well a sony ax 200 could be a good choice for low budjets as the kit box provide a 18-75 mm lens and a 70-200 lens. but personally i prefer canon 500D, the one which i possess at the moment. it give me a 17-55 f/3.5 lens. but for sony both i tink shud be f/5.6.
The Sony Alpha's twin lens kit has a 18-70 and a 75-300, not a 18-75 and 70-200. The Canon 500D comes with a 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. Please get your facts right.
Pros and cons
Pros
Sony ax 200: cheap, low cost, cost effective as 2 lens are provided, won the 2008 best consumer choice award, lens are not as expensive as image stablilzer is built into the body
Canon 500D: Good kit lens given as it is a f/3.5 lens with image stablizer. kit lens good for macroing if a good macro lens is mounted on and u can use auto focus for macro shots. can take good wide angle shot aso, but i bought a tokina 11-16 mm f/2.8 lens for my wide angle shots. Video shots are aso available at high definition
Kit lens, once again, is not f/3.5; it is a f/3.5-5.6 lens. Kit lens is suitable for a variety of applications (as are most kit lenses anyway), including close ups, and you don't need to attach a "macro lens", which I'd assume is a close up filter, not switching out the kit lens for a dedicated macro lens. And you can use AF for macro shots with all AF macro lenses, not just the kit lens.
Cons
Sony ax200 : undetailed picture once the iso goes 3200, kit lens are not as good for macroing. requires to use manual focus for macro shots unlike canon 500D.
Canon 500D : high cost camera. expensive lens ( i bought a 70-200 f/4L lens for 1.7k)
I doubt that the kit lens of the Alpha 200 requires MF to shoot close ups. Perhaps it is just that when you tried it, you weren't sure of what you were doing.
You might want to refer to
this page for a more accurate list of pros and cons, as well as a short review conclusion.
The point about Canon having expensive lenses is a moot point. Every manufacturer has their expensive lenses. Even Sony makes a 70-200 f/2.8G lens that is pricey. You don't have to spend on expensive lenses if you don't need to. There are more affordable lenses available too. BTW, the 70-200 f/4L (non-IS) is available for around 1k. It looks like you got ripped off.
ok now i recomend u some shops for cheap lens and camera body..
1) vision 1 @ burlington square ( near bugis) ( this is where i bought my f/4L lens and my tokina wide angle lens
2) merdeka @ sim lim square (jus opposite burlington square) ( this is where i bought my 500D body with kit lens from.
Assuming you got your 70-200 f/4L at vision 1, I think it's not a good shop to go to, since you paid so much more than it retails for elsewhere.
To the threadstarter, please do your research on how much things should cost. There are relevant price lists in relevant subforums that you should check prior to your purchase, so you know how much things should cost and what you should be getting with them. There are also reputable shops that are held in high regard by the people here at CS to have good customer service, and you can be likely assured you won't be ripped off. Shops include John 3:16, TK Foto, Cathay Photo, Orient Photo and MS Colour.
yet 18-200 might to gd for noob lk mi coz i have lesser chance of losin my photo opportunity? apologised in advance if tis has been a freq-posted qn.. 
