Sony Alpah A200 or a Cannon EOS 20D

[zack1978]

Hi all

I want to get a DSLR i have a budget of £300

I am interested in the Cannon EOS 20D with a 18-55 IS lens which can be picked up between £250-£300

Or a

Sony Alpha A200 for £250 from Argos

Which one offers the best IQ and is good at high ISO

thanks

[Pirate!!]

Arguably, the Canon will have better high ISO than Sony . . . that said it will depend on your requirements and shooting style. If you have an f/1.7 or so 50mm for example, the ISO issue doesn't come into play so much due to the wide aperture, so lower ISOs can be used.

I'm sure you can get a better deal on the A200 than Argos though! Have you trawled EvilBay?

[maclove]

Get a newr Canon 40D - around $700 (refurb?) B&H.
Paying for old camera technology is a losing game, and poor investment if you ever decide to move forward. I have old cameras, and sooner, rather than later, their results will disappoint you. Canon has a better 'system', you can buy older autofocus and manual lenses off ebay. Only do business with 99.5% and better rated people. Take into account 50,000 sales and 99.5% is different from 500 sales and 99.5%. I have about 900 succesful transactions, that's what i base my advice on.
Buy decent lenses also, whatever you can afford. A 18-400 might be only $300, but you'll have terrible optics and major distortion, a waste of money. Try Kenrockwell for reviews.

[zack1978]

Originally Posted by maclove

Get a newr Canon 40D - around $700 (refurb?) B&H.
Paying for old camera technology is a losing game, and poor investment if you ever decide to move forward. I have old cameras, and sooner, rather than later, their results will disappoint you. Canon has a better 'system', you can buy older autofocus and manual lenses off ebay. Only do business with 99.5% and better rated people. Take into account 50,000 sales and 99.5% is different from 500 sales and 99.5%. I have about 900 succesful transactions, that's what i base my advice on.
Buy decent lenses also, whatever you can afford. A 18-400 might be only $300, but you'll have terrible optics and major distortion, a waste of money. Try Kenrockwell for reviews.

The EOS 40D is expensive in the UK at the moment £750 (17-85 USM IS Lens) even second hand prices are £600+
My budget is only £300 the which gives me 3 choices Nikon 40, Sony a200 or the EOS 20D

[denno75uk]

I have the 30D which I believe was only a marginal upgrade from the 20D. Bigger screen and addition of spot metering (which I hardly ever have used) are the main differences I noticed looking at the spec on dpreview.
I've had my 30D for around 3 years now and still absolutely love it. Got the Tamron 17-50 this year and it gave it a new lease of life. As has my constant learning. The camera has done what I hoped, that is allow me to grow with it and still gives me superb results when I'm on the ball. One of the nicest things about it is that it feels like a step up from the more basic models just because of the controls if nowt else. Very easy to adjust everything on the fly. All in, a very rewarding camera to use. Sure there are features on the newer models which would be nice, and I sure as hell can't afford to upgrade anyway, but the 30D still does plenty so well that it means I don't have a great need to upgrade at all.
On that basis I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the 20D if you can get one. TBH you may even be lucky enough to find a 2nd hand 30D for not much more than your budget. Though considering the (lack of) differences between the two, I'd just get whichever you find first.