Should i buy the 400D or the Sony Alpha?

I know this is the Canon forum so i assume there are plenty of 400D/Xti owners here. I'm going through the same process you probably all went through before you bought it. Why did you pick the Canon over the Sony? Similar price, Sony has a more solid feel, image stabilisation. But what swung you towards Canon? This will be my first SLR so i don't own any lenses.

No need to be balanced or unbiased if you like.

Hi and welcome, Not a Sony fan of anything here, they do not seem to play well with others!

but probably the best reason to buy Canon is lense selection. http://www.learningcen​ter.sony.us …i/cameras/dslr/​index.html

Then check out Canon http://www.usa.canon.c​om …tIndexAct&fcate​goryid=111

Mike

sony is the bane of camera existance. canon is the greatest.

EDIT: i just realized you wanted an explanation...


well you see my reasoning is that...hm Canon;s been doing hte SLR thing for ages now...and sony's released...well re-released an already out on the market body with their name on it. Since canon has been aroudn the block many many times, its okay to assume taht canon is still around making cameras cause they're good, and their cameras are dang good.

motion_projekt wrote in post #2298066
well you see my reasoning is that...hm Canon;s been doing hte SLR thing for ages now...and sony's released...well re-released an already out on the market body with their name on it. Since canon has been aroudn the block many many times, its okay to assume taht canon is still around making cameras cause they're good, and their cameras are dang good.

Not sure about that logic.
Konica Minolta have been around for ages as well, and the Sony is just a rebadged 5D

In reply to the original poster - the second post for me is the main reason I chose Canon (that and my dad's a Canon man so I can take his lenses )
Canon made very very good lenses, and an absolutely huge range to boot (60-odd lenses at last count). No other manufacturer can claim this - and in my opinion, their lenses are generally the best optically.
That said, if Nikon had the range Canon did, and focussed on their lenses as much as their cameras, I would have chosen Nikon. I think Nikon made excellent cameras, packed with a whole range of features.

Maybe when Sony have developed their SLR brand a bit more, and start offerring more, I'll consider.

Any opinions on this forum will be extremely biased.

Sony, just think, whatever ever happened to the mini disk?

If their DSLR adventure flops, they'll drop it without hesitation.

Pete-eos wrote in post #2298201
Sony, just think, whatever ever happened to the mini disk?

If their DSLR adventure flops, they'll drop it without hesitation.

Along with Beta-max, Divx DVD, and probably Blue-ray

The canon has better image quality at higher ISO's.You've probably heard that everywhere but there is a small caveat -i've heard the noise test examples on the web don't show that the sony sharpens it's images more in-camera .Not sure if this is true so it would be best to check it out.

Like you say the sony is bigger than the 400D-if you like that.I like the size of the 400D but the grip is way too thin.Other brands have tiny bodies with better grips

As mentioned allready the canon has a stunning range of lenses available.

The Sony has a decent range of lenses,including some excellent german made glass -ALL of which have image stabilization ability on this body

And just to confuse you further-have you considered the nikon D80? It has the good points of both canon and sony in one camera (minus in body stabilization of course)

The Canon's also got other nifty stuff available. There is little enough stuff out there on the market with ultrasonic (including ultrasonic-type motors like HSM) focusing drive, and that matters a lot when you shoot very fast moving subjects or when you need maximum focus accuracy.

Then there is the wireless E-TTL2 flash system.. I LOVE my ST-E2. Not many other systems offer that.

Sony is good in PnS but this Alpha dSLR is so noisy compared to 400d and evem D80.

mikesd wrote in post #2298211
Along with Beta-max, Divx DVD, and probably Blue-ray

... and then they abandoned the North American PDA market ...

You would be buying into a much more well-rounded and complete photography system with Canon than you ever would with Sony. That is something that must be considered. From what I have seen as well - the Sony lenses are exhorbinant in price in a lot of cases.....so even if they offer a lens in the focal range that you are looking for - you may not be able to to afford it.

The Minolta lens mount died a slow death under Minolta and I honestly don't see Sony turning that around. I could be wrong - just hope I'm not. Never been a huge fan of Sony as a company.

I just received the end of the year copy of Popular Photography which puts the Alpha as the camera of the year. I wasn't surprised. It is a great camera. But it is nothing like what most of us use here. I have never strayed from Canon because the company makes great gear and settings that I can learn and understand and grow with. I feel like these new DSLR's will only allow you to go so far and then, that's it. With the availability of Canon lenses and such, you can do whatever you want with the tools that do the best job. This is a Canon forum, so we will be bias, but you need to decide how far you want to go with this hobby before getting something that costs over $1000.

I went through the same scenario until a couple of weeks ago, when I bought the XTi. I seriously looked at the Alpha, the XTi, the 20D (couldn't afford the 30D), and the Nikon D70. (Forum members please don't open fire!). One of the moew helpful sites for me was DPreview.com. I did side-by-side comparisons on them and decided on the Canon. I also talked to people who are more familiar with SLRs than I am.

For me, the reason I wanted to upgrade to an SLR was for sports photography (I've got 3 boys in various sports). I decided on the XTi because it has a better ISO range, a good frame-rate (3 shots per second), and has less noise at the higher ISOs. Another big part of my decision was the availability of lenses and accessories.

YIKES! And people say that canon is expensive! HA!