Which would you buy?
Discussion
Looking at buying a camera for under £400. Looked at Jessops and saw these two:
Nikon D3200 + 18-55mm VR Lens + Tamron 70-300mm Lens £379
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Dig...
Sony A58 +18-55mm Lens + Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM Lens + Sony DT 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Lens £399
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Dig...
Which is best?
Nikon D3200 + 18-55mm VR Lens + Tamron 70-300mm Lens £379
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Dig...
Sony A58 +18-55mm Lens + Sony 50mm f/1.8 SAM Lens + Sony DT 55-200mm f/4-5.6 Lens £399
http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/Dig...
Which is best?
It's an interesting question.
..The Sony is more "modern" camera. It has a few interesting features:
On sensor stabilization ( however Nikons on lens system is better )
It is a translucent mirror camera, which means that it has no optical viewfinder, and some light passes permanently passes through a mirror to perform the autofocus.
The advantages of this system are
Electronic Viewfinder --this is a very personal thing, I hate them, I don't think they are ready yet, due to lag and poor resolution, and heavy battery drain, but some people prefer them. I think they are still very gimmicky. They do offer Focus peaking and blown highlight zebras.
A58 has better Video Autofocus than the D3200. This is a clear win over the Nikon due to translucent mirror design. However if you mainly want Video I would go with a Canon 650 or 700, they have dual pixel autofocus on sensor like the latest E mount Sony's, mainly due to Magic lantern. There is a good reason every single video pro uses Canon.
Sony did a better job with the software features on the A58, it has HDR bracketing for example, which is not on the D3200 and only shows up on more expensive D5200.
One downside of the translucent mirror is that it blocks light, so the low light/high iso performance is not as good as the Nikon.
And for some reason they gave the A58 a plastic lens mount....which is horrible.
The Nikon lens system is much more mature, stable and complete. As that is where you will end up spending the most money this is a big consideration. Sony currently has 4 lens mounts in play...the A58 is an A mount and Sony seems to be pushing the E mount. The translucent mirror camera is a bit of a dead end, its better to have the autofocus occur on the sensor without having a mirror in the path. So very few new A mount lenses being released. Sony does have lenses out for the A mount, but they tend to be very, very expensive, and you are restricted in choice.
In contrast you can use pretty much every lens Nikon ever made on the D3200, ( although the D3200 doesn't have a body focus motor so unless they are AFS they won't autofocus ) and any lens you buy now will still work when you upgrade your Nikon camera. Pop onto ebay and you will see many cheap options for any lens solution you need for the Nikon.
And something that is very important at the budget end of the market is the third party accessory market for Nikon. Want a new battery ? A grip ? Protective case ? Flash etc ? Pop onto ebay/amazon and there are always multiple cheap options for Nikon or Canon.
Due to the lens and accessory market, the Nikon has a much lower total cost of ownership and upgrade over the next few years.
In summary, Sony is very much the underdog in the budget DSLR world and to unseat the established players of Canon and Nikon they are trying to introduce disruptive technology to tempt consumers away. The translucent A mount camera was a bit of a swing and a miss, it looks good on a spec sheet but in the real world it is just not as good a DSLR system as the D3200, which is why they are showing up very cheaply now. The new E mount dual pixel autofocus mirrorless camera like the A7 and A7R are very interesting, and if I was going to invest in Sony that is where I would put my money.
..The Sony is more "modern" camera. It has a few interesting features:
On sensor stabilization ( however Nikons on lens system is better )
It is a translucent mirror camera, which means that it has no optical viewfinder, and some light passes permanently passes through a mirror to perform the autofocus.
The advantages of this system are
Electronic Viewfinder --this is a very personal thing, I hate them, I don't think they are ready yet, due to lag and poor resolution, and heavy battery drain, but some people prefer them. I think they are still very gimmicky. They do offer Focus peaking and blown highlight zebras.
A58 has better Video Autofocus than the D3200. This is a clear win over the Nikon due to translucent mirror design. However if you mainly want Video I would go with a Canon 650 or 700, they have dual pixel autofocus on sensor like the latest E mount Sony's, mainly due to Magic lantern. There is a good reason every single video pro uses Canon.
Sony did a better job with the software features on the A58, it has HDR bracketing for example, which is not on the D3200 and only shows up on more expensive D5200.
One downside of the translucent mirror is that it blocks light, so the low light/high iso performance is not as good as the Nikon.
And for some reason they gave the A58 a plastic lens mount....which is horrible.
The Nikon lens system is much more mature, stable and complete. As that is where you will end up spending the most money this is a big consideration. Sony currently has 4 lens mounts in play...the A58 is an A mount and Sony seems to be pushing the E mount. The translucent mirror camera is a bit of a dead end, its better to have the autofocus occur on the sensor without having a mirror in the path. So very few new A mount lenses being released. Sony does have lenses out for the A mount, but they tend to be very, very expensive, and you are restricted in choice.
