nikon D3000 vs sony a330


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kazumi

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Sep 10, 2009
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For a beginner who previously owns a point and shoot cam and upgrading to his first DSLR, which cam would be better and why?
 

A330 have a better and faster liveview if you use liveview often, and its much more user friendly for new DSLR users.
 

you will go nikon users telling you to get the d3000 and sony users telling you to get the a330
then eventually some cool canon kids will come in and say go get a 1000D
and then bring in the pentax, olympus, etcetc people and we have one hell of a party going on in here..

but realitically speaking at the end of the day its your decision... the best thing is to go to the shop, try them all out and spontaneously decide what you want...
each brand has its own strengths and weaknesses so there is no "ultimate" camera... just get one.
 

The 10.2 megapixel, Live View with Quick Auto Focus, SteadyShot INSIDE™ image stabilization, on-screen Help Guide, 2.7" Clear Photo LCD Plus™ are all great features which the Sony A330 has. I find that the SteadyShot and on-screen Help Guide particularly useful for people who are new to DSLRs.

Don't take my word for it, go to the shops to try them out for yourself and compare the 2 cams to see which suits you better cos eventually you are the one using the cam, so you have to be comfortable with it.
 

sounds like a Sony spiel! :) hehehehe...
to TS, get Nikon!

nah... kidding...
do go to somewhere like Courts Megastore, where you can try all the cameras out without too much 'disturbance' from salespersons. Just from feel/ergonomics alone, you can usually form a shortlist of 2 or 3 cameras.
Decide on your overall budget as well. It can be something like "$1000 now, then another $300 every year", so you can get a basic kit 1st, next year get another lens, following year get flash, etc. Don't have to try setting aside $3000 or $4000 at one go. Economy still not so great.
 

I'll do a comparison of the features of these 2 cameras and u can decide which is better.

Bracketing: Nikon D3000 No : Sony A330 Yes
Its a great function for beginners. Unlike pros who can determind exposure correctly most of the time (but not always, sometimes they use bracketing too), beginners are very poor in judging exposure. As such the exposure bracketing will be a godsend function when they are in doubt of the correct exposure. D3000 lacks this function. A330 has it.

Live View: Nikon D3000 No : Sony A330 Yes
Again, a great function for beginners. Pros who have used DSLR for donkey years will have no issue with using the OVF all the time. However for a newbie coming from a PnS, having a live view will be very good. Im not saying u have to use Live View all the time, but its good to use in alot of situations. And in certain positions, using live view will be more useful than using OVF. For example when taking Over the Head shots, there is absolutely no way u can use OVF. But u can still use the live view, especially since the A330 has a tiltable LCD screen.

Image Stabalisation: Nikon D3000 No : Sony A330 Yes
IS modes can reduce handshakes, compensating around 3 fstops of light. Thats good enough reason to have IS mode. The 3000D does not have IS build into their camera, thus you have to buy lenses which has IS build into it. But these lenses typically cost more than non IS lenses. The A330 comes with IS build into their camera, as such ALL lenses which they use becomes an IS lens. This is a major cost savings. Do you wanna pay extra money to buy IS for all your lenses?

In Body Auto Focus Motor: Nikon D3000 No : Sony A330 Yes
As the D3000 does not come with a build in AF motor, they can only use auto focus with AF-S and selected AF-I lenses. These lenses will thus cost more than similar lenses which do not require in lense AF motor. Besides cost, it also reduces the selection of lenses which the D3000 can use. Of cos you can still AF lenses which dont have in lense AF motor with your D3000, but they will only be usable in manual mode. If u buy an AF lens which cant AF with your camera, you are either insane, or u are too rich.

Wireless Flash Transmitter: Nikon D3000 No : Sony A330 Yes
Sony DSLRs comes with a build in wireless flash transmitter. The Nikon D3000 does not have this build in, so you have to buy a wireless transmitter which cost an additional few hundred dollars.

The Sony A330 comes with build in AF motor, so you can be sure they can work on all AF lenses. And do note that Sony alphas can use ALL Konica Minolta AF lenses. As such in terms of lens selection, the A330 actually has more lenses to choose from. Thus the lack of in body auto focus motor actually makes it cost more money in the long run, and also lessen the choice of AF lenses selection.

Price:
Nikon D3000 RRP $988
Sony A330 RRP $899
Sony A230 RRP $699

Im including the A230 here because it is identical to the A330, except it doesnt have Live View. So if you dont think you require live view, u can get the A230. Not only is it alot cheaper than the D3000, it has all the other benefits listed here.

So seeing all the facts above, its up to you to decide which camera is better.

PS: Adding Canon 1000D into the equation, i would choose the D3000 over the 1000D, due to 1000D's lack of spot metering mode, which I feel is pretty critical for me, but of cos this is subjective to different person's perspective. Some people probably wont ever use spot metering.
 

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a fact...if you feel that in future will be renting lenses rather then buying then i recommend either Nikon or Canon as rental shops are plenty with wide ranges.

edit: for the money you are paying...might want to consider pentax and Olympus as well if you intend to collect glass in future.
 

