[yorkshirecath]

Hiya
I love photography but am very much an amateur and only just getting off using auto on my Nikon D50!
However, i don't really get on with the Nikon. Not sure what it is, just preference i guess.
So i'm after a new camera, under £500 preferably.
I very much like the look of the Sony A350 and wondered what your thoughts were? I do also take note that for a similar price people rave about the Canon 450D.
Any advice appreciated.

Cath x

[Valleyman]

When you say not sure what it is... do you mean the actual pictures themselves, or the handling of it?

If it's the latter then your best bet is to go to a camera store and handle the cameras yourself. No-one's opinion means squat on this front as it's a personal opinion (And to be fair Nikon are generally rated above the competition becuase they feel "better in the hand" and more intuitive to most). Just because your opinion differs from this doesn't mean you're wrong. But it does mean you should definately handle alternatives yourself and not go on others word.

[anthony566]

I second that... in the price range you are looking at all the DSLR's are very good at what they do in there own way and all have there ups and downs ( only small ones in my opinon ) but for me it was what felt right to me and had the options i was looking for so first and formost go and have a play with them if you have'nt already.

Good luck.

[yorkshirecath]

A bit of both really Valleyman.
I have handled both cameras and liked the feel of the Sony tbh but haven't looked at the quality of pictures from both cameras.
Am i right in thinking the Sony is more versatile for buying different lenses? I've noticed that minolta, Tamron and Sigma all fit?
Anthony, are you happy with the A350?

[anthony566]

Love it.... its better than i thought it would be and there are plenty of lenses around from third paty suppliers and the Sony range is getting bigger all the time the only thing I would ask you is do you want 14.2 MP or will 10.2MP be good enough ? if 10.2MP is good enough for you then go for the A300 as its the almost same as the A350 just with lower MP, 3fps and has slightly lower noise at hi ISO and is cheaper. also just buy the A300/350 body and pick a Sony 18-250MM lens and you will be good to go for a while. :-)

[senu]

Originally Posted by yorkshirecath

A bit of both really Valleyman.
I have handled both cameras and liked the feel of the Sony tbh but haven't looked at the quality of pictures from both cameras.

The lens used and person taking the picture make more of a difference than the body .
Although "out of the Box and camera" one may may appear to take better pictures, a little tweaking and know how make their output more similar( or even identical) than not

Am i right in thinking the Sony is more versatile for buying different lenses? I've noticed that minolta, Tamron and Sigma all fit?

You are wrong. Those third party lens makers make fits for all brands
Minolta fits because that is the origin of Sony digital SLRs and it is in essence not a third party lens for Sony DSLRs as such. Nikon and Canon make lenses for their own camera as well as accepting Tamron Tokina and Sigma lenses

[Lewis201]

IMO it's going to be really hard to help you not buy something you're going to be unhappy with again without some more info.

You said you're unhappy with image quality but, what specifically about the IQ of the D50? What lenses have you used with it? You may just have one of the settings set-up incorrectly.

You may have got the idea that Sony SLR's are more versatile for buying lenses because they have built in image stabilisation. This means you won't have to pay for stabilisation of every lens you buy. But even as a Sony user I won't try and convince you Sony have a comparible range of lenses to Nikon. However with Sony, Minolta and third-party manufacturer's lenses there's easily enough choice for amateurs.