£333 for Nikon D40X or £325 for Sony A100

TrevorC

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This will be my first digital SLR camera so I'm not currently tied to any brand and lenses.
I am looking at getting an entry level SLR, either the Nikon D40x or the Sony A100. Currently the A100 is £325 in Argos and the D40x is £383 in Dixons - £10(Jan10) - £40 cashback = £333.
The spec's are very similar for both but I have only managed to have a 'play' with the D40x. I have read reviews that are favorable of the A100 and it does look to be a bargain at the moment. I know the A200 is coming soon but I cant see how it would be of much benefit to me at the moment.

If you had to choose, Sony or Nikon what would you go for? there is only £8 between them. The Sony I can get first thing tomorrow, the Nikon would be about 5 days.....
I have a feeling impatience is getting the better of me!
 
It's up to you, isn't it?

Sony:

Built in image stabilisation
Autofocuses with everything you put on it
Built in wireless flash

Nikon:

Nikon lens range
Better high ISO

Now, are you in the market for one of the lenses not available to you in Sony mount (for a beginner the only one I can think of is an 85mm 1.8), do you think you'll use high ISO a lot, do you want access to cheap, 3rd party lenses that can autofocus and do you want stabilisation in every lens without having to pay for it and in lenses that Nikon don't have stabilised versions of? Quick edit - the Sony has wireless flash built in if you get an external flash at some point.

Answer that and you've got your answer.
 
I have never used a D40X and therefore speak from profound ignorance (as usual) but I have a A100 which produces excellent results. I have accumulated a number of terrific lenses in the appropriate mount and am delighted with them (especially the Minolta 500 reflex). The super steady shot IS system is a real help for photography in low light or with long lenses. I find the user interface very good (unlike the Nikon Coolpix 5700 and 8700 that I had before - although I admit that these probably have different UIs than the D40X). I can only recommend the A100 and would be surprised if you would be unhappy with it (dammit I paid more than twice as much for mine!) - Roger
 
I was in the same position about 2 weeks ago. It was between Nikon D40x, Canon 400D and was considering Sony A100 as well. Used to be Canon man (not DSLR but compact digital with manual control) but i went for D40x as my first DSLR and i'm glad.
So it's depend on you again, if you can't wait :D you can get Sony tomorrow :)
 
Thanks for the replies.
To answer some of the questions, Yes I probably will want to shoot in low light so anti shake and ISO should be a factor. I was under the impression that both of them had an ISO range of 100 - 1600? only the A200 was increased to 3200?
The lens situation is a whole new area for me and I am still learning about the different types etc... At the end of the day this will not be used for 'professional' shots, mainly as an introduction into the world of SLR's. Saying that I do want my shots to look as professional as I can.
 
For the low light, i was looking at 1 of Nikon lens, 50mm f1.8 and it's only about £70. The thing is with D40x it won't auto focus, manual focus only. But the lens is really good and sharp for low light (that's what i heard and from some pics as well). Not sure about other make if they do similar lens
 
From what i see Argos is £330 and not £325? Not a lot of difference, but worth mentioning me thinks...


I'd have chosen the D40X if it wasn't for the prices of lenses with image stabilisation in them. Even secondhand they fetch a lot of money, unlike the Sony when you check out prices on Ebay for Minolta lenses.
 
55-200mm Nikkor VR can be added for about £140 (not a great deal of money IMO).
 
True, but how much are other sized lenses with VR/IS going to be?
 
True, but how much are other sized lenses with VR/IS going to be?

I'll answer that...

The new Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S VR DX is £180
The superb Nikon 18-200VR is dropping to a more sensible £450ish
The oft-recommended 70-300VR is about £300

Unless you shoot static subjects in low light, VR in the 18-55 range is of limited use. I have used it for handheld landscapes, but more often for churches, museums and stately homes. If you don't take photo's of this sort of stuff, you'll probably not get much value from it. In-lens image stabilisation is marginally better than in-body, but costs a bomb, particularly at the long tele range. For VR at 400mm+, it would be cheaper to buy an A100 body for that purpose alone!
 
Just a comment on high ISO shooting Trevor - The D40x and Sony A100 have essentially the same Sony made sensor, and it's very similar to the one in my Nikon D200. The main differences is the way noise reduction is applied in-camera. Nikon tend to focus on reducing the multi-coloured chroma noise, resulting in a slightly more pleasing film-like grain at high ISO. The A100, to my eyes at least, is not as nice.

To be honest 1600 ISO is as high as I'd ever want to push that sensor, and only then in an emergency. You start losing detail above 1000 ISO pretty badly. If either of them claim to do 3200 ISO, it's pretty academic, as the results would be awful.
 
Thanks for that Yandros.

It's a difficult thing to decide as there are pros and cons of both unit's, but today i went for the A100 out of Argos. It is the silver version(which i wasn't expecting but ho-hum) and was happier to buy a camera where i wasn't limited to spending £100+ on lenses new or secondhand. The only pitfall was the high ISO with the Sony. Seen a good number of pictures with the Sony at high ISO and was a bit upset at how grainy it was, but i knew i wouldn't be getting to deep into high ISO's and then printing out the pictures as big as A3, so figured it wouldn't bother me.
 
Just got the D40x from Dixons - actually, it's £329 with all the incentives if you buy it on-line.
I love it. The VR lenses are available via ebay (regardless of what some may say, ebay can produce excellent bargains from established vendors).
In any respect, the 55-200 VR lens is available at sub-£130.
 

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