need help choosing a new camera

hi guys,
i was shopping the other night , and almost put a deposit on a sony DSLRA330Y at my local CAMERA HOUSE
http://www.sony.com.au/product/dslr-a330y
the shop was offering a free sony camera bag ($129 on sony site) and some online tutorial valued at $39
but i figured id check out other options from sony.

after having a good look i have decided $1500 will get me a pretty decent dslr, so i have set my budget at that, and have selected a few that are in that price range and lower....

http://www.sony.com.au/product/Compa...els=DSLR-A300X

some of the choices there are the same, they just include an extra lens, i have included both options for each model because maybe someone here may think it is better to buy the single lens option and buy the extra lens elsewhere.

the guy at camera house told me that sony dslr are just rebadged minoltas, and i dont know how reliable minoltas are/were, but i would rather stick with sony, so i dont want this to turn into a brand war etc, so unless another brand at the same price is 100 times better than my chosen options, then i really dont want to know about it.

thankyou in advance guys.

IMO wouldnt go anything other than Canon or Nikon, and id lean more towards canon...

I've not heard bad things before about Konica/Minolta before... but I've heard far more about Nikon and Canon (in a good sense). Keeping in mind that Nikon have always produced cameras, and when the demand was there, they expended to digital technology, where as Canon were always digital dealing with both Mechanical Cameras and Computer imaging components such as scanners having quite a strong optical component to them (... printers not so much)... but you get my point.

Without trying to make this a brand war, I find any Sony device's price inflated. Recently I compared 3 projectors. The Sony being more expensive retail than the others, yet somehow with my wholesale contacts the Sony came in the cheapest... go figure.

EDIT: Check your PMs :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UNEEQ

I've not heard bad things before about Konica/Minolta before... but I've heard far more about Nikon and Canon (in a good sense). Keeping in mind that Nikon have always produced cameras, and when the demand was there, they expended to digital technology, where as Canon were always digital dealing with both Mechanical Cameras and Computer imaging components such as scanners having quite a strong optical component to them (... printers not so much)... but you get my point.

Without trying to make this a brand war, I find any Sony device's price inflated. Recently I compared 3 projectors. The Sony being more expensive retail than the others, yet somehow with my wholesale contacts the Sony came in the cheapest... go figure.

EDIT: Check your PMs :)

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i have read your pm's, thankyou for the info, ive replied.
as for sony prices, i have mainly been interested in audio visual during my life, and i have always considered sony to be of the same quality level as pioneer/panasonic (sure two different levels of product, but im sure you know what i mean), some may laugh, but thats just what i have found.
and as for reliability sure ive heard of sony products failing, but ive never experienced this myself, so i figure im onto a good thing, so stick with it.
sony are not a el cheapo brand, and they are not a top shelf brand, i consider them to be a very reliable midrange midpriced brand and i dont mind paying a small premium for that reliability.
i think that may be where the inflated price comes into it, perhaps.
the question i am trying to ask in this thread, is which sony cam would people purchased based on feature/price basis

Fair call on what you're trying to ask! :) hence my PMs!... Never said there was anything wrong with Sony. I find them to be a damn good quality product... Just dislike their pricing sometimes. I can't remember the last time I had to do any work (repairs or warranty) on a Sony product, so it's been a long time. Even when burners first came out I had a 2x Caddy load Sony. I eventually burnt it out by doing so many disks, but I only had to have it serviced 2ce (for firmware updates that Sony wouldn't allow retailers/consumers to apply themselves!) And that cost around $1200 when I bought that... Gives you an idea of how long I've been dealing with Sony products.

Oh and all the CDs were Sony's, so I even think very highly of their consumables.

my next camera.

http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod5714.htm

couldn't get panasonic website up so this will do.

New SONY DSLRS = poo! (unless you get the A900, that thing is just rediculous!!)
Sony cybershots = Good point and shoot cameras...

as shay said best 2 brands are Canon and Nikon...

See if you can get a D90 there very good cameras from Nikon, also it can do 1080i HD movies.. i do like my canon but its simple to use but still very 'manual'

Its handy having the dual lens packs.. but i find i hardly ever use the free lens.. but in saying that lenses are $$$$$$$ so sometimes it is worth while having the extra zoom lens...


but yes stay AWAY from sony DSLRs as they are not acctually sony as u have found out.. the minolta cameras tech was bought out by sony in 2006 as minolta shut down production of digital and film cameras. They WERE a massive japanese based company of cameras/printers etc being made in japan but after the merger and selling rights to sony in '05 for SLRs, all there cameras are produced in taiwan, numerous reviews i read when i was purchasing my camera said the build quality was shotty, memory corrupted frequently and sensors were of poor quality.

also i might like to add the Sony A330 is an entry level DSLR, a nikon d90 is a midrange... and the a300 is the previous model of the a330 also entry level.. there is much better cameras out there for that price you have set, i got my Canon Eos 50D twin lens kit for $1200 with free bag and 4gb memory card from JB Hifi (not the cheapest of places to start with) the 50D is a midrange camera

http://catalogues.camerahouse.com.au...imate+DSLR+Kit


oh yeh forgot about olympus DSLRs they used to not be too bad, but i dont know about now days id need to research into them before passing judgement on them.. but they did used to be decent


Just remember megapixels means SHIT all!

I picked up a Pentax K20d with double lenses, two filters, cards, card readers, bag cleaning stuff for $1500.

They have been superseded by the K7 (I actually prefer the k20d) so there are some deals to be had if you can still find one