dslr choice ,heads battered ,help

[dalex1]

I have a max of £400 for a camera and memory(not bothered about bags)
had OM10 went digital compact route and currently have a Kodak Z740 which is good,has manual control but not an SLR ,camera is for family pictures,holiday snaps,sport and a zoom at later date.
I have narrowed it down to these but cant decide so any help is appreciated
ooo and live view for the MRS

Sony A300 on sale at moment and can buy minolta beercan at later date

Canon 1000D ticks the boxes and can get zoom later

Nikon D60 ticks the boxes but lenses need motor so expensive for zoom later

and a bit of an outsider but ticks more boxes for money

olympus E420 dual lense kit with bag and memory seems to be best bet at the moment

really after a few pros and cons from owners

Cheers
Dave

 

[Yandros]

Some random thoughts...

Save money and look at the A200 (or the new A230). On a tight budget money better spent on lenses. Unbeatable value, bit noisy at high ISO.

Lack of focus motor makes little difference to long lens prices on the D60. The Sigma 70-300 APO DG macro supports the D60, as do most mainstream lenses. Biggest difference is that the A200 gets image stabilisation on a 70-300mm lens for peanuts, vs the £360 Nikon 70-300VR

Olympus is lacking is a bit off in their own little tangent, without much 3rd party lens support. Good cameras, but not sure on the long term viability of the 4/3 mount in a world going full frame bit by bit.

1000D - middle of the road - has a wider range of lenses than the D60, but also shares the lack of in-body image stabilisation, so again your long stabilised zooms work out more expensive.

 

[P-P-S-S]

I have a max of £400 for a camera and memory(not bothered about bags)
had OM10 went digital compact route and currently have a Kodak Z740 which is good,has manual control but not an SLR ,camera is for family pictures,holiday snaps,sport and a zoom at later date.
I have narrowed it down to these but cant decide so any help is appreciated
ooo and live view for the MRS

Sony A300 on sale at moment and can buy minolta beercan at later date

Canon 1000D ticks the boxes and can get zoom later

Nikon D60 ticks the boxes but lenses need motor so expensive for zoom later

and a bit of an outsider but ticks more boxes for money

olympus E420 dual lense kit with bag and memory seems to be best bet at the moment

really after a few pros and cons from owners

Cheers
Dave

There are quite a few Nikon lenses with VR that are not too expensive and you can also get third party lenses (Tamron, Sigma) that are good and have VR too. Just a suggestion but have you looked at Sony A350? Good camera with plenty of features if you like the feel of Sony cameras that is.

 

[dalex1]

Been and had a play with them all and there isnt a lot of difference ,think the A300 on sale at moment will get the nod for IS and live view

any more thoughts

Dave

 

[eduk]

Been and had a play with them all and there isnt a lot of difference ,think the A300 on sale at moment will get the nod for IS and live view

any more thoughts

Dave

The A300 is a bargain.

 

[chrism_scotland]

I've recently sold my A300, it was a cracking first camera, but I wanted to take advantage of the current low A700 price.

 

[dalex1]

Job done,walked out of high street store with sony a300 18-70 kit lens,55 mm uv filter ,4gb extreme 3 and a centon bag(not what i would have picked but its okay)
for ..... after a haggle £320
bargain and a very impressive bit of kit

thanks for advice

Dave

 

[eduk]

Job done,walked out of high street store with sony a300 18-70 kit lens,55 mm uv filter ,4gb extreme 3 and a centon bag(not what i would have picked but its okay)
for ..... after a haggle £320
bargain and a very impressive bit of kit

thanks for advice

Dave

Very well done, great camera, bargain price, enjoy it.

 

[Delvey]

Job done,walked out of high street store with sony a300 18-70 kit lens,55 mm uv filter ,4gb extreme 3 and a centon bag(not what i would have picked but its okay)
for ..... after a haggle £320
bargain and a very impressive bit of kit

thanks for advice

Dave

was this from jessops?

 

[dalex1]

yeah
went in ,they had one reserved and one display model,agreed to take display model for £250 (£50 off the £360 package),deal done,other assistant came past and said he had reserved for a man who said he would be back same day and he didnt ,so i got the reserved one for £250 (its was £375 2 weeks prior)as we had agreed price.
Unusual for me as I always miss the bargains lol

very impressive camera on auto and manual and Me and the Mrs love the live view,no more lying on ground for snaps

Dave

 

[Pirate!!]

Jessops have the A300 + kit lens for £299.00

 

[Ufotone]

Jessops have the A300 + kit lens for £299.00

Hope you dont mind me jumping in on this thread

Been lurking around the digital photography area reading up with a view to buy an entry level begginers dslr very soon....

I've been looking at the A200 from a well known catalogue retailer and a good price by all accounts....

But If I opted for the A300 instead what benefits would I get over the A200? Are the differences something I would kinda grow into? if you know what I mean.

Thanks for any advice!

Tony

 

[Pirate!!]

I would assume you've done your research on this. In essence the A300 has live view with a tilting LCD screen, otherwise they are the same.

A200K from Amazon @ £259.95. £40.00 for live view . . . .

 

[Ufotone]

Many thanks for that

Done lots of reading, gets confusing after a while...

Didn't realise that was the difference, so thanks again

Tony

 

[Delvey]

Also same price in argos. Buy Sony Alpha 200 10MP DSLR Black Camera with 18-70mm Lens. at Argos.co.uk Is the liveview really worth the extra £40? They also have the D40 for just a little over £240 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...cat_12109590|Digital+SLR+cameras|12109637.htm Decisions decisions

 

[eduk]

Is the liveview really worth the extra £40?

Yes.

 

[chrism_scotland]

Certainly as my first DSLR I found Liveview useful in learning on my A300, however I've opted now for the A700 without liveview, and I find the larger viewfinder is excellent and depth of field preview is good too.
I can't say I miss liveview as I didn't use it a lot but I can see situations where it can be useful, but getting back to the point I would buy an A300 over an A200.