1st DSLR purchase...feedbacks/advice needed


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Halfgeek

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Nov 22, 2011
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Hi all fellow CS-ers. I created a thread 2 months ago asking about the right compact/mirrorless camera to purchase.

After using my nex5n, i started to realized of the things i need to get to further on my photography journey as im starting to be serious about photography as not just a hobby but a passion. Before that
all i wanted is to get a good camera to learn a little photography tricks and tips to take decent photos around especially on a holiday overseas, capturing memories. But after really falling in love with photography
i started to found out i need something more.....

1st thing 1st. I found out my nex5n lack a viewfinder, there are times whereby under a certain lighting i couldnt see what im aiming and shooting or even focusing at through the LCD screen. Adding a viewfinder would mean parting with additional estimated $400, plus i cant use flash when im using viewfinder on my nex camera.

2nd thing. Lens limitations, e-mount has a serious limitations, upgrades are not very feasible and costly as 2nd hand e-mount lens (besides the kit lens) is very rare to find in BnS section. To get other form of lens i need a LA-EA2 adapter which cost cheapest near to $400

All the stuff which i need i have to spend $400 + $400 which gives me $800... adding a second hand lens 18-250mm which i need through my research would be another additional $450 - $500

with these upgrades i spent, i could already get a high entry level 1st hand DSLR.

Theres another option of getting specific Adapters like the metabones and stuff for mounting of rangefinders or other legacy lens which would in total for adapters and lens cost at least $600

I would like to say i love my nex5n, i enjoy every usage with it and its a wonderful camera. But to satisfy my needs equals to having me needing to go through a costly upgrade.

Having financial limitations I hence decided reluctantly, to sell my nex5n and use the money to get a DSLR.
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Now the choice, Im looking at both canon and sony now.

I took off nikon as my budget allows me to only get at most a D5100 which cant use all nikon lens which i really feel uncomfortable with (after feeling the limitations and restrictions with the e-mount lens)
Olympus and panasonic is out as i personally find that it doesnt really suit my grip and i feel somehow awkward with it on my hands no matter how much i adjust myself.
Pentax again... lens hard to find...

Sony and canon why?
I feel good holding these cameras and they can use all lens in their line up regardless of the model of their DSLR. Lens and accessories are easy to find and get.
Plus the fact on all cameras i have used before (by owning or loaning), canon and sony never fails to impress me (compacts, mirrorless etc)

Now....

I would like to ask owner's of these 2 brands to share with me what they love about their canons and sony DSLR/DSLT. There are insane amount of reviews on these 2 cameras. Specification wise price to price,
Sony win hands down... (as it appears on paper.)

But sony has it's cons, EVF vs OVF, OVF is supposely faster and more accurate as its showing whats reflected on the mirror. And EVF consumes battery power whereby OVF doesnt and works even when the camera is not on.

Right now after doing personal research i have narrow down to 2 models... cannon 600D and the Sony A65. (any other models around this price range feel free to introduce.) which are within my budget and which i have hold
and felt in my hands. Personally both feels alright, with the sony a65 being slight bigger and with a little more space on it's grip. So right now i would really love to hear from the owner's themselves what they like about their respective canon and
sony cameras and would like to weight the differences. Thanks in advance :)
 

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What is your total budget n what do you like to shoot? How about m4/3 system, like a G3 which has a built-in EVF?
 

What is your total budget n what do you like to shoot? How about m4/3 system, like a G3 which has a built-in EVF?

My budget is not more than 1.5k (not factoring the lens which i intent to get 2nd hand). Coming from a mirrorless shooting... i would like to go DSLR. I understand that picture quality doesnt really factor fully in the size of the sensor but more of the skills
of the photographer, besides i guess with the money, it isnt far away from mid-range ENTRY level DSLR. I got my sister a DSLR for present few days ago, brought her to a shop and ask her to choose herself. So maybe that is also another factor why im looking
to DSLR as a replacement for my nex5n.

I would like to shoot landscape and marco which are my main interest, im not keen in street photography... portraits so-so.

thanks for reply
 

Suggest you go to a big store, like Courts, to go try out and fiddle with all the demo sets. Then shortlist a few that you like the most (look, feel, menus etc). It's not really possible to say one brand is better than another, and you can't really go wrong with Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. What did your sis buy? You can start by borrowing hers to try out? Anyway, I am more familiar with Canon, which I use, so for your budget, you can consider a 600D or 60D.
 

