Sony Alpha Series DSLR

[mazdajason]

Evening all,

Im looking at a brand new Sony Alpha A230 DSLR for a couple of hundred quid that someone on another forum is needing to sell. Can anyone share some details on the model itself?
I am looking for an entry level DSLR and by looking at the reviews online this is entry level and seems to come with a good enough spec.
I don't need 10fps as I will mainly be shooting stil shots and like it said - its just to get me started. Cheers for any help

Jason

[RobDickinson]

Its OK, will suit you fine.

Sony tend to suffer at higher ISO and be relatively slow and un-sporty (fps and focus) vs the competition, but thats only relative.

[clonmult]

I've been using the older version, the A200, for a few years now.

Never missed a beat, continues to take good pictures. Its got me through a few weddings (one as "the photographer"), and various family events, portraits, etc.

Just be prepared to start spending on some glass .....

When you can, head out and buy the 50mm F1.8. Relatively cheap lens, with absolutely stunning results.

[mazdajason]

Cheers for the tips, hopefully have a try with it this weekend and i shall be back with my verdict ( and maybe even a new camera!)

[onomatopoeia]

I owned an A300, which was basically the A200 + liveview. The A230 is a rebodied version of the A200 with modifications to the menu system, but core functionality largely unchanged, so I have some experience with a quite similar camera.

As an entry level DSLR it is an entirely competent performer. While very sharp at low ISO, where it will suffer is in image quality when used at ISO settings above 400, it uses a CCD sensor (like other entry level DSLRs) and these do not fare well at high ISO. Shooting RAW and using the most recent version of the Sony IDC software to convert to JPG on the computer helps quite a bit with controlling noise, but it's never going to be on a par with more expensive CMOS sensor cameras.

The advantage of the A230 (and Sony DSLRs in general) is the presence of image stabilisation in the body, meaning all lenses the camera can detect are stabilised, and the availability of a vast amount of old Minolta lenses that will fit. Sony retained the Minolta alpha autofocus mount when they took over the camera business, so every Minolta AF lens manufactured since Minolta introduced the first AF SLR in 1985 will fit and some of them are very good.

[mazdajason]

Awesome, cheers for the advice!
Kinda convinced the O/H on the camera now as she was wanting to spend £500 odd on a sony nex5 or something like that, but as we are not really going to use every function on the camera I think a cheaper one while we learn would be a better option.

[longun]

clonmult said:

When you can, head out and buy the 50mm F1.8. Relatively cheap lens, with absolutely stunning results.

I'll second this its a great lens for the price and so sharp. The kit lens is generally considered poor. If you can afford it good glass goes a long way, even on the entry level SLR's. Just remember if you spend good money on glass it can last and you can always upgrade the body later.