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Nice price... in for 1.

i like cannon better

The A300 is only $500...

I found the A300, body only, for $369. Where's the A300 kit $300?

I see the kit for $499.95 That imo, is a much better deal. LOYALTY10 should bring it to $489.95 no? That's the model I have and I appreciate the Live View and articulating screen. Prefer to shoot through the viewfinder when possible of course, but it's great for tough angled shots.

does anyone know where I can get honest reviews of the sony's?

Everyone seems to be partial to Canon or Nikon.

i'm just starting out and have nothing, so picking the right camera is very important due to the lenses. I just want to shoot pictures of my son and occasionally scenery on vacation. I'm a hobbyist at best.

for DSLR, I would only get a Canon

Thanks for the advice... I called Abe's and they switched me to the dlsr-300k. Only ~$40 more.

As far as reviews, I've looked at Amazon, Cnet, and here's a list:
http://review.zdnet.com/product/digital-cameras/sony-a-alpha-dslr-a300k-digital-camera/33180784

It seems to have excellent reviews.

Ive heard so many bad things about Abe's of Maine, I will pass.....was looking for a Sony at this price.

I've go the A300 and it is very similar. Only difference I think is the flip out live-view screen. This feature is very useful for composing shots while holding the camera above your head to shoot over crowds or holding the camera down low.

Sony seems to give you more features at a given price point, like in-camera image stabilization and live view.

I own the A200 and it is a wonerderful camera. You can add lenses from Sony or the older Minolta AF leneses also work well. It is a very good starter dslr, and the price here is $100 less than I paid in April. Good deal.

R

Abe's of Maine is iffy. The camera itself gets ok reviews, I would suggest a Nikon or a Canon if you care about lenses. However, this does take Minolta lenses I believe.

#6 Here are some Sony reviews

http://www.dyxum.com/dforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=24851

Click on reviews for camera you like and look through them all. Also, Pop photo does good reviews. Ignore Consumers Reports (good but not cameras) and tech publications like Cnet, PC world and NYTimes.

Be aware that firmware updates by Sony have fixed most problems - if they were problems even to begin with...

@#6 http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Sony_Alpha_DSLR_A200/

cameralabs.com does great unbiased reviews about everything. Also has a very nice video review included.

The Sony Alpha series are built on the Minolta AF series (Sony bought the Minolta D-SLR division). Although Nikon and Canon garner most of the user community support, they don't have anything on the Alpha series, they make great cameras. I have the A100 that I bought when it first came out and it's been a great camera, I've shot over 30,000 frames with it, and know the camera well. I've snapped up some awesome Minolta power zoom and prime lenses since owning the camera at great prices. Also keep in mind that unlike the Canon, image stabilization is built in the camera body, so no need to buy $1000 lenses to get image stabilization, as any lens used will benefit from the its body integrated design.

Theres thousands of lenses available (all of the Minolta AF lenses work, see dyxum.com/lenses/index.asp) as well as obviously the Sony lenses and the world class Carl Zeiss lenses. Ironically Nikon uses the Sony image sensors (, so all things being equal, you'd be hard pressed to tell any difference between the two.

Check out this site for well written reviews:

dpreview.com

For the money, their hard cameras to beat unless you already have a stash of Cannon or Nikon lenses.

#15

I would not call dpreview.com reviews well written or unbiased but it is one to look at along with others.

Popular Photography rated the 300 the best buy entry level DSLR.

#16 I wouldn't call Fox News "Fair and Balanced" either, but like your opinion on dpreview, that's just my opinion

Thanks everyone for the links

the a300 two lens bundle is on sale on sonystyle for 599 and the a300 has live view and angle lcd which is just better for shooting high or low