Canon 1000D vs Sony Alpha 200

Hi there,

I now have an analogue Canon 3000V with 28-90mm and 90-300mm.

I have two options, either I stay with Canon and buy the 1000D with 18-55mm IS and keep the tele (no IS), and if I want to upgrade later, I can always buy a 55-250mm IS seperatly..

Another thing I noticed is that Sony sells its A200W (so with two lenzes) for about the same price as the 1000D+18-55mm..

This way I would get a telezoom with it for the same price.. Now I wonder whether Sony is as good as Canon? I get with Sony what would cost me around €200 extra with Canon, so it makes we wonder whether there's a big quality difference as well?

Thx for helping!

the sony is just discontinued, therfore the good price. However the newer model (a230) is mainly cosmetically different.

The sony is a good camera, and great value. one advantage is build in IS.

The sony normal zoom is said to be abit lower in image quality than other brands, but it covers a higher zoom range. in my view this is not a deal breaker ( check the review on this page).

The user interface of the 2 cameras is quite different, if you have a chance to hold them / try them out you might get a strong opinion which you prefer.

cheers

r.

Canon (and Nikon) are market leaders by a very wide margin. Whilst they may not have as many 'bells and whistles' on their cameras they do have processors that produce nice 'out of the box' photos in almost any situation. Also they have excellent accessory systems.

But Sony is also good because of the old Minolta heritage. You can fit AF lenses going way back to the mid 1980's. The old Minolta 'G' series of lenses was as good as anything on the market. Consider visiting dyxum.com to check out current lenses. A major advantage with Sony is that you will get image stabilisation on any lens you attach because the IS is built into the sensor housing.
--
John.
Please visit me at:
http://www.pbase.com/johnfr/digital_dartmoor

--

I think it is a good idea that you look at 10 Mpixels cameras. That will save you some money. The crop factor for the digital canon and the sony is 1.6 and 1.5 respectively. I don't think your canon tele 90-300 mm can fit the sony, - but if it could, you would have IS. The sony a200w can fit some older Minolta/Konica teles, that are available at ebay rather cheap, per example less than 200 $. They are autofocus (older motor type) and built for full format. Per example 80-200 mm zoom (an excelent very sharp zoom) and the beercans 70-210 and 70-300. This is another option for you. But you should check if there is an A-type adapter usable for your 90-300 mm tele (for the sony house).

Actually the Canon has a cmos sensor, and the sony has a ccd sensor. This means that the canon is less noisy, when you expose in low light, i.e. high iso numbers. I am not very sure if this will mean anything to you, since dslr's are much less noisy than compact cameras, due to their larger sensor.
To my knowledge the sony kit-lenses perform quite well.
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/sony-alpha-aps-c-lens-tests
The Canons:
http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/canon-eos

says that the 18-55 is an incredible lens. Also the 55-250 is excellent quality, optically.

Then I have one further comment, since tele is not really, what I need. I would prefer a 10-22 mm zoom. Do you use a tele for animals, birds or sport ? I don't.

So, if I want the Sony, I can't wait too long before it's sold out everywhere..

I checked the review as you said and the 1000D continously produces slightly better results, although that's probably not worth spending around €200 extra..

I'm going to a big shop where they have lots of camera's you can try this saturday, perhaps how it feels in my hands is probably more important than slightly better pictures..

Thx for the info!

schmaud said:

the sony is just discontinued, therfore the good price. However the
newer model (a230) is mainly cosmetically different.

The sony is a good camera, and great value. one advantage is build in
IS.
The sony normal zoom is said to be abit lower in image quality than
other brands, but it covers a higher zoom range. in my view this is
not a deal breaker ( check the review on this page).

The user interface of the 2 cameras is quite different, if you have a
chance to hold them / try them out you might get a strong opinion
which you prefer.

cheers

r.

Click to expand...

I checked some second-hand sites and there are indeed some bargains on Minolta lenzes..
Something to keep in mind

I don't really think something like that exists, I'll look into it

And from the sample pictures I've seen around here, the canon seems to produce (slightly) better results, I'll just have to see whether that's worth an extra €200..

I frequently use my telezoom now, I like to take pictures with a nice blurry background if you know what I mean.. Mostly details or flowers or something

I could go for the canon and keep using my old telezoom for now and buy the 55-250 IS if I really think I could use the IS.. Perhaps prices of those lenzes will go down, although i doubt that..

Thanks for the info!

lenskapje said:

I don't really think something like that exists, I'll look into it

And from the sample pictures I've seen around here, the canon seems
to produce (slightly) better results, I'll just have to see whether
that's worth an extra €200..

I frequently use my telezoom now, I like to take pictures with a nice
blurry background if you know what I mean.. Mostly details or flowers
or something

I could go for the canon and keep using my old telezoom for now and
buy the 55-250 IS if I really think I could use the IS.. Perhaps
prices of those lenzes will go down, although i doubt that..

Thanks for the info!

Click to expand...

If you think the Sony is the camera for you, you can always sell your canon lenses and put the money toward the Sony or Minolta lenses. You may actually come out ahead selling the Canon and buying the Minolta lenses.

Do not worry about noise and CCD vs CMOS sensors. Both have advantages and disadvantages. CMOS seems to have a little less noise at high ISO and CCD seems to have less noise at low ISO. Unless you pixel peep at 100%, you will not see any difference in normal use.

I bought the A200 because I was already a Minolta user and had several lenses. I am quite happy with it. As far as the high ISO and kit lens detractors, here is a shot I took of a stage show at ISO 1600, hand held, with the kit lens. I think it works just fine under these conditions. The kit lens is probably the least sharp of my lenses, but it is still a decent lens and has a nice convenient range.

Mmmh, considering that a concert doesn't exactly provide the best light and that being the regular kitlens, that's a pretty decent photo if you ask me..

I think I'll just decide it on what camera handles best for me, I'll be the one carying it around all the time

Thx for showing me that picture!

lenskapje said:

I think I'll just decide it on what camera handles best for me, I'll
be the one carying it around all the time

Click to expand...

That is the whole point. All of the cameras will give you good images. You need to hold them, try the menus and buttons, and see if the features you use most often are easy to access.

There is no right or wrong choice, only the right choice for you.

So, I heard about some big promotion abroad (only 70km from where I live) and went straight for it, so i got myself a 450D + 18-55 IS for 444 euro's! I'm really happy with it, normal prices here in Belgium are around 600, so I really spared some money on it..

I want to thank you guys for helping me out here and pointing out the differences.. The Canon really layed best in my hand, probably because I'm used to one now..

Anyways, thanks!

The other day I was at a camera shop and picked up a Sony DSLR the model number of which I didn't notice. I looked through the viewfinder and it reminded me of looking through a long dark tube. The image was quite small and dim compared to either of my Nikons. I would hate to think I had to use that crummy viewfinder for the next few years to take pictures. Perhaps the models you are considering are not that way but it is worth paying attention to.

Be careful to only look at Minolta AF lenses.

Take a look at Canon's used AF market as well. There's a lot more there.
--
Cheers, Craig

You absolutely made the right decision, in my opinion.
--
Cheers, Craig

Thanks for the reply, but I've already gone for a canon 450D..