sony a300 packed with features but what about pics

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ok i see so many wonderful features that the sony a300 has over the canon rebel xs and nikon d60. like the tilt live view, the auto focus, the built in stabilization, the switch from viewfinder to live view. but my question is are the pictures as good of quality as the canon and nikon? has anyone tried all three cameras and which do you prefer and why?

rpvelez said:

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ok i see so many wonderful features that the sony a300 has over the
canon rebel xs and nikon d60. like the tilt live view, the auto
focus, the built in stabilization, the switch from viewfinder to live
view. but my question is are the pictures as good of quality as the
canon and nikon? has anyone tried all three cameras and which do you
prefer and why?

Click to expand...

I'm more than please by the photos that I get from mine. I think you'll find that the different brands at that level are pretty comparable as far as IQ is concerned. Go to the Flickr Alpha group and look at some of the A200 A300 photos and see if you like them. Don't go by what others say. Here's the link.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sony_alpha/

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http://flickr.com/photos/holycrap/

I don't know about the direct comparison, but what I know is that I have an A300 and I'm very happy with it. I have no gripe about the IQ, and I really like its specific features so wouldn't want one of the other cameras and miss on them.

One fact is that the A300 has more noise in high ISO and possibly lower quality JPEGs according to what most say, but again I'm happy with what I get, even in low light.

Browse my gallery (link below), 95% are shot with my A300, and there's a bit of everything.

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http://www.rc-tech.ch/gallery
http://www.rc-tech.ch/aviation

The short answer is no because I have never tried the Nikon. I do use a similar Canon though (EOS400D) and the Sony A200 which I imagine will be comparable in to the A300 in terms of picture quality.

And which is better.... well that's like saying which is better out of Ford or GM. And in that case too I have both and I prefer the Ford but there are many things about the GM (Vauxhall) that I like too. Ditto the cameras. And someone else could easily and justifiably decide the reverse.

The fact is that in similar price bands the products are all broadly similar each with advantages in certain areas. No manufacturer is capable of a knock out blow in such a tightly contested market. For me I prefer the Canon's bigger viewfinder (even than the A200, god forbid the A300), I prefer its menu system and control layout as I can gain quicker access to the controls I use most often, I like the swift and quiet AF and the sweet sound it makes when you press the shutter (contrast to the dull thunk of the A200). It's a joy to use, though a bit fiddly to handle.

I find the A200 nicer to hold and handle and it feels better built, albeit not by much. The menu and controls are not as nice and some features are hidden more deeply in menus than I would like. AF is similar speed but more honest - when it can't find the subject it hunts annoyingly (and noisily with some lenses) but gives you a chance to have another go. The Canon, unfortunately, is rather less accurate which results in me having to throw away a lot more pictures due to focussing errors, particularly in poor light. In fact this is a leading reason why I take the Canon "into the field" less and less, despite it having much that I like about it. The other reason is the Canon's tendency to blow out highlights. So there you have it, I love the Canon, and I enjoy using it very much but I am often underwhelmed by the results and find I have to discard far more images from Canon shoots than from Sony.

But even then it's not cut and dried. Despite the Canon's tendency to blow out highlights I find the Sony the metering hates backlight and more or less anything with even a half bright sky behind it ends up underexposed. In certain types of light I don't trust it at all and end up taking a full range of exposures in the hope of getting at least one I can work with. One these days I'll take both cameras out to such an environment and do some test shooting to see how the Canon deals with it.

Those are the three main reasons to choose one of those three brands over the others. Image quality, in my opinion, is as near to equal overall as it can be, and more dependent on the lenses used and the user. While each might have some advantage IQ-wise, overall they're all fine.

So pick the best price. Pick the ergonomics you like the best. Pick the features you like the best. Pick the one with the most lenses you want.

That's my opinion. I shopped those brands...and I'd have been happy with any of them had I bought them. But I picked the Sony, for the price, the lenses, the feel, the handling, and the features.

I am extremely happy, love the IQ I'm getting, and would make the same choice if I had to do it all over again.

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Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

I've had the Nikon D40 and although IQ was very good, the camera was very inconsistent in terms of exposure. DR was some what limited and I really felt the limitation in terms of lens compatibility due to the fact that the D40 (and since then, the D40x and D60) did not have AF built in. Thus, older lenses (the more reasonably priced ones) would become MF lenses. Add to that the fact that the D40 does not have IS and I ended up selling it after 2 months. Since then I've had the Pentax K100, the Oly E510, the Sony A300 and now I have the Oly E520, which I like very much. Out of the bunch, the A300 definitely has the best LV implementation (the E510/520 sucks in this area, even though they pioneered the system). IQ is also good but the camera suffers from its poor kit lens. I bought a few lenses (Tamron, Minolta) during the period I had the camera but felt that none compared to my Zuiko lenses, reason why I decided to get the E520. In terms of features, both the A300 and the Oly E520 are comperable. The A300 has tilting LCD, which is very handy, specially considering that the LV works so well. This feature would not be as importnat on the E520 because LV is unusable anyway. I still have a Tamron 28-300mm Di for the Sony and looking at the prices of the A300, I might just buy myself one (again). I really like the Tamron lens not only because of its IQ but its versatility. Having that FL range w/o having to swap lenses on a DSLR is priceless (IMO). I recently went on a trip to the California Caverns and took the E520 and two lenses with me. I found it very cumbersome to swap lenses during the guided tour so in the end, I kept the 14-54mm on camera all the time and missed many opportunities to take great close ups of the rock formations. So, with all that said, I'd say the A300 is a great camera for the price. I just wish Sony would sell the body only as many other manufacturers do.

If someone showed you three pictures - one from Canon, Nikon, and Sony each - it would be impossible for anyone on this forum to correctly identify which came from which camera.

All SLR's in the same price range produce identical-quality photos, by the universal rule.

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It is more than capable of getting great images. I got some tremendous ones with my old A100. Remember that the biggest thing that will impact IQ (aside from operator skill) is the lens.

I would get a feel for all three by trying them out in a store. All DSLRs can get great images. I'd see which ones work best for you ergonomically and decide from there. For me when I bought into the Sony system a reason was that the A100 fit better in my hand and felt better built than the alternatives.

I'd also caution you on the D60. It is the only DSLR I would feel limited by. Why? Because it cannot autofocus a lot of current Nikon lenses, most third party lenses, and just about all used lenses. If you end up expanding your system your options will be much more limited and you'll lose out on the ability to get used and third party bargains in most cases. For some types of lenses you cannot find a lens that will auto focus on it period. The reason is that it lacks an in-body lens motor and can only AF with lenses that have an inlens motor. No other DSLR has that limitation.