# Sony a390?



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

Hey everyone, I'm new here so if this is in the wrong section then I'm sorry.

well I am looking to buy my first DSLR, and originally I was planning on buying the Nikon d3000, but then the Sony a390 caught my eye. I also looked at the Nikon d3100, but for the same price i could get the a390 with two other lenses, due to a local sale. 

Can anyone offer some insight on this? I also need advice on what other lens to buy, seeing as I don't necessarily have to go with that sale. I was thinking of a Tamron or a Sigma, but I;m not completely sure.

Oh and I am not a complete photography noob, I just never had my own DSLR. I have worked with a Nikon d40 extensively though.

Any help is appreciated!


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

Of the 3 I would say the D3100. it has better ISO performance and Jpeg performance The nice thing about Sony is the in camera steady shot which can save you thousands in lens costs. If you look to Sony At least look at the A560 to get the better sensor performance dont let 2 cheap lenses sell you on a camera.  Oh and by the way I shoot a Sony camera.  the A55


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

chito beach said:


> Of the 3 I would say the D3100. it has better ISO performance and Jpeg performance The nice thing about Sony is the in camera steady shot which can save you thousands in lens costs. If you look to Sony At least look at the A560 to get the better sensor performance dont let 2 cheap lenses sell you on a camera.  Oh and by the way I shoot a Sony camera.  the A55




Thank you, I should have mentioned I usually shoot in RAW. do you know which would be better with that in mind? And I did loo kat the a560, but for down the road if I did buy the a390. I probably should have mentioned I am a high school senior with a sort of tight budget!


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

The Whole Whirled said:


> chito beach said:
> 
> 
> > Of the 3 I would say the D3100. it has better ISO performance and Jpeg performance The nice thing about Sony is the in camera steady shot which can save you thousands in lens costs. If you look to Sony At least look at the A560 to get the better sensor performance dont let 2 cheap lenses sell you on a camera.  Oh and by the way I shoot a Sony camera.  the A55
> ...



what is your budget?


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

chito beach said:


> The Whole Whirled said:
> 
> 
> > chito beach said:
> ...




Well, for the body + 18-55 kit lens I was looking at around 500-550, maybe a little more. But I wouldn't ant to go much over because I wanted to get a decent wide or super wide lens for nature shots also, which would run another 200-250 maybe. I haven't done much research on the lenses though.


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

The Whole Whirled said:


> chito beach said:
> 
> 
> > The Whole Whirled said:
> ...



The nice thing about Sony is that all the cameras in the line from the A100 up to the A900 FF camera can all use the same lenses.  Also Minolta AF Maxxum lenses work perfectly on the Alpha bodies which gives you many inexpensive quality options. 

Both Sony and Pentax have in camera Image Stabilization which means that all lenses are stabilized


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

chito beach said:


> The Whole Whirled said:
> 
> 
> > chito beach said:
> ...



So if I did go with the Sony, would a Minolita lens be a better first lens than a Tamron or a Sigma?


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

The Whole Whirled said:


> chito beach said:
> 
> 
> > The Whole Whirled said:
> ...



many of the Minolta and Sony lenses are Sigma made. Any lenses made for Minolta Maxxum will fit and work correctly


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

chito beach said:


> The Whole Whirled said:
> 
> 
> > chito beach said:
> ...


Thank you so much for the help, the Minolta lenses seem much cheaper than the other lenses i was looking at.


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

The Whole Whirled said:


> chito beach said:
> 
> 
> > The Whole Whirled said:
> ...



The 390 would be a good starter camera, and moving up to a higher performance camera later will not break the bank.  The only issue with the 390 is in low light situations it does not have stellar ISO performance, about anything above 800 is pretty noisy.


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 5, 2010)

chito beach said:


> The Whole Whirled said:
> 
> 
> > chito beach said:
> ...


I've heard about the ISO noise but  I figured that I wouldn't be shooting in the dark much anyway. And since every Alpha series can use the same lenses, moving up in the photography world will most definitely not break the bank!


----------



## chito beach (Dec 5, 2010)

The Whole Whirled said:


> chito beach said:
> 
> 
> > The Whole Whirled said:
> ...



