Help for my friend..

[StephenJ]

He's after a DSLR and has currently been looking at this-

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...cat_12109590|Digital+SLR+cameras|12109637.htm

any opinions, comments & alternatives would be lovely. thanks in advance.

Stephen

 

[Gaz.]

They seem to get mixed reviews on the web. Take him along to Jessops, and let him have a play with all the cameras within that budget.
Personally, I think they look a bit better specced than a Nikon D40 which is of similarl price.

 

[StephenJ]

Yea that was my first thought, spec list is closer to my D60!

 

[Teshi]

Their lens lineup is total poo. Only positive things is their HVL-F58M flashgun (but costs a bucket) and their Zeiss lenses (trade your wife prices).

Their consumer range lenses work but honestly, not really somehting I could get something serious with. Are they planning on long term photography or just something to take pics?

 

[StephenJ]

well he's a plane spotter :sleepy: so would be mainly for that, although it will also be used for 'cruises' etc...

 

[Teshi]

Plane spotting, a good long lens 300/400mm+ is going to be needed and looking at Sony's range, nothing which would be decent enough.

The camera is not what should be looked at, its the lenses. You can use a basic camera with one of the best bits of glass on the market and it will smoke the best camera with a kit lens in terms of IQ.

 

[172Ben]

maybe a Nikon D40 for that price range?

 

[dunganick]

Plane spotting, a good long lens 300/400mm+ is going to be needed and looking at Sony's range, nothing which would be decent enough.

The camera is not what should be looked at, its the lenses. You can use a basic camera with one of the best bits of glass on the market and it will smoke the best camera with a kit lens in terms of IQ.

As alot of people on the forum will have predicted i would disagree with you mate.

Sony do a couple of decent 300mm lenses, they do the 300mm f2.8 G which is an awesome lens (was leant one for an afternoon) but worth about 20x what the body is worth. They do the 70-400 (canon 100-400 equivilent) which retails about 1.2k, or down the consumer end of the market they do a 75-300 and a 70-300G. Ontop of which almost all of the current sigma range come in minolta fitment so you would have choices like the Bigma, which is a 500mm, it may be no canon L lens, but its not trying to be, its a pretty budget lens, as is this body, but it punches above its weight.

For the money i would give the sony a go, its going to be better than the nikon d40 which has an even more limited lens line-up.

 

[unofficialPete]

I'd personally tell my mates to buy into the same system as me = lenses for them but if thats not an idea tell him to go play with a few and look at the price of some longer glass.

 

[Teshi]

As alot of people on the forum will have predicted i would disagree with you mate.

Sony do a couple of decent 300mm lenses, they do the 300mm f2.8 G which is an awesome lens (was leant one for an afternoon) but worth about 20x what the body is worth. They do the 70-400 (canon 100-400 equivilent) which retails about 1.2k, or down the consumer end of the market they do a 75-300 and a 70-300G. Ontop of which almost all of the current sigma range come in minolta fitment so you would have choices like the Bigma, which is a 500mm, it may be no canon L lens, but its not trying to be, its a pretty budget lens, as is this body, but it punches above its weight.

For the money i would give the sony a go, its going to be better than the nikon d40 which has an even more limited lens line-up.

No doubt there but as soon as you try to take it more seriously, you are hard pressed to find better optics without paying hefty price tags. Whilst it is backwards compatible with older Minolta lenses, I cant really say its worth it for what you pay. I would rather invest in a 450D/D60 and then put the rest of the money towards a nice bit of glass to get me going.

 

[Gaz.]

For the money i would give the sony a go, its going to be better than the nikon d40 which has an even more limited lens line-up.

As long as you can live with manual focusing there's 100's of lenses.

 

[dunganick]

I would rather invest in a 450D/D60 and then put the rest of the money towards a nice bit of glass to get me going.

The 450d i agree on, canon is afterall the best system by far:approve: But the nikon d60 is another Afs only system is it not? again limiting your lens choice quite considerably.

As long as you can live with manual focusing there's 100's of lenses.

Not sure manual focus will be too easy with aeroplane photography.

 

[koi]

Seen some pictueres taken by the Sony DSLR's and they are actually pretty good. Not quite as established as the likes of Canon and Nikon but they are getting good reviews.

For plane spotting the bundled lens would not have the desired range so will definitely need to be replaced. Not sure how much lens for the Sony are though.

I would recommend your friend to buy the same make of camera as yourself so that you can share equipment. This is one of the reasons I regret getting my Canon, it's a great camera but it sucks when everyone else that I know are using Nikon.