SONY Alpha A290L, A390 or Canon EOS 1000D?

[Fox]

Hi eveyone, I'm new here and am looking for some advice.

So in about a month I'm going to be getting my first SLR camera! I've been using digital cameras for years but when it comes to photography I'm certainly a beginner. It is something I would love to learn about though and develop some skills in.

I've been looking at some cameras and the SONY Alpha A290L, A390 and Canon EOS 1000D have all caught my interest. These are all within budget too, I cannot go over £400 (for my first camera too, I don't think it would be worth going over that)

I really like the look of the A290L but it doesn't have live view whereas the other two do, which brings me to my next question. For a beginner like me who has taken pretty much all my photos using digital cameras, is live view important? Will it be a big challenge for me to go straight from point and shoot to viewfinders?

And of course, which camera do you think is best? I'm not limited to these three however. If you have any other suggestions, the more the merrier!

Thanks to anyone who can help!

 

[clownfish]

Live view can still be useful under certain circumstances but like everyone else you will probably end up using the viewfinder most of the time.
If live view is important to you then go for the a390 as it uses a better auto focus system during live view (phase vs the Canon's contrast detect).
If not then you can't really go wrong. Most reasonable people here would say go down to your local shop and get a hold of them and see which ones you like.

 

[heidfirst]

if you can do without the Liveview (& Son'ys Liveview is quicker than any other implementation) then you can get an A450 + 18-55mm at Park Cameras for £370.
What's the difference over an A390? - primarily it uses a CMOS sensor rather than CCD so you get less noisy results @ high ISO (however quite a few prefer the look of the CCD at lower ISOs) & you lose LiveView but as a result gain a better viewfinder.
You can get an A550+18-55mm for ~£450 @ Wilkinson Cameras if you could stretch that far which would add LiveView.

An A390+18-55mm for ~£350 is a lot of camera for the money though.

 

[lexie]

i have had a sony a390 since july/august last year and have loved it, especially the live view because of the quick af. with the tiltable screen as well it gives you a lot of flexibility and more options for shooting positions. the 390 has come down in price since i bought mine but i don't feel cheated in any way, £350 will get you a lot of camera and the 18-55mm isn't the worst in the world as far as kit lenses go. plus you have a raft of minolta fit lenses to choose from because sony bought the minolta camera division to begin their dslr brand.

head down to your local camera shop (jessops or similar) and they will be able to let you get your hands around the cameras you are considering. make sure the one you choose is comfortable in your hand and there's more chance you will use it more often. my only gripe about the a390 is that it is a little on the small side, but i had been using a bridge camera for a couple of months before i bought the sony so it still felt like a nice upgrade.

i'm looking towards a canon 60d now after playing with one yesterday, but it's not because the sony is a bad camera. i want a more dedicated buttons, a top plate display and the chance to use 'L' lenses. don't let my decision to change brands put you off in any way though because i love my a390, paired with a minolta 50mm f/1.7 i rate it very highly. i will definitely miss the built-in stability the sony offers although when i first got the camera i didn't think it would come in that useful.

pretty much every picture on my flickr account has been taken with an a390 with one of 3 lenses (18-55mm kit lens, 50mm f/1.7, 70-210mm f/4). please ignore the ones taken with my phone, they are pretty easy to spot lol