ken grant

Not a Pro,amateur, more are less P&S Hobby.
Many yrs. of film but now want a DSLR.

Have 7 Minolta AF lens so it seems to make sense to go with a Sony DSLR.
Looking at a 390,580 and the newer A33 and A55.
Like the price of the 390 best and it looks as if it would meet my needs.

Any suggestions or advice would be welcomed by me.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Checkout my comments under the Great Debate on Canon vs Nikon there is a side discussion by Vee and me.
Somewhere I have a reference regarding Minolta lenses and the Sony Alpha series. That is the main reason I would go with Sony. LENS Compatibility.

Cameras affordable; Lenses not unless you are able to use the Minolta you have or one of the 1000s on ebay.
Where did you find the $390.

Cures-you, you have stimulated me to further research the Sony, Panasonic, Olympus Mirrorless small cameras. I was comfortable with just vague I'm-gonna get one. Now you have me reading at 6:30 AM sipping coffee technical stuff like
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/tutorials/crop_sensor_cameras_and_lenses.html
AaaHa, now I know why the sensors are APS-C. Why didn't mom tell me?

There is some discussion about Pocket (baggy pants surly) cameras in Canon vs Nikon BIG guys in
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-954-4.html#10493

Please keep me up-to-date regarding what you have found out. d/p

Robert Loc: Round Rock, TX

I don't think he meant 390 as a price but rather the value of the 390 model

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Ouch! More detailed info regarding lenses and use of other than sony.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_E-mount

ken grant

What I was really asking was for anyone with experience on Sony A390, A580,A33 or A55 DSLRS to chime in, state their likes and dislikes for the above models.

Also , how good is Sony's customer service on their Camera products.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

I am a Sony owner. I have a Sony Alpha 500 and 580. I just bought the 580 a few days ago and I love it already. One of the reasons that I bought the Sony was because of the lenses. I have a Minolta 35mm camera and those lenses fit the Sony Alphas. This saved me a lot of money. Also, one can find good Minolta lenses fairly cheap on E-Bay and cheaper yet on Craig's List. If one were to purchase Sony's higher end lenses, they would have to take out a second mortgage just like every other manufacturer. Sony makes the Sensors for Nikon by the way.

The A33 and A55 are not true DSLR's. The use what is called, " Translucent Technology ". The shutter is actually constantly open and they both use an electronic viewfinder vs. an optical one. And as you know, they both take Minolta AF lenses. All Alphas do. The A55 is 16mp whereas the A33 and the A390 or 14mp. Sony put a new sensor in the A 33 and A55 that can handle the higher megapixels just fine.

Sony Just came out with the A 77 which is a 24mp, Full frame ( just like a 35mm camera ) camera. Pretty sweet. It only costs right at $2000.00 though. The only problem with the A77 is that it can not make full use of the standard DSLR lenses. You would have to buy more expensive lenses designed for a full frame camera. That is where they get you. However, the Minolta AF lenses take care of that little hiccup just fine. I seriously considered the A77 but decided on the traditional A580 instead and I am glad I Did.

If you are deciding between the A33 or A55 and can afford it, go with the A55. It has a couple of features and the higher mp and noise reduction that make it worth the extra money.

Sony also has the A900 24 mp traditional DSLR but it is designed more for studio use. If they come out with a full frame camera that would be good in the field, I would buy it in a heartbeat. I am sure that it will be just as good and cheaper than the Nikon or Canon.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Oh, and one more thing; since you already have 7 Minolta lenses, go with the Sony. That's a no brainer.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

TainKc Great rundown on Sony Thank You.

Well, if there was a counterfeit "Nikon" or "Canon" or a hybrid "NiKanon" sticker that would cover up the "Sony," then lots more people would buy Sony.

I mention Sony to people at the Camera Club and get a raised eyebrow and a quick change of subject. The old "don't confuse me with facts" and the "but, what does reality have to do with it" syndrome. Nikon/Canon/Photoshop are religions, to the faithful, people purchasing other cameras (tho based on facts and/or $ limitations) are considered as owners of unterKameras and they are labled as die Untermenschen.

