Canon EOS 20D, or Sony Alpha 290

N

NeighNeigh

Suspended / Banned
Messages
8
Name
Anais Butler
Edit My Images
No
Hi,

I was wondering if anyone knew any good DSLR's under a price of £300. At the moment I have been looking at the Canon EOS 20D, if anyone has used this camera or has the camera themselves, let me know pro's and con's about it? I have also been looking at they Sony Alpha 290, is this a good camera, and what's it like in comparison to the Canon EOS 20D? Any other suggestions about other cameras are more than welcome!

Thanks!
 
20D is a real workhorse.
Still got mine, just in case there's a problem with my newer bodies.
Image quality at ISO 100 is excellent; but with a sensor this old raising the ISO is asking for trouble.
8.2Mp is enough resolution to show marked improvement used with decent glass.
It takes large CF cards, capacities which seemed laughable when the 20D was new.
The screen is tiny; if you use reading glasses, you will need them for the 20D menus.
Compared to my current bodies, I would miss Live View, but everything else is there.

Can't help on the Sony, sorry.
 
Not really is the answer to that. The £300 new ones are relatively basic. You'd probably get the most features with sony at that price though. Sony has in body stabilisation which is a great advantage as it means all old second hand lenses are automatically stabilised. Same is true of pentax. Canon/Nikon don't offer that so you have to pay extra for stabilised lenses all the time.

Check out Ffordes and Harrison Cameras. They both do a good range of second hand gear. The latter do a 12 month warranty on all used stuff which I think is worth paying a little extra for.
 
I've had a 20D since they came out and generally I find the IQ to be good. There are only a few issues that I can think of...

The viewfinder isn't exactly magnificent.
There's no sensor cleaning so it's all down to a rocket blower and swabs.
The rear screen is a bit nasty, but this has never bothered me as I only use it for rough checks.
And the worst thing... the shutter sounds like someone throwing an anvil into a tin bath. Truly horrible.

That's about all I can think of really.

Regarding higher ISO noise, I don't think it's that much of an issue with modern NR software. I used to use Rawshooter Essentials and although I loved that package it wasn't very good for NR but since moving to CS5 I've found that even ISO 3200 shots clean up well, so much so that I prefer higher ISO 20D shots to those from the 18mp Canon's that can look awful (IMVHO) in the OOF areas.

20D's are getting a bit old now but if you can find a nice one at a good price you might be happy but in body IS is very tempting.
 
woof woof said:
20D's are getting a bit old now but if you can find a nice one at a good price you might be happy but in body IS is very tempting.
Click to expand...

The in body IS on my friend's Sony would have swung it for me if I didn't already have some Canon lenses but otherwise I'm very happy with my 20D - the build quality on it is excellent. HTH
 
Welcome, Angus :)

Yes, if I was just buying a DSLR system now I don't think it'd be Canon. I think I'd have a serious look at Sony (in body IS, Zeiss lenses...) although a few years ago I'd probably have gone for a Pentax.
 
What's your overall budget including lenses? The Canon 20d is a great camera for the price, but if you can stretch a little bit more I'd get the 30d, there aren't that many upgrades but the screen is much bigger and this does make a difference. I still have my 20d. I think Ffordes have the 20d going for £199 and the 30d going for £239-249, similar prices on MPB Photographic.
 
My overall budget including the lens is probably about £250? :) Is there really that much a difference and worth saving more for the 30D? :)
 
i switched from a sony a390 to a canon 30d so i have experience of both brands. i loved my sony at the beginning, but the high iso performance and the ergonomics meant i started looking elsewhere. both the 20/30d will be far better handling than the sony and although the resolution will be far less than the sony it is more than enough for most applications.

the sony does have a couple of aces though, the in body stability and the legacy of minolta af lenses(some of which are fantastic value for money).

personally i would go for the canon, but you will be happy with either one i guarantee
 
I traded down from a 30D to a 20D and I'm very happy with the 20D. I picked one up for £200 with a 50/1.8 and got back the £300 I paid for the 30D and 18-55 kit lens. The screen is smaller but the functionality is otherwise pretty much the same, I think the only other real difference between the two is that the 30D will shoot more frames in a burst before it has to write them to CF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top