Help with DSLR - Sony

[oldhag]

Does anyone have the Sony A300? and how do you like it? It is so hard to make a decision. I could really use some help. Thanks to anyone who can advise

 

[tazdev3225]

I just bought one myself and only got to try it out briefly. I tore ligaments in my thumb so its a little hard to grip one handed and take a non cockeyed picture. What I did do in experimentation the first day has me excited to do more with it. I'd be happy to hear from others too.

 

[zackiedawg]

I've got it...had it about 6 months, and love it. I've rattled off upwards of 3,500 shots with it so far, taken 3 trips with it, and do a ton of wildlife and bird photography with it.

It's an easy-to-use camera, great features, the easiest, fastest, and most logical live view I've seen yet, comfortable ergonomically, battery lasts forever, it's tremendously flexible for every possible type of shot from landscapes to high ISO action night shots, decent burst mode for birders, great color, and when paired with the right lens, is a perfect all-round camera from snapshot to pro.

I bought mine with the Sony 18-250 lens, as I previously had an ultra-zoom P&S and didn't want to lose that great optical range and flexibility...and it is a perfect walkaround or anytime lens. And since you can pick up any older Minolta lenses cheap, and still get the benefits of image stabilization...expanding your lens collection doesn't have to break the bank. I picked up the excellent Minolta 50mm F1.7 as a low light lens for $70 used, and also purchased the massive Tamron 200-500 lens for my wildlife and birding photography.

If you're ready to go to a DSLR, the A300 is certainly worth putting on the short list of entry-level DSLRs to consider. You won't really find a bad one in the bunch nowadays, so the deciding factors usually come down to price, personal comfort, lens availability, or brand-loyalty. If you've got specific questions, feel free to ask.

And if you want some idea of the various performance of the camera, feel free to look in my very large A300 gallery, which includes practically every type of photograph possible (portrait, landscape, wildlife, action, sports, long-exposure night, high-ISO night, high-ISO tracking, scenics, macros, long telephoto, wide, interior, test shots, astro, etc):

http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/dslra300

It's about 16 pages long with 40 shots a page...but you can look through the thumbnails, and click on any photo you want to see larger.