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God help the newbies!
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Bloomin hell they’re all at it now, if I was looking at buying an entry level SLR at the moment I think my head would explode!
Canon: 400D or 450D
Nikon: D40x or D60 or perhaps D80
Sony: D100 or D200 or D300 or D350!!!
Pentax: K10D or K100D or K110D or K100D Super
Olympus: E410 or E510
Panasonic: DMC L10
Samsung: GX 10OW!!! MY BRAIN!!
And i’ve probably left out loads!
And then there’s the compact market, which is just rediculous!
I know a bit of healthy competition is good and all but dear god tis a mid of a mine field for the first time buyer who doesn’t know their aperture from their shutter speed.
Anyone think it’s getting a bit mad? Of course the good thing is newer and better technology coming onto the market quicker, Sony’s new SLR’s have some fantastic features which i’d love to have on my 40D, instant Live View AF? Rotating screen? great stuff.
Anyhoo that’s a lot to chew over there, my apologies….rant over :)
But hey is this not a good thing. Competition is keeping the manufactures on there toes and pushing forward with development of ever improving cameras and good pricing.
But on the down side, I think some cameras are being rushed out too quickly, due to market pressures, not giving enough time to R&D. I mean we?ve seen the Canon 1Ds MkIII, come out with serious focus issues, Sony A100 lazy-eye flash and I?m sure there?s other issues and short comings that manufactures are aware of. That said some of the issues can be corrected later with a Firmware downloads.
But yes there is a lot of choice.
Brian_C wrote:
But on the down side, I think some cameras are being rushed out too quickly, due to market pressures, not giving enough time to R&D. I mean we?ve seen the Canon 1Ds MkIII
The 1Ds MkIII is a brilliant camera, but I think you mean the 1D MkIII had the focus issue. This issue only had an effect in specific conditions (high heat/light). I tried a 1D MkIII here (in the flawed serial number range), during a sports event, and didn’t have a problem with the AF on it. Recently I bought a 1D MkIII (outside the effected serial number range), and think it’s a stunning camera, especially for what I need.
In reality, there was a lot of hype about the flaw, which I can understand since the camera is the pro camera, top of the line sports/photojournalist camera. But, in the vast majority of cases, this flaw wouldn’t have been noticed.
Don’t forget, all the cameras announced at PMA wouldn’t be available for retail until at least March. So, buy now, or wait a few months?
I agree Sancho… it would be a nightmare to try and pick between the different manufacturers… to me the selling point would not be completely down to the body choice but also the lens range… Then again I dont know if I would have been thinking that way when I bought my first SLR… it was down to value for money more than anything…!
R
I went with Canon with a view to eventually getting up to a 1D. I’m at the 40D so far so i’m getting there. Also i felt Canon had a better choice of lenses. But now Nikon are releasing some really great bodies and i’m feeling a little jealous :) But by the time I can afford a 1D or 1Ds they’ll be just as feature packed as the D3 and indeed Sony’s latest SLR’s. Ya gotta love progress.
So much choice.
Ironically since I got my first DSLR I have picked up a couple of completely manual 35mm cameras and have shot them more often than digital.
Go figure.
Must be the ludlite in me :wink:
I think that buying a compact camera is almost impossible nowadays. I bought a Canon something for xmas as a present and I ended up looking for the low megapixel, low cost cameras…. the latest models are just stupid, they are not for humans. The point of the point n shoot is that it can work out of the box, no programs and modes…
As for the dslr’s, even the very entry level models are more than able to produce stunning images. You get a high-res, beautifully built camera with VR or IS kit-lenses and I think, there is no way someone could say, one is much better than the other. Sure, you have a bad time choosing, but at least you can be sure that the chosen model will work and it will be able to do what it’s meant to do.
I must admit I hate when friends ask me to recommend a compact / P&S digital, there is so much out there it’s nigh on impossible to keep up to date.
When I decided to get a DSLR just over a year ago, I went with the Sony A100, I was tempted by a Nikon, but as I have a good stock of AF lenses from my Minolta film kit it just made more sense to go with the A100 as it was compatible with my existing lenses. I could have put off getting the DSLR until Sony released more models, but there again you can keep putting it off if you are waiting for new models.
I’m very happy with the A100, nice camera, fast and fairly compact. I do however miss a vertical grip, Sony don’t make one for the A100 and while there are some 3rd party ones available I haven’t bought one yet.
David
dferrie wrote:
I’m very happy with the A100, nice camera, fast and fairly compact. I do however miss a vertical grip, Sony don’t make one for the A100 and while there are some 3rd party ones available I haven’t bought one yet.
David
Hiya David, I have an A100 too and a Vertical Grip. I looked around and the ppl over on dpreview forum raved about the best 3rd party grip being the Dicain Grip, so I got one, and it?s great. It even has the same colour and texture of the rubber on the A100. You won?t regret it. I think it was about ?90stg and they threw in a LCD screen protector.
PM me if you need the contact details.
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