lower ISO whereas the A700 will be the better of the 2 at higher ISO.
It really depends upon what you feel that your needs are ...

which brings me to what you feel is lacking on your A200?
 
its not so much that i feel that the a200 is lacking its just ive had it a little while now and was debating if it would be worth upgrading or not... the other problem i have is the view finder screen inside the camera has some marks on it which cannot be removed (it has been professionally cleaned) and its a bit irritating...

its a toss up between trying to get the best from what i already have and whether or not upgraded equipment could further my hobby.... or just go for more equipment for the a200 like a 400mm lens or a wide angle or something
 
I have both the A200 and A700, and as Stan says the A700 is a significantly superior piece of kit.

Should you get an A700 or a new lens - it all depends on what lenses you currently have, and what you want to shoot.

What the A700 will give you is greater ease of control (via quick access to settings), faster and more accurate AF (for tracking birds in flight, for example), faster burst rates (5fps) and more images in a burst before hte buffer fills, much better mid-high ISO handling, and even better vewfinder. And a big smile every time you pick up the camera :D

And it will probably destroy the AF on any budget Sigma 70-300 lens you put on it:(

Only you will know if what is limiting you currently is lack of a particular lens, or the lower spec of the A200. I personally was going down the 'get glass first' route, but a generous insurance claim on 2 Minolta 5000 bodies got me the A700 (got to love 'new for old' :LOL:) and now I wouldn't want to go back to the A200 only.

One note of warning though, once you get an A700 the desire to get better glass to match the camera will grow...
 
I already had the CZ16-80 and the 100 f2.8 macro, but the A700 'forced' me to get the 70-300G to replace my 75-300d. ;)

The guy I bought the G from was upgrading to the 70-400G and I have to admit it looks a great lens; Maybe Santa will be generous this year :D

stan the man said:
oh,and a decent tog to use it all :LOL:
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I'd prefer more free time to try and become a decent tog myself :LOL:
 
currently i have a tamron 90mm macro lens, a tamron 70 - 300 and the kit 18 - 70 lens.

I do a fair bit of car photography ranging from stationary cars through to moving ones and also airshow photography when i get a chance, and other general scenery and the odd abandoned building etc.... so im not really sure what to do for the best.

whats the deal with the camera destroying the af on 300mm lenses then
 
Personally, I would be looking at better glass, especially given what you have.

But, talking bodies, I'd be very surprised if the A3X0 enabled you to get better pics whereas, assuming you're skilled enough to know what you're doing, the A700 offers you much more creative control at the speed required in real world situations.
 
spanner28 said:
whats the deal with the camera destroying the af on 300mm lenses then
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Its a well known fact that the Sony AF motor is so well built that it strips the plastic AF rings off the sigga 70 - 300 APO. This is a known problem and its not a great rating for a company who knows of the problem and seem to have done nothing about it. This kind of isolates us Sony users from this lens.:razz:

Anyway, for me I would keep the A200 and upgrade the glass. You can update the body later when the prices are more competitive.(y)
 
spanner28 said:
also airshow photography when i get a chance
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highly recommend the 70-400 G then :)

whats the deal with the camera destroying the af on 300mm lenses then
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On a no. of Sigma models the plastic AF ring gear isn't upto the high torque body motors on Alphas (not just the A700 but pretty much all of them) & teeth break. The 70-300mm seems to have the most reports but whether that's because it's the most prone to it or the most popular purchase ...

Sony, Tamron etc. lenses seem unaffected.
 
ok well by the looks of it i will have to have a think what i wanna do then, all the information so far has been really useful so thanks everyone

think i will either save up for another lens whether it be a wide angle for a bit of variety or whether i go for a cheaper 400mm lens such as a sigma 120 - 400mm
 
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