This will be my first dslr and i'm considering the Nikon d50 or the
Canon Rebel as well. I like the higher megapixels ...
Although the higher pixels are kind of nice to have, for all intents
and purposes of "most" picture taking and displaying, a 6 mpxl
camera would do "MOST" people quite nicely. That said, you
may want to check out the Pentax K100D as well. I tried it today
and it has a lot going for it. Brighter viewfinder than the Sony,
more rapid focussing, nicer feel in my hands... and the kit
lens looked nicer... although it only goes to 55mm rather than
70mm (equivalent lenses in 35mm is 28-80 vs 28-105. Both
lenses produce roughly equivalent image quality.
The difference in Canadian dollars is $799 for Pentax and $1169
for the Sony. You could probably buy the appropriate flash unit
for the difference in price.
For the 2 lens kit, the Pentax offers an 18 to 200mm range for
$999US, vs an 18 to 300mm range for the Sony at $1499. You
do have a 10 mpxl sensor in the Sony and a 6 mpxl sensor in the
Pentax, with much less digital noise in the Pentax at ISO 1600.
In fact, the Pentax offers acceptable ISO 3200 photography
while the Sony does not.
For the difference in price, you could get the top Pentax flash,
which is quite good.... wireless, just like the Sony.
If you have more money, and can afford it, you might consider
the new Nikon D80 which is coming out with an 18-135 VR lens,
for about $1500 US... I think. I read it last night, and what with
my memory as it is, I can always be wrong.
)
Many are happy with their Canon 350's, and I have a friend whose
daughter has one. She raves about it... and in fact just bought a
new Top Of The Line Mac laptop to process her DVD's and stuff.
(just under $5000 Canadian!!!!!) Needless to say, she is happy-happy!
My point is, that you will probably be very happy with whatever
you get... once you make your decision... don't look back and
wonder, "What if I had bought......". That is a road to gloom.
Many people on these forums here take wonderful pictures with
their P&S, and they don't whine and moan aboout what they
bought or didn't buy. Spend the energy taking pictures...
and good luck.
Also, what lens or lenses would you purchase with the Alpha?
As I indicated above, if you go the Sony way, a good start for
the least put out would be the two kit lenses. They can take
reasonable photos. You can always get better, but there is always
the law of deminishing returns in this high end. Like in stereo
equipment, you can get a reasonable system for $2500, but to
get a system that OBVIOUSLY sounds better, you would have
to go to the $5000 systems.... and to improve that so others
would notice a difference, you need to double that again.
In fact, with photographic equipment, you can't really see a lot
of difference if you double the price.... very reasonable, award
winning pictures have been taken with "common" equipment.
It will be what YOU do with the equipment. Look at the pics
shown on this, and other forums. Yes, the best are taken with
some awfully expensive lenses, but a lot of great shots have been
taken with kit lenses.
Once you experiment and get to know the zoom lenses, get a
50mm lens and get to know it well... maybe just use it by itself
for a month or so. That can teach you a lot, and would give you
some idea what you should get next. Check you EXIF files to
see what focal lengths you shoot at most. Then go from there.
And consider a good flash too!
--
Gil
Sardis, BC
Canada