Suggest you go to a big store, like Courts, to go try out and fiddle with all the demo sets. Then shortlist a few that you like the most (look, feel, menus etc). It's not really possible to say one brand is better than another, and you can't really go wrong with Canon, Nikon, Sony etc. What did your sis buy? You can start by borrowing hers to try out? Anyway, I am more familiar with Canon, which I use, so for your budget, you can consider a 600D or 60D.

Haha i already narrowed down to a65 and 600d le... both of these feels good at hand and everything feels right... button lay out and stuff... as a canon user what do you like most about canon dslr? care to share? :)
 

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Haha i already narrowed down to a55 and 600d le... both of these feels good at hand and everything feels right... button lay out and stuff... as a canon user what do you like most about canon dslr? care to share? :)

Bro... I would suggest that you go with A55. Since you have already started off using the NEX, you should be quite familiar with the layout of the A55. I am not saying that Canon 600D is not a good camera or what... but I believe A55 would give you more features for the money... eg. very very fast frame rate... that is something the 600D cannot do.
 

Bro... I would suggest that you go with A55. Since you have already started off using the NEX, you should be quite familiar with the layout of the A55. I am not saying that Canon 600D is not a good camera or what... but I believe A55 would give you more features for the money... eg. very very fast frame rate... that is something the 600D cannot do.

Hi rhino bro! :D :D

oops i typed wrongly... its a65... my sister bought a55. thats another plus too whereby we can interchange stuffs. Just that both canon and sony dslr (tried to hold 550d/600d/60d, sony a55/a65) feels very in place with my hands and i have good experience using both camera brands, but as for canon dslr never really got to use it for over 2 hours (friend only allow me to borrow that much). Is there any unique feature in canon which you guys like that other brands dont have? :)
 

Try the 60D instead. get a better one so you wont regret like the Sony you had.
 

As it turns out, I just bought a 600D yesterday (for my wife) and had a chance to fiddle with it. The menus are quite user-friendly and ergonomically, it feels ok to me, though I prefer the grip of the 60D. I am not used to the button layout but this is hardly surprising since I have not used an XXXD series camera for a while. Picture-quality wise it's probably pretty good by all accounts. However, if you shoot a lot of video, you should note that the live-view AF of the 600D is very slow, and agree with DPReview that one is much better off using MF to shoot video. The camera feels very light in hand and the vario-angle LCD is great if that matters to you. No idea how it compares to the A55 though. The fps rate is about 3 point something, which is not blazing fast but fast enough for most situations if you are not shooting sports.
 

Things I like about the Canon I'm using.
I generally like Canon Ergonomics over nikon's. But its all very personal.
I like Canon's grip.
I like the big dial on the back.
I like that the index finger dial is a vertical dial instead of a horizontal one.

But there are some features of Nikon I like:
Several save-able Custom WB profiles.
SB900 already comes with gel. i'm cutting my own for my 580ex.
Nikon has a goddamn awesome 12-24f2.8
The same WFT can be used for several models.

Sony:
Compatible with older and awesome CZ/KM lenses.
 

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oops i typed wrongly... its a65... my sister bought a55. thats another plus too whereby we can interchange stuffs.

If both you and your sister are happy to share lenses, then its probably a good idea to get another Sony. For me, I am quite anal about taking care of my gear and I would very much prefer not to share my lenses! Hmmm, maybe should have bought my wife a Sony instead...:sweat:
 

Well... all the dslr I had are Canon DSLR... mainly because I like Canon's feel... image quality wise, I think all of them are about the same... and they all do what they are designed to do.

Sony's A65 is an amazing camera, with all the new technology in it... and it is fast, very very fast... with Canon's 600D, you will not get that type of speed (continuous shooting)... I think even the 60D cannot do it...

Seriously at this moment, I cannot think of anything that Canon had that was not being offered by other camera brand... to me... it boils down to very personal feel... and since your sis had the A55, maybe you can loan it for a couple of days and test it up... since you have played with the NEX before, you should know what to expect of the Sony... so A55/65 should be a good model to look into.
 

