looking to purchase a camera

[mva5142]

and have some questions. Any guidance is appreciated.

We are looking to get into a SLR. Pretty amatuer with photography knowledge. Mainly looking for something that takes good pictures inside churches and schools, at soccer games and general family stuff.

I have looked at either the d3000 or the rebel xs. Both look comparable to me for what we will use it for.

I have seen a few sony's as well. Looks like they have image stabilization in the camera but not sure. Doesn't seem to be as much feedback on the sony's as the nikon and canon. Any reason why.

Budget is somewhat flexible. I have seen some packages on the above cameras for 550$ or so. Budget would be about 700$ for camera and lenses Not opposed to buying just the body and then a couple decent lenses. Have seen where people don't care for the package lenses.

Any guidance would be most helpful. Looks like with the canon or nikon, there would always be lenses and accesories with it. Is it the same for the sony?

Thanks very much.

Matt

[scotty]

Stick with Nikon or Canon and you won't go wrong. Go to a camera store and hold both brands in your hands. Mess with the buttons and dials. Pick the one whose controls fit you best. Same thing as with a bow. One of them will speak to you. Buy that brand, UNLESS someone close to you owns a particular brand of camera, and would loan you lenses. Then you might want to pick that brand. Camera bodys become obsolete fairly quickly, but good glass is forever. Narrow the brand down and you will get a ton of good advice here.

[Archery1st]

I have one in the classifieds that might just fit the bill.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118252

This is a great starter slr and takes great pictures it will also work with all of the high end Sony A mount lenses. I just recently went to buy a new lens and ended up going all in and bought a new camera and all.

The other plus is a compable Tamron/Sigma lens is generally a lot cheaper for the Konica Minolta / Sony mount then a comparable Nikon/Canon.

The built in anti-shake is a huge plus in low light.

Check it out.

Thanks,
Bruce
512-635-1475

[Shane]

Lens selection is the big advantage that Canon and Nikon have over the others. The big 2 have tons of lenses available at different price points and different focal lengths and other features. Other manufacturers like Sony have some nice lenses, but just not near the selection to choose from.

IS in the camera body with Sony is cool, but again....lens selection is more limited. No matter what len(es) you start with, you WILL want more lenses for different situations and specialties later on. IS is useful in many situations you mention you want to take pictures in, but in sports photography it doesn't help much. IS can combat camera shake in slower shutter speeds, but for sports you need fast shutter speeds to stop the fast action anyway. That can mean that you need large apertures (more expensive lenses) and/or high ISO settings on the camera (more expensive cameras have better image quality at high ISOs). If you are shooting sports in bright sunlight, then it's not as much of an issue. But indoors or at night under lights, it gets harder to get fast shutter speeds without more expensive equipment.

[jdma]

I agree with Shane on this one. I personally use the canon's and have for a while. I started with the Canon Rebel and it did me well for many years. I bought the kit then have upgraded lenses over the years and now I am looking to upgrade the camera to a Canon 7D. Lens selection is very important to the quality you are looking for.

[mva5142]

Thanks for the feedback.

I had kind of figured that with either nikon or canon I couldn't go wrong. Both look great.

I was intrigued by the sony as I have had seeral sony products over the years and have been happy with them all.


Bruce,

I have not updated my profile in a while, but we have moved to michigan. We will be in Georgetown visiting family over new years. If we have not purchased anything by then, I will give you a call and take a look at it. Thanks for letting me know.

What are the basic lenses one would need? I would like a good zoom lens to zoom in on kids in plays/programs and at their games.

Would a 70-300 work for that? Can you put two together to increase zoom?

Lots of stuff to learn.

Thanks for the ideas.

Matt

[Archery1st]

No problem - Give me a call if you like I'd be glad to answer any questions you have.

Yes the 70-300mm would be more than enough for plays and programs. In fact for your initial use pretty much any SLR will meet your needs.

Shoot me your email and I'll send you some pics I have taken with this camera and the 70-300 lens.

-Bruce

[jdma]

If you are going to be shooting in low light indoors you may want to go with atleast a 2.8 in the 70 - 300 or 70 - 200