You have put me in a comfort zone with your personal experience, reinforcing my deviant thoughts - Considering a $ony. Thank you.

I have been using a Panasonic TZ3 and get good results, but obviously the next step is a larger sensor. But I am no long a fan of big body cameras with big lenses like my ol' Minolta i7000. I am a small camera always-carry-with - shoot fast guy. What is your feeling about the Sony C3 mirrorless. Do they require adapter for Minolta AF?

I found an index of Minolta lenses - links to discussion of the individual lenses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Minolta_lenses
Next I found "mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera(MILC)"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrorless_interchangeable-lens_camera

The Sony C3 does not have a hot shoe nor built in flash, but I feel that a little ingenuity one could do like I have done hot glue a shoe and tap into the flash trigger plugs for the $ony plugin flash. Otherwise if lenses inter change great. But if I have to spend $200 for a lens adapter then i would be better off with a different $ony that would take my Minolta AF.

Please, comment TainKC I value your Camera/RR hobbyist views.

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Ah, one more thing about Sony that you did ask; their service. They are on top of things. I had a rather strange, non warranty type of problem with my A500. It had nothing to do with defects or anything else quality related. My problem was outside of the box. Sony repaired it at no charge. I also had 3 lenses that they replaced at no charge. They went way above and beyond. Under the circumstances, they worked as fast as they could. I did not have to pay shipping either. All shipments were Fed-Ex Overnite. Sony also has the best track record for least amount of repairs. And no, I did not buy their super duper warranty either. However, I did so on my 580 just because. Lightning can strike twice.

I noted that you were concerned about size also. If this is that important, then go with the A33 or A55. They are about 1/3 smaller than the 390.

A word of caution: The A33 and A55 tend to suck up the battery charge. You should be o.k. though. I would recommend getting a spare battery in the by and by. And to make you more comfortable, There are a lot more a lot more Sony users out there than you think. They are also making giant inroads into the DSLR market.

Again, as far as the C3 is concerned, read all of the reviews on the internet including You Tube. Also read the reviews of all the comparable competition. Sadly, I know nothing about adapting lenses. I am of no help here.

A pretty crappy picture in my garden. But you get the drift.

gramasue

I have a question, and maybe someone could help me out. I need to know how to set my digital kodak M753 camera to take pics continuously with out delays in between pics. Anyone know how to do this?

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Humm, good repair service... perhaps that is why parts only Sony go for hefty price on E-Bay.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

Actually, it's not the shutter that stays open all the time. The mirror that normally would flip out of the way during an exposure is fixed instead of flipping, the sensor sees through the translucent surface, and there is no time delay required for the mirror to get out of the way. Thus absurdly fast shutter speeds and continuous shooting speeds can be used - not hindered by mirror movement. If the shutter was open all the time, it would burn out the sensor.

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

This is all good info but I can't agree on the battery. I get good long life on my stock Sony battery with my Alpha 55. At least 300 shots unless I'm using flash all the time and reviewing for long periods.

Oddly enough, the eye viewfinder uses more power than the LCD screen on the back for some reason. Even Sony says so in the manual. Also, the Alpha 55 for North America has GPS built in and that should be turned off in the menu if you don't use it because it sucks battery power for no reason as well.

I have read that replacement batteries for the Sony Alpha 55 made by third party companies don't work as well as the real Sony ones. They may even advertise much higher (sometimes double) milliamp hour ratings but still last less time than a real Sony battery. So if you're going to buy extras I'd recommend taking it in the butt and buying only real Sony batteries for the Alpha 55 which are quite expensive.

Be careful there are some crooked vendors on eBay selling what they advertise as Sony Alpha 55 replacement batteries but they aren't really Sony when you get them. I'd recommend buying Sony batteries where you can visually see them, like a retail store, to make sure you don't get ripped off.