In contrast you can use pretty much every lens Nikon ever made on the D3200, ( although the D3200 doesn't have a body focus motor so unless they are AFS they won't autofocus ) and any lens you buy now will still work when you upgrade your Nikon camera. Pop onto ebay and you will see many cheap options for any lens solution you need for the Nikon.
And something that is very important at the budget end of the market is the third party accessory market for Nikon. Want a new battery ? A grip ? Protective case ? Flash etc ? Pop onto ebay/amazon and there are always multiple cheap options for Nikon or Canon.
Due to the lens and accessory market, the Nikon has a much lower total cost of ownership and upgrade over the next few years.
In summary, Sony is very much the underdog in the budget DSLR world and to unseat the established players of Canon and Nikon they are trying to introduce disruptive technology to tempt consumers away. The translucent A mount camera was a bit of a swing and a miss, it looks good on a spec sheet but in the real world it is just not as good a DSLR system as the D3200, which is why they are showing up very cheaply now. The new E mount dual pixel autofocus mirrorless camera like the A7 and A7R are very interesting, and if I was going to invest in Sony that is where I would put my money.
ExPat2B said:
It's an interesting question.
In summary, Sony is very much the underdog in the budget DSLR world and to unseat the established players of Canon and Nikon they are trying to introduce disruptive technology to tempt consumers away. The translucent A mount camera was a bit of a swing and a miss, it looks good on a spec sheet but in the real world it is just not as good a DSLR system as the D3200, which is why they are showing up very cheaply now. The new E mount dual pixel autofocus mirrorless camera like the A7 and A7R are very interesting, and if I was going to invest in Sony that is where I would put my money.
Thank you. A very good argument for and against each camera. What atteracted me to Sony was the three lenses. It came with a 50mm f1.8. But I could get one for the Nikon in future quite inexpensively. Do people use prime lenses a lot?In summary, Sony is very much the underdog in the budget DSLR world and to unseat the established players of Canon and Nikon they are trying to introduce disruptive technology to tempt consumers away. The translucent A mount camera was a bit of a swing and a miss, it looks good on a spec sheet but in the real world it is just not as good a DSLR system as the D3200, which is why they are showing up very cheaply now. The new E mount dual pixel autofocus mirrorless camera like the A7 and A7R are very interesting, and if I was going to invest in Sony that is where I would put my money.
In my opinion, Prime lenses are essential for getting the best out of APS sensors, doesn't matter if it is Nikon, Canon or Sony.
APS-C has three primary problems - the small sensor causes a greater depth of field than full frame ( warning this is an simplification ), so its hard to blur backgrounds. The small sensor does not perform well at high ISO compared to full frame, and the high pixel density means they are very sensitive to poor quality lenses ( especially telephoto )
Fast Prime lenses neatly solve all these problems, small depth of field, big aperture so you don't need high iso, and very sharp so they take advantage of all of the pixels.
The 35mm 1.8f prime or 50mm should be the first lens you should buy and it will blow the kit zooms away. ( although canon has a couple of dodgy cheap 50mm's - they are lagging behind here)
APS-C has three primary problems - the small sensor causes a greater depth of field than full frame ( warning this is an simplification ), so its hard to blur backgrounds. The small sensor does not perform well at high ISO compared to full frame, and the high pixel density means they are very sensitive to poor quality lenses ( especially telephoto )
Fast Prime lenses neatly solve all these problems, small depth of field, big aperture so you don't need high iso, and very sharp so they take advantage of all of the pixels.
The 35mm 1.8f prime or 50mm should be the first lens you should buy and it will blow the kit zooms away. ( although canon has a couple of dodgy cheap 50mm's - they are lagging behind here)
If you are thinking of Sony, give Digital Depot a call http://www.digitaldepot.co.uk/ . I bought my Sony A77 from them and the service was excellent (as well as being the lowest price anywhere on the web). They are a 'real' shop in Stevenage.
RosscoPCole said:
I've ordered the Nikon. Just waiting for it to arrive.
Even though the Sony came with more lenses. The choice for later purchases was not as good as what is available for the Nikon.
Hopefully it will be here for Saturday.
You made the right choice. "Comes with more lenses" shouldn't really be a factor.Even though the Sony came with more lenses. The choice for later purchases was not as good as what is available for the Nikon.
Hopefully it will be here for Saturday.
I do a lot of photography, and find that a 24mm, 35mm and 85mm are pretty much all I need. I also have a 50mm f1.4 for when the light gets very low, but I rarely use it.
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