Going from Sony to Nikon/Canon

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maximust

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Max
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Hi all,

I have a sony a55 with a few lenses and feel I want to move over to canon or nikon.

I want better low light options for a mid range camera and feel nikon or canon offer more. I have seen the Nikon d90, is there anything else you could recommend .

Thank you

Max
 
Depends what budget you're talking about. If you want low light capabilities the D90 doesn't met your requirement, you more probably looking at the D7000. It depends what you actually want to photograph. For canon it's the 5D, 6D range of cameras. Not knowing Sony, but I'm sure their a body that may met your requirements as you already have lenses. Changing systems can be quite expensive
 
Thanks pete, is the d5100 better than the d90.

I feel I am always hindered with Sony, I love the camera but feel everywhere I look to buy stuff it only has a small amount of Sony stuff and becomes frustrating etc

I may pop into the local shop to check out the Nikon/ canon range

Cheers

Max
 
You really need to go for the D7000 that's the bottom line for Nikon for low light performance. Unfortunately low light performance costs not only with camera bodies, but with lenses
 
In terms of low light, the D7000 is only really better than the D90 because it boosts to 25k actually noise difference is only 1/3 of a stop - nearly nothing.

I'm not too sure why everyone says the D7000 is so amazing like it's light years ahead...

One option is: if you don't need video I'd go with the D90 and spend the extra on a lens.

The D7000 is better than the D90 in a lot of ways but they are all just minor differences.

Previous owner of the D90 current owner of the D7000 :)
 
maximust said:
I feel I am always hindered with Sony, I love the camera but feel everywhere I look to buy stuff it only has a small amount of Sony stuff and becomes frustrating etc
Click to expand...
so buy on line - it'll probably save you money as well.
As already mentioned there isn't really any APS-C model from any manufacturer that will give you major gains in low light over an A55 - minor gains, yes (if you believe DxO a D7000 is about 1/2 a stop better than an A55 which isn't surprising as they both use essentially the same sensor & the SLT mirror loses ~0.5 of a stop).
As also already mentioned your money may be better directed to lenses with wider apertures?
 
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maximust said:
I feel I am always hindered with Sony, I love the camera but feel everywhere I look to buy stuff it only has a small amount of Sony stuff and becomes frustrating etc
Click to expand...

Unfortunately with camera gear that is a problem for a number of brands - even with Canon / Nikon most shops (unless they are big) will only have a limited range of stock, though it is certainly worse with Sony. Once you start wanting to do things like compare different bags, tripods, etc. you soon discover that things are even worse!

As already mentioned, the 'net is often cheaper than local, and there are a number of useful sites to help figure prices, and what is worth getting.

http://www.camerapricebuster.com/ - good site to get a 'benchmark' price for items.

http://www.dyxum.com - Great resource site for Sony users, the lens database has info on what can be a bewildering array of options (and that's with the 'limitied' range for Sony :D )
 
You can always try a Sony A580 which should match the low light performance of the Nikon D7000
 
My wife uses two @580's for weddings.

The photos are outstanding for the price the body's.
She can shoot iso 6400 and with noise reduction the photos are as if they were shot at iso 100.3200 with no adjustment needed.

We looked at upgrading to the @77's before the @99 came out but every person I asked or review I read Said the same thing,slt's iso isn't great.
 
Have a look at the slt A57s. The in camera jpgs are less noisy than the ones out of the A580. It won't be that far removed from the A55 but the evf is a lot better on it. You keep the higher fps shooting modes this way too. The A57 also has full AF in video mode which the A580 doesn't.

A580 is a cheap D7000 (same sensor). Buffer is bigger than the D7000 too.
 
I have an A55 and used to use it as my backup camera for weddings. It's not that bad at higher ISO's. Certainly have taken a few photos at ISO3200 then used NR and the images have been perfectly acceptable.

It's certainly better than the A77. I did have a D7000 to play with a while back and whilst it was better than the A77, I'm not so sure it was that much better than the A55. In my opinion not worth the aggro of switching systems. As others have said, you'd be better off spending it on better glass.

In the end I went to a D700 to get the next leap in ISO performance.
 
Hi

If looking for significantly improved low light perfiormance in the Canon camp you are looking at a 5D2 (used from around £900 here on TP) with all the pros and cons that this body offers.

Having just shifted from Canon to Sony (for the short focal length Zeiss lenses) then back to Canon (for the long focal length mighty whites) I am convinced hat the Sony system has A LOT to offer.

I was very sad to see all my Sony gear go but the Sony 500f4 is just too expensive.

Sony/alpha mount is a very underrated system IMHO. Personally, unless you want to spend BIG, I would look at the a580 if I were you.

Regards

Gary
 
Tbh I can't see the difference in my @550 pictures against an @580 one, might be worth considering ?
 
I would stay with sony and buy a faster lens like a tamron 17-50. Like Phil mentioned, there is only a half a stop difference between a d90 and a d7000 and the a55 is on a par with the d90 in terms of iso performance. Assuming you are using a kit lens something like the tamron 17-50 will give you 2 thirds of a stop advantage at the wide end and 2 stops at the long end. They only cost £250 so buy yourself a fast 30 or 35mm prime and maybe a flashgun and you will be well away.
 
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IF you don't mind shooting prime manual lens there are the fabulous Samyang's like the 85 f1/4 which don't break the bank. They would give much new life to your A55.
 
You could also look at the D5100, same sensor, but you lose a few buttons, motor and you get a less fancy AF system. They're quite cheap now as the D5200 is just out ...
 
A580 definitely worth a thought, arguably still the best camera from Sony.
 
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