What Camera

[verminer]

Help, i am just about to embark on buying my first camera but i do not know what to purchase, i have been told to get a Canon or Nikon but i quite like the sony A200 (as it is cheaper than the other 2 in dixons) but is it any good????. i have not done any photography before in my life so i a complete newbie. but i also don't want to buy a camera and have to change it later because its not what i want.

any advice would be greatfully recieved

 

[mastertrinity]

dixons!? didnt know they still existed lol!

my advice is dont buy what others tell you to, its your money not theirs, they can only recommended. i believe that you should handle them and if the sony still feels right then buy it. remember you cant just have the lightest camera if you are going handheld and need stability then buy the one with the most weight. i have a sony a300 and its a brilliang piece of kit, the one thing im gutted about is that i bought the twin lens kit and i noticed that the lenses were £60 each on ebay!!

 

[Andysnap]

Hi Sandy,

My advice would be (and this has been repeated on here for all new camera threads) go and hold the camera. Try out a few different makes and see what fits best in your hand, have you a Jessops near by?
As to the A200 it is a really good price for a good camera, but until you've compared it too the others you won't know for sure.
Canon and Nikon have the better and bigger choice of lenses (including the 3rd party ones) but the other companies are improving their range all the time.

Good luck with you search and I hope you enjoy photography as much as I do. I didn't pick up a camera until 18 months ago and now I'm hooked.

Andy

 

[pete.rush]

It really depends on your budget. Best advice to go into your local camera shop, not dixons or curry's (they just sell the camera's, probably don't know alot about them) and try out a range of the beginner models, don't make a decision there and then, take a CF / SD card with you and take some images that you can look at later.

See which one you feel comfortable using and holding.

The likes of Sony, Pentax, Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic have all released SLR versions, they all have their merits.

The reason why Nikon and Canon are always recommended is the fact that they are very well established, lots of choice (lenses) and 3rd party manufacturers mainly produce products for them.

At the end of the day it's your money, but it's not a cheap hobby

Peter