Things I like about the Canon I'm using.
I generally like Canon Ergonomics over nikon's. But its all very personal.
I like Canon's grip.
I like the big dial on the back.
I like that the index finger dial is a vertical dial instead of a horizontal one.

But there are some features of Nikon I like:
Several save-able Custom WB profiles.
SB900 already comes with gel. i'm cutting my own for my 580ex.
Nikon has a goddamn awesome 12-24f2.8
The same WFT can be used for several models.

Sony:
Compatible with older and awesome CZ/KM lenses.

Solid advice!!!

If both you and your sister are happy to share lenses, then its probably a good idea to get another Sony. For me, I am quite anal about taking care of my gear and I would very much prefer not to share my lenses! Hmmm, maybe should have bought my wife a Sony instead...:sweat:

hahaha thats a good one :D
 

Well... all the dslr I had are Canon DSLR... mainly because I like Canon's feel... image quality wise, I think all of them are about the same... and they all do what they are designed to do.

Sony's A65 is an amazing camera, with all the new technology in it... and it is fast, very very fast... with Canon's 600D, you will not get that type of speed (continuous shooting)... I think even the 60D cannot do it...

Seriously at this moment, I cannot think of anything that Canon had that was not being offered by other camera brand... to me... it boils down to very personal feel... and since your sis had the A55, maybe you can loan it for a couple of days and test it up... since you have played with the NEX before, you should know what to expect of the Sony... so A55/65 should be a good model to look into.

Ok noted :) I will head down tomorrow or saturday to again test both the 600D and a65 (not getting 60D as suggested as a close friend of mine whom i hang out with dead bend on getting that i guess its something personal but i somehow dont like to use the same things as the people i see often or hang out very often, example family, very close friends) to see which will feel better when holding, shooting and everything.

OT abit: rhino bro the last time i wasnt free due to reservist, hope to meet up with you, csboi and gang to shoot! :D
 

Ok noted :) I will head down tomorrow or saturday to again test both the 600D and a65 (not getting 60D as suggested as a close friend of mine whom i hang out with dead bend on getting that i guess its something personal but i somehow dont like to use the same things as the people i see often or hang out very often, example family, very close friends) to see which will feel better when holding, shooting and everything.

OT abit: rhino bro the last time i wasnt free due to reservist, hope to meet up with you, csboi and gang to shoot! :D

want something different?
do consider Pentax K-5
one of the better gears out there at an extremely affordable price :)
$1250 for body right now.
 

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But sony has it's cons, EVF vs OVF, OVF is supposely faster and more accurate as its showing whats reflected on the mirror. And EVF consumes battery power whereby OVF doesnt and works even when the camera is not on.

What is reflected on the mirror is not "more accurate" as it is not what the sensor will capture.

Also note that you will not get any mirror-slap with the A65, which can be VERY handy with macro shooting. And the focus peaking will let you easily use older manual lenses, and also comes in handy for things like F1 shooting (since the peaking will tell you when it's sharp...).
 

want something different?
do consider Pentax K-5
one of the better gears out there at an extremely affordable price :)
$1250 for body right now.


...Which is more expensive than the A65...
 

Try the 60D instead. get a better one so you wont regret like the Sony you had.

Haha hi Jonathan... I didn't regret. In fact I love the nex5n. It's a amazing camera to have, but not an ideal camera to start off photography for a finanicially limited dude like me. I even told my friends tt if one day I'll win 4D or smth, I'll get back nex5n as a 2nd camera. I felt sad parting with it but it's the only practical way for my financial well-being. :(

:)
 

What is reflected on the mirror is not "more accurate" as it is not what the sensor will capture.

Also note that you will not get any mirror-slap with the A65, which can be VERY handy with macro shooting. And the focus peaking will let you easily use older manual lenses, and also comes in handy for things like F1 shooting (since the peaking will tell you when it's sharp...).

Hi pal~! With this I learnt something new today. Which camera are you using? Btw I read and saw reviews that the a65/77 has this long buffering when taking 10fps continuous shots and is doing badly with noise level at higher levels of ISO in raw format. Jpeg at higher ISO is not very detailed as the system's noise controller is overpowering resulting in very noticeable lost of details even in mid ISO level. Is this true? Any firmware that already resolve this? Thanks in advance :)
 

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