Sony a300 for a newbie??

J

Jay Oram

Messages
4
Name
Jay Oram
Edit My Images
Yes
Hey, I've been taking pics with a compact digital camera or a university DSLR and they are Nikon's.

Just feel i need my own camera to get better, as a student money is a bit of an issue, so £600 is the budget and Jessops have a sony a300 and two lenses for £580ish and i want to buy an 8GB compact flash and have found one for £20. Is it a good camera to begin with, will it hold me back?

It's going to be used for everything, sport shots, portraits, landscape and wildlife, want to be able to play with the aperture and shutter speed, just making sure i've got the best choice. Is there anything others would suggest??

Jay
 
If it feels comfortable in your hands then get it, just dont buy on price alone.

Oh and Welcome to TP:)
 
Jay Oram said:
Jessops have a sony a300 and two lenses for £580ish
Click to expand...
which 2 lenses?
the 2 2lens bundles shown in http://www.jessops.com/online.store...rtDirection=Descending&sortProperty=Relevance are both under £500.

It's a good starter DSLR especially for someone used to using a P&S but as always try it in a shop first to make sure that you are comfortable with it.
& as already mentioned if you don't need/want LiveView you can get the A200 which is cheaper & has a better optical viewfinder.
 
As has been said, the a200 has the same spec as the a300, in fact I understand it has a slightly better FPS (3) against (2.5) on the a300. If you are able to get along without live view, then for £250ish, you can get a really good camera and have a good amount of money to buy some good glass. Dont forget you are much better off with really good quality lens and update the body as and when you can afford. I am by no means a photographer but I have enjoyed my a200 from the day I got it. Go out and have a play as there might be other systems out there you can get a good deal on.
 
Hi Jay

I have the the a 300 really pleased with it so far. Shots look good for my ability.

I dont know what photos you take, but as iam trying to catch birds, I went for the Tamron 75-300 deal as the sony bundle comes with a 70-200 which wasnt good for me. this comes out at less at jessops as well.

I just jumped from a canon ixus compact same as you are doing and found it an easy transition. I think you would miss liveview if you went for the a200 if you are used to a compact?

I have recently purchased so have been through the mill on what to get, but i came to the conclusion you cant beat the a300 for value for money versus spec. at our budget. The canon and nikon choices would be older models at this money like a 1000d or d60. The a300 seems to be targeted at the canon450d for a lot less money, which is Sony trying to join the dslr party without an invite.

Iam no expert on photography like some on here, ive just done the legwork and iam happy with the sony

cheers

john
 
depends if you like the sony, if you really like the feel of the uni nikon go nikon personal pref really i think
 
@Gazbag - you're thinking of the difference between A300 and A350 mate

I found that particular brands at similar price points all had different strategies with regard to the size of the camera body. I like a nice big hand grip so the Sony was good for me. If you want something that feels a bit smaller then a Canon or a Nikon might feel better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top