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kazumi, why dun you go down to the shop as well, the touch feel of a camera is pretty impt as well.
 

D3000 should be competing with A230 imo
D5000 with A330/350

just go and try out the live view function of the sony, especially the autofocus speed when compared to other cameras with a live view function. For someone coming from using a P&S all this while, live view might prove to be invaluable.
 

D3000 should be competing with A230 imo
D5000 with A330/350

just go and try out the live view function of the sony, especially the autofocus speed when compared to other cameras with a live view function. For someone coming from using a P&S all this while, live view might prove to be invaluable.

Camera are compared according to price range ma.

How can a $988 D3000 be compared to a $699 A230.

Not sure of the current price of the D5000, but last check its RRP is $1299. The A330 is $899, so to me it doesnt seem right to compare the 2 of them too.

the A230 should be compared to the Canon 1000D, since both are similarly priced.
 

Camera are compared according to price range ma.

How can a $988 D3000 be compared to a $699 A230.

Not sure of the current price of the D5000, but last check its RRP is $1299. The A330 is $899, so to me it doesnt seem right to compare the 2 of them too.

the A230 should be compared to the Canon 1000D, since both are similarly priced.

so theoretically you can compare a leica m8 with a 5d mkII
ok! :D
 

kazumi, why dun you go down to the shop as well, the touch feel of a camera is pretty impt as well.

I can't agree any lesser. Was contemplating between these two when I wanted to get my first DSLR. Finally settled on the Nikon D3000 as the hold and grip of the camera feels much better for me.

Go down to a shop and try it out... :)
 

so theoretically you can compare a leica m8 with a 5d mkII
ok! :D

Last time i checked they weren't in the same price range.
 

rgy1993 said:
so theoretically you can compare a leica m8 with a 5d mkII
ok! :D

Titan10k said:
Last time i checked they weren't in the same price range.

rgy1993 said:
i take it you didnt quite realise i was being sarcastic...
;p

then what was your point?

it is a valid point that 2 cameras of similar pricing can be compared, even though their feature set might be different.
Just like comparing a $150K SUV against a $150K executive sedan. Both different types of vehicles, but might be on the radar for someone with that budget.


anyway, to the TS, I feel that ergonomics are extremely important.
I too was curious about why some brands can be cheaper yet have more features. But once I picked it up, within seconds I wanna put it back down on the table. Didn't agree with me.
 

then what was your point?

anyway, to the TS, I feel that ergonomics are extremely important.
I too was curious about why some brands can be cheaper yet have more features. But once I picked it up, within seconds I wanna put it back down on the table. Didn't agree with me.

The A330 is built to use as a liveview DSLR. Using it in the traditional OVF way is surely uncomfortable. If you want cheaper + more feature + good ergonomics, look at the old A300.

Btw, an another Sony Yes, Nikon No (Canon No as well for that matters) is the built-in wireless flash trigger. Sony has this feature for all of their DSLRs. Nikon only has on the uppper entry level, D70 (80, 90) and up. Canon is even worse, only has it on their latest 7D.
 

then what was your point?

simply to create a stir amongst people that take life to seriously..
and damn did i suceed ;p

has TS figured out what camera he/she wants yet? :D
 

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Let me tell you this. Not sure about D3000, but if you're considering the A330, do read up about the camera.

I'm an A230 user and if I'm not wrong, the A230/330/380 series DOES NOT support vertical grip NOR wired remote control. Right now you may think "oh that's alright, I wouldn't be using it anyways as I'm just starting up". Up to you, but I was in your shoe once 3months back too and I already feel limited by the A230.

In addition, I personally find their battery life to be rather short. Claimed to be 510shots through OVF, but I don't think I've been past the 400shots mark without getting my battery dead.

Just my 2cents :)


May the force be with you!
 

Not sure about D3000 but a330 is consider the basic starter DSLR for those who from digital cam jump into DSLR. If you do this as a hobby, dont worry a330 is really a good starting DSLR. IF you think you doing it for freelance or as your career, maybe you can start of with another sony model. Lets take it as hobby point.

A330 have a useful interface which you can learn while using it. Ofcox in the future you will find your limits when you go deeply into photography. But why think now when you havent find your limit. What you need to think now is to get a decent "easy to learn by yourself DSLR" with most features inside is a bonus. You can read and understand more from Sony websites http://www.sony.com.sg/microsite/dslr/380_330_230/index.html. You can also read people's view about the DSLR but sometimes you need to filter some of it out.

One of the reason why you want to jump into DSLR is to have a camera with change-able lens right? So other than that, you want to have a camera which can fully manual which can control shutter speed and aperture settings. Getting a vertical grip, batt of 1000 over shoot, cable release, ext flash and all funny2 accersories is just a bonus in photography. Without those, you still can get the same image as those who got the accersories just that you need to do it differently.

So dont worry much right. Even if you cant get those lens but you want to use the lens or borrow it, there are many SOny bros who willing to borrow it too ;)

So think smartly and get a new DSLR smartly bro. Don't blindly follow. :bsmilie:

cheers! :D
 

Hi im a Nikon user, but i think with this two, IMO, i will go for sony a330.:think:
 

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