Not knowing much about the camera itself, my main concern would be the fact its a Sony camera, so you wont have as many lens/accessory options for it, when compared to a Canon or Nikon.

Combined with the fact Ive always found Sony stuff to be a bit pricey for what it is. Sure its pricey quality, but its over and above what I feel is "right". I think this is true for the cameras as well?

I find the argument that Canikons have more accessories to be largely an illusion.

Consider if you will which accessories you are likely to actually buy. Most people have 2 or 3 lenses, usually the 18-55 which comes with the camera, a 70-300 or similar, maybe a ~50mm prime, maybe a 100mm macro, maybe a flashgun.

All the manufacturers produce all of these things. Most of the extra bits Canikon do which the others dont are far too expensive for any normal person to buy anyway, so why worry about them?


In my opinion the single most important thing when choosing a DSLR is how it feels in your hands. Is it the right size to feel comfortable? Do the controls fall easily to hand? Is the viewfinder image clear?

No one can tell you which SLR is right for you, the only way to know if you like one is to pick it up and try it. See if you can find a camera shop which stocks as wide a range as possible, pick up and hold as many as you can which are in your price range, then buy the one which feels right.


That said, one or two other considerations:

Do you have access to a cache of lenses to borrow? I originally went with Pentax largely because I could borrow my Dads lenses.

Method of anti-shake: Sony and Pentax do this with a moving sensor, meaning it works with any lens you can mount. Not sure of the details of the Sony system but in the Pentax case I can use anti-shake with any lens I can physically fix to the camera. Canon and Nikon do it with moving lens elements, which means you have to buy special (read bulkier and more expensive) lenses, but has the advantage that you can see the anti-shake working in the viewfinder.

Low light/High ISO performance: The only time youll notice any real image quality difference between some of the different makes and models. The Pentax K-x is supposed to be very good at this, Canon have traditionally been good at it, the Sony A-200 appears to have the same 10.2 MPix sensor as my Pentax K10D so will probably struggle at the top end of its ISO range. Olympus and Panasonic are at an automatic disadvantage in this area because of their tiny sensor.

Actual availability in your area: Notwithstanding what I said above, if you cant get hold of one, its going to be a pain. My favourite camera shop doesnt stock Canon for example. Buying camera stuff over the internet is all very well, but personally I always like to mount a lens on my camera and make sure there isnt anything obviously wrong with it before parting with several hundred quid for it. Plus you will often find yourself choosing between a Sigma, a Tamron and an Own Brand lens with roughly the same paper specs but wildly varying prices. Is that own brand lens £200 better? only one way to know.

In terms of accessories and stuff I dont see myself getting that into it for some time and if I do get to that point Id probably upgrade anyway. Ive only used an A200 and I really loved it - I wasnt planning on upgrading from my S9600 until I used the A200 and how nice it was. Might go into town at the weekend and try an A230 to see how it feels.

Cheers guys


Riv

Im not sure what the kit lens on the current Sonys is (at one point I think they were using an 18-70?) but one thing you will notice with a move from your fuji to a DSLR is that the kit lens is very short. To get the same reach on a DSLR as you have on your Fuji you will need a lens with a top end of 200mm, rather than the 55 or 70 that is likely to come with it.

Assuming you actually use all that reach and want to get it back with your DSLR, you have two realistic options:

1) Twin lens kit, so as well as the body you get the normal 18-55 and a ~50-200 or 70-300 telephoto zoom.

2) Single lens kit with a non-standard lens: A lot of camera shops will do you a deal where you get the camera and a Sigma or Tamron super-zoom (~18-250). Depending on the manufacturer you may be able to get an own brand super zoom option as well (I dont know if Sony do one, I know Nikon used to and it was surprisingly good, Pentax used to re-badge the Tamron at one point)


For ease of use obviously a single lens has advantages, but the compromises involved in the design mean that you sacrefice image quality and light gathering for convinience. That said the Tamron 18-250 is supposedly surprisingly good. Here you will get a bonus by going for either Sony or Pentax since the Tamron super zoom doesnt have an image stabiliser built in, and at 250mm with a lens that slow image stabilisation of some sort is really useful.

Cheers for that - actually did confirm a lot of my uneducated ideas. Ive bought an A200 with a stock lens, 8GB card, some filters and stuff for £220 delivered - happy with that as its mint, boxed and on less than 1000 shots. I suspected I might miss the distance on the s9600 zoom but I figured if I do Ill just purchase a similar spec lense. Going to see how I get on with stock first though as I loved my friends and Im sure hers was stock.

Good thing is Ive gifted the s9600 to my good lady so Ill always have it to hand should it be needed - it is an awesome camera to be fair.

Cheers for the advice

Now you have no excuse not to enter the experimental competition. Given its your first SLR pretty much any of yours shots are going to be an experiment for you

Main issues for me was availability of lenses and cost of memory sticks.

The Canons have an issue that the compactflash memory connector wasnt intended for repetitive use and the pins can be bent relatively easily. So far mine havent but its a worry.

I expect them to shift from CF to SDHC fairly rapidly.

Gah its arrived and Im in sodding Oxford all day!!! Want to go home!!