I started with the A100 and still have it.  I have really enjoyed it.  Sony just does not have the sex appeal of Canon and Nikon.


----------



## kassad (Dec 6, 2010)

Here is a great database on lens for the Sony.
A-mount lens database (lenses for Minolta and Sony DSLR cameras)


----------



## The Whole Whirled (Dec 6, 2010)

kassad said:


> Here is a great database on lens for the Sony.
> A-mount lens database (lenses for Minolta and Sony DSLR cameras)


Thanks for the gallery! It is very helpful. I am almost positive I am going with the Sony now.


----------



## Derrel (Dec 6, 2010)

I keep hearing excellent things about this new Sony A55...like lightning fast, SOLID, class-leading autofocusing performance when shooting video. I saw an on-line comparison of the A55's video autofocusing against the Nikon D7000, and the Sony blew the Nikon's doors off for unobtrusive,fast, accurate, non-hunting autofocusing when shooting a video clip of a woman moving forward toward the camera, then side-to-side.


----------



## chito beach (Dec 6, 2010)

Derrel said:


> I keep hearing excellent things about this new Sony A55...like lightning fast, SOLID, class-leading autofocusing performance when shooting video. I saw an on-line comparison of the A55's video autofocusing against the Nikon D7000, and the Sony blew the Nikon's doors off for unobtrusive,fast, accurate, non-hunting autofocusing when shooting a video clip of a woman moving forward toward the camera, then side-to-side.



shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Derrel that is Blasphemy! 

I love my  A55 It is a major step forward for Sony over the earlier models including the A700 dare I say. IMHO

The auto focus is much faster than my A100 or the A700 that I have used in the past. very little hunting.  

You can set the camera to AF continuous when you bring the camera to your eye.

 It will shoot 10 FPS in fine JPEG and 7FPS in RAW, has about a 30 shot buffer before it starts to lag. .

 Still full manual control all the usual stuff  and even has tutorial info for beginners if you wish.

 The upgraded super steady shot allows me to shoot a 500mm at under 1/100 second in decent light conditions

ISO to 3200 is quite satisfactory prior Sony Cameras 800 was pushing the limits

There are some issues as with any camera

It needs an upgrade in the firmware to be more studio friendly. as it stands now the Live View EVF goes dark when you set your camera in manual and set for flash lighting.  simply being able to toggle off live view would solve the problem.

The body is a little compact for large hands.

The EVF has a little lag when shooting at 10FPS which takes a little to get used too

Im sure I will find other quirks as I use the camera but you do with all cameras

Over all it is a great camera and I really dont think you can buy a better DSLR now for under 1000.00


----------



## FlakoFigZ (Dec 9, 2010)

I have an a330 and a Maxxum 7D (older 2004 cam) as backup. Best thing is the interchangeable lenses. 

The Maxxum has the benefit of having almost all controls as knobs on the body. I've gotten great Maxxum AF lenses for around 150 on ebay (f/1.7 fixed and f/2.8 zooms)


----------



## kassad (Dec 9, 2010)

I really want to find a used 7D.    I wish Sony or frankly and company would put the controls back at your finger tips rather than burrying them in menus.


----------



## chito beach (Dec 9, 2010)

kassad said:


> I really want to find a used 7D.    I wish Sony or frankly and company would put the controls back at your finger tips rather than burrying them in menus.




That was easy when you only had several functions to control.  But now we have many more options.  On my A55 I can change ISO, WB, Shutter, Aperture, focus mode, DRO, and a few others without ever taking my eye off of the Viewfinder


----------



## kassad (Dec 9, 2010)

I love the idea of the A55 but I'm worried it's too small.   I hoping for a A77 or a99.


----------



## chito beach (Dec 9, 2010)

kassad said:


> I love the idea of the A55 but I'm worried it's too small.   I hoping for a A77 or a99.



  since the a33 adn a55 are the same size Im sure any future A77 or A99 would be the same size. and frankly the A55 size is not an issue. I have large construction worker hands and its fine for me.  Took all of an hour to get used too.

The numbers of the A580 surpass the A55 for ISO performance and IQ and the A55 is a big jump above the A700.  If I had not already purchased the A55 I would be ordering an A580 today.  OVF and Live view :thumbup:


----------

