If you were upgrading ...

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ThankHeavenForShed 7

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From a beginners DSLR, such as a Sony a200, to a solid mid-range camera, what would you go for? Just starting to daydream/plan ahead.
 


Thanks for that Peachy. I was actually being a little lazy and hoping that the SMB could narrow down the ever expanding field of DSLR's for me.

I'm starting to feel like I'm outgrowing the Sony a200 and I've been visiting a friend who owns a brand new D60. It's really got me thinking that it's geting time to upgrade so I'm starting to plan for when I've got the money and the missuses has come round to the idea! Can't decide whether to stick with Sony or switch to Canon or Nikon. I always thought I'd stick with Sony but I was bowled over by the D60 and more specifically the qualiy of the glass. What would everyone else do?
 
If I was changing to a DSLR I'd save up and get the best Canon I could afford. My last Canon (A1) has served me well over the last 28 years. Choose your brand and stick with it. Canons have always done well in Which Camera? type stuff (along with Nikon a close second mostly and Pentax often do well too ) . Sony don't register with me because they seem to be new to the camera market? But my daughter rates her little Sony (point/shoot) so could be worth researching the brand.
 
AB22 Easy Tiger said:
How much have you spent on lenses for the Sony?
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Should've mentioned that I've not invested that heavily in stuff for the Sony. Only got the kit 18-70 lens (which, by the way, is not very good!), a Tamron 70-300 and an old Minolta 50 (an excellent lens which I picked up for next to nothing).
 
What's your budget ? I'd favour the D90 over the D60 if only because the D60 only has three autofocus points, something I have found to be a bit of an inconvenience. The D90 has 9, which offers greater ease of use in certain situations. No problems with the images out of either of them although the lowest ISO the D60 will go down to is (IIRC) 200. I think the D90 has ISO expansion, which will take you down to ISO 100. The Canon 550D would be slightly cheaper but you get a tilting screen with it. I think you'd have to go for the Nikon D5000 to get that. Both highly competent cameras, IMO.
 
ThankHeavenForShed 7 said:
Should've mentioned that I've not invested that heavily in stuff for the Sony. Only got the kit 18-70 lens (which, by the way, is not very good!), a Tamron 70-300 and an old Minolta 50 (an excellent lens which I picked up for next to nothing).
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stick with sony man and go and check out the A500, very very good camera, 9 focus points, tilting screen, live view, good high iso performance, comes with the 18-55 lens which is far better than the 18-70 old kit lens, sell the a200, probs get around £200 if in good nick on ebay, then ya wont have too much to add to it for the 500.
 
DBCII said:
What's your budget ? I'd favour the D90 over the D60 if only because the D60 only has three autofocus points, something I have found to be a bit of an inconvenience. The D90 has 9, which offers greater ease of use in certain situations. No problems with the images out of either of them although the lowest ISO the D60 will go down to is (IIRC) 200. I think the D90 has ISO expansion, which will take you down to ISO 100. The Canon 550D would be slightly cheaper but you get a tilting screen with it. I think you'd have to go for the Nikon D5000 to get that. Both highly competent cameras, IMO.
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I've dropped a bollock here! I meant 60D!
I haven't really settled on a budget yet as I can't really afford to do anything just yet, but I want to spend as much as possible and I think the 60D will be around my range.

clyde said:
stick with sony man and go and check out the A500, very very good camera, 9 focus points, tilting screen, live view, good high iso performance, comes with the 18-55 lens which is far better than the 18-70 old kit lens, sell the a200, probs get around £200 if in good nick on ebay, then ya wont have too much to add to it for the 500.
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Does the 500 have HD video? I always thought I would be loyal to Sony but I was blown away by the quality of the 60D. How does the 500 handle noise? One of the biggest issues I have with the 200 (aside from the kit lens) is that shooting with the ISO anywhere from 400 upwards is essentially pointless because of the noise. The long exposure noise reduction isn't that great either.
 
If you can afford it and you are going for a high end APS-C type body go for the Nikon D7000, better than the 60D in my opinion. They are very close like, but I prefer nikon ergonomics and they always feel more solid to me.
 
scraff said:
If you can afford it and you are going for a high end APS-C type body go for the Nikon D7000, better than the 60D in my opinion. They are very close like, but I prefer nikon ergonomics and they always feel more solid to me.
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Funnily enough I'm the exact opposite.

What this does highlight however is that he should hold each of the cameras and go with one he's comfortable with.
 
AB22 Easy Tiger said:
Funnily enough I'm the exact opposite.

What this does highlight however is that he should hold each of the cameras and go with one he's comfortable with.
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I'm not really at the stage of holding stuff in my hand yet...was just looking for some cameras to research. Mind, I thought the 60D felt f***ing fantastic in my hands.
 
AB22 Easy Tiger said:
Funnily enough I'm the exact opposite.

What this does highlight however is that he should hold each of the cameras and go with one he's comfortable with.
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Same with me I struggle with the ergonomics of Nikon, Canon are OK but Sony actually felt very good. Olympus was terrible handling wise for me which was a shame as it was a cracking camera. TBH the main reason I bought my Pentax was the feel of it (and the in built stabilisation and the plethora of cheap lenses you can buy).
 
D90 for me. Used one quite a bit and it's superb. Pretty much on par with my supposedly higher end and certainly much heavier D2X.
 
The main thing about going to the 60D is usability. It has dual control wheels - taking you away from a reliance on menus to change the structure of a shot. The ISO expansion also takes you down to ISO 12, which makes me a bit jealous ! I used a 50D and it had a curious design inconsistency in that it seemed to have inherited a exposure compensation button from it's cheaper rellies but it didn't actually serve any purpose as far as I could tell because the exposure dial is displayed in the top control window anyway. Odd that.
 
I tested a Pentax 645d last week, and it looks terrific

Unfortunately it is £10,000

I would still call it a downgrade from film gear though :lol:
 
Wire me the six and a half grand, I'll fly across and buy it for you and get someone to bring it back to the UK for you - problem solved. I've also got 25 million frozen in my late fathers bank account if you fancy some of that too just need 20 grand to get things moving.
 
taipeisafc said:
Wire me the six and a half grand, I'll fly across and buy it for you and get someone to bring it back to the UK for you - problem solved. I've also got 25 million frozen in my late fathers bank account if you fancy some of that too just need 20 grand to get things moving.
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Nee bother old chum. Transfer me a security deposit of $100000 and I'll send the cash pronto :cool:

Have you seen any in actual shops over there?

Only 2 stockists in the UK, but plenty of bullshitters who think they can get